Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

Yamaha MODX


Recommended Posts

I'm a few weeks in and now that I'm used to the MODX interface I'm going to say it's superior to the Kronos interface :freak:

Based on my little info/experience so far, my feeling is that MODX interface is better for assembling patches out of existing sounds (i.e. creating Yamaha Performances vs. creating Korg Combis), but Kronos interface is better for editing the individual sounds.

 

For patch navigation, I find Yamaha's Live Set screens more readable than Kronos Set List, though as mojkarma pointed out earlier, navigating to different screens is better on Kronos.

 

Moving away from the screen interfaces, I also like the MODX panel controls better. Although controls are obviously fewer, the spacing/sizing/visibility/labeling of them improves their usability. Or to put it differently, a handful of controls I'll use is better than dozens I won't.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites



I'm a few weeks in and now that I'm used to the MODX interface I'm going to say it's superior to the Kronos interface :freak:

 

thats a leap ;)

 

I think the Kronos font size is '1000 Tiny'

 

My reading vision strength has decreased since I bought my K 7 years ago.

 

If I was trying to buy a K today, I would be put off by tiny fonts.

 

I know about the iPad App and set list, etc etc etc. Neither are useful

for me.

 

I work in SEQ mode 99% of the time so I have to endure tiny font and dozens of tabs

and sub menus. Fortunately I have ' finger memory' on the K.

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out ?

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a few weeks in and now that I'm used to the MODX interface I'm going to say it's superior to the Kronos interface :freak:

Based on my little info/experience so far, my feeling is that MODX interface is better for assembling patches out of existing sounds (i.e. creating Yamaha Performances vs. creating Korg Combis), but Kronos interface is better for editing the individual sounds.

 

Yep good point - most of the work I've been doing is setting up performances and it's so much simpler on the MODX :thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another little thing I find useful is under the Live Set mode, (and using the EDIT button) you can set an individual volume level for each Live Set slot!

 

And it is a dynamic setting IE you don't need to then "save" the change. It is automatically there the next time you want to use that slot. Cool!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can anyone give me a quick walk-through on bringing MOXF data into the MODX? I have saved all the MOXF data into a MOXF.X6A file on a USB stick. (There is no wave data, this MOXF does not even have a flash card in it.) How do I bring these User Voices and User Performances into the MODX?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I'm not sure about performances ( I used pattern/songs ) but for patches

 

Utility / Load

Choose USB stick

Under "Content Type", Choose "User File" or "Library File" Warning: Choosing User could erase everything in the User Section

Select the X6A file

 

After importing, you can find the patches by going to Category Search and selecting the User section, or the Library (depending on how you saved the file) in the "Bank/Favorite" filter at the top

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I see the voice/perf selection at the bottom of the Load screen.

 

Im prepping my data for the same migration. what i read so far is you can load all voices, or you can load all performances, but not both as a single consolidated library. So if you have user waveforms assigned to voices, that are then assigned to performaces- i think its going to start duplicating the waveforms (use up flash memory)?

 

Trying to get clarification ... anyone know how to be efficient in this situation?

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to check one out at the local GC. Got my head turned by the unexpected sight of a Sequential Prophet X. After an hour of pleasurable insanity there, when I did notice the ModX, I was too far elsewhere. Ill try again next weekend.

Interesting. Every time I went down to play one I ended up at the Montage.

Im afraid what might happen. I could swing it.

Yamaha P515 & CK88, Pianoteq, Mainstage, iOS, assorted other stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im prepping my data for the same migration. what i read so far is you can load all voices, or you can load all performances, but not both as a single consolidated library. So if you have user waveforms assigned to voices, that are then assigned to performaces- i think its going to start duplicating the waveforms (use up flash memory)?

 

Trying to get clarification ... anyone know how to be efficient in this situation?

 

I'm not sure what would happen in that situation, BadMister would certainly know if you ask him over at the yamahasynth forum. My suggestion would be to load only the performances into the modx. This will also load your user waveform. Once the performance is in the memory, you can create another performance which will contain just one single part with the same waveform and it will not get duplicated.

 

The way how montage/modx handles user waveform is imho a littlebit cumbersome. There is no obvious merge function as many of us are used to. That means, once you load some waveforms into flash, a further load (waveform) instruction will erase all existing files which are already present in the flash rom.

The trick how new waveforms can be loaded and add to the existing ones in flash is to load a file as library. This will occupy one of the 8 library slots. Once your performances are in the library (if they contain waveforms, they will be also loaded), you can prelisten to the performances you need/want and then you can move selected performances from the library area into the user area. The difference is that editings in the library cannot be saved. That area is a save space to load additional third party libraries or your own once you don't need to edit the files further.

 

Even if it happens that you load duplicate waveforms, all the user waveforms can be viewed in the utility mode and if you don't have hundreds of them, I guess it would be easy to identify duplicates and erase them from there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I see the voice/perf selection at the bottom of the Load screen.

