Quote:
Originally posted by keybplayer:
Nick G. has a similar view about the XF that I had. I played an XF8 a while back and I thought it was a step up from the XS sound wise as well. Out of the box the XF really shines but I do have a few issues with it not the least is the smaller, lower resolution LCD screen than my huge, higher resolution Roland Fantom G7 has. I noticed also in low light it is difficult to gauge and read the panel buttons etc., that are on the Motif XF which could possibly interfere and hinder a live performance where low lighting is used. Kudos to Yamaha for giving the XF a large Flash RAM capability for storing samples and I assume other types of files. It is funny though that Yamaha doesn't list the XF specs on their site yet. Will they ever?? The XF is already on store shelves and Yamaha.com doesn't have specs listed for the XF yet??? Whoever runs their website should get with it and post them asap. First it was Yamaha not posting the WAV ROM amounts for the Tyros 2/3, etc. and now they don't post anything at all for the Motif XF [b]OR the Tyros4?? Bizarre to say the least. Yamaha must feel entitled to do whatever they want since they're the big cheese in the keyboard arena. It must be nice being able to keep your customers and/or potential customers in the dark I guess... right Yammie?

All the best,
Mike [/B]


Hi Mike,

I think you haven't seen Yamahasynth.com before? specs and WAV rom are listed here about the XF http://www.yamahasynth.com/products/synthesizers/motif_xf/#specification-anchor

So obviously the Motif is NOT an arranger. BUT you can make it kinda close in some ways.
In the performance mode you have 5 variations of the performance that are all fully configurable.
you can switch between the 5 variations in realtime or by measure.

What this means is you can make 1 or 2 or more of the variations very short so they act as fill ins and you can set thats variations to "Realtime" so when you press the variation button it will INSTANTLY go into a fill. OR if it is configured to be my "Measure" it will change to the fill in timing at the next bar.

I have made some performances VERY close to some styles that are on the Tryos BUT you are limited to only 4 tracks.

Now in each track you have 8 elements. so we can technically have 8 x 4 WAV samples playing simultaneously.
its completely configurable.

generally you have Track 1 as the drum kit, track 2 as a bass, track 3 as a combination of pad, synth noises, loops, whatever you want, and then track 4 as your right hand playing voice.

using the AF1 and AF2 buttons you can allow certain elements to cut in and out in realtime so this gives you alot more granularity as well. The control surface with the 8 sliders and knobs can also make your 4 tracks variate in MANY ways. even though YES I would kill to have at least 2 more tracks in the performance mode, there is still ALOT you can surprisingly do with 4 tracks playing simultaneously.

One thing I have noticed that no other brand has (maybe korg but prove me wrong), is that some arpeggios have full chord recognition and some do not.

For example a looping 4/4 bass guitar arpeggio can recognize the chord you are playing on the keyboard in any octave section. so what this means is you can play full 3 or more finger chords on the left hand triggering off pads and other channels but the bass line will play in the chord the keyboard recognizes.

SOME other arpeggios are triggered just by a single note and can muffle if you hit a 3 notes in one go.
There is a lot of granularity and personal customization on this machine, alot more than most arranger players may think or know.

hope this helps...

Nick

Nick
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Roland G70 / Roland BK9 / Roland GW8-L / Yamaha Motif XS / Technics KN6500