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Yamaha MODX


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I'm currently using the 'non-slim' model (Gator Pro Go - G-PG-76) for my Kronos 73, and can also commend it for that use. It's very plushly padded, well designed, and the backpack option actually works well.

 

The ONLY thing I wish it had was a second 'grab handle' on the "bottom" end. Just the 'top' end has a nice sturdy grab handle, and for any keyboard that length it would be nice to have handles on each end. I understand why you wouldn't want a handle on the "bottom" but...that's not how I typically use it (as a vertical standing case). A small nit, and I still very much like the case too.

..
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Nice work Yamoho! Will a sustain pedal fit on the end (inside main compartment) if you slide the board down a smidge?

 

Go ahead and try on those backpack straps for fun ... :)

 

I was thinking the same thing about the sustain pedal Yes, it does fit, and I stuck a rag in between the pedal and keybd for protection:

 

Later on, I put on the backstrap and I thought it was actually quite good. The fittings on the bottom of the strap and on the bag are metal, and the top connects by velcro, which may not seem that great, but its a very strong connection:

 

Theres also a shoulder strap, metal connections:

 

And a protective plastic cover for the entire bag:

As I said before, Ill be keeping this one, I can live with a slightly snug fit.

 

Dave - thanks for the suggestion of this bag, I hope the photos are helpful.

 

-kirk

Kirk - fantastic help! Thank u so much for taking time to do all that. As the one reviewer said - he found the bag relaxed (stretched) just a tad after awhile - maybe youll find that too. Its fabric and foam - it wont get tighter over time. And snug and fit is better than loose and sloppy.

 

Its a shame Yamaha skimped on their branded bag. Its ok for what it is but ... its not clear to me it will protect it from all that much more than scratches. I wont put it through any rugged handling tests to find out one way or other.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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Parsonally i think the analogue solo sounds dont cut it.

Analog synth and tonewheel organ sounds are always second rate in a straight sample-based system.

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. ;-)

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Parsonally i think the analogue solo sounds dont cut it.

Analog synth and tonewheel organ sounds are always second rate in a straight sample-based system.

 

Thats probably true...

but then its not a fully sample based instrumemt...

Altough the FM part does not add much in this case...

 

I am pretty much convinced the Next iteration of Montage will also have a VA engine

 

I doubt yamahas moddeling technollogies will ever find their way into the Montage/modx..

 

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My own pet peeve for something Yamaha implements differently from everyone else is Transpose. If I have a LH Bass split, and a singer wants to change the key of the song, the Transpose function doesn't work well, because it doesn't really change the pitch of the notes being generated by the keys... instead, it shifts which note commands the keys are sending out (I believe the MIDI transmit is what is changing). That is, the actual note of the split remains fixed, instead the physical split point changes. So some of your bass split keys may not be bass notes anymore. Sucks.

Revelation (courtesy of Bad Mister over at Yamaha's forum)... hit the Utility button, and there is a global Note Shift parameter. Do your transposition there, and then all your split points remain at their normal physical locations, yay! (Presumably this is to be avoided if you're controlling external MIDI devices... if MIDI transmit isn't changing, then the internal and external sounds will be in different keys...)

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. ;-)

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My own pet peeve for something Yamaha implements differently from everyone else is Transpose. If I have a LH Bass split, and a singer wants to change the key of the song, the Transpose function doesn't work well, because it doesn't really change the pitch of the notes being generated by the keys... instead, it shifts which note commands the keys are sending out (I believe the MIDI transmit is what is changing). That is, the actual note of the split remains fixed, instead the physical split point changes. So some of your bass split keys may not be bass notes anymore. Sucks.

Revelation (courtesy of Bad Mister over at Yamaha's forum)... hit the Utility button, and there is a global Note Shift parameter. Do your transposition there, and then all your split points remain at their normal physical locations, yay! (Presumably this is to be avoided if you're controlling external MIDI devices... if MIDI transmit isn't changing, then the internal and external sounds will be in different keys...)

