Yamaha Motif ES Music Production User manual

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POWER USER
MUSIC PRODUCTION and PERFORMANCE
With the Motif ES
RECORDING PERFORMANCES TO THE SEQUENCER
A Step-by-Step Tutorial
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Skills Learned
Learn about how analyze a Performance
Gain an understanding of how Performances are placed into MIX PARTS
Understanding the recording of the Arpeggio to the Sequencer
Copy a Performance to a Pattern Mix
Record a 3-Part Performance to a Pattern w/Arpeggio
Reassign MIDI channels to Parts of a MIX
Learn about Pattern mode: PHRASE VOICE/TRACK VOICE
Phil Clendeninn
Senior Product Specialist
Technology Products
©Yamaha Corporation of America
the output of the arpeggiator (of course). But it
cannot record them both at the same time while
you play. It must be set to record either your
playing or the playback of the arpeggiator. This is
true and always true. However, if you follow this
tutorial, you will see that it ‘feels’ exactly the
same as when you play the Performance.
Performance
A Performance can be up to four VOICES layered
and/or split on the keyboard simultaneously.
Often five different arpeggios are associated with
the Performance - they can be responsible for a
drum grooves or guitar arpeggios or maybe even
several different bass lines. The Sub-Function (SF)
buttons allow you quick, real time access to the
associated arpeggios. If you decide that you want
to record yourself playing this complex setup you
must be aware of how this will translate to a Song
MIX or Pattern MIX. As mentioned you are playing
up to four different complete Voices at one time.
The Part or Parts that are assigned the arpeggio
are not directly following your note-ons. Oh, it is
responding to the notes that you finger all right
but it is just using these as input to do what it
does. In the case of a set of drum grooves, for
example, the drum patterns are simply triggered
(started) when you touch the keys. It is following
a predetermined FIXED NOTE pattern. You are not
literally “playing” the drums. In the case of a set
of guitar patterns, the guitar Part is not
responding directly to your note-ons (one for
one),
the
notes
that
you
are
holding
influence/determine the pattern. It is doing a scan
or ‘search’ and is responding to the notes you are
holding. You are not literally “playing” the guitar
Voice directly. If you were to press the ARP
ON/OFF button to stop the arpeggio, then you
would be playing that Part directly from the keys.
This obvious difference between you playing and
the arpeggio playing a Part must be appreciated
for you to understand how to record this type
Performance. In short, you are not “playing” the
arpeggio Part – the arpeggiator is. Stated simply:
The PART assigned to follow the arpeggio data,
can follow your direct commands (ARP OFF) or
the arpeggiator’s commands (ARP ON)…but not
both simultaneously – this is how an arpeggiator
works. This will come into play a little later.
COPY PERFORMANCE to MIX mode and Record it
to a Pattern
Let’s use a specific Performance as an example
and take a close look at it so that you can learn
how all this happens. Recall the first Performance
“USER:001 (A01) Co: Cyber Step” and let’s
analyze what is going on.
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To do this, press the F2 VOICE button.
Here you will see that this Performance is made
up of three PARTS. “Parts” are Voices that are
assigned to a Performance (or MIX). The Voices
themselves can be found in Voice mode – they are
combined in this Performance on a single MIDI
channel (so that you can play them all together).
