Motif XS PATTERN MODE JOB: APPEND PHRASE

PATTERN MODE JOB: APPEND PHRASE
If you record a 4-measure phrase and want to append it to itself - you will find that the sequencer may report “No Data!” It will do so if you have not STORED your phrase. Remember, when working with the Motif XS sequencer, you are initially writing into volatile RAM. Once you have stored your Phrase (decided it is a ‘keeper’), then and only then, will the Append Phrase Job actually “find” your Phrase for the Job.

Rule 1: In order to use the APPEND PHRASE Job, first, register the Phrase by pressing [STORE]. This will write the Phrase into the sequencer’s Flash ROM and register the data as existing for the APPEND PHRASE JOB to be executed on its data. In general JOBs will be executed on currently stored data.

Rule 2: The APPEND PHRASE Job will add the source phrase on to the end of the target destination phrase, thus increasing the target (destination) phrase’s length.

Understanding the implication of this LENGTH increase
Once you have STORED the Phrase, and successfully executed the APPEND PHRASE Job, it is also important to recognize that “Phrase Length” is a separate parameter from “Section Length”. Phrase Length is indicated on the [F4] PATCH screen on the same line as the Track information. Each Track that contains a Phrase will have the “Phrase Length” indicated in the column at far right on the PATCH screen. It is important to know that each Phrase in a Section can have its own length, independent of the phrase on another track.

The “Section Length” is indicated at the top of the screen on the right. The Section Length determines how many measures will be allowed to play prior to the Section instructing all currently active phrases to loop (start again).

If the Phrase’s Length exceeds the current Section Length parameter setting, then the Phrase will not play in its entirety. It will loop back to the top according the Section’s Length parameter.

Example 1: (shown above) immediately after executing a phrase appended to itself…
Track 1’s Phrase Length = 008 Measures;
Section [A] Length is (still) set to 004 Measures;
Only the first four measures of the Phrase will loop.
“1-2-3-4”, “1-2-3-4” and so on.

You can highlight and change the SECTION LENGTH at any time.
If the Section’s Length is longer than the individual Track’s Phrase Length, then the Phrase will begin looping prior to the Section Length being reached. So that it will fill in any difference. Individual Phrases can be shortened by the Section’s parameter.

Shown below: The SECTION LENGTH has now been lengthened to 008 Measures so your “appended phrase” will now play its full 8 measure length before repeating. (Note: the other phrases, 002~007, will repeat twice while Phrase 001 completes one cycle):

The Track Phrase Length = 004 Measures; The Pattern Section Length is set to 008 Measures; The Phrase will repeat twice within the Section Length.
“1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4” then again “1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4” and so on

Example 2: The Track Phrase Length = 004 Measures; The Pattern Section Length is set to 005 Measures; The Phrase will play through once, and then play measure 1 prior to starting again.
“1-2-3-4-1” then start again “1-2-3-4-1” and so on.

In this same situation, if your Track’s Phrase has a Length of 008 Measures, but the Pattern Section Length is set to 005, then that Phrase will play through as follows:
“1-2-3-4-5” and start again “1-2-3-4-5” and so on.

“If you want to append a phrase to itself to double the length of the phrase, the current pattern box on the TOP must NOT be checked or it will give you an illegal parameters error.”

Because the APPEND PHRASE Job is designed for more than just Appending a Phrase to itself, perhaps it would be easier to explain when you do, in fact, want to check that top “CURRENT PATTERN” option. The JOB allows you to append a phrase from either the current pattern in which you are working or from any other Pattern in the XS.

To really understand the APPEND PHRASE Job, let’s talk about the screen in terms of SOURCE and target DESTINATION. The top part of the screen is the source PATTERN and PHRASE (the one that will be tagged onto the end), while the bottom part of the screen is the target destination Pattern and Phrase. The SOURCE will always be placed after the DESTINATION. (The source is appended to the end of the target)

In the screenshot, PATTERN 01 has been STORED (you can tell because the purple “E” does not appear in the upper right corner). The dialog box indicates that the last selected Pattern was 01, and the last selected Phrase was 001. It has listed these in the SOURCE.

The bottom portion of the screen is the target (destination) and you can see that Phrase001 is ready to be tagged onto the end of Phrase001 in the Current Pattern.

Note: If the purple “E” appears in the upper right corner and you execute a PATTERN JOB, please realize that it will be executed on the last stored condition of the data.

You will want to check the “CURRENT PATTERN” box in the SOURCE area only when you want to APPEND the currently selected phrase to the end of an already pre-existing phrase in another PATTERN. You are taking something from the pattern you are in now and sending it to an entirely different Pattern number.

In this next screen shot here is an example.

We are still in PATTERN 01 but we are taking the Phrase001 and are exporting it to PATTERN 02, and appending it onto the end of the Phrase001 in that PATTERN 02. Here is when you would check the CURRENT PATTERN box as a SOURCE… when the destination is another Pattern.

The CONVERSE is true:
You want to check the “CURRENT PATTERN” box in the target DESTINATION area only when you want to APPEND a source phrase from an already existing phrase in another PATTERN on to the end of a phrase in the current Pattern you are in now.

Example:
Say you have a 4 Measure phrase in PATTERN 01, Section [A] and you have 12 Measure Phrase in PATTERN 02, Section [A], and you want to append the 12 Measure Phrase from PATTERN 02 on to the end of the 4 Measure phrase in PATTERN 01, Section [A].

This is a case where you would need to define just where you are when you setup the dialog box – because the Source and Destination are going to be from different PATTERNS. Only one of these is the “current” Pattern.

By this I mean, you could discover you wanted to do this while working on Pattern 01 or while working on Pattern 02.

You can setup and execute the APPEND JOB in either case.

The one thing that you must be clear about is that the context sensitivity of the XS will populate the dialog box with the most recently selected data. So if you are in SOURCE PATTERN and you have most recently highlighted the SOURCE Phrase, then it will correctly setup the dialog box.