yPOWER USER

Motif Music Production andPerformance

Working with theMotif Arpeggiator

Phil ClendeninnDigital Products Support Group

©Yamaha Corporation of America

Topics: demystifying “some” of the Dark Art of ArpeggiosRecording the Motif Arpeggiator to an external sequencerRecording the Motif Arpeggiator to the Motif sequencerArpeggios in Voice, Performance and Song/Pattern modesFixed Note Mode arpeggios: Drum Grooves as arpeggiosRecording a Performance with a “DR” arpeggio to a Song/Pattern Controller arpeggios explained

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Working with the MOTIF Arpeggiatorand an external sequencer

We receive many queries about how torecord the MOTIF arpeggiator. While thismay seem a simple thing at first, it hasstumped many a MIDI user. There areseveral things to understand about theMOTIF arpeggiator before you attempt torecord it to an external sequencer.

• The arpeggiator is a device that cantypically take your sustaining note-onsand turn them into a running scale ora complex pattern of notes.1 This isreferred to as a “SQ” or sequencetype. Let’s start with this type.

• There are two things going on here:the sustaining note-ons themselvesand the resulting arpeggio notes. Theyare separate and you can treatseparately when transmitting toexternal gear. You can transmit eachon a separate channel to yoursequencer.

• The arpeggiator is located directlybetween the MOTIF keyboard and theMOTIF tone generator. And LOCALmust be ON in order for the MOTIF tosend notes to the tone generator thenout via MIDI.

In other words, let’s say you have a basicup&down pattern for the arpeggiator. Youpress and hold a Cmajor triad for 4 beats.You have the C – E – G arriving,simultaneously, at the sequencer, assustaining whole notes. Of course, thesenote-ons go out via MIDI - they are thenotes you actually fingered. But also thereare the individual notes played one afterthe other (the arpeggio). Recognize thatalthough you do not hear the sustainingwhole notes when the arpeggio is active,they are note-ons and your externalsequencer will ‘see’ and record them. Youcan choose to transmit (record) thesenote-ons or not, along with thearpeggiated notes, if you follow thefollowing tips.

1 The Motif arpeggiator is capable of sending inFIXED NOTE mode (where it plays back exactlythe notes programmed in regardless of thenotes fingered – “DR” Drums) and it has a modewhere it does not have note data at all. It sendsController data, like PB, MW, Effects Send, Pan,Filter Cutoff and Resonance (CT = Controller).Of course, there are arpeggio Phrases (PH).

In the MOTIF you have a main TransmitChannel found in UTILITY/ F5 MIDI/SF1 CH. The main Transmit Channel is theMIDI channel that will be transmitted bythe Motif when you are in Voice mode orPerformance mode.2 Motif provides aseparate transmit channel for thearpeggiator from Voice mode. ARP CH(Arpeggio transmit out channel) parameterfound at UTILITY/ F3 VOICE/ SF2 ARPCH. This determines the transmit channelfor the results (output) of the arpeggiowhile in Voice mode.3

While the ARP transmit channel isset globally for Voice mode, eachPerformance is its own world. Thearpeggiator or ARP Channel is setindependently for each Performance.Whether in Voice mode or Performancemode the OUTPUT SWITCH parametermust be turned ON in order for the Motif totransmit the resulting data from thearpeggiator to your external device.

If you do not have the arpeggiatorOUTPUT SWITCH ON you will not betransmitting the arpeggio notes you wantout via MIDI (only the regular note-ons -the sustained notes will be sent) via themain transmit channel – naturally, that ishow it defaults. But if you want to recordthe results (output) of the arpeggio to yourexternal sequencer – simply turn theOUTPUT SWITCH ON for the mode you arein and direct it to the MIDI channel youwish.

If you do not want to record thesustaining note-ons to your externalsequencer while in Voice or Performance,you should actually turn OFF the mainTransmit Channel (in UTILITY mode). Themain Transmit channel is responsible forthe notes you actually finger.