PART1: PDR: 020:(B04) “Dr:R&B Kit 1”
PART2: PRE6: 064:(D16) “Me:Clusters”
PART3: PRE6: 097:(G01) “Co:Step Dance”
INSERTION EFFECTS are set in Voice Mode
With a little more curiosity and investigation
(looking up the VOICES in their Voice mode
locations) you can discover that the following Dual
Insertion effects are assigned to these Voices:
PDR: R&B KIT 1: None
All the PARTS in a Performance are all on the
same MIDI channel – this is how they respond to
MIDI channel messages like PB, modulation,
Volume, etc. Even the arpeggio Part is on the
same MIDI channel only its notes go through the
arpeggiator before they arrive to trigger the
Voice. If you are new to MIDI the significance of
this fact may not have the full meaning, but what
it means is that you will have to record your
Performance in two separate passes. Think about
it, the arpeggiator is speaking to just the PART
assigned to it – while the others are played in a
one-for-one manner, directly by your note-on
events. Therefore, you will have to separate the
arpeggio Part from the other musical sounds when
attempting to record. The Motif sequencer can
record your note-ons (of course). It can record
ME:Clusters found in Voice Mode at PRE6:064
(D16): INS A is a 2-band EQ and INS B is a
Tempo Cross Delay
2
CO:Step Dance: PRE6:097 (G01): INS A is
LoResolution and INS B is Vintage Flanger
Here (the quick edit view) you can see that this
Performance is associated with 5 different
arpeggios – as you press a SF button the
arpeggio’s Bank and Type will be recalled. This is
accomplished by selecting one of the more than
1700 arpeggios, and then holding STORE + SubFunction button [SF1-5]. Initially when recalled
the Performance is set to play ARP 5: Bank is ‘Pre’
(preset
bank),
Category
is
‘DrPc’
(Drum/Percussion), Type is ‘408 SynPp1D1’,
Tempo is ‘97 BPM’1 and Part 01 is set to be
triggered by this arpeggio. However if you use the
SF (Sub-Function) buttons you will see that they
select four other arpeggios type 421, 416, 409
and 407. As you play you can trigger these
buttons to recall the “Next” arpeggio. The switch
is made at the top of the next measure so the
transitions can be smooth.2 Try this out. You may
want to activate the HOLD switch to latch the
drums ON so that you can remove your hands
from the keyboard and have the drum pattern
continue. This is your choice. If you prefer the
HOLD function ON, set it to ON and press STORE
to store this to the Performance. Recalling
variations on the Arpeggio patterns can be
accomplished in real time and, yes, this can be
recorded into the sequencer. This will allow you
more real time access to building a drum track by
mapping/recording it before laying down your
musical parts. We refer to this as “painting” – as
in, you are painting the track with these phrases.
In other words, by actually going to Voice mode
and recalling each individual Voice to see how it
sounds and plays as an individual will give you a
better perspective of how they change when
combined in a PART of a Performance, and then
ultimately as a PART in a MIX.
The Dual Insertion effects (which are real time
controllable) are a part of the Voice. It is selected
and programmed in Voice mode. And will be
available in a Performance or Mix, if you activate
the INSERTION Switch. All four Parts of a
Performance and any eight Parts of a Mix can
have their Voice mode Dual Insertion effects
active.
The other two Voice mode effect processors are
the Reverb and the Chorus – these become the
System Effects for the entire Performance or Mix.
Each PART of a Performance or Mix must share
the System Effects, although each Part will have
an individual send amount control. The example
(analogy) in the non-electric world I like to
explain this is as follows: Let’s consider the
Reverb System effect. Reverb is technically
speaking the decay in sound after the signal
source has stop generating sound. It is the
acoustic environment – influenced by the size,
shape and materials of the space the sound takes
place in. A musician practicing the acoustic guitar
at home in his or her room plays within the
acoustics of that room. When they go to the
studio or club, they do not ‘bring’ the room from
home. They must share the acoustic environment
with the other musicians. If you like the particular
settings for Reverb and Chorus of a Voice, you can
COPY those to the current Performance or Mix,
but all the other Voices will share them as the
overall System Effects for the Performance or Mix.
Let’s continue our analysis of this Performance by
viewing
the
overall
Information
on
this
Performance.
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To do this, press the INFORMATION button.
1
The Motif ES clock will determine the TEMPO of all
selected arpeggios – therefore all arpeggio patterns
within the same Performance will share the same tempo.
However you can offset the tempo via the UNIT
MULTIPLY parameter found on the full edit screen. Press
EDITÆ press COMMONÆ F3 ARPÆ SF3 PlayFX.
2
Alternatively, you can select “realtime” transition – this
is set in full edit).
Back to our Performance
Let’s continue our analysis of the Performance by
viewing the Arpeggiator setup.
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To do this, from the main Performance screen
press the F6 ARP button.
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the first locations of the MIX starting at PART 01.3
Because our example has three PARTS, it will
overwrite the data for the first three PARTS of the
current PATTERN MIX.
