[Note: this article is a bit long, and I only provide the gritty pre-XS details for the legions of people who are pondering the switch from workstation/drum machine-based composition to software-based composition,.and vice versa]I finally picked up a Motif XS. I put this "upgrade" off for a while for a number of reasons, but most importantly because--in my opinion--the XS seemed more like an ES in a new dress than a bonafide new Motif model. Hence, I couldn't justify the expense in my mind, and my disappointment with the XS's poor LCD screen implementation (more on this below) made the decision to hold off pretty easy. This review covers my road to the XS, and my assessment of it as the centerpiece of my studio now.
Back to Windows & Cubase
In August 07, we bought a new place, and with our new place came--finally--a dedicated room for my studio. And with the new studio room came the desire to finally get everything into a central location (as in: a place to compose AND mix AND master). Unfortunately, I didn't have room on my new studio desk for my ES, so I decided to give computer sequencing another attempt. I thought maybe, just maybe, technology was now advanced enough to provide a stable platform for all things composition.
So I loaded up my very capable Core 2 Duo machine with Vista, Cubase 4, Ableton Live 7 (huge thanks to David Cross at Ableton), PSP Audio plugins (huge thanks to the good folks at PSP Audioware), Arturia plugins (huge thanks to my friends at Arturia), and put my Axiom 49 midi-only keyboard on my desk.. and my Motif ES to the side (gulp!). Lo and behold, the computer was up to the task. In short, Ableton Live has been amazing; in fact, in no time flat I was piecing together songs in Live almost as quickly as I can in my Motif (which is a feat). Live 7 is a thing to behold for beat-based musicians. Look for my Ableton Live book "Ableton Live for the Rest of Us" coming out this fall. I also found that my Arturia Prophet and PSP plug-ins worked very well with Live. Arturia's products are second to none, and PSP's sound processing software (namely Vintage Warmer 2 and Compressor) are out of this world for adding "fatness" (width, warmth, etc) to your mix and keeping those peaks tamed.
After a lot of success with both Ableton Live 7 and FL Studio (huge thanks to the folks at Image Line), I decided to move on to Cubase 4. Of course I use Cubase frequently, but not as a composition tool (due to instability under heavy load and issues sync'g software instruments, audio, and external MIDI gear reliably). My typical work flow is this:
- Select instruments, record parts in Motif ES, edit instruments as needed, pre mix.
- Record parts as separate audio tracks to Cubase (or to one stereo track if I have already mixed in the Motif
- Record vocals & live instruments
- Mix
- Master
- Crunch to MP3 or burn .. or archive forever :P
I believe these are all distinctive steps in the composition life cycle, and each
requires specific experience and knowledge (I am adept at steps 1
through 3, getting better at #4, and still a novice at #5). The life of
a one man band.
Using Cubase as a compositional tool was something I hadn't really dug into since the Motif came into my life. Granted, I always have the latest Cubase updates (yes, I shell out the money every time they update it), follow development closely, and use the program frequently, but as a true songwriting tool, it has played second fiddle to the Motif. Never-the-less, I decided to dive in. I even installed Studio Connections and integrated my Motif. After a lot of tweaking and configuration, I got Cubase stable enough to compose music. I also got Studio Connections working nicely, and began using C4's great Arranger.Recently my daughter and I recorded a song she likes and my arrangement (which was 100% done in Cubase) actually sounds decent.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't state I have experienced a lot of instability issues with Cubase 4 (latest build, too). Using it every day for several hours a day in a myriad of different demanding situations produced crashes, freezes, and general weirdness is more than occasional. Error messages like "a serious error has occurred and Cubase must now close" seem almost unacceptable at this stage. I have not seen this type of instability in other applications I use, namely Propellerheads Reason, FL Studio, and Ableton Live. And yes, I am using the latest and greatest drivers, etc for everything I own. I even reverted to XP thinking Vista was the culprit, but sadly the problems persisted. My$1500 RME Fireface card couldn't save Cubase unfortunately, although I must say the RME Fireface is one fantastic piece of kit (with the exception of its flimsy I/O jacks in the back that cause one side of my speakers to cut out from time to time).
