Songwriting

Back on my feet. Yesterday was busy with tank dumps, hosing October_2007 dirt off RV, Mediacom came, installed dedicated 8 Megabit drop. Service sucks, lucky if I see 2 Megabit and I see ALOT of 500 to 1500 kilobits per second. HillbillyNET is what I call them.

Got a couple new songs in the works. Some parody's for PCTech admins and one serious song that I am writing for a friend. I won't share more details about the songs, for then they won't be any surprise when I release the songs in September. There will be an obvious graphic on my websites announcing the new music. Stay tuned.

As I spend more time with the Yamaha MOTIF_XS workstation, the process of songwriting and song construction is becoming more natural. In my humble opinion (IMHO) they still don't have the work flow process nailed, but it's certainly much better than previous years, and of course I am whining, for there are zillions of users out there who would starve themselves to get a MOTIF_XS. All I am saying is, the idea of "the workstation" is evolving and eventually WILL be "the one place" where you construct and record your entire musical arrangement, mix, master and burn to CD without jacking into a PC or MAC. I also have Yamaha's 01x 28_channel digital mixer which can be used with computer DAWs or as standalone mixer. This is a major advantage over most current mixers and DAW controllers which do nothing when not connected to a computer. Still, I look forward to 2009 and jacking my gear into Apple OS_X and Logic_7Pro or LogicStudio8 with 01x as the control center. Korg's OASYS has already been doing the record/mix/master/CD-thing for years. But with its $8,500 dollar price tag, a learning curve that is nearly strait up and sounds that are NOT as good as Tyros/Tyros_2/Tyros_3, I think only studio producers and the like will be Korg's customers.

Still got my eye on Tyros_3. From what information that is available thus far, I am disappointed they have not at least switched from 61_keys to 76_keys. Whereas Tyros is Yamaha's flagship "best sounds" arranger-workstation synth, I am surprised they have yet to market a 88-key model. It's a pricey unit commanding $3000-$5000 dollars depending on the model and used/new. Reading the forums, I see Tyros_2 owners already selling their units in order to buy Tyros_3 - a bit premature for my taste. Although the 61_key won't change my purchase decision, it's time the Tyros grew up. I think an 88_key, balanced_hammer version would stand Korg OASYS on its ear simply because Tyros has the mind-blowing impressive sounds, and no_brainer to use. OASYS [in its own right] is advanced beyond Tyros with its programmable flexibility, but its "out of the box" difficulty level will consume at least a year of time for most users to "get up to speed" with the product. On the other hand, Tyros has always had the ability to enable users to "do what they want strait out of the box." Why don't I have a Tyros already? Well, I had a $5,000 dollar budget and had I bought the Tyros I would not have been able to purchase the 01x, mics and other gear in one shot. The MOTIF_XS was the next logical choice whereas much of its power lies in the fact that it is filled with Tyros MEGA_VOICE technology and thousands of arpeggios.

Meanwhile, MOTIF_XS is certainly no slouch, but you must learn "its ways" of doing business. Some of the logic doesn't make sense to me at times but I am adapting to it. The largest challenge [for me] is learning to construct songs using pattern mode which is the MOTIFs most powerful song construction mode. Pattern mode consists of 16_parts, each part having up to 16_tracks, with each pattern having 5_scenes. That's 16_x_16_x_5 or 1,280 tracks of sound! But, whereas I am an old-school linear songwriter/recorder, this is a new way of song construction. MOTIF also has 16_track LINEAR song recording, but the full arrangement power still lies in the pattern mode. Pattern mode still allows for live performance recording into patterns and extensive use of 6,000 arpeggios so there's a lot to like.

This afternoon I shall update the firmware of my XS. One of the updates I am looking forward to is the LAN user login/password is now stored. So accessing the network is not a laborious task of typing logins and passwords. Somebody was obviously asleep at the wheel during initial testing, but Yamaha has fixed it and that's all that matters.

;;cheers;;