 

Im prepping my data for the same migration. what i read so far is you can load all voices, or you can load all performances, but not both as a single consolidated library. So if you have user waveforms assigned to voices, that are then assigned to performaces- i think its going to start duplicating the waveforms (use up flash memory)?

 

Trying to get clarification ... anyone know how to be efficient in this situation?

 

I was going to try some experiments to see what happens, before I get too far into the setup. Problem is, this thing is so light, I want to gig with it NOW! So I've been busy trying to get up to speed on how to use the controls/build patches! :)

 

Tomorrow night, I'm backing up everything and trying a couple of imports of xf/moxf stuff, to see what happens.

 

I like the Bosendorfer, but right away that uses up almost half of the sample memory!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loaded Performances from my MOXF. Most loaded fine, but I got a message that all data did not load, and now walking thru them - im finding a couple where the Voice (now Part) didnt load properly. Not sure why. It loaded direct to User memory

 

I need education on how to transfer User memory to a Library, then load a new set and combine whats in User (after it overwrites current content) with some content in the Library.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe someone can help me? - MODX 7-- Im trying to save a live set and can't save the octive setting at the same time? octive stays on all live sets. any ideas?

THANKS!

 

If you're talking about the buttons on the far left transposing up and down octaves, I don't believe they can be saved within a performance it's a global, live setting. You can still save the note transpose (up to two octaves up or down) within an individual part of a performance.

Studio: Yamaha P515 | Yamaha Tyros 5 | Yamaha HX1 | Moog Sub 37

Road: Yamaha YC88 | Nord Electro 5D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe someone can help me? - MODX 7-- Im trying to save a live set and can't save the octive setting at the same time? octive stays on all live sets. any ideas?

THANKS!

 

If you're talking about the buttons on the far left transposing up and down octaves, I don't believe they can be saved within a performance it's a global, live setting. You can still save the note transpose (up to two octaves up or down) within an individual part of a performance.

 

Yeah i wish it didnt function that way. If you are in edit mode, and you are editing a single part, the octave buttons should act as a parameter change only within that part edit. Seems like the natural thing to do.

-Greg

Motif XS8, MOXF8, Hammond XK1c, Vent

Rhodes Mark II 88 suitcase, Yamaha P255

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think transpose buttons have ever worked as an individual patch parameter. As Aidan says, it's a global change - I've always assumed it offset the midi note number of the key you are playing.

 

Perhaps you can edit an individual voice range, I don't have a MODX (yet) to know. This kind of editing is something very common to Mainstagers. It would seem that there must be a way to adjust range. It's pretty necessary - programming splits, for instance.

Yamaha P515 & CK88, Pianoteq, Mainstage, iOS, assorted other stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While asking about holding the sustain pedal, here I have to say that Yamaha screwed it up in a hardly understandable way. Seamless switching doesn't work for the sustain pedal. If you play a piano sound, hold the sustain pedal and switch to another piano or e.piano sound, the sustain will be reset! You have to depress and press the sustain pedal again for the new sound but depressing will logically cutoff the previous piano sound. This is a highly unmusical implementation and I reported it over in the yamahasynth forum, but as with most big companies, they don't see a problem because "seamless switching works as intended".

You might want to "upvote" the suggestion at https://yamahasynth.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Montage-SSS-keep-sustain-pedal-state-for-new-performance/212021-45978

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.........Perhaps you can edit an individual voice range, I don't have a MODX (yet) to know. This kind of editing is something very common to Mainstagers. It would seem that there must be a way to adjust range. It's pretty necessary - programming splits, for instance.

 

Yes indeed you can. You can set all these things inside the performance itself. You can set any ranges you like, pitch it anyway you like, and all this is totally separate from the "Global" settings.

 

When/if Yamaha decide to allow the Octave buttons to blink/light for chromatic transpose like they do for Octave changes, then I'll probs just go back to dynamic transposing. Until then if a transpose is needed I do it IN the performance.

 

Hope that helps ??

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI, there are issues when loading looped files created using either Translator or the Melas Waveform Editor. Both introduce audible artifacts, likely an issue related to incorrect file size or incorrect loop markers. As you cannot get down to the sample level on the Montage/MODX and verify, it's hazy as to what exactly is going on. Chicken Systems has verified the issue and a fix is planned for the next release of Translator expected mid-October. I haven't heard back from Melas. Sample Robot does not have this issue. Its loops are clean.

 

BTW, I'm not saying that both Translator and the Melas Waveform Editor have the exact issue, only that neither product's files loop properly in the Montage, according to my findings.

 

Busch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.........Perhaps you can edit an individual voice range, I don't have a MODX (yet) to know. This kind of editing is something very common to Mainstagers. It would seem that there must be a way to adjust range. It's pretty necessary - programming splits, for instance.

 

Yes indeed you can. You can set all these things inside the performance itself. You can set any ranges you like, pitch it anyway you like, and all this is totally separate from the "Global" settings.

 

When/if Yamaha decide to allow the Octave buttons to blink/light for chromatic transpose like they do for Octave changes, then I'll probs just go back to dynamic transposing. Until then if a transpose is needed I do it IN the performance.

