Music Production Synthesizer
Reviews : Keyboard
Two and a half years after the launch of
Yamaha's impressive Motif workstation synth, the range has been further
enhanced and upgraded. How much better can it get? We find out...
Photos: Mark Ewing
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Yamaha's Motif family of sampling, sequencing, synth workstations was launched in 2001 (and reviewed in SOS in September of that year — see www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep01/articles/yamahamotif7.asp). Since then, the range has carved quite a niche for itself in a market
that has just a handful of major players — the various flavours of
Korg's Triton and Roland's recent Fantom S come to mind. Now that Yamaha
have decided it's time to upgrade the range, it would seem that they've
preferred to take advantage of public familiarity with the Motif name
rather than launch a completely new range. Enter the Motif ES (or
'Expanded System').
In response to user requests, many extra features
were added to the original Motif over time by way of software updates.
But some of the requested facilities required hardware changes that
would be impossible to retrofit to an existing instrument. Having made
the decision to produce a 'next generation' of Motifs, it was a logical
step to develop a new chipset that would make these enhancements easy to
implement.
There wasn't a whole lot wrong with the original
Motifs, and the technology is still appearing in new gear such as the
S90 88-note synth I reviewed last month (albeit with the benefit of the
aforementioned Motif software updates built in). But we're nearly three
years down the road, and technology has moved on. Hence, ES offers
128-voice polyphony (more than double that of the original), redesigned
effects and EQ, even more pattern-generation capability from the
arpeggiator, and an operating system that seems generally smoother and
faster. More fundamentally, perhaps, there is also a new synth engine.
Subjectively, the filters seem to me to have a more 'analogue' feel —
more than the average sample-based synth — and the EGs are very
responsive. And there's a much larger waveform ROM on board; it's
equivalent to 175MB, with 1859 waveforms. Many offer specialised,
performance-based samples (for example, guitar string squeaks and
harmonics) which are combined in the factory presets to provide voices
that produce many of the signature effects of the instruments being
simulated (more on this later). Also more numerous are the factory
Voices: 768 presets in six banks, and 64 factory drum kits, plus a
General MIDI sound set and 256 user Voice memories (and 32 user drum kit
locations). That's a lot more Voices than on the original Motif!
Strangely, for an enhanced instrument, a number of
features have gone missing, the most odd of which (on UK-bought
instruments, anyway) is onboard sample RAM! Yes, in order for your new
sampling synth workstation to sample, you'll first have to buy some RAM.
To be fair, RAM prices are volatile in the UK at the moment,
and it must have been tricky for Yamaha to work out costings that
included RAM, but it still feels like an expense is being passed on to
the customer so the price of the ES can be kept down. Mind you, I should
point out that unlike Yamaha's last few rounds of sample-based
products, the ES's onboard sampler benefits from using standard, widely
available and affordable DIMM RAM modules — to a total of 512MB.
Other features — such as the option to add Yamaha's
PLG synth-expansion boards and the ability to use the ES as a
sophisticated master keyboard or real-time control surface — remain from
the original Motif, albeit with subtle enhancements here and there.
Motif-ation
Look quickly, and you'd be forgiven for thinking
there were no physical differences between the original and the new
Motif. The striking silver livery, the central LCD, and the number and
layout of knobs, sliders, buttons, not to mention the front-panel
screening and connector complement, is practically identical. But there
are differences, some subtle, some significant. One of my favourite
changes is the move to big chunky buttons for the sequencer transport
controls — very satisfying. There's also more direct, front-panel
control over where the real-time knobs and sliders are routed. And I was
glad to see a rather Korg-like ribbon controller join the pitch-bend
and modulation wheels as a source of real-time control. A few extra
buttons allow access to the extra factory preset Voice banks and a
couple of other functions.
There's connectivity galore on the Motif ES, as
you'd expect from a high-end workstation: two USB ports, the full set of
three five-pin MIDI connections, dual footswitch and pedal inputs, twin
stereo analogue outputs (one main pair, and one assignable), a
headphones connection, and a stereo analogue input with associated gain
control. Above are the Smart Media slot and blanking panel where up to
three optional PLG sound-expansion boards may be installed. There's no
SCSI, though!
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Operationally, existing Motif owners will be on
familiar ground — they'll just find more choices in some places and new
options in others. Newcomers may have a small struggle, and won't be
aided by the manual. It appears to have all the necessary bits, but like
many Yamaha manuals I've experienced recently, it is not organised in
the most accessible or friendly way. Nor is all information usefully
indexed or referenced in what appears to be three tables of contents. If
you find yourself regularly looking for a particular fact or operation,
get out a yellow highlighter and some post-it notes and customise the
manual to suit you — it works for me!