The Arpeggiator Output Switch andChannel settings are found in aPerformance: Press EDIT/ COMMON/ F3ARP/ SF4 Out Ch

If you want to record the sustainednotes, as well, you can actually transmitthem on another MIDI channel. Set theMain MIDI Transmit channel to 1 and theARP CH to 2, for example. Place bothchannels in record in your sequencer.

2 When MASTER mode is activated, then you aretransmitting on the channels programmed in theMaster setup, overriding the main Transmit CH.3 If you do not see VOICE as the choice over F3it means you did not enter UTILITY from VOICEmode.

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The one other mode you can use thearpeggiator is SONG/PATTERN. When youare in a Song MIX or Pattern MIX you aretransmitting out via MIDI based on thetrack you have selected and its MIDIchannel assignment. The arpeggiator,which is setup in MIXING/ EDIT/COMMON/ F3 ARP/ SF1-SF4, will allowyou to play your “note-ons” on one MIDIchannel and transmit the results of thearpeggio on another. Each MIX will have anOutput Switch and Arpeggio Channelparameter. When you are working in a MIXyou can additionally have an internal MotifPART respond to the results of thearpeggio. This individual PART switch forthe arpeggiator is found in MIXING/EDIT/ Touch a TRACK [1]-[16]/ F1VOICE/ SF2 Mode

• If you are working in Performancemode you can apply the arpeggiator toup to 4 internal Parts. From the mainPerformance screen press F6 ARP. Hereyou can set which Parts respond to theselected arpeggio pattern, whichpattern, set a velocity range that willstart the arpeggio, etc. You can have aPerformance that layers a Piano andstrings, for example, where the stringssustain and the Piano is arpeggiated.Or you can have all the parts in thePerformance dancing to the samearpeggio.

• If you are working in Voice mode youset ARP OUT to ON, set an ARP MIDICHANNEL and every Voice will respondto the global Voice arpeggio settings.

• If you are working in a MIX (Song orPattern) you can apply the arpeggiatorto a single internal Part.

The other very important thing tounderstand about an arpeggiator. It isphysically located between the keyboardand the MOTIF tone generator. The keysyou press go to the arpeggiator beforethey hit the tone generator - logical andsimple enough. LOCAL OFF disconnects theMOTIF keyboard from the MOTIFarpeggiator and tone generator.

Most users who use an externalMIDI sequencer operate the MOTIF withLOCAL OFF and they echo back (THRU) thenotes from the sequencer back to thekeyboard. This will not work when youwant to record the arpeggio out via MIDI,because of the signal routing. Therefore,when you want to setup to record the

output of the arpeggiator - set theparameters as mentioned above, makesure that LOCAL is ON in [UTILITY] Modeand that you are not echoing notes back tothe MOTIF from your sequencer. You mayneed to refer to the instructions of yoursequencer to make sure that notes are notechoing back to the MOTIF.

When you finish recording yourarpeggios you can go back to using LOCALOFF and echoing back the signal to theMOTIF. (Create a separate setup forrecording arpeggios and one for normalrecording…most sequencers will let you).

Warning - Remember to turn theARPEGGIATOR OFF when you playback theresults from the external sequencer, otherwiseyou will be arpeggiating the arpeggio.

You can work out the sync issues bysetting the external sequencer to eitherMASTER or SLAVE clock, depending on howyou wish to work. If you make yourexternal sequencer MASTER clock then youmust set the MOTIF SYNC to MIDI clock.This is set in [UTILITY]/ F5 MIDI/ SF3Sync. If all this is too complicated you canuse my favorite method outlined below.

A much simpler methodSince the Motif has a special function thatmakes it extremely easy to recordarpeggios to its internal sequencer. Simplyrecord the arpeggio you want to the Motifinternal sequencer, then setup to transferit real time to your external sequencer. Torecord the Motif arpeggiator to a Motiftrack:Press the REC button to enter REC stand-bySetup to record via the Function buttons• F1 Setup – Select Record type Overdub

or Replace; set Quantize to OFF; SelectRecord track; etc.