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Press PATTERN and select a blank Pattern
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Press MIXING
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Press JOB
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Press F5 PF COPY
Here you will discover what PLGs you have
installed (if any), on what PARTS the Dual
Insertion Effects are being recalled (a dark box
means that the Dual Insertion Effect is activated
for that PART) and you can see to what algorithms
the System Effects (Reverb and Chorus) are set.
In this case the 4 internal PARTS have their Dual
Insertion effects active – but this Performance has
only three PARTS! Well, if you were to add a layer
to this Performance it is already set to recall its
Insertion effect (think about it – it is the way you
want it). The Reverb is set to the new and
powerful “R3 Hall 1”. The ProR3 is a very powerful
32-bit Yamaha studio effect processor from which
these algorithms were derived. And the Chorus is
set to “Tempo Delay 2”
Here you can select any Performance from which
you want to copy data. Use the cursor arrows and
Data Wheel to make your selection. Place a mark
in the box next to each feature you wish to copy
from the Performance: REV, CHO, ARP, and the
INSERT EFFECT SWITCHES (as shown above).
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Press ENTER to execute the Copy
All three PARTS and their data have been copied
to the first three PARTS of the mix respectively.
‘DR:R&B Kit 1’ on PART 1, ‘ME:Clusters’ on PART 2
and ‘CO:Step Dance’ on PART 3.
Armed with all this information we are now
prepared to appreciate just how much data is
copied to the MIX when we perform the
PERFORMANCE COPY routine. Without this next
function you would have to get a piece of paper
and write down all the different settings and
recreate them in the Song MIX or Pattern MIX
each time you wanted to build a song or pattern
around a Performance. I should also mention here
that not all parameters of a VOICE are maintained
when you place it in a PERFORMANCE PART or a
MIX PART. In fact, some data is routinely stripped
off of the VOICE and/or returned to a default
setting in the PERFORMANCE or MIX. As
mentioned, eight PARTS will be able to recall their
DUAL INSERTION effects from Voice mode (the
other eight Parts will have them stripped off). The
Arpeggio Switch is set to OFF and no particular
arpeggios are assigned to an init mix. Note Limits
are returned to full range, Velocity Limits are
returned to full range, and the overall Voice
Volume is set to a default value (100) for all
Parts. However, when you COPY data from a
Performance into a MIX much of the Performance
settings are maintained.
Now when you select Track 1 you can play them
all (they are all currently assigned to be played
from Track 1). If you are unclear on the difference
between a PART and a TRACK – let’s clear that up
right now. A PART is a set of parameters that
control a VOICE assigned to a PERFORMANCE or a
MIX.
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A Performance has up to 4 PARTS - you can
place a VOICE in each PART. All the PARTS of
a Performance are on the same MIDI channel.
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A MIX has up to 16 PARTS; you can place one
VOICE in each PART. Each PART receives on a
selected MIDI channel.
A TRACK, on the other hand, is a function of the
sequencer – it records data and plays it back. The
PART (VOICE) makes the sound. The data on a
track is always MIDI data, like note-ons, and
controller values. A Track transmits on a single
MIDI channel. It can transmit, as in this case, to
several MIX Parts. In default condition the
SELECT A BLANK PATTERN
Go to the PATTERN you want to work with (this
will also work for Song mode). We will use a
Pattern as an example because there is a few
additional considerations that are specific to
Pattern mode that need to be pointed out. In
order to use the Performance Copy function you
should be working on a blank pattern, since the
function will copy the Performance mode Parts to
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If you are working on a pre-existing MIX use the
EXCHANGE TRACK functions to clear room for the PF
COPY function to work with the lower number locations.
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sequencer typically transmits on 16 MIDI
channels.
As you now know we have just copied three
PARTS to the same MIDI channel. Let’s see:
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Press MIXING
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Press EDIT
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Touch TRACK 1 to select PART 01
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Press F1 VOICE
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Press SF2 MODE
our purposes set the record Length to 8
measures: 001:1/008
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Here you can see that the first three PARTS are all
set to receive on MIDI channel 1. So if you select
TRACK 1 (TRACK SELECT button lit) you will be
playing all three PARTS that we copied. (Digest
that if you are new to MIDI). Currently, if you
were to select Tracks 2 and 3 you would hear
nothing because there are currently no PARTS
assigned to receive MIDI channels 2 and 3.