Luckily, the Motif is fairly logical to operate:
just pay attention to what you do, particuarly paying attention to the
display options that line up with the 'softkeys' laid out under the LCD.
The display does get rather busy sometimes, so that it can be tricky to
see where you can move a cursor, and in some cases (such as when
selecting insert effects), you're not even sure if the cursor is in the
right place. Quite often, though, the important information you're
looking for (such as how much sampling time is left) can be found by
pressing the 'Information' button! It's just under the LCD.
The back panel shows many interesting changes,
reflecting perhaps the direction taken by the market for external
storage devices. For example, the original Motif's SCSI port has gone;
this isn't a surprising change, but not all Yamaha's supplied software
is comfortable with the new non-SCSI regime, as we'll discover later
(see the 'Interfacing & Software' box at the end of this article).
The Motif ES retains the original's built-in Smart Media card slot and
USB 'To Host' computer-bound socket, and gains an additional USB 'To
Device' connector, which allows ES users to add USB-based storage
devices, whether they be hard drives, ultra-compact flash RAM devices or
CD-ROM drives (I even successfully tried a USB floppy drive). A CD-ROM
drive would be a useful addition: a CD full of native sound libraries is
supplied with UK-sold ESs, and it's possible to load samples off CD via
the ES's file menu. It is not possible, however, to write data to blank
CDs in a CD writer. One way or another, you'll need external storage of
some kind, whether it's a Smart Media card or USB device, to store the
contents of your 512MB of sample RAM.
Depending on how you work, you may need to buy yet
further extra hardware to make your ES work the way you'd expect it to: I
instantly noticed that the ES has also lost the original's S/PDIF
stereo digital audio output. This can be restored on an ES if you buy
the optional AIEB2 board (which also adds digital ins and extra analogue
outs).
As with the original Motif, there are three
instruments in the ES range, and all three are internally and
functionally identical, with the same knob, slider and interfacing
collection, as well as the same synth-expansion options. The only way
the three ESs differ is in their size and their keyboards: ES6 and ES7
have a plastic velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive synth-action keyboard,
of 61 and 76 notes respectively, while the sexy Balanced Hammer Action
acoustic-piano simulation is saved for the 88-note Motif ES 8. Actually,
there is a fourth instrument in the range, and it's a bit of
an orphan: Yamaha are apparently keeping the original Motif 6 on their
books as an entry-level workstation option, though obviously this
instrument is rather different from the ES instruments it joins.
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Sounds
It's practically impossible to summarise or round
up the sound of the Motif ES — there are just too many Voices and
Performances! But I did develop a couple of favourites. For a chance to
hear some of these, head for: www.soundonsound.com/soundbank.
I liked the acoustic pianos, and they fit pop and jazz contexts nicely,
as most Yamaha pianos do. The acoustic, electric and synth basses are
also varied and playable, the latter particularly revealing the ES's
solid bottom end.
The ES's guitars are also worthy of note, the
acoustics especially offering a bright, upfront sound. The winds and
brass are less varied, and the orchestral strings are OK for basses,
cellos and some ensembles, but the violas and violins were not so good —
they seldom are on an all-round instrument such as this. However, the
drum samples are definitely worth a compliment; Yamaha's drum sounds
always seem to have the right balance of useable real kit samples,
processed examples, bites from drum-machine history and mangled kits
aimed at more contemporary music idioms.
Purely synthetic sounds — leads, pads, textures —
pour out of this instrument with presence and depth. They're also
instructive as to what you, the user, will be able to create under your
own steam. The rawest, squelchiest, most '80s-sounding presets work
really well and are often teamed up with drums and apreggiations in fun
Performances. I'm not usually one to plug one-finger music-making, but
some of these are really good.
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Synth Engine
In some ways, it's good that Yamaha don't change the
way that users access their synthesis technology — the basic concept of
the AWM2 'Advanced Wave Memory' sample-and-synthesis system has been
stable for a number of product generations. If you stick with Yamaha
synths, you'll always know how to drive them, even if the waveforms,
converters and synth engine change. And in some ways, this makes it easy
for reviewers — after reviewing so many AWM2 products, I can summarise a
Yamaha synth's hierarchy in 25 words or less!
