MOX Series Performance/Styles

[WaltMon]

I am looking for an SX700 style equivalent to the "Dresden at Night" performance (style) from the MOX-6. This "style" also went by the default name "MOXpressive". I know the voices won't be exactly the same but I can work with anything that is close. Thanks to the forum for any assistance!

[pjd]

Hi --

I dug the old MOX6 out of the storage closet and took a quick look at the "Dresden At Night" performance. The tables below summarize the programming.

I guess Yamaha ran out of space and didn't convert "Dresden At Night" for the Motif XF. 

-- pj

Part# Voice     Name              NoteLo NoteHi VelLo VelHi Level Pan
----- --------  ----------------  ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ---
  1   PRE8:070  8Z Heavy Hearts     C-2    G8     1    127    81   C
  2   PRE3:053  Dark Bass           C-2    G8     1    127    51   C
  3   PRE7:110  Ibiza Groove        C-2    G8     1    127   127   C
  4   PRE5:121  Smooth BPF Sweep    C-2    G8     1    127    73   C

Reverb: Rev-X (Preset: Basic)
Chorus: TempoCrosDly (Preset: 8beat Echo)
MFX:    Lo-Fi (Preset: Lo-Fi)

Arp#1 Tempo:91              Arp#2
-----                       -----
  1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt1         1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt3      ON
  2   MB_WestCoastPop _XS     2   MA_WestCoastPop _XS  ON
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   MA_Space Arp         OFF
  4   MA_Up Oct1              4   MA_Up Oct2           OFF

Arp#3                       Arp#4
-----                       -----
  1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt4         1   MA_8Z GatedBt3       ON
  2   BA_Jazz Pop _XS         2   FB_WestCoastPop _XS  ON
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   MA_Space Arp         OFF
  4   MA_Up Oct4              4   MA_Down Oct1         OFF

Arp#5                       Arp#6
-----                       -----
  1   MA_8Z ChillBrk4         1   BA_Sp SFX            ON
  2   MB_WestCoastPop _XS     2   MA_WestCoastPop _XS  ON
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   Off                  OFF
  4   MA_Down Oct2            4   Off                  OFF

The Arpeggiator is turned ON for Parts 1 and 2 only.

[pjd]

A few more comments...

Thanks to Yamaha's pack rat behavior, the info above was enough to recreate the "Dresden At Night" performance on the MODX. About 30 minutes work to get 85% close. That's the good news -- if someone has an MODX.

Unfortunately, getting an SX700 equivalent won't be so easy. The bass lines are simple enough, but you'll need crunch-y, break-y rhythm patterns. The PSRs are kind of short on those sorts of urban-ish chill patterns.

A big factor is the "8Z Heavy Hearts" drum voice. The "8Z" means "eight zone" and is a creation added with Motif XS (MOX). I posted info about eight zone kits:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/groovin-in-eight-zones/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/crunchin-da-drums/

Even if you have the MIDI for the Heavy Hearts arpeggios, it's a bear to convert these to a regular drum kit (depending on the complexity of the pattern programming). I was hoping for an easy conversion as I might have knocked one out. Unfortunately, the 8Z stuff is a minor nightmare.

I did a few MOX to PSR conversions a few years ago:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/motif-styles-for-your-arranger/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/mox-perf-to-psr-style-part-1/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/mox-perf-to-psr-style-part-2/
http://sandsoftwaresound.net/mox-perf-to-psr-style-part-3/

Maybe these old articles will help. Maybe steal the drum patterns from the "Wicked Breaks" style in the ZIP?

Hope this stuff helps -- pj

[WaltMon]

Hi pj,

Thank you so very much! Your answers exceeded my expectations! I suspected the advanced arpeggios would be a challenge on the PSR. I plan to work on it this weekend. If I get lucky, I'll post my results. Thank you again!

Walt

[pjd]

Hi Walt --

I'm glad the information is helpful. I got curious about the "8Z Heavy Hearts" voice and took a deeper look.

The 8Z voices aren't drum kits. They are implemented as voices and are just a clever way of using the eight elements which make up a voice. The eight zones (8Z) are divided across specific note ranges.

