Re: [MoAccess] MoAccess, was Sonar, Motif XS, and MIDI

  • From: "Jose Abreu" <jose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 20:50:20 -0600

Well, actually, I'm not having that problem anymore cause I'll just not use
track one in Sonar.  I love the Motif XS.  When the ES came out, I learned
it was much more accessible than the Korg boards, but, to be honest, I was
not sold on the sounds.  For Latin sequences, I still very much preferred
the Korg sounds on the Karma.  However, that is no longer true with the
release of the XS.  The XS blows Korg out of the water, and out of my band
and my studio for good.

A huge thanks to those of you who came before me, and are opening the way.
Special mention to Damon for sharing his knowledge directly with me, and,
patiently, answering some of my idiotic questions, like how to load a sound
file.  I will try to help out when I can as I am now fully sold on the XS
and will put a lot of time into it.  I'll try to put together some other
notes like the file mode notes I sent recently.

Jose

-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Bryan Smart
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:21 PM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [MoAccess] MoAccess, was Sonar, Motif XS, and MIDI

Sorry that you're having problems. There are many settings to work out,
for sure.

Very soon, I will be releasing a complete setup package for using the
Motif with Sonar, both for basic MIDI sequencing for those of you that
have USB connections, as well as a fully integrated all-digital
multi-bus setup for those of you that have mLAN.

I know that the Motif has been out for almost two years now, and, for a
while, it has seemed like the ES is the board with superior
accessibility. This is because a lot of the XS benefits have been slow
in coming due to the many pieces that have been involved, and the
nothing that myself and those that have helped me make for doing all of
this work to simplify the process for those of you that aren't so techy.

Before anything could be done, we needed good access to many Motif XS
capabilities. We needed good documentation on the Motif XS, and how to
get around its control panels. We needed to get a good stable PC-based
editor for allowing us to remote control many of its functions
(including the Jaws scripts). We needed Yamaha to make some basic
changes in the firmware that have gradually made these other goals
possible (fixing bugs that prevented editor functions from working,
adding keyboard support so that we can actually type filenames when
saving, etc).

To use the Motif XS as part of a larger accessible studio on a PC, we
needed to accomplish other goals. The mLAN drivers didn't work so well
with Sonar in the early days, and we had to wait for those problems to
be sorted out. Of course, the editors are a big part of working in
Sonar, since they control the Motif mixing functions. Also,
accessibility in Sonar itself has come quite a long way in the last two
years, particularly with the enhancements to CakeTalking. Sonar 8, with
its features, external inserts in particular, will make working with the
Motif XS a lot like using a softsynth. You Sonar users will be able to
sequence in Sonar and have your creations rendered from start to finish
in complete digital form without having to manually record in track
after track of sequenced MIDI data from the Motif to audio tracks.

Many advanced users have put their toes in to some of these areas, some
trying mLAN, others using the editors. However, I don't know any blind
people that are using the full system as intended. Even those that are
trail blazers must put up with lots of configuration headaches together
with trial and error. That will change very soon. We are reaching the
point where the pieces are finally coming together.

When I started out creating electronic music 15 years ago, I didn't know
other blind people that were doing what I was doing. I bought a lot of
crap gear, memorized many screens, and frustrated myself beyond
description. The only good thing that came of all that is that I learned
these techniques for memorizing gear and, of course, got my MIDI-knight
black belt. My intension from the beginning with MoAccess has been to
make the Motif for all of you, what it has been for me, a wonderful
instrument that helped me create music instead of mess with lots of
equipment. I think that this is particularly important for blind people,
since, not only do most of us have no idea what the cryptic
configuration options mean, but we have the added disadvantage that we
are unable to see the screens on the gear to read the cryptic
configuration options.

Hopefully, the Motif XS can replace the old Kurzweils in peoples' minds
as the accessible workstation. It already has been, but most people just
don't understand it yet.

Anyway, when is the question. The answer is 1-2 weeks. I'm going to CSUN
this year, and I'd like to be able to talk this stuff up when I'm there.
I really hope that Yamaha releases their drum voices by then, as I'd
like to include them in some all files that I've built, but that part is
completely out of my control. Still, it is a small little piece.

Bryan

-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jose Abreu
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:31 PM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

Well, I solved my problem, but there's still an academic question out
there.
I moved the piano in track 1 of Sonar to another track, 13, and assigned
it
to midi channel 1.  It now responds to the volume control.  So, the
problem
is not on midi channel 1, but rather on Sonar's track 1.  At this point
it's
academic, I will just not use track 1, but I do still wonder why this
is.