• F2 Voice - Select VOICE; Make basicsetting

• F3 ARP – Set up the Arpeggio pattern;Switch = ON; HOLD = yourpreference; Part Switch = ON

• F4 ARP (icon) – When the little eighthnote icon appears the track is armed torecord the “results of the arpeggio”.Not your note-ons just the results ofthe arpeggiator.

• Press PLAY and go for as manymeasures as you need the arpeggiopattern.

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• When finished press STOP and turnOFF the ARP ON/OFF LED beforeplaying back.

Link your Motif to your external sequencer,set MIDI clock master/slave as appropriateand transfer.

More Magic with ArpeggiosHow’d they make those DRUM patternarpeggios and how do I create my ownarpeggio drum patterns?

The coolest thing about the arpeggio drumpatterns is that you can use them in aPerformance like Procession and RStreet. Ifyou ever played these and wanted tocreate your own drum groove for thefactory Performances…read on.

The thing to know about theseDRUM ARPEGGIOS is they use what iscalled a “FIXED NOTE MODE” rather thanthe cascading cycle of notes.4 Fixed NoteMode means that the arpeggio will playexactly the notes input, as input and it willdo this regardless of the notes you play ontop.

Let’s create a drum pattern for useas an arpeggio. The job that converts datato the arpeggio is found in SONG mode.You can create your drum groove directlyin Song mode or you can use PATTERNmode if that is more familiar andcomfortable for you. You will simplytransfer the groove to Song mode whenyou are satisfied with it.

SONG Mode: • Select a blank Song. • Select track 1. • Press REC to go to standby. • F1 SETUP - Select the Record type =

Overdub; Quantize; Time Signature; Tempoas necessary.

• F2 VOICE – Select the Drum Voice useCategory Search for quick selection.

• Press PLAY and record your pattern

If in PATTERN Mode• Select a blank Pattern. • Select track 1. • Press REC to go to standby. • F1 SETUP - Select the Record type =

Overdub; Quantize; Time Signature; Tempoas necessary.

• F2 VOICE – Select the Drum Voice useCategory Search for quick selection.

4 The Motif arpeggiator is also, as we’ll learnnext, capable of creating control data arpeggios,as well.

• Press PLAY and record your pattern• When finished transfer the results to a blank

song using the PUT PHRASE JOB.• Press JOB/ F4 Phrase/ cursor down to

Job 7 “PUT PHRASE TO SONG”• Setup dialog box and press ENTER and

YES to execute.

Now that we have our drum pattern inSONG mode we are ready to create thearpeggio pattern. From the SONG modescreen:• Press JOB/ F5 TRACK• Cursor down to JOB 7 “PUT PHRASE TO

ARP”• Set the Source: Track 1 • Set the Measures: 001-004 for a 4

measure drum pattern.• Set Destination ARP…there are 128

user locations.• The Track parameter in the lower right

corner refers to the 4 tracks in thearpeggiator5

• Press ENTER and YES to execute.• You can now assign this arpeggio pattern

just like any of the other.

Go to RStreet and replace the arpeggio inthat Performance with yours, which shouldnow be in the USER 001 location.

Press Performance and select Performance003 RStreet. Press F6 ARP and change theBANK to USER and dial up USER 001. Setthe tempo to your liking. Press F3 andselect the drum kit you like. Notice thatyou inherited the delay effect and drum kitfrom the Performance but it is quick andeasy to make changes to your liking.