 

Its that same implementation on i assume all Yamaha boards - it was on Motif, MOXF, and MODX. Its on purpose - i forget Phils energetic defense on the superiority of this implementation. I think Youd have to detune all devices, of course. No different than tuning one guitar a half step down and the other guitarist is in 440. Conversely, if another device was sending key on/off etc data into MODX, youd be fine as MODX would receive the correct note signal and then detune (note shift) the same as internally played notes.

 

It greatly reduces the value of transpose buttons on the top panel, I never need to transpose, I need to note shift. I almost always have splits etc so ... as noted above. Beware.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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Many people with MODX8 are not experiencing any issues, either.

 

And it seems that many are...

 

There are complaints about the keybeds (both the 88 key and 61/76 key versions) on other forums as well.

 

One guy bought a MODX6 and noticed that some keys were up to 3mm higher than other keys.

 

He returned it and his replacement now has keys that are 1mm higher than others.

 

Seems like these keybeds and/or quality control have slipped.

 

He attached a picture of his new one - you can clearly see some of the keys are indeed higher than others.

 

 

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Many people with MODX8 are not experiencing any issues, either.

 

And it seems that many are...

 

There are complaints about the keybeds (both the 88 key and 61/76 key versions) on other forums as well.

 

One guy bought a MODX6 and noticed that some keys were up to 3mm higher than other keys.

 

He returned it and his replacement now has keys that are 1mm higher than others.

 

Seems like these keybeds and/or quality control have slipped.

 

He attached a picture of his new one - you can clearly see some of the keys are indeed higher than others.

 

 

I don't have MODX . I think 'complaints ' need to be clarified

 

" This keyboard does not feel like my Kawaii or Roland stage piano. I don't like it "

 

I don't consider that a ' complaint '.

 

" My new keyboard has sticky keys, the keybed feel is uneven, its much more loose/noisey etc" .

 

That might suggest a defective keybed or assembly. If I read that, I call that a valid

complaint.

 

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

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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" This keyboard does not feel like my Kawaii or Roland stage piano. I don't like it "

 

I don't think anyone is talking about those types of things.

 

The complaints are from actual owners complaining about the keybeds having loose keys, noisy keys, uneven keys, etc.

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" This keyboard does not feel like my Kawaii or Roland stage piano. I don't like it "

 

I don't think anyone is talking about those types of things.

 

The complaints are from actual owners complaining about the keybeds having loose keys, noisy keys, uneven keys, etc.

 

Most owners dont have any complaints at all about the keybed..

 

I guess those who have a faulty keybed are better off contacting Yamaha, from my experience they are pretty good at handling warranty calls..

 

My modx 8 keybed is what it is, its simple straightforward and good to play

If i wanted a stage piano, i would have bought a kawai or a nord..

 

 

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" This keyboard does not feel like my Kawaii or Roland stage piano. I don't like it "

 

I don't think anyone is talking about those types of things.

 

The complaints are from actual owners complaining about the keybeds having loose keys, noisy keys, uneven keys, etc.

 

 

Most owners dont have any complaints at all about the keybed..

 

I guess those who have a faulty keybed are better off contacting Yamaha, from my experience they are pretty good at handling warranty calls..

 

My modx 8 keybed is what it is, its simple straightforward and good to play

If i wanted a stage piano, i would have bought a kawai or a nord..

 

 

I am somewhat interested in the ModX88. Your point is fair- I would not expect it

to be in the class of a Roland RD stage or a Kawaii digital piano.

 

I also believe some defects have to be expected. If 500 ModX's were sold in 2 months,

and 5 had flakey keybeds, thats not a big deal, in terms of defect rate.

 

If 100 out of 500 were defective,thats a bigger problem and I would not be interested in the ModX until later.

 

 

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

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Sorry if this has been asked; in terms of synth capabilities, how does the MODX compare to the FA series? The FA is a 16 part VA synth, so maybe can't be reliably compared to the FM synth in the ModX, but any thoughts would be nice. Mostly thinking about pads and big soundscapes, not so much leads.

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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Ignore last post, just spent a couple of hours down the rabbit hole of YouTube looking at videos. I had no idea I wanted this until now. The synth section is stupid deep, the ability to install Montage soundsets is great, the ROMpler sounds are pretty good - good enough for a cover band. Definitely a replacement for the FA-06.