All of this Cubase instability, configuring, choosing templates, activating channels, error messages, mouse-clicking and so forth and so on made me once again realize how much I love workstation sequencing. I'm not saying I won't/don't use Cubase any longer, and I am the first to trumpet the astonishing technology advances in C4 (VST 3 is going to revolutionize the experience I believe), but when you want to just sit and think... and compose.... and experiment...and brainstorm, or just jam, for me, nothing comes close to hardware-based sequencing. Don't get me wrong, Ableton Live is a VERY nice niche solution for dance-based musicians and DJ's, same can be said of FL Studio (and I intend to continue to use them both in the months ahead), but for my full blown compositions, hardware sequencing, all in one integration, is STILL where it's at. And that led me back to Guitar Center, in search of a workstation that would fit on my desk. :)
Staying with a WorkstationMy first stab was a used Motif 6 classic. I figured, what the heck, it's cheap, I know it like the back of my hand, and I love the classic's piano patch. Bad idea. I got it home and realized A) It is a TANK; B) Those piano patches PALE in comparison to the ES pianos; C) the key action on the Motif Classic is clicky and actually hurts my fingers to bang on. My next choice was a Roland Juno-G. $1,000, GREAT sounds (gotta love the COSM?) modeling and wicked electric guitar patches, and very small footprint for my desk... but I quickly found the drums were a joke (you would not believe how horrible the drums are, especially the 808/909 drum kit is--which is amazing considering Roland invented both drum machines..??), the key action was Casio-like, the orange screen was a pain to look at, the built in amplifier does not produce a hot signal for recording (you'll need a very good pre amp for the Juno if you wish to record it) and most of all, the Juno's sequencer SONG mode is the most unorthodox thing I have ever seen in a keyboard. Back it went.
I then considered the Korg M3 (in short order, I find it to be cheap looking in appearance, and overall in my opinion it does not sound as good as either the Fantom X or Motif. I find the Korg sond to be very generic and uninspiring overall). And finally the Fantom X. I played with one a lot. And I must say, I like it a lot. Why? Because of its awesome signature sounds and effects (man talk about some fantastic presets, same with Juno-G), the pads and layout, and overall presentation. But I would never compose music with it. Roland does not know sequencing. They are still back in the stone age with their unruly "temporary song" approach (see circa 199x XP50/XP80). And let's face it, as good as the Fantom X sounds, it does not have the polich the ES or XS has. Compare some Rhodes patches between the Motif and The Fantom. Only a fool would say the Fantom sounds better. There really is no comparison.
So there I was at Guitar Center, looking at the XS6. After testing everything else on the market, the choice was clear...
The Motif XS DecisionI took the plunge. Got a good deal. Got it home and hooked it up.. and didn't get to bed until around 4:00am... here are my stream-of-consciousness impressions..
Sound qualityFirst, I'm here to tell you, the XS sounds (both presets, raw samples, and converters), blow the competition away. This fact is impresssive considering Yamaha's sound programmers are not what I would characterize as "cream of the crop." In other words, Yamaha-programmed presets (and this applies to the ES as well) represent only a FRACTION of how good the Motif can sound if you know how to edit patches and apply processing to them (more on this below). With the XS's presets, I have found that effects are often used improperly or excessively,
EQ is over or under used, sounds are drenched in so much reverb and/or
delay they are unusable in a mix, filters are set up without any regard
to playability, and so forth and so on.
So how do you dig in and make good presets great? You start with what are called waveforms. These are raw samples that power the sounds in the Motif. The XS has thousands of them to choose from. Up to 8 (!!) of these waveforms can be assigned to any given voice create MONSTER patches that you can later use in your patterns and songs. The flexibility to mix and match waveforms, route them to multiple effects, change the way they evolve over time, etc. etc. is incredible, not to mention the fact that it can all be done via the Motif XS's software-based Windows/Mac editor, OR using the XS's large LCD screen.
In a short amount of time, I have found that I am able to accurately reproduce (and outdo) any patch in the Juno-G and Fantom X (including those with Roland's so-called proprietary COSM modeling, mind you) with basic tweaks such as changing distortion types, adding chorus, changing cutoff/resonance, detuning, etc. Last night I created an electric guitar that is a searing, buzzing, crying, MONSTER axe that plays the national anthem with more expression than Jimi did. No exaggeration. And I've only scratched the surface. The new EQ, COMpression, etc modules are spot and love their effect on sounds. Yes, it is very easy to edit voices, in fact probalby 2x easier than it is in the ES.