Here we will tell the sequencer what we plan on
recording and how. If you can remember all the
way back to the start of this article, you realize
that the sequencer can record either what we play
as note-ons on the keyboard or it can record the
output of the arpeggiator, but not both
simultaneously. So here is what I suggest you do.
Record the drums first (this is a pretty standard
tactic anyway). You can play along with it
(although the sequencer will be ignoring you, you
can use the pass to practice what you are going to
record on the real take). In order to set the
sequencer to record the drums here is what you
must do.
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Select either ‘REPLACE’ or ‘OVERDUB’ record
TYPE
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Turn LOOP = OFF. Loop recording is one of
those Pattern mode items that really gets in
the way when attempting to record arpeggios.
It is highly recommended that you turn it OFF
while attempting to record the output of the
arpeggiator – this avoids completely any
double notes at the cycle point.
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Set the Quantize parameter as you want.
Quantize will automatically force notes to the
selected musical value. Your choice. Hint:
when recording guitar strum arpeggios you
will most likely want to keep the quantize set
to OFF because the strumming effect depends
on subtle offsets to clock timing.
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Double check your TEMPO – should be 97.0
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Press the F3 ARP button and review your
Arpeggio settings (these were copied with the
PF COPY function). You can decide to set the
HOLD function – this means you do not have
to keep your finger on a note during the
recording.
Okay, select Track 1 and play. Ooops! What’s up,
it sounds too fast. Correct! The original tempo of
the Performance was 97 BPM and the default
tempo for a blank Pattern or Song is 120. Adjust
the tempo of the PATTERN (or Song) by pressing
the PATTERN button to return to the main
PATTERN screen and cursor to the TEMPO
parameter and set it to 97. We are almost ready
to get to the recording phase of this tutorial. If
you are following our tutorial step-by-step, and
you are set to record in PATTERN Mode, I
mentioned there are a few considerations specific
to PATTERN mode. We need to tell the sequencer
how many measures we intend to record prior to
recording. The recordings in a Pattern “cycle”
around as opposed to the linear nature of a Song
track – in order for the sequencer to ‘know’ when
to start repeating you need to tell it how many
measure you intend to record. (In song you just
play until you get tired or you reach measure 999,
whichever comes first).
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On the main PATTERN screen move the cursor
to the Measure Counter’s Length parameter.
The default Length is 004 – it can be set to
any length, per Phrase, from 001-256
measures.4 Set it to the number of measures
you wish to record. Default 001:1/004 For
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be a
long
long
loop
That’s right, each track of a Pattern Section can
different Length. This allows you to overdub a
guitar solo over a 4 measure drum loop or sing a
vocal passage on one track while the other tracks
an 8 measure vamp.
Press RECORD. The Record Setup (F1) screen
appears and “REC” appears on the top line.
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Press F4 RECARP (Record Arpeggio) button
and switch the function ON. This will mean
that it will not record your keyboard note-ons
but will record the output of the arpeggiator
(the drum groove) to track 1.
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Press PLAY to start the one measure (default)
count-in. You must play a note on the
downbeat for the arpeggio to play in time. The
recording will begin after a 4 count – with
ARP#5 active. You can play along if you’d like
to – remember it is not recording the
keyboard on this pass, just the drums. Let it
play for 7 measures. During measure 7 press
the ARP#2 Sub-Function button to select ARP
2 as NEXT. When measure 8 begins ARP 2 will
play measure 8 (like a fill-in). The recording
will automatically stop at the end of measure
8 (LOOP = OFF).
Turn the ARP ON/OFF switch to OFF. Please do
not forget to do this, as you will be
arpeggiating the arpeggio (which is not
recommended).