For these reasons, existing Yamaha synth owners can
skip the next few paragraphs. Those who need reminding of the typical
Yamaha architecture can start by considering the Element, which would be
a subtractive synth in its own right in other circumstances. An
Element's oscillator is a waveform selected from the central ROM (or, on
the Motif ES, from any user samples currently in RAM), and this is
shaped by the Motif ES's resonant filter (choose from a possible 18
types), an LFO (which includes user-defineable modulation 'waveforms'),
pitch parameters, and three EGs — one each for pitch, amplitude and
filter.
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There are up to four Elements in a Voice, which is
the first level at which the user can play something. A Voice also
allows you to mix, key-split and velocity-split the Elements, and add
effects — two main effects, and two inserts that can be applied to
individual Elements if desired (more detaiIs on the ES's effects engine
in just a moment). An arpeggiator can be added to the brew; actually five arpeggiators can be added, and you can then instantly switch between them via five of the keys beneath the LCD.
There are a couple of buzz words floating around in
the brochures and advertising for the Motif ES which don't appear in the
manual. One of these is 'Mega Voice', a term that was introduced with
Yamaha's Tyros home-arranger keyboard. It seemed odd that the company's
top pro keyboard should inherit ideas from one of their home
instruments, but there is an underlying logic. For a start, there are
many automatic music creation tools built into the Motif ES — which you
don't have to use, I hasten to add! — and the Mega Voice concept is
basically sound. As mentioned earlier, a finished voice, typically a
simulation of a 'real' instrument, is given many of the performance
attributes of the real thing (for example, guitar voices will offer
hammer-ons, string squeaks and body thumps). These attributes are
supplied by special samples, and are accessed by changes in playing
velocity or by giving them their own key range. In practice, this means
that many of these sonic elements are difficult to play in real time
with any sensitivity. But some of the ES's new complex arpeggiator
patterns take advantage of 'Mega Voice' performance-oriented samples, so
that the squeaks, bumps and so on are generated in a musically valid
way (see the box on arpeggiation below for more on this).
As always, a Yamaha drum kit can have a sample
assigned to each key of your keyboard, with each functioning like an
independent synth. Insert effects are also available in a drum kit,
along with the two main effects with sends to each from every sample in
the kit.
The beefed-up sequencer transport controls and mode-selection buttons.
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Finally, at the top of the ES's voice architecture
is the Performance: four Voices collected together with optional
user-defineable key and/or velocity ranges to help create a more
involving, complex sound. Arpeggiation can also be added at this level,
again with five variations. If you have optional PLG synth boards
installed (up to three will fit in the ES), then Voices from these
boards can also be added to a Performance, so if you've spent the money,
your Performance can be seven Voices strong. Unlike the Combi on Korg
workstations (which is made up of up to eight parts), the four Voices in
a Yamaha Performance can not be addressed on separate MIDI channels.
Nor is there a way, as there was with Yamaha's own SY85 of several years
back, to use Performances directly in a multitimbral Song.
Both Voices and Performances benefit from Yamaha's
Category Search facility — you'll appreciate it, too, when trying to
navigate the hundreds of memories on offer. The Categories are accessed
via clearly labelled front-panel buttons (shown on the previous page),
and the on-screen display is clear about what you're seaching. Many
Categories are actually further divided into sub-categories such as
'Synth Lead' (with hard and soft types), 'Electric Piano' and 'Acoustic
Piano'. The Category Search function can be accessed within sequencer
Songs and Patterns for selecting Voices. In addition, the Favourites
Category allows you to highlight all the sounds you use most, from
within all the other Categories, and corral them into one collection.
When using Category Search, the Favourites button lets you access all
the Voices or Performances you know you like. Finally, your own custom
Patches can be assigned to Yamaha's Categories, and this is actually a
good habit to get into, even if you then further assign most of them to
the Favourites macro-Category!
Effects
Throughout the long history of AWM2 instruments,
Yamaha haven't really done much to change the effects configuration of
their instruments — until now. The ES sees a big change in the way
Yamaha handle effects in a synth workstation. Of course, there are send
effects, and here there are two main categories: Chorus (49 types
including delay effects as well as modulation) and Reverb (20 types).
They are accessed by a send system whether you're working with the
individual Elements in a Voice, Voices in a Performance, or Voices
assigned to a sequencer Pattern or Song. In addition, there are 116
insert effects. For Voices, there are two freely assignable inserts —
and they're quite sophisticated ones, too, many newly designed from
scratch for the ES. Splendidly, these choices are maintained when the
Voices are used in a Performance, so there's no need for insert effects per se
within Performances. However, each part in a Performance also has its
own three-band EQ (new for the ES), plus synth offset controls which
allow you to customise a Voice from within the Performance without
having to overwrite the original Voices.
