MOTUNATION (formerly UnicorNation) is an independent community for discussing Digital Performer and other MOTU audio software and hardware. It is not affiliated with MOTU.
Forum rules
This forum is for most discussion related to the use and optimization of Digital Performer [MacOS] and plug-ins as well as tips and techniques. It is NOT for troubleshooting technical issues, complaints, feature requests, or "Comparative DAW 101."
Kurt Cowling wrote:So Babz, did you get the keyboard? How's it working out?
Thanks for asking. Yes, got the MOXF6. The hardest part (and I wasn't expecting this) is getting used to only 61 keys after nearly 20 years with a 76-key keyboard. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but it's been kind of a culture shock.
Good luck with that. I don't think I would do well without 88 keys, but I see people doing great work on small keyboards all the time.
Shoosh
|l|OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0|l|2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012|l|40GB RAM|l|Mach5.3|l|Waves 9.x|l|Altiverb|l|Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l|Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes|l|Garritan Aria|l|VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l|Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller|l|Roland FC-300|l|
Yes, seems like you see more and more 49 keys, or even 25. Full weighted 88 is overkill for me, since I'm not a real piano player. I learned to play on a Fender Rhodes, and have spent the last couple of decades sitting before an XP-80, so 70-something keys feels just about right for me. But nowadays it seems like 88 or 61 (or smaller) is the trend.
I mean the transpose button is right there, easily accessible. But after 20 years, it's gonna take more than a few days (weeks? Ever?) to unlearn that kind of muscle memory.
Babz wrote:Yes, seems like you see more and more 49 keys, or even 25. Full weighted 88 is overkill for me, since I'm not a real piano player. I learned to play on a Fender Rhodes, and have spent the last couple of decades sitting before an XP-80, so 70-something keys feels just about right for me. But nowadays it seems like 88 or 61 (or smaller) is the trend.
Interesting. My first (non-piano) keyboard was a 61 key DX7, and it served me well. After that I would only buy 88 key versions of everything, but the last keyboard I bought has 25 keys, and a guitar strap. I actually wear it when using it, because it's just easier to use that way. It also has about a dozen knobs that can easily be used for expression and such. But the 25 key is just for input. I'd go crazy trying to play something on it, even though the octave key is prominently and conveniently located. It's just a tool for a purpose, and for that, it's great.
|l|OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0|l|2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012|l|40GB RAM|l|Mach5.3|l|Waves 9.x|l|Altiverb|l|Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l|Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes|l|Garritan Aria|l|VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l|Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller|l|Roland FC-300|l|
After being unable to find anyone else out there with a patch list for the Yamaha MOXF synth, I have taken up the initiative and created one my dayum self.*
I have been testing it, and all seems to be working well. I can now select patches within DP from any of the Preset, User, Drum, GM, or Performance banks.
There is one minor issue. I cannot get it to switch between Voice and Performance mode. You must first switch modes from Voice to Performance via the keyboard's front panel, then the patch changes work perfectly within that mode.
Does anyone know how to fix this? I believe it involves embedding Mode Change sysex within the XML code. Searching online, I believe this is the correct sysex message to switch modes for this synth is:
F0 43 10 7F 1C 00 0A 00 01 dd F7
Where “dd” is
00 for Voice mode
01 for Performance mode
But I'm unsure exactly how to write this into the code.
Since it is easy enough to switch modes via the the hardware front panel, I've decided to just leave things as is -- unless someone else out there knows anything about how to tackle this rather advanced topic and can help walk me thru it.
If there are any MOXF users out there who would like to try this patch list, send me a PM. I'd love to have other users testing it. I think it is working quite well, and it really makes navigating the 1000+ patches much easier.
I will try to figure out how to make this .midnam available online for all MOXF users in the future. Perhaps I could pass it along to MOTU and they could include it in future versions of DP?
The MOXF is a very popular synth nowadays, and I was surprised to find no one else out there using it with DP. Anyway, if anyone ever needs it, I've put in the hours and am happy to share.
Best,
Babz
[* I did it through a combination of hacking a Motif XF7 midnam I found online, using Cherry Picker to debug my code, and by re-reading an article I wrote years ago for EM on creating patch list. It was a weird experience visiting a past version of yourself as a teacher. Thanks to James for helping to make Cherry Picker available to the modern age again and pointing me toward the link! And of course to the great Rob Martin for creating Cherry Picker in the first place. Couldn't have done it without it. ]
Would it work for you to use a Custom Console to send a SysEx message? It would mean putting that console in a clippings file, so that you can add it to all your sequences, but if it would work, it could be an easy solution. Have a key launch the console command, and it would send the sysex to change the mode. At least... theoretically. I make no claims as to what consoles can do until I've actually made and tried a console shortcut myself.
Shoosh
|l|OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0|l|2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012|l|40GB RAM|l|Mach5.3|l|Waves 9.x|l|Altiverb|l|Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l|Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes|l|Garritan Aria|l|VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l|Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller|l|Roland FC-300|l|
Naw, I've given up on the Performance mode sysex thing. I poked around and examined other midnams in the MOTU folder, and I don't think any of the other Yamaha patch lists can do it. So it seems my patch list is as good as any of the other Yamaha lists. Easy enough to do that one button push manually.