How do I record a Performance to aSONG or PATTERN?This is the next logical question. Theanswer, like all things that have to do withthe arpeggiator, may be a mystery, atfirst. We all ready know enough aboutarpeggiators to figure this out. Here arethe clues:In an earlier section of this article welearned that there are two important partsto the arpeggio; the actual notes that youplay and the results of the arpeggio. Wesomehow automatically ignore the fact thatthe notes that we play and hold are notheard directly…you hear the pattern thatthey cause. And we learned that these two

5 Of course these are not normal tracks (what isnormal about an arpeggiator?). In a laterexperiment we will discover these tracks.

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different types of events can betransmitted on separate MIDI channels.

From this we should now realizethat when you record into the Motifsequencer any arpeggio data by armingthe ARP function while the ARP is ON, thiswill result in recording only the output ofthe arpeggiator and not the sustainingnote-on data. Therefore when we attemptto record our new RStreet Performance itwill actually take two passes to do it. Onthe first pass we will record the drumgroove arpeggio and on the next we willrecord you playing on top of the groove.

When recording a Performance with a drumarpeggio in it, use the PF COPY function tomove the Performance to the SONG orPATTERN MIX. This assigns all parts toMIDI channel 1 of your MIX (the basicReceive Channel as set in UTILITY). • Press MIXING/ JOB/ F5 PF COPY

When you are set to record make sure youhave the REC arpeggio function ON. Youcan find this when you press REC, the F4button says ARP with a little eighth notesymbol, if it is not there press F4 once sothat it appears. This will prepare to recordthe drum groove (arpeggio) into yourSONG or PATTERN. You can play alongwhile it records but we will not berecording what you play on this pass...weare just recording the arpeggio (drums).Remember the Arpeggio Record functiononly records the output of the arpeggiatornot what you play. And since our Drumarpeggio is in FIXED NOTE MODE, we knowexactly what it will record…just the drumgroove.

Perf 003: RStreet. This Performance hasour new DRUMS arpeggio in Part 1, a leadsound called "Hip Voice" at the top of thekeyboard in Part 2, Bass in Part 3 and aRhodes in Part 4.

When you have completed the recording ofthe first pass, turn the ARP ON/OFF buttonto OFF and make the following edits toyour MIXING setup before you play itback:

• Press MIXING• Press EDIT• Press TRACK 1 to see the individual MIXING

PARTS• Select F1 VOICE/ SF2 MODE

• Set Part 2, 3 and 4 each to MIDI channel 2.• This will leave the drums to playback the

data on track 1.• Select TRACK 2. When you now play on

track 2 you will hear the bass in the lefthand, the Rhodes in the middle and thatlead sound at the top. All three parts can beplayed live (when you select Track 2).

Now record yourself jamming over thedrums again. It should feel exactly thesame, only this time we are actuallyrecording your note-on data to track 2(which will trigger parts 2, 3 and 4)

ARPEGGIO RECORD HINT: When settingup to record an arpeggio into a PATTERN,it is best to set the LOOP function OFF forRECORD mode. From REC Standby setLOOP to OFF. This will stop recording atthe end of the Pattern length so you do notrecord on top of yourself as it cycles.

STILL OTHER TYPES OF ARPEGGIOSOne of the most intriguing types ofarpeggios are the CT or CONTROLLER typearpeggios. Instead of note data, or fixednote data, this type is simply controllerdata. Now this is fun. See if your brain canfollow this scenario. Call up the soundcalled “Co: WEIRD SCAR” User 030 (B14).This Voice has a CT type arpeggio. That isdoing the rhythmic filter chops. It iscontroller 74 Filter Cutoff (or Brightness)that is being altered by the arpeggio. Youcan defeat its contribution by turning theARP switch OFF, temporarily.

From the main Voice screen press F6ARP. Here we learn that the arpeggioassigned is Pre1 “CT: Gate Cut B”. Tempois 120bpm. Now to learn more about thistype of “controller data” arpeggio, let’s tryand record this Voice with its arpeggioactive. Go to a PATTERN, set the length towhatever you require and set up to recordthe arpeggio as per usual.