 

By the looks of it, I could probably justify the price. The question is: £1200 for the weighted, or £1090 for the 76 key?

 

Weighted would go well with my Electro 4...but the portability of the 76 key is good, and I can't see myself having many gigs where I'd need BOTH keyboards...

 

 

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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anybody using their MODX to create multi-timbral performances for external sequencing?

 

I've been finding it tedious to use the category search to choose a performance for each part, as you have to select attribute "single" every time. otherwise it will "merge" the chosen performance with unpredictable results. it gets tedious to apply the filter, and if you forget, all bets are off.

 

the root of the trouble is that all patches in the MODX are a performance, which can be a "MULTI PART Performances" or "SINGLE PART Performance". I find the Motif architecture easier where a performance is made of one or more voices. In MODX the parts of a performance are other performances. too much recursion for my brain to handle... :)

 

shouldn't the attribute filter default to "single" when using part search? that would improve the workflow greatly when building multi-timbral performances.

 

(sorry, a bit hard to explain but if you've done this, you'll know exactly what i mean)

 

one time I accidentally forgot to shift-click on the category button (part search) and unfortunately replaced my performance with a new performance, wiping out my work with no way to undo. lesson learned, save performance often!

 

i'd like to hear from other owners how they are getting on with this, in case i'm missing some trick, just me that's struggling a bit?

 

if you want the official guide from Yamaha then click below.

https://www.yamahasynth.com/modx-category/mastering-modx-using-category-search

 

hang out with me at woody piano shack
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As a Montage owner I don't have the slightest problems in choosing the right performance I need for building multitimbral blocks. The single performances are colored green. The multipart ones are blue. As simple as that. If you sequence, you select exclusively the green ones, in the same way as you would choose on the Motif a (single) voice or a program on a Kronos.

So simply apply the same logic: On the Motif all voices are simply one part voices. Do the same on the Montage/Modx. Just select the green ones which are the same as "voices" on Motif.

 

On the other hand, the Montage/Modx has quite a few advances over the Motif. All your programming and editing is done in the same mode.

Here a simple example where the Motif has disadvantages: imagine you need to transpose/note shift a voice in a Motif Performance for more than two octaves. As we know, Yamaha unfortunately doesn't understand that long time user request so you cannot do it inside a performance, instead, you have to edit the voice and to additional note shift by transposing on the oscillator level. Then you have to save that new voice and then you can use it in your performance. And you always have to take care of your user voices before you edit them, because you sometimes don't know if they are a part of a performance and whether a change on the voice will also change your performance.

 

All those problems are gone on the Montage/Modx because you simply do all editing, including the aforementioned note shift over two octaves inside the performance.

 

IMO, the new system outweighs by far the old system as it is on Motif or other similar keyboards like Kronos. I wouldn't want to go back.

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anybody using their MODX to create multi-timbral performances for external sequencing?

 

I've been finding it tedious to use the category search to choose a performance for each part, as you have to select attribute "single" every time. otherwise it will "merge" the chosen performance with unpredictable results. it gets tedious to apply the filter, and if you forget, all bets are off.

 

the root of the trouble is that all patches in the MODX are a performance, which can be a "MULTI PART Performances" or "SINGLE PART Performance". I find the Motif architecture easier where a performance is made of one or more voices. In MODX the parts of a performance are other performances. too much recursion for my brain to handle... :)

 

shouldn't the attribute filter default to "single" when using part search? that would improve the workflow greatly when building multi-timbral performances.

 

(sorry, a bit hard to explain but if you've done this, you'll know exactly what i mean)

 

one time I accidentally forgot to shift-click on the category button (part search) and unfortunately replaced my performance with a new performance, wiping out my work with no way to undo. lesson learned, save performance often!

 

i'd like to hear from other owners how they are getting on with this, in case i'm missing some trick, just me that's struggling a bit?

 

if you want the official guide from Yamaha then click below.

https://www.yamahasynth.com/modx-category/mastering-modx-using-category-search

 

I am very interested in this point or discussion as recording [ not gigging] is my #1

priority.

 

straightforward or reasonable workflow when recording is also necessary for me.