In Song and Pattern modes, however, the insert
effects complement is multiplied by four. You read correctly: eight
insert effects, of the same quality and range, can be used within any
Song or Pattern. While this arrangement doesn't quite equal the superb
flexibility of Korg's Triton, it moves much closer, and is rather more
powerful than what Yamaha have previously offered.
There are no new effect names as such —
tempo-sync'ed delays and flangers, distortion, rotary-speaker effects
and enhancers are joined by the usual 'Jump', 'Slice' and 'Talking
Modulation' effects that we've grown to love on Yamaha instruments.
Some, however, especially those with a vintage feel, have been
redesigned frorm scratch with reference to classic pedals and the like.
Even that isn't even the whole story: a five-band
master EQ (similar to that on the original Motif) is here joined by a
mastering effects processor, the gem of which is a multi-band
compressor, which is perfect for sweetening the mixes output by the ES.
Other mastering options include DJ effects such as a dynamic filter,
lo-fi and distortion effects — although these don't really count as
'mastering' processes in my dictionary, fun and useful as they are!
Finally, of course, there's the aforementioned three-band EQ, which can
be added to all four parts of a Performance and all 16 tracks of a
sequencer in Song or Pattern mode. It all adds up to a lot of built-in
signal processing.
Sequencing
Sequencing on the Motif ES is, in the same way as on
the original, divided into two modes: Pattern and Song. The actual
recording and editing process is roughly the same in both, in that up to
16 channels of MIDI data can be recorded in step or real time, with
user control over global sequencing parameters such as time signature,
tempo, input quantise, and so on. The step-time recording option is
particularly flexible, allowing you to use the keyboard and/or the grid
display in a way reminiscent of older hardware sequencers.
Post-recording editing functions almost equal those in a dedicated
software sequencer, except that you have to edit via the Motif ES's
relatively small display, of course! Both the Korg Triton and the Roland
Fantom S, ES's closest competition, have much larger displays. What's
more, the Fantom S offers the option of connecting a mouse and monitor,
and the Triton features Korg's nifty touchscreen, which helps OS
navigation and parameter editing more than you might think.
Standard editing functions such as quantise,
transpose, velocity- and gate-time manipulation, and cut, paste and
delete are joined (in Pattern mode) by a couple of nifty functions.
'Remix' basically randomises data on a track, often producing new and
interesting material. It's a good trick to apply to tracks on which
samples have been recorded and split (more on sample tracks in a
moment). There's also the playback-only 'Grid Groove' option, the
closest Motif ES gets to groove templates.
There's no touchscreen, as on the Korg Triton
family — you navigate around the display via the usual soft tabs which
line up with on-screen options, and by cursoring using the direction
buttons to the right of the LCD.
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Pattern mode feels, as it did on the original Motif,
as if it's borrowed from a home arranger-style keyboard. If you've used
pattern-based sequencing on a drum machine or hardware sequencer
before, you might find some of the terms confusing; the 64 available
'Patterns' are here merely the memory locations in which you store
sequence data. Within each Pattern memory, you can have up to 16
different 'Sections', which more closely resemble what were called
patterns in drum machines and sequencers of years gone by. Each Section,
which can be up to 256 bars long on the Motif ES, can have a completely
different set of Voices assigned to each track, if desired, with full
mixing facilities: level and pan, three-band EQ, eight insert effects
freely assignable as you need them, two send effects, plus the master
effects and master EQ. The integrated sampling sequencer really comes
into its own here: not only can Voices be assigned to sequencer tracks,
but sampled audio can be recorded there, too, for something not a
million miles away from hard disk recording without the hard disk. The
upshot is that it's pretty easy to create anything from a scratch
backing track to a fully fledged composition.
Each Pattern memory now contains a chain function
(only one pattern chain was permitted on the original Motif), which is
used to determine the order in which the sequenced Sections you've
created will be played back. If your Sections have different Voices
assigned to tracks, then the changes show up as program changes. While
chaining, it's possible to change mixer settings, so a single Section
could be the basis for a whole track with muting and unmuting of parts.