For the accompaniment lovers, there are loads of performances with prefabricated beats. Personally I think the majority of the XS drum grooves are stale, uninteresting, and uninspiring. By no means do they reflect what can be achieved with the Motif XS sequencer. The preset beats seem choppy, rigid/mechanical, and lack bounce/groove/human factor. Leads me to believe they were not composed in the Motif. They all have that classic "I'm a MIDI file" signature sound.. right down to the lame drum rolls. I have yet to find one I think highly enough to use in one of my songs. Granted, there is a remix feature in the Motif still, but in my experience it is really hit-miss and rarely produces usable results. Your mileage may vary.
A quick overview of some sounds (scale of 1-10, 10 being best)
Drums (6)Mostly the same as Motif ES. Yamaha has added some new samples and kits. They are OK. Acoustic drums are better than most workstations, but not in the same league as, e.g., Addictive Drums. Electronic/dance drums are pretty good, but the kits are not impressive at all. I am releasing a bank of drum kits for hiphop/R&B soon "MoCity Urban Kits Vol 1," I will post about it shortly. My kits use all factory Motif XS waveforms.
Brass (9)Improved! Very impressive set of ensembles for a variety7 of music styles. Overall brass might now be one of the Motif's strongest suits. Solo instruments are surprisingly very, very good. I felt the ES truly lacked good brass so apparently Yamaha listened to its users. I would still like to see more processed samples for hiphop/dance (like Korg does) as well as more usable orch hits and variety on the "novelty" side of the house.
Strings (8)Improved! Another huge improvement over the ES. XS strings are approaching "very good," and that is impressive for a workstation. Unfortunately solo violins and violas without tremolo are hard to come by. There is a lot of tremolo in the samples themselves. Not sure why this is. Otherwise, great sections, ensembles, etc. Great for soundtrack, ballads, power rock, the whole gamut.
Pads/bass/leads (7)Improved! More improvement over the ES. On the other hand, the presets are not that great. I have been playing a lot of keyboards and VSTi's lately, and I can say with confidence that overall the Motif synth presets in general (leads, pads, bass) can not compete with the competition's presets. Listen to the synth bass patches in the Fantom or Juno-G (in particular, check out the Juno bass patches). Also check out the synth bass patches on Bass Trilogy by Spectrasonics.
Personally, I find a shortage of funky bass patches in the XS (and ES), and very few are truly funky--which is kind of disappointing considering there are now hundreds of other options out there that are. The good news is that the XS has enough filter options to come up with just about any sound you can dream up, but you'll need to know a bit about sound design to coax them out.
The leads are good, but they are not very inspiring to my ears. I don't hear the leads I can easily coax out of MiniMonsta, ImpOSCar, FM8, Juno, Fantom, and many other modules Want to hear inspiring leads? Play Arturia's CS80V synth. WOW. If only the XS shipped with those presets. :)
Pads are good, but I would say they fall considerable short of the Korg M3 (or, e.g., the Korg's Wavestation). Maybe these are unfair comparisons since Korg is known for its pads and dreamy sounds, but nonetheless I would like to see Yamaha add a pad-competent sound designer to its team so we could have the types of pads you hear in other products. Another thing truly lacking is Mellotron sounds. Mello patches are the
in thing; where are they? The very few tron presets leave a lot to be desired and are excessively noisy to be usable. The choirs are pretty nice, but not incredible by any means.
Guitars (8.5)In the XS you will find a nice selection of guitar patches (not stellar, but nice), and impressive band-in-a-box style strumming performances. On the acoustic side, there are all types of nylon and steel guitar patches, but in all honesty I have yet to find any preset patches that are conducive to arpeggio playing (i.e. legato phrasing) ..? Most all acoustic guitar presets seem to have a huge attack on them and they sound quite chunky and fake when played legato style.. as if each string is being plucked with great force. Granted, hammering the keys will bring out nice velocity switching, but what about soft playing style? For example, I can not find a patch that could be used for, e.g., the opening to Stairway to Heaven. Can you? If so, please email me an MP3. Would love to hear.
On the electric guitar side, the presets are average at best. However, as I stated earlier, with some tweaking, you can create MONSTER guitars with very believable distortion and feedback. There are also a lot of novelty electr. guitar sounds that are supposed to emulate big crunches, chugging, power chords, etc, but in all honesty they all sound cheeky to me. There are a lot of guitar-based sample CD's in Akai format that can be had for less than $20 now, so I suggest buying some and loading them up to Motif's sampler if you want those types of sounds.
