I’ve never used midi before in my life, though I understand the concept behind it - thought I should mention this upfront. I am not looking to export midi information, but record and use midi information within the Motif 6 itself.

Here is the context… Sometimes I will record a keyboard part (live performance into my DAW) using one voice setting, then record it again (live performance) using another voice setting - then I will try mixing in the 2 voice settings to see which one sits better in the mix with the other recorded instruments. There are times where I might want to try 4 or 5 different sounds to see which one is the “right” sound for the tune. This means performing the song 4-5 different times but changing the voicing each time I record it.

My question is this: In my Motif 6 can I record my performance in the unit using midi and then play back the recording with different voice settings? For example, could I play/record a Bach 2 part exercise in the Motif and then play it back exactly as I recorded it using a piano, then play it back with an organ, then a string ensemble, etc.? One good performance (recorded using midi) - then hear it back using different voices without having to play it over and over again to hear what it sounds like with different voice settings.

Do I even need to use midi to accomplish this within the Motif itself since I’m not exporting the information?

Thanks in advance for your input (and any pertinent links).

Hi,

Your assumptions are correct! The Motif has its own MIDI sequencer built-in, referred to as “Song Mode” (see pages 177-214 in the manual). It will record your parts, without having to send MIDI data out of the unit.

The voice settings (along with pan, level, EQ and effect settings) can be changed after recording a track. This is referred to as “Song Mixing Mode” (p.205-). From this mode you can try different settings for each track, until you find the right one, while leaving the recorded note data untouched.

- H -

Henry, thanks for taking the time to respond. I’ll look over that section of the Manual and see if I can get it to work for me. It will be a time saver and open up possibilities for getting just the right sound for the each I song I work on (without having to record the same performance multiple times but trying different voicings, etc.). Hopefully all will go smoothly and I won’t have questions :-)

Songwriting…

So in the Song Record mode I do not find an option for any of my 3 PLG boards. If I record using one of the voices of the Motif itself, will I be able to play it back using voices from the PLG boards?

Hi,

It’s basically a matter of pointing the sequencer to the correct device and voice bank. I snipped this from the Sweetwater webside:

How do you access the PLG board in song mode?

Make sure your MOTIF is on Track 1 which is defaulted to midi channel 1. We are going to work with the PLG 2 slot.

1. Press the SONG button.
2. Press the MIXING button.
3. Press the F3 button to be in VOICE select mode.
4. Press the EDIT button. Notice that the top of your MOTIF screen is in SONG COMMON EDIT – we need to be in SONG EDIT PART mode! So…
5. Press a track select button on the right hand side of your MOTIF. The top of your screen should now read SONG PART.
6. Press F6 to show you the PLG boards.
7. Press F1/SF2 (make sure you use your curser and highlight the PLG2 area) and change the receive channel on PLG 2, to Midi Channel 1 – use the decrement button.
8. Press F1/SF1 and change the Bank on PLG2, to PLG PRE1
9. Now exit back to your song by pressing the SONG button.
10. Your track has now changed from track 1 to track 2 because of your PLG edits! Make sure you press track 1 and the light is on! Make sure your track select button is on.
11. You will now hear the default piano and PLG board sound at the same time.
12. Press the MUTE button and mute track 1 or go to MIXING/EDIT F1/SF2 and turn the midi receive channel on part 1 to off or turn the volume off on track 1.

*The best option is turning the part off, as you can free notes of polyphony by not muting or turning the volume down!

- H -

So I got to #5 with the Song Common Edit but could go no further. At that point the Track Select button is already lit and when I push it nothing happens and I am not able to enter the Song Edit Part.

In Song Mix mode I am able to see the 3 ports by clicking on F6 and when there I clicked on Information and it tells me that all of the PLG ports are “off”. I know the Motif recognizes them - I play using the voices regularly - but perhaps I need to do something for them to be recognized in Song mode?

LED screens vs. a computer screen definitely makes it more challenging to go down the right rabbit hole. Thanks again for your time.

Making progress… I followed (not fully understanding) the instruction on p.8 using the “Lisa Simpson” example: http://www.motifator.com/storage/support/MotifPLG.pdf

And now I’m working through the rest of the Sweetwater snippet.

As soon as I leave the edit screen having set everything up it all goes back to some default or something. At this point I’m giving up. Perhaps I’ll revisit this another time (because it would be so useful and save a lot of time and I know that the Motif can do it!), but after 3 hours with no results I’m better off just playing the part multiple times using various sounds that I think will blend well.

I’m starting to think that the snippet may have left something out. Did you store your edited settings, before leaving the Mixing Edit mode?

So a fresh start this morning and I was able to get everything working using the snippet. I assigned the 3 PLG boards to 3 different tracks, muted the internal voice, recorded, played back - was able to play back on different voices from the PLG boards. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong yesterday, but it’s working now.

But to your point, I’m not sure how to save/store the song or the settings so that when I turn the unit off and come back everything is still there. And actually, if I exit song mode by hitting voice and then go back to song mode neither the song nor the modifications I made are remembered. Apparently I’m missing a step: I set everything up, recorded, played back and even switched the voice, etc., but what I “recorded” seems to be on a temporary memory (not actually saved/stored) or when I return to song mode I need to do something to bring up the song and its settings. At this point every experiment is Song 01.

How do I save a Song I’ve recorded so that the performance and all of the settings are there when I exit song mode or shut down the unit for the night? I have not been able to locate these steps in the manual - so if you can point me in the right direction or pull another snippet out of your hat I’d be grateful.

Another quick question: Are Scenes just different parts of one Song that can be recorded separately and then seamlessly played back as one song (i.e. scene 1 might be the intro, scene 2 the 1st verse, scene 3 a chorus, etc.)? No need for details, but just curious what that term Scene is all about.

Again, I really appreciate your time. The learning curve is high and having a tutor is beyond helpful.

Hi,

Mastering the process involves getting familiar with a complex operating system, though a small display, but it looks like you’re making a lot of progress! :)

A newly recorded song only resides in the RAM memory of the Motif, and will be lost when you turn the instrument off (and possibly when switching to another main mode). Songs therefore have to be saved permanently using File Mode (p.262) to a SmartMedia memory card or an external SCSI device. From there, they can be reloaded into RAM later (file extension .w2s).

Song Mixing parameters have to be “applied” to the song by storing, before exiting the menu. They are then saved with the song file. Song Mixing setups can also be saved to non-volatile internal user memory locations (1-16), to use as templates for later recordings (p.206).

The Song Scene function (p.181) is similar to Song Mixing. It too doesn’t change the recorded note data, but provides up to 5 “snapshots” of the track settings, that are recalled with the SF1-SF5 buttons for instant switching. They are easy to set up, but the parameters are fewer than in Song Mixing Mode, and I’m not sure whether voice settings are included or not. In any case, the Scenes are only saved with the song, and are therefore also unique to each song. Scene switching can be recorded to its own special Scene Track, in order to automate the changes.

- H -