 

Hope that helps ??

A simpler, more elegant solution would be for Yamaha to provide transposition offsets in LIVE SET, similar to the Kronos. You keep the original Performance data the same. Provide an indicator -1 or +12 in the LIVE SET slot for that Performance.

 

Busch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

............A simpler, more elegant solution would be for Yamaha to provide transposition offsets in LIVE SET, similar to the Kronos. You keep the original Performance data the same. Provide an indicator -1 or +12 in the LIVE SET slot for that Performance.

 

Busch.

 

Yep, agree!

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good idea for Live Set extension. There are so many ways that Live Set could be extended. I'd like buttons to remember the path to an audio WAV file (on flash drive) such that the file is loaded and ready to play along with the appropriate Performance.

 

As an aside, I've been blogging about my early experience voice editing, etc.:

 

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/yamaha-modx-all9bars/

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/modx-after-the-first-gig/

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/modx-theatre-orchestra/

 

I'm having a lot of fun with this instrument. It's a keeper!

 

All the best -- pj

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When/if Yamaha decide to allow the Octave buttons to blink/light for chromatic transpose like they do for Octave changes

I doubt that will ever happen, because then you'd lose the current function of the lights (which already alternate between blinking states depending on how many octaves you've shifted). I mean, what would you have the lights do if you had used the buttons for transpose, and then further did an octave shift? I think dual-purposing these lights creates a potential rabbit hole of confusion, and I think sacrificing the current use of those lights to get transpose lights instead would hinder it for as many people as it helps. That said, I think there should be a clear on-screen indication of when you're in a transposition state, whether it's adding TRANSPOSE+1 or whatever to the top center of the display, or changing the color of the pach name to red, or blinking it... something!

 

My even bigger issue with the Transpose function is that it doesn't maintain split points. As understand it, it's because it's not really transposing the notes being triggered by the keys, instead it's actually shifting which MIDI Note commands are being sent from the keyboard to the tone generator. This MIDI shifting approach can be an advantage, if you're also triggering sounds in an external sound module, as it will keep all internal and external sounds at the same pitch. But in the more common scenario of having a sound with splits and no external module attached, it's not doing what you need. If you're playing a song with precisely defined split points, and a singer wants you to drop it x semitones, that's just the kind of thing I'd expect to be able to do with the Transpose button, without it messing up which sound will come out when I play the same parts I always play. But with the Yamaha Transpose function, if you play the same keys you always play, the shift point will now be in the wrong place and some of your notes will come out with the wrong sound.

 

The fix is to go into the menus and use NoteShift instead of the front panel Transpose buttons. But you have to do it for every sound that is part of your split setup (or in Yamaha vernacular, you have to do it for every Part in the Performance). All you want to do is hit a button, and instead you have to menu dive and perform the function multiple times. And if you happen to need to change to another Performance in the middle of the song, well, you can't, because the transposition will be gone. If it's a song you frequently need to transpose, you can set up saved Performances with these shifts in place. But if it's something being done on the fly (your singer is having a bad night, or a guest singer is coming up, etc.), you're out of luck.

 

Ideally, the Transpose button would be programmed to be smart enough to do note-shifts on all the internal parts while shifting the MIDI going out to the external devices. (In that case, if the external devices have splits, some parts might have the wrong sound on some keys, but that's no worse than the current situation, and better than having the entire part at the wrong pitch!) But the architecture might not support having the internal keys sending "different" MIDI to the internal tone generator vs. MIDI out. And if you only have a choice of one or the other, while Note Shift is probably what more people need more often, MIDI transpose is a useful function as well, so there still needs to be a way to do that. But I do wish there were at least an option that would allow the Transpose button to instead do a Note Shift on every Part.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My even bigger issue with the Transpose function is that it doesn't maintain split points.

 

Boom! i hate that too!

 

My kurz pc3 did maintain the splitpoints. One of the many smart features of Kurzweil..

Rudy

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My even bigger issue with the Transpose function is that it doesn't maintain split points.

 

Boom! i hate that too!

 

My kurz pc3 did maintain the splitpoints. One of the many smart features of Kurzweil..

 

and Roland, and Korg and Casio and pretty much most of the controller brigade as well IIRC.

 

Ah well, Yamaha do like their "points of difference".

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah well, Yamaha do like their "points of difference".

they do provide a noteshift function that changes the tuning while leaving the split point intact. Its just not a panel button but its pretty easy to get to.

 

Besides, i thought the established consensus here was that transpose buttons arent even allowed to be used? :snax:

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah well, Yamaha do like their "points of difference".

they do provide a noteshift function that changes the tuning while leaving the split point intact. Its just not a panel button but its pretty easy to get to.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that that function had to be done part by part. So if you needed to transpose a 3-way split, you'd have to go to that menu screen and perform the function three times (more if you're using any layers with your splits). And you'd still have the problem that, if you need to call up another patch mid-song, it will not come in at the transposed pitch.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...