Song mode, meanwhile, provides a more linear,
tape-like recording environment. Much of the basic feel is the same as
Patterns — you have all the same setup and editing options, and can
record samples into tracks. There's a certain degree of
interconvertibility, in that Pattern chains can be converted into Songs
if you wish. This eradicates the Section boundaries in the Pattern
chain, creating a continuous sequence, over which you can then overdub
more longform solos, or mix and arrange your Song in a more linear
manner. There are 64 Song memories in total. Both Songs and Patterns are
lost on power down, so you'll need external storage of some kind to
avoid losing your work.
One Song mode trick worth mentioning is the way that
individual tracks can be looped by means of an independent switch on
each track. If activated, whatever is on that track will automatically
loop to the length of the longest track in the Song. So a two-bar drum
loop could play for four minutes to provide backing for a piano part,
say, without you having to program the drums to last the length of the
piano part.
Of course, the ES sequencer can also play external
MIDI sounds, or the ES can be played as a multitimbral sound module
from an external sequencer. The ES will also load and save data in MIDI
File Format, so if you do have a computer, you can rework material with
the tools offered by both platforms. The sequencer proved resistant to
crashing, except when playing back absurdly controller-heavy data, but
as on the S90 I reviewed for SOS last month (see www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/yamahas90.htm), pressing patch-selection buttons while the sequencer was running did cause timing problems, which could be annoying.
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Freebies
Yamaha are quite good at keeping their customers supplied with extras, most of them free. For example, A Complete Guide to the Yamaha Motif ES is a handy DVD wth a running time of nearly three hours, and it's free to anybody — even people just thinking
about buying an ES. It runs through loads of operational routines in a
clear manner, and your understanding is really helped by seeing the
moves in action, rather than trying to figure out what the manual means.
You may not get a Smart Media card in the box, but
once you've bought an ES, make a point of registering it: buy one
between now and January 31, 2004, and Yamaha will send you the Atmosfear
voice set — 64 synth pads and soundscapes designed in the UK — on a
Smart Media card absolutely free. They just need to see a copy of your
Motif ES receipt, and your name and address. Note that this offer is
only open to Yamaha customers in the UK and Eire, though.
The Motif users' site www.motifator.com
also offers a lot of useful content, in the form of tutorials and extra
sounds, both free and commercial (Motif voices can be loaded into the
ES, remember). I found a detailed document here which explored
transferring Voices, samples and sequence data from the older synth to
the new, which could be useful if you need to know how.
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Sampling
As an owner of Yamaha's A5000 rack sampler, and
having co-reviewed the original Motif, I knew what to expect from the
sampling side of the ES. But even here there are changes, most notably
in the RAM specified by Yamaha: PC100 or PC133 168-pin DIMMs, which are
inexpensive, and currently in plentiful supply. The maximum RAM
installable is also 512MB in two RAM modules (the original Motif maxed
out at 64MB!). RAM can only be installed in pairs, so the minimum
loadable will be 128MB in two 64MB DIMMs.
Sampling is undertaken via the stereo analogue
inputs, or by internally recording a mix of whatever the Motif ES is
playing at a given time. Add an AIEB2 input/output expansion board or
the imminent mLAN16E board, and you'll be able to sample digitally, too.
Getting samples from your computer isn't straightforward: there's no
SCSI connection as there was with on the original Motif, so you'll need a
Smart Media card plus a reader attached to your computer to do the
swap. A USB device that you can swap between synth and computer will
also do the trick, though the manual warns about hot-swapping USB
devices, especially those powered by the USB connection.
There's a choice of automatic or manual sampling,
with a range of level and input controls (the analogue input, for
example, can accept line or mix signals). A wide range of sampling rates
is available, from 44.1kHz down to 5.5125kHz (48kHz is available with
the AIEB2 option installed). Once you've taken a sample, it can be
comprehensively edited, with options including normalisation, trimming,
looping, and a good time-stretch. The sampling procedure is elegant,
with a dedicated window accessible from Voice, Song or Pattern mode
which allows you to record samples directly into a sequence in the way
described earlier.
Once there, a MIDI event is also recorded to trigger
the sample, and it's possible to split rhythmic material up —
especially drum loops and so on — using the Slice function. The Motif ES
then creates several more triggers to fire each slice, creating in
effect a multisample of the original sample's constituent beats, so that
it's possible to slow down and speed up a sequence without compromising
the sample in any way — the closest comparison would be with
Propellerhead's Recycle software.
Also worthy of mention is Loop Remix function, a
Yamaha staple which takes a sliced loop and reorders and/or reverses the
slices to create new rhythmic or textural material unobtainable in any
other way.
