How to Copy a Performance to the Sequencer

I thought I’d start out this tips section by answering one of the most asked questions during my last clinic tour, “HOW DO I COPY A PERFORMANCE INTO THE SEQUENCER”. A very basic, yet easy to miss feature.

HOW TO COPY A PERFORMANCE TO THE SEQUENCER
1. To copy a [PERFORMANCE] into the sequencer, you must first be in either [SONG] mode or [PATTERN] mode.

2. Press [MIXING] mode button to enter mixing mode, this is of course the mode where you can edit the sounds in your sequence.

3. Next, press the [JOB] button. Now on the bottom of the display screen you should see the macro [PF COPY] above the [F5] function key. Press [F5] now.

4. At this new screen, you can now scroll through to select your User Performance.

5. Once you’ve decided on your performance, [PF COPY] allows you to copy over such parameters as effects, EQ, and arpeggiations. Use the arrow keys to cursor over to each one and using either the [INC/DEC] buttons or the wheel, you can place an [X] in the box to tell it to copy that parameter.

6. Press [ENTER] to execute, and then [YES/NO] to confirm your decision.

Important Note: Your copied performances will always default to Track 1-4, (depending on how many parts you had in your performance). However data will only show up on Track 1 when in the main sequence screen. (This is due to the fact that those sequencer tracks all respond to channel 1). You can move these tracks “after-the-fact” with the [EXCHANGE TRACK] option in [JOB] mode under [TRACK].

BETTER SOUNDING HI-HATS
So you’ve got no soul, you’ve got no rhythm. That’s okay…Quantizing actually can be your friend! Often the Hi-Hats are the first giveaway that you are using a drum machine for drums in your music, and sometimes that’s not the desired effect. But we don’t all have the room for a real drum kit lying around the house or studio. And we all know what drummers are like, well…they like…drummers! And they often seem to like to hang around musicians. Don’t worry, if you’re a drummer I’ll be sure to type slowly.

Anyway, let’s look at a few of the many ways that you can add feel and realism to those hi-hats:

1. MODIFY VELOCITY: This function will allow you to alter the velocity values of notes in a phrase. It can be found in the [JOB] Mode under the [NOTE] section. You can select your Phrase, in this case the hi-hats. Leave [SetAll] to off. However let’s play around with both [Rate] and [Offset]. The [Rate] refers to the percentage that will be effected by this change. And the [Offset] is the degree of change that will occur adjusting from the rate value. So basically, if you tapped in hi-hats by manually, adding this may give you more extreme results, playing around with the velocity switching that happens on the particular sampled key.

2. QUANTIZE W/ VARIED STRENGTH: This is probably the easiest straightforward ones to use, especially if you timing is less than stellar. When recording in to your MOTIF in [REC] Mode, select {QUANTIZE] off. We will then go in “after-the-fact” and make some quantizing changes. After you recorded, go into [JOB] Mode and select [QUANTIZE]. Here you can edit the Resolution, Swing Rate, Strength, and Gate Time. For this example, let’s focus on Strength. It will take some experimenting, but the range that seems to work best is between 50% - 80%. This will pull the notes nearer to the quantized beat, while still allowing some “laid-back” or “rushed” feel.

3. GROOVE GRID: This one takes a little more patience. You can find the [GROOVE] on the main [SONG] or [PATTERN] Mode screens, under Function 2 [F2]. This screen breaks your measure into 16th notes. You can now manually go in and make adjustments to Note, Clock, Gate, and Velocity Offsets. Using Velocity you can essentially do the same as mentioned above, changing some of these offsets will give it the effect of hitting the hi-hat softer/louder. While using Clock you can emphasis hi-hat hits differently by offsetting them to again get that “laid-back” or “rushed” feel. Remember that a little Offsetting will go a long way!

Of course there are many other ways (like having rhythm & feel) to get great sounding hi-hat tracks, but hopefully this will inspire you to try something you might not have.

More to come soon…In the meantime, here are some Summer NAMM 2002 pictures.

Here are Product Specialist Blake Angelos, Phil Clendeninn, and Avery Burdette taking a well-deserved rest at the end of the NAMM show.

Here I am, at Summer NAMM playing on the “new” S90! Which shares many of the same sounds as the MOTIF!!!