Jose


-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Bryan Smart
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:26 AM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

Cable from computer to keyboard. Must first download Yamaha Universal
MIDI driver from YamahaSynth.com, but is easy setup.

mLAN does the same thing over a Firewire cable, but also provides 11
stereo (or 22 mono) channels of digital I/O for routing audio in to, or
out of, DAW apps like Sonar.

Bryan

Bryan

-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jose
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:55 AM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

So, to use the USB connection instead of midi, I can just connect a
cable
from the computer to the keyboard, or do I need the optional lan
adaptor?

Jose

-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Goldfingas
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:49 AM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

With USB, you are abler to do more than just midi, you can also use the
remote functions and coming soon, even more. I think there are 3 ports
that
the USB uses... I forget what they all do though. I know that a is midi,
one
is remote, and I forget what that other is at the moment. Maybe Smart
can
chime in here and back me up?

-----Original Message-----
From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Omar Binno
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 1:02 PM
To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

I was wrong then about the insertion fx. I do remember though that it
was
discussed on here a while ago how USB connection has advantages over
MIDI.
Yes, no?
 
 
Omar Binno
 
AIM: LOD1116
Skype: obinno1
Website: www.omarbinno.com

        ----- Original Message ----- 
        From: Bryan Smart <mailto:bryansmart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
        To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
        Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 12:24 PM
        Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.


        Really? I'm not sure how this can be. MIDI doesn't have anything
to
do with if the Motif uses its insert effects processors or not, as far
as I
know.

         

        Bryan

         

        From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Omar Binno
        Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 9:08 AM
        To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

         

        When you use the motif via midi through sonar, you lose the
insertion fx that you have on the first 8 tracks of a project. If you
use it
through USB, you can get those fx and it sounds alot nicer. I'm not sure
if
that would fix the problem you're currently having, but just thought i'd
pass that bit of info along.

         

         

        Omar Binno

         

        AIM: LOD1116
        Skype: obinno1
        Website: www.omarbinno.com

                ----- Original Message ----- 

                From: Jose <mailto:Jose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  

                To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

                Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 9:03 AM

                Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

                 

                There's no real reason, except this is the set up I've
had
for a while.  I only use the connection to create sequences in Sonar
using
the XS, and to record sequences from sonar into the XS using the record
all
tracks function.  I only change my set up once every 5 or so years.
Once
I'm confortable with a set up, I don't like to change it, even if it's,
potentially, for the better.  For example, I still use a Layla20 sound
card.
It records at a lower resolution than many more modern cards, like the
Layla24, and a more recent Echoaudio card called Audiofire.  However,
this
set up works fine for me, and I don't spend have of my studio time
fixing
connection problems.  I do have a p4 computer, not a comodor64!
However, I
don't have a dual or quad core computer cause, once again, mine works
fine.

                 

                Jose

                 

                From: moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:moaccess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Omar Binno
                Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 8:43 AM
                To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
                Subject: Re: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

                 

                I'm just curious: why are you connecting your motif via
Midi
rather than USB?

                 

                 

                Omar Binno

                 

                AIM: LOD1116
                Skype: obinno1
                Website: www.omarbinno.com

                        ----- Original Message ----- 

                        From: Jose <mailto:Jose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  

                        To: MoAccess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

                        Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 8:23 AM

                        Subject: [MoAccess] Sonar, Motif XS, and midi.

                         

                        Why doesn't my XS listen to the Sonar volume
setting
on midi channel 1?  I
                        have my XS connected to my computer via midi
through
my Layla sound card.
                        In song mode, the volume on channel 1 is always
at
the highest level (127).
                        It won't change.  The volume for all of the
other
channels change as I
                        adjust them in Sonar.  I use Sonar 2.2.  Yes,
that's
right, 2.2.  It works
                        fine for me.  I have dealt with this in the past
by
simply setting the
                        keyboard not to receive control data, and
creating
templates on the keyboard
                        with the settings I want.  However, I'm curious
to
know why this is
                        happening.  I remember it also happening with my
Yamaha S80.  I dealt with
                        the problem the same way.  I don't think it
happens
with the Karma, but I
                        don't remember because, with the Karma, I always
disabled control data
                        without even checking if this was a problem.
Thanks.
                        
                        Jose.
                        
                        
                        For links to all Motif info for blind owners,
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For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list,
visit
www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.


For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list,
visit www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.

For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list,
visit
www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.



For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list,
visit www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.

For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list, visit
www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.



For links to all Motif info for blind owners, visit www.MoAccess.info.
To change your list options and view archives for the MoAccess list, visit 
www.freelists.org/list/moaccess.

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