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#168162 - 02/07/03 08:47 AM VL synthesis and plug ins and s-yxg100
Bluezplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/10/00
Posts: 2195
Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
I had considered purchasing the VL150 plug in for the Motif. For those who may not know what VL synthesis is, it's Yamaha's version of physical modeling synthesis, a process that is supposed to allow the user to create certain acoustic instrument parameters ( wind /breathe control, string plucks, etc etc ) that model the real thing.

Before making the commitment to purchase the VL150 I decided to give it a test run on the s-yxg100 demo download available from Yamaha.


What I can say is that the s-yxg board software is pretty decent in itself. I gave it a test run with XG works by using it with some of the 740 / 2000 styles I have. It plays pretty well and with a little xg editing and tweaking it pretty much sounds like I have the PSR740 or 2000 inside of my computer. For that value alone, I may consider purchasing the software. I guess with a program like live styler or RSP one could even perform live with a setup of the s-yxg100 and a laptop. It wouldn;t be my first my choice , but it appears doable.

Now for the not so good news. Ok... the sax stuff and a few of the other sounds can be made to be pretty realistic with the VK plug in. It also allows for virtual guitars. There is a lot of detail that can be controlled.. but... it's monophonic. How exactly am I supposed to imitate an acoustic guitar that way ? As had Terry pointed out in an earlier discussion, this makes it impossible to slur notes even on the very nice sax and horn patches.

It's too bad, because Yamaha had something potentially pretty good here. I am leaning toward purchasing the s-yxg100 in spite of the limitations of the VL synthesis instead of purchasing the VL and XG expansion boards for my Motif. At 80 USd, ( vs about 400 for the two exp boards ) it probably gives me most of what I wanted from those two expansion boards anyway, except for the add on polyphony to the Motif itself ( although I'll gain it back inside of the computer which is where I do all of my recording anyway ).

AJ




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 02-07-2003).]
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#168163 - 02/07/03 09:37 AM Re: VL synthesis and plug ins and s-yxg100
The Pro Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 1087
Loc: Atlanta, Georgia
The manual that comes with the VL PLG board goes into great detail to explain the benefits of the board for wind controller users. Apparently there is many different effects they can achieve with it and that's what it was designed for.
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#168164 - 02/07/03 07:09 PM Re: VL synthesis and plug ins and s-yxg100
trtjazz Offline
Member

Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 2683
They could have given it 2/3 note polyphony and give it far more versatility for me. Not everyone who use the board uses a breath controller. If that was their sole intent, I think a bit myopic. I've never played any of my guitars with my lips.

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 02-07-2003).]
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jam on,
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http://www.artisans-world.com/

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#168165 - 02/07/03 08:48 PM Re: VL synthesis and plug ins and s-yxg100
Bluezplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/10/00
Posts: 2195
Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
You are correct Frank. By default the latency is set to approximately 400 ms, much the same as the VSC88 vst plug in I have. I can however, set up the S-YXG100 to almost minimal latency and it responds with no ill effects or distortion at 64 notes polyphony on my very modest 800 mhz P-III computer through the SB live card with updated drivers, so I would guess that it could be done on most any computer with more power than mine. I tried the same with vsc88 and had all sorts of breakup / distortion problems.

Pro, yes there are many effects and after playing with this thing for a few days it does allow you to setup several parameters in the voices for a pretty realistic sound, but the 1 note polyphony kinda kills it in a way too. Yes it will sort of work out ok with a wind contrioller, but guitar synthesis / emulation is unrealistic with the plug in.

It's unfortunate because there are several controllable parameters to aid in guitar emulation, including selection of single coil and humbucking pick ups. Still, I think the software will be useful for me and I'm likely going to purchase it. there are other paramteters that alow for nice synth editing of non acoustic voices available and these will work nicely for mono synth leads. I intend to use a wind controller as opposed to am breathe controller for the reed / horn emulations. I have it and the VL plug in board on order, but I am going to cancel the order for the VL board since my dealer won't have it for at least 4 more weeks anyway.

AJ
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#168166 - 02/08/03 06:25 AM Re: VL synthesis and plug ins and s-yxg100
Bluezplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/10/00
Posts: 2195
Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
Perhaps the control was added in the latest version ? I haven't tried layering sounds with it yet but that's a good point Frank.

That's something we don't talk about all that much but a very key aspect for me when trying to create sounds in general and is why I like having samplers and other modules. On the PA80 for example, some of the stock sounds are very good but can be a bit thin, but layering them with other PA80 sounds / samples or external samples really brings them to life.

AJ
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