Element#  Note Low  Note High  Waveform
--------  --------  ---------  --------------
    1         C0       F#0     Bd T9-1
    2         G0        C1     Bd Hard Long
    3        C#1        D1     Sd Elec12
    4        D#1        F1     Sd HipHop6
    5        F#1        A1     HH Closed D&B
    6        A#1        C2     HH Open T9
    7        C#2        C4     Clap AnSm
    8        C#4        C6     Shaker Hip2

Yamaha can play with each of the zones in crazy ways by tying keyboard notes to voice parameters. For 8Z Heavy Hearts, the most notable effect is how the Clap AnSm pitch follows the keyboard.

If I were going to create a style from the MOX/MODX MIDI data, I would assign appropriate drum kits (e.g., DrumMachine, Analog T9, House, Break or HipHop) to style parts 9 and 10 (MIDI channels 9 and 10) and copy the Heavy Hearts MIDI data to both Parts. Then I would delete the notes that I didn't want, compress each zone into a single drum instrument, and map the resulting "compressed" notes to the appropriate instrument. So, for example, all of the notes in C0 to F#0 might be compressed into the Kick T9 1 instrument (B0) in the Analog T9 Kit, assuming that is one of the target drum kits.

Hope that makes sense! It's easier to do than explain...

If three different drum kits are required, then I would assign kits to Parts 9 and 10 (which are typically style drums) and assign a kit to maybe part 12. I think the Analog T9 kit and the DrumMachine kits are enough to get started, though. These kits are built into most of the recent arrangers, so if you use common kits and share the style here, more people would be able to use the style without modification.

Effect-wise, I'd assign Lo-Fi as a SYSTEM-side variation effect and send both Parts 9 and 10 to the variation effect. Yamaha played with the Lo-Fi parameters:

    Sampling Frequency Control   8.82kHz
    Word Length                  98
    Output Gain                  0dB
    LPF Cutoff Frequency         12.0kHz
    Filter Type                  PowerBass
    Filter Resonance             6.3
    Bit Assign                   4
    Emphasis                     On
    Dry/Wet                      D<W24
    Input Mode                   Stereo

The Lo-Fi Drum 1 preset is a good starting point.

Hope all this information helps out. The amount of detail in style programming and conversion is amazing and sometimes overwhelming!

All the best -- pj

P.S. Using that Lo-Fi setting on piano gives me a headache. :-)

[WaltMon]

Thanks pj!

You have given me more than enough to get started. Yes, on the surface it does sound complicated but it made more sense after I read your post a second time. Wish me luck!

Walt

[pjd]

Hi Walt --

I pulled together a facsimile of "Dresden At Night" as a PSR/Genos style. Unfortunately, the forum doesn't seem to let me post .STY file. 

I was planning to re-post some of this info on my site. If so, I'll make the .STY file available there.

Hope your experiments are going well -- pj

Technology blog: http://sandsoftwaresound.net

[WaltMon]

Hi pj,

The weather was better than forecast so I spent most of my weekend in the yard. It was supposed to rain and I thought I would have some uninterrupted time for my project.

You will no doubt save me a great deal of time by making a version of Dresden available! I will still use your advice earlier in this post to see if I can create a style in a similar fashion. I will use your version as my target to make this a learning exercise.

Thank you so very much!

Walt

[pjd]

Hi --

I expanded the discussion a little bit and posted a ZIP file at:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/arpeggio-to-style-conversion/

Have fun, everyone -- pj

[WaltMon]

Hi pj,

I cannot thank you enough for your generosity and efforts in addressing my humble request. I also enjoyed reading the in-depth explanation you provided on your blog. I have downloaded the zip file and will spend some time this weekend with my keyboard.

Thank you for sharing your expertise with me and this forum!

Walt

[pjd]

Hi Walt --

No problem! It was fun to knock out another style; I haven't done it for a while.

I stumbled across a few uncompleted projects -- who knows?  Plus, I started to learn about quick record on MODX as I'm most likely to use MODX as a source for future phrases, patterns and things.

Take care -- pj

[WaltMon]

Pj-

DresdenAtNight sounds great! The right hand voices are spot on and the groove is awesome! All I had to do for the SX700 is adjust the volume of a couple of parts. Thank you for all your help!

Walt