 

I am interested in youTubes or videos that clarify and illustrate MODX recording to a DAW, if they are available

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

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Hi and thanks mojkarma, good to hear that you're getting on fine. perhaps it's just me, I don't find it easy to distinguish between the green and blue fonts on the display, a bit color blind perhaps.

 

and who wants to look at the display when auditioning sounds? not me anyway :) I use the increment button whilst playing and listening.

 

it got a bit boring to apply the "single" filter every time I wanted to change a sound, it should be the default when loading a part into a multi-timbral performance.

 

Note that everything is fine when selecting performances for playing on the keyboard, it's just constructing multis that I found tedious.

 

 

 

 

 

hang out with me at woody piano shack
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it got a bit boring to apply the "single" filter every time I wanted to change a sound, it should be the default when loading a part into a multi-timbral performance.

Any performance with so much as a single split or layer is a "multi-timbral performance" and I don't know that you necessarily only want only "singles" just because your performance already has something in it. But it would be good if it remembered your last selection and kept that filter until you changed it, or a least until you navigated to another performance.

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. ;-)

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Undo functionality would be a great addition. If only to compare before/after.

Multi-level undo would be even better, but not sure how to implement that with the current UI.

 

Even the 8 year Kronos has its version of undo. Its called " Compare ".

 

It works perfect. Its a huge time saver.

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

My Soundcloud with many originals:

[70's Songwriter]

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Undo functionality would be a great addition. If only to compare before/after.

Multi-level undo would be even better, but not sure how to implement that with the current UI.

 

Even the 8 year Kronos has its version of undo. Its called " Compare ".

 

It works perfect. Its a huge time saver.

MODX has a compare and works fine as long as youre still in the Performance you started editing. It compares what you have NOW vs what was last saved and you can switch back and forth. But if you exit a Perf without saving, it doesnt save anything as you didnt ask it to. If you then go back, whatever you were doing is gone and youre back to what was previously saved.

 

i think the function idea would be the equivalent of are you sure you want to exit without saving? That you get on a computer app. Pros and cons.. i have exited on accident without saving and wished i was warned once ... or twice.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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the are you sure you want to exit without saving? would become annoying, if for example, you tweaked a filter whilst playing a performance. a shift function to lock the performance better. it was invaluable on my korg electribe where you could lose both sounds and patterns you were working on.

 

Agree, hence the Con of Pro and Con. I think after you forget to save something you worked on a couple time - you stop doing that. It set in for me, at least. Yamaha actually decided to protect against the exact opposite - it requires double confirmation before it will save, i guess on the theory that the action will overwrite and permenantly delete something already saved.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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The Moog One solution of turning presets into open-ended collections of "snapshots" with an auto-saved snapshot you can return to seems ideal for something like this. I do hope we see more investment in user interface design for synthesizers again, and Moog seems committed to leading the way.

Acoustic: Shigeru Kawai SK-7 ~ Breedlove C2/R

MIDI: Kurzweil Forte ~ Sequential Prophet X ~ Yamaha CP88 ~ Expressive E Osmose

Electric: Schecter Solo Custom Exotic ~ Chapman MLB1 Signature Bass

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TI do hope we see more investment in user interface design

Yes... interface and ergonomics is how hardware can continue to differentiate itself in the face of the cost-effective sonic horsepower of computers.

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. ;-)

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I do hope we see more investment in user interface design

Yes... interface and ergonomics is how hardware can continue to differentiate itself in the face of the cost-effective sonic horsepower of computers.

 

Very well said! I agree wholeheartedly! Creating an effective workflow that is both flexible and elegant increases creative productivity!

----------------------------------------------------------

 

Gig: Yamaha MODX7, NumaX 73 Piano  Studio: Kawai ES-920; Hammond SK Pro 73; Yamaha Motif ES7 w/DX,VL,VH; Yamaha YC 73; Kawai MP-6; Numa Compact 2x

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Well heck. I have some questions and the manual won't download and there is no way I have time to read this whole thread. I'm guessing the answer won't be great or Blake would make the number of saveable Live Sets and the number of max performance per live set a key point of his sales pitches. Is just 16 performances?(one screen). How many Live sets can you create?

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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