• Press REC to enter record standby• F1 SETUP

• Make RECORD TYPE = OVERDUB • Set LOOP to OFF• Set Quantize to OFF• Set tempo to 120bpm

• F2 VOICE – Use Category Search to findCombination sound/ “Seq” sub-categoryWeird Scar.

• F3 ARP – Use this screen to set the arpeggioto Pre1 CT: Gate Cut B (it’s the next to thelast one in Preset 1)• Turn Switch = ON• Hold = ON

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• Part Switch = ON

When you turn the Part Switch ON thesound disappears…what’s up with that?You will not hear anything, quite naturally,because what does controller 74 sound likeby itself? ...nothing. (Remember we arehearing just the results of the arpeggio,not the note-ons. With the PART SWITCHON, record the 'silent' arpeggio. Press Playand touch a note (we have HOLD ON sothe action will continue without us havingto hold down a note. So let's say you need4 measures of filter chop...record 4measures of the 'silent arpeggio'. Whenyou have finished. Go back and if you viewthe track in Event Edit you will seecontroller 74 throughout. Turn OFF the ARPswitch. Place the sequencer in OVERDUB(very important) because you will beadding note data this time. Now play thesound, like you know it can sound. Yourcontroller data (the filter sweep) willalready be on the track and now you areadding (overdubbing) the note data. It willfeel exactly the same as if you wererecording it all at once.

What is going on?Recording and playing Arpeggios isdifferent than recording and playingnormally. Consider this: when you arerecording a so-called 'regular' up & downtype arpeggio, actually you only record theresult (or output) of the arpeggiator. Youdo not hear your actual note-ons (your keypresses and held notes)…those are ignoredby the recording track - otherwise theywould be droning in the backgroundconstantly. Same thing is happening herewith Controller-type arpeggios. On the firstpass, you record just the output of thearpeggiator – the control data-, not yournote-ons (key presses). On the secondpass overdub your note-ons normally. Thistime we can record the note-on data to thesame track because it will not interfere asit would in our Performance example.

To fully understand this call up the VOICECo: Weird Scar and go to EDIT/ COMMON/F3 ARP/ SF1 TYPE. Here you will also seethat the KEY MODE is set to “DIRECT”meaning it will playback the controller dataand apply it to the notes you hold down.See the manual pages 132-133 for detailson the different Key Modes of thearpeggiator.

RECORD YOUR OWN CONTROLLERARPEGGIOYou can record your own controlarpeggios...here's how:

• Go to a blank Song. • Use the KNOB CONTROL FUNCTION buttons

to select CUT and REZ on knobs A and B• Go into record and record yourself moving

the Cutoff and Resonance knobs to createyour pattern. You can hold notes (it won'tmatter for this arpeggio type).

• When you have recorded the sweep motionyou like, press JOB. Song JOB 7 under theF5 TRACK heading is called “PUT PHRASETO ARP”. It will take your controller dataand make an arpeggio out of it.

You can store it in one of 128 UserARPEGGIO positions. Now you can apply itlike any other arpeggio.

• Go to the Voice you want use it on.• Press EDIT/ COMMON/ F3 Arp/ SF1 Type• Apply your USER ARP and make sure you

set KEY MODE to DIRECT.Store your work... You can record 4 tracks of data. You cango back and record yourself PANNINGusing the KNOB CONTROL FUNCTION setto PAN. When you go to the PUT PHRASETO ARP job notice that after you set thetarget USER ARP you can select one of fourdestination tracks. You can "PUT" your PANdata on to track 2. Go back record PitchBend and "PUT" it to track 3. Recordreverb send level and "PUT" it to track 4.

In the future you may see anArpeggio Editor which will let you get atmore of the ‘hidden’ features of themysterious art of arpeggiating. Currentlythe four tracks have limited use.

Phil ClendeninnDigital Product Support GroupPro Audio and Combo Division

©Yamaha Corporation of America