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Summary
We took the extra steps here of analyzing the
Performance prior to recording it. We looked at
the VOICE layout, we viewed the arpeggio
assignment, and we looked at the overall
Information of the Performance. It is a very
important step when attempting something crafty
like this. If you had programmed the Performance
yourself, then you would already be aware of what
Voices are used and how they are programmed
and assigned. When you are using someone else’s
Performance, I highly recommend that you do the
analysis. Think you’ve got it down? Try User
Performance 015 “Co:HoodBeater”. This one is a
bit tricky because there are two PARTS following
the arpeggio (there are two drum kits layered –
rather a unique setup but very effective – pun
intended).
Normally, here I would tell you to “play it back” to
see if you were paying attention. If you do you
will hear a disaster. All three sounds will be
playing back the drum part. Well, duh…all three
sounds are on MIDI channel 1. Before playing
back you must edit your MIX and place the
“CLUSTER” and the “STEP DANCE” sounds to MIDI
channel 2. Here’s how:
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Press MIXING
Press EDIT
Touch TRACK 2 to select PART 02
Press F1 Voice
Press SF2 Mode
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Set the MIDI Receive channel for PART 2 to
Channel 2
Set the MIDI channel for PART 3 to Channel 2
•
Select Track 2. Now when you play from Track
2 you will hear both PARTS 02 and 03
(Selecting Track 3 will not let you hear PART
03 because PART 03 is assigned to playback
through Track 2 – which is set to Channel 2).
See how it works?
Record on Track 2 overdubbing your musical
part to the drum groove. Remember you can
set the Length of this new Pattern Track prior
to recording it. If you want to record 48
measures you can, if you want to record 4
measures you can or if you want to record 8
measures you can (it is currently set to eight
– because it remains at the last value you
set). Just set that length (on the main
PATTERN screen) prior to pressing the record
button.
Overdubbing the two, layered musical sounds
to the drums should ‘feel’ just like playing the
Performance…remember you weren’t really
“playing” the drums anyway, the arpeggio
was. The sequencer is playing back the drums
while you play on top with the two-layered
Parts. It is much more complicated to explain
all this than to do it. But by going through this
exercise you have gained many of the skills
required to make your own Performances and
Mixes and that was the purpose of this article.
PATTERN MODE Specialties
We also learned some things about Pattern mode
and setting the Length of the recorded Phrase.
Phrases are an important part of the Pattern mode
concept. At first, many users are confused by the
Pattern mode structure but you will come to
appreciate it the more you use it. Phrases contain
a bunch of information stored so that Pattern
Sections can repeat seamlessly. A Phrase has a
length that can control when it starts over (we
talked about how this is different than a linear
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Song mode track). All the measures of the Phrase
are the same Tempo and the same Time
Signature (if you say, “Of course they are” – then
you must realize that in Song mode all the
measures of a Song do not have to be!!!) This
timing information, contained in the Phrase
header is necessary for the sequencer to repeat
the phrase in a timely fashion. You have 16
Tracks and each track can contain one Phrase per
Section. Each track of a Pattern Section can be a
different Length (and Time Signature) if you wish.
This means if you are doing dance music and need
a “four-on-the-floor” kick drum phrase, you only
need record it for a Length of 1 measure, 4/4 time
and that Phrase will repeat. More would be
wasteful. Against that you can play a 16-measure
bass line, a 12-measure guitar part, a 4-measure
snare drum part, an 8-measure hi-hat part, etc.,
etc. Then you can overdub a 56-measure synth
solo…hey it is up to you. If you want all phrases in
a Section to be the same length – well, of course,
you can do that. The Motif ES sequencer allows
for nested looping - tracks of various lengths –
this means your Sections do not have to sound
exactly the same every time, they can evolve.
Think outside the box! Because the Length of a
Phrase is stored in the Phrase Header (a special
location for all this data), you cannot simply
lengthen or shorten the Phrase. You can,
however, APPEND (add to) or SPLIT (divide)
Phrases as necessary with a PATTERN MODE JOB.
This affectively rewrites the phrase header
information.5
1, in Section A you could use R&B KIT1, and in
Section B automatically switch to Break Kit. Each
Phrase can automatically recall a different KIT –
simply select that kit prior to recording – and it
will be written to the Phrase header.
