Thursday, July 18, 2013

Summer Sampling

Jee, it's already mid-summer. Anyhow, I am taking time to better learn the Integrated Sampling in the Yamaha MOTIF XS workstation.

Last week I recorded/captured some very nice bass samples from my friend's Ibanez bass with active pickups. I plan to slice them up and create something new using the samples and then add other musical elements in the XS.

More and more, I am enjoying recording and creating music all using the MOTIF XS and no other tools.

A typical session consists of a microphone jacked into my vocal processor which is then jacked into the XS AD INput to the sampler. This hardware setup all fits inside my keyboard case so, one case of equipment (MOTIF, mic and mic stand) is literally all you need to seriously record and create music. And, I am very glad that I am taking time to learn this aspect of the MOTIF better.

In the recent past, I used the XS mostly with 01x and LogicStudio on my MacBook. And, I still enjoy working this way and plan to do so much more after I get the 37" LED monitor mounted in the studio. But, the sheer portability and power of the MOTIF XS makes it a clear cut winner. The only major hardware difference compared to working with 01x is not having motor faders on the XS; and it is not annoying. Of course, I would prefer the XS to have motor faders and it ahs been discussed at great lengths on Yamaha's Motifator.com website, and it is not going to [ever] happen; more than likely do to expense and demand. Most users now are working with USB audio systems and only elite users are concerned about flying faders, rotary encoders and other hardware which eliminates having to use the mouse on a computer.


I also record my MOTIF XS using my iPad. I have the AKAI EIE 4channel USB audio interface. This way I can jack my MOTIF in stereo and my vocal processor in stereo and record everything (with effects) all in one take. Of course, I can do the same thing directly in the MOTIF strait to USB stick as a WAV file. However, during recording there are a few modes you cannot access, such as transpose and fader volumes.


Summer 2013 here in Cobb amongst the tall pine trees is superb!

HHNET