Pianos/Keys/Organs (10)Piano samples are better than the ES's to my ears (which is an impressive feat because I adore the ES piano). Keyboard sounds are exceptional (although for the life of me I don't know why there aren't more DX7 sounds since Yamaha invented that keyboard). Organ sounds are OFF THE HOOK fantastic. There is an organ for nearly every genre and most are programmed to use the sliders as drawbars. You can play worship style, funk, r&b, hiphop, Napoleon Dynamite style (smile), rock, you name it. XS organs sound ALMOST as good as Native Instruments B4 II.. almost. :) The Motif is known for its keyboards, and the XS does not disappoint. I played organs til 3am one night. They are a blast.
Build, ExteriorThe look has grown on me. I find its overall appearance to be clean, refined and 100% professional. Far better than the competition. I also love the addition of 4 news sliders and the easy access to cutoff, resonance, eq, etc. The ribbon controller is nice, but by and large the XS presets are not designed to fully take advantage of it.
On the--popular-- topic of the screen, I must side with dissenters, and report I don't like it. The screen is positioned in such a way that it produces an undesirable glare, and, much to my surprise, there appears to be an issue with what I will--perhaps incorrectly--refer to as "moire patterning," whereby a grid-like pattern of interference is present in both Voice and Performance mode... or anywhere there is black areas on the screen. The contrast control does not solve either problem unfortunately. I might add that if you can position yourself directly over the screen, the glare goes away. In my--unprofessional--opinion, I believe these issues are present because Yamaha placed some type of screen protector over the screen--which causes the glare AND the interference.
Other than my gripes with the screen, I love the board's appearance, fit and finish. And I suppose I was abit too harsh in my initial assessment. I also love the keyboard action on the XS6 as well as build quality of all controls. We're talking smooth, quiet, tight, professional, and very very playable. Love the keys. Korg and Roland could learn from Yamaha. Ever played an RD700?
SequencingAfter loads and loads of testing different machines, I am convinced there is no finer (as in more efficient, more straight forward) workstation/hardware-based sequencer than the Motif's. The fact that you can have 128 songs/patterns at your immediate disposal is unparalleled. Dialing in new patterns and getting started in a matter of seconds is unheard of in any other competing product. The Motif's tight, reliable, glitch free, flexible sequencer is as good as any out there (including the MPC's), and in my opinion makes the Motif the obvious songwriting tool of choice for keyboard-based songwriters who demand a stress-free environment conducive to crafting and refining musical ideas (aka "motifs"). The 16 track view is a welcome addition and it's great to see which tracks are in use for which patterns in pattern mode.
The addition of four additional sliders and the fantastic accessibility of commonly-used features such as eq, filter cutoff, etc in the forms of knobs makes mixing song/pattern parts an absolute B R E E Z E. As for editing, the parameters seem to be exactly the same as the ES. I was hoping for a dedicated UNDO button, and groove quantizing, but apparently those were not priorities. I will save arpeggios for another day, but let it be known that the possibilities are impressive (although I think the preset arpeggios are very dated, and remind me of those you'd find in old synth).
A few additional notes: I can confirm the purported "slow screen redraws" in Pattern/Song mode. Definitely not as fast as the ES. Maybe a future OS update can fix? I can also confirm that the sequencer's timing seems to be tighter than the ES..? Can anyone confirm? I am getting MPC-like bounce to shuffled beats.
Computer Integration/ExpansionNot there yet. Will report back.
SamplingNot there yet. Will report back.
There is so much more to cover, and I will do so in a future article. Overall I'm glad I upgraded to the XS. It's fantastic board all the way around--especially when compared to the competition (although I'm keeping my eye on the Fantom G as it looks pretty awesome). Ideally, I think the ultimate set up is a Fantom AND a Motif as they both have their strengths in specific areas. The Korg M3 is out of the question for me because I can not get past its cheeky looks. If I had to choose just one board, it would be the Motif XS, hands down. It KILLS the competition and will inspire you for years to come, especially if you are adept at sound programming.
Finally, with respect to computing, I look forward to the maturity of Vista as a platform for audio production. In my opinion, there are still a lot of bugs to be worked out between Windows and Cubase. For songwriting, I'm sticking with the Motif .
mj