Kurzweil PC3K arps and riffs vs Motif XF arps Question.

[Bachus]

does anyone have experience with the riffs and arps in the kurzweil pc3k series?

 

Are they comparable to the Motif XF arps?

(Which is one of the things i really like about the Motif)

 

(Been trying to find some good Youtube videos explaining them, but could not really find any eductional ones)

[Bif_]

I'm well familiar with both (own Motif ES and MOXF and PC3X).

 

For composition, there's no comparison between the two. Motif far overshadows the Kurz.

 

For live use, the Kurz arps (or user created arps) can easily be mixed into keyboard setups (like one-shotting a phrase from one key).

[Bachus]

I'm well familiar with both (own Motif ES and MOXF and PC3X).

 

For composition, there's no comparison between the two. Motif far overshadows the Kurz.

 

For live use, the Kurz arps (or user created arps) can easily be mixed into keyboard setups (like one-shotting a phrase from one key).

 

 

Yes, i love the Motif arps to, even better when you can combine them with some Karma tracks.

 

so basically the 16 arps and 16 riffs of the Kurg can not touch the nifty Yamaha arps.. which explains why noboddy is making any video's of them.

[Bif_]

 

so basically the 16 arps and 16 riffs of the Kurg can not touch the nifty Yamaha arps.. which explains why nobody is making any video's of them.

 

No they can't touch the Yamaha arps. I think Yamaha's arps are strong justification for a portion of the cost of the instrument.

 

The Kurz arps are mostly utilized in the instrument for brief demos of the sounds. You would be hard pressed to use them for much more than simplistic patterns.

[Dave Weiser]

The Motif does have a huge, impressive collection of pre-made phrases and patterns, very well implemented. It was a massive undertaking over the course of years and they seem to have nailed it.

 

The Kurz stuff can be powerful and flexible though. Here's the basic rundown:

 

Arps - The Kurz arps have some standard parameters - up, down, random, octaves, unipolar/bipolor, latch, etc. Each arp can also be programmed to play steps (maybe 32, can 't remember).

Each setup has 16 zones, each zone gets its own arp (that can have its own tempo).

 

Riffs - Riffs are just sequences that can be assigned to a zone in a setup. They can be triggered with notes (key down or key up), buttons or pedals.

There are some pretty good pre-made riffs in the machine and a nice assortment of drum grooves in the KORE64 (played on a MIDI kit by a killer player), though nowhere near the volume of content as in the Motif.

 

Each of a setup's 16 zones can have its own Riff (also with its own tempo). So it can be a pretty powerful tool, esp if you're able to record your own Riffs.

 

All 16 arps and 16 Riffs can be used simultaneously.

 

 

[TechEverlasting]

Yamaha has provided a lot of impressive pre-rolled arpeggiators for the Motif series.

 

If you would prefer to create your own ideas the PC3 riff platform is incredibly powerful. Each of the 16 zones of a Setup can trigger a sequence up to 16 channels deep, with any combination of local or MIDI channel destinations. You can specify where the sequence starts with up to 960 ppq resolution, specify whether it plays all the way through when triggered or stops when you release the key, specify whether the sequence transposes based on what key you play and either set a global tempo for the whole Setup or individual tempos for each key.

 

Like so many aspects of Kurzweil's instruments there isn't a bunch of ready-baked material just waiting for you to press a button, but if you put in some work you can create amazing things.