When set to OFF the TRACK VOICE applies – this
is the Voice you select on the MIXER. It will apply
to all Phrases placed on track 1. That is, Phrases
for all 16 Sections on track 1. Therefore, if I
wanted to change the kit to Break Kit for all
Sections, I would set the Phrase Voice to OFF and
navigate to the MIXING Voice select screen and
change the sound assigned to PART 1. Try it…
Once I make a change to the Mix view, I would
STORE the MIX. If you left the “PHRASE VOICE”
parameter ON for a track, you will notice that your
changing the MIXER is only temporary. When you
moved away from this Pattern Style can returned
later – the Voice will have mysteriously reverted
back to the original Voice you recorded it with.
Now you know why!
Additionally, Pattern Tracks default to memorizing
the sound that you used to record them. This is
an important function also stored in the Phrase
header, especially when you are recording audio
(sampling) to a track. This means that the
sequencer will always remember what sound was
used when you recorded the Phrase. This function
uses what is called TRACK VOICE/PHRASE VOICE.
Of course, if you change your mind about the
sound, you can change it. The TRACK VOICE
parameter can be set per track. From the main
PATTERN screen press F3 TRACK/ SF3 TR VCE.
Understanding: Track Voice / Phrase Voice
This PHRASE VOICE/TRACK VOICE function is
really necessary when you sample. Recording
audio to a track of the Motif ES is about creating a
user Sample Voice for each recording. These User
Sample Voices are created in a special Bank
MSB/LSB 63/50.
Each sample you do will increment to the next
Voice number (see screen above for the VOICE
NUM, BANK MSB, BANK LSB identifications).
Phrase Voice is what allows the Motif ES to keep
track of what sample Voice goes with what MIDI
trigger data. You see…you do not really record
audio to a track – that is just an expression. All
tracks of a sequencer always contain MIDI data –
think about it – you know that. On the track is a
MIDI note-on event that triggers playback of
Basically when set to ON the PHRASE VOICE
applies – the sound that is registered in the
current Phrase’s header. This means that on track
5
Alternatively, if you use the COPY EVENT Job you can
increase the length of a Phrase.
7
audio. The audio is contained in a Voice. The Motif
ES’ - ISS (Integrated Sampling Sequencer) can
automatically place the MIDI note-on trigger
events when you sample. The “Sample+Note” and
“Slice+Seq” sampling types automatically create
the note-on data based on either when you trigger
sampling or by punch in/out points or by
analyzing where the slice segments occur to a
resolution of 480 pulse-per-quarter note. The
note-on data is precisely timed to trigger the
playback of the audio perfectly. It is the Track
Voice/Phrase Voice function that allows this to
work – as it always keeps track of what sample
data goes with what MIDI data (what Voice goes
with what Phrase) – it’s a no-brainer. Without it,
you might record yourself singing on Track 1 of
Section A, using the Sample+Note sampling type.
This would create a note-on to trigger the
playback of you singing the Verse in Section A.
You are happy with your performance and the
sequencer has automatically created a User
Sample Voice (63/50 location 1) for this sample of
the Verse. You then call up SECTION B, which you
want to be the Chorus. Of course, you are setup
to record on track 1. You go ahead and record
yourself singing on track 1 Section B. Without the
PHRASE VOICE parameter being ON, then User
Sample Voice 63/50 location 1 would apply and
you would hear the Verse instead of the Chorus
you just sang. However, if Phrase Voice is set to
ON, the ISS will automatically place a marker in
the Phrase header reminding it to recall USER
Sample Voice 63/50 location 2 anytime this
Phrase is recalled. Smooth! Even if you activate
this Phrase in another Section – perhaps by the
time you get to Section K, you realize that the
vocal should be exactly the same over a slightly
different music bed, you can activate this user
Phrase number in Section K using the Pattern
mode’s PATCH function. It will automatically recall
the correct sample with the Phrase, automatically,
no matter what track or Section you recall it in.
Very Smooth!!
Phil Clendeninn
Senior Product Specialist
Technology Products
©Yamaha Corporation of America
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