As well as recording samples into the ES's
sequencer, you can also use them as the basis for custom instrumental
multisampled waveforms. You start with a sample, then this is assigned
to a range of notes (and velocities, if desired) that play it on the
keyboard, becoming a Keybank in the process. Several Keybanks arranged
together as a related multisample become a Waveform, which in turn can
be used at the heart of an Element in a Motif ES Voice.
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Interfacing & Software
The Motif ES's interfacing is quite comprehensive, but as noted
elsewhere in the review, changes have been made that result in some
small disappointments. For example, the original Motif's SCSI socket has
gone, but in its place is a USB-to-Device socket. However, there was
one neat thing about connecting the original Motif to a computer: the
link allowed the computer to see SCSI drives and Smart Media cards
connected to the Motif, and Yamaha's File Utility software
(also supplied with the S90) allowed data to be transferred to and fro.
The ES is less straightforward in this respect. The manual explicitly
notes that USB devices attached to the ES's 'To Device' USB port will not be seen by a computer attached to the 'To Host' port. More worryingly, File Utility
isn't included in the ES's software bundle, so it's not clear if a
computer will be able to talk to a Smart Media card inserted into the
ES! It seems not.
Certainly, if you have an Smart Media card reader
attached to, or built into, your computer, simply moving the card
between synth and computer will allow you to move samples and other data
easily. But that's yet another expense for the new Motif ES owner. I'd
also note that the included version of Yamaha's excellent Tiny Wave Editor
sample-editing package still thinks it's living in a SCSI world with
the original (SCSI-equipped) Motif and offers no way of directly beaming
samples to (or extracting them from) the Motif ES — you need to move
Smart Media cards or other USB storage devices to and fro. There is no
other way.
Computer interfacing will become more interesting,
though, when Yamaha's new improved mLAN board — the mLAN16E — becomes
available later this year: audio and MIDI can be passed in both
directions down a single cable, so it seems that the sampling inputs and
insert effects become useable within whatever sequencing environment
you use.
Other supplied software — the excellent Voice Editor application and the PC-only SQ01
sequencer — function perfectly via the USB connection, as do other MIDI
applications. None of the supplied software is for Mac OS X, the now
default OS for Apple computers. Nor will the supplied software run in
Classic emulation mode. A Mac OS X driver can be downloaded from www.yamahasynth.com, but there was no news of anything else as we went to press.
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Motif ES As Master Keyboard
Not only can the Motif ES be a sequencing, sampling
synth workstation, it also has something to offer as the master keyboard
in a larger MIDI studio. These facilities have been inherited from the
original Motif, via the recent S90 synth. Essentially, it's possible to
layer, key-split or velocity-split up to four ES Voices, up to four
patches on external MIDI instruments, or a mix of the two — like a
super-Performance that's not limited to sounds on the ES itself.
Master keyboard setups are saved into one of 128
master memories. Unusually — and usefully — these memories can
accommodate practically anything located on the ES. It's possible to
save anything to a Master memory, whether that be a Voice, Performance,
Pattern or Song. This facility is offered to make what is a deep and
complex instrument easier to navigate when you're in a hurry. Simply
plonk all your favourite Voices, Performances, Songs or Patterns in
Master memories, and they can be recalled more quickly than by scrolling
through the rest of the OS in normal circumstances. The feature is
especially useful for live users of the Motif ES: you can set up a chain
of whatever you want to use on stage for instant recall. A footswitch
can also step through the Master memory list, if desired. So you could
have a Song in memory 1, followed by a Voice to vamp with during a break
between songs, then the next song and so on. For studio users, the
master memory list could be treated like a 'favourites' list, so that
your most commonly used data is more accessible than by other means.
Conclusions
In summing up the Motif ES, I can only echo comments
made in the review of the original Motif. It features everything you'd
expect — bar sample RAM! — and should be able to do anything reasonable
that you want it to. The interface is neutral enough to suit any style
of music you'd want to create with it, and the huge waveform ROM,
coupled with the large number of presets, covers enough bases that you
won't have to buy PLG cards unless you really want to! The synthesis
capabilities are familiar, yet somehow better than previously,
particularly as regards effects implementation, and the sound is solid
and vibrant. It's also good to see the sampler and sequencer so well
integrated.
Overall, the often subtle but significant changes to
the Motif range indicate more of an evolutionary move up the ladder,
rather than something radically different from what has gone before.
Aspects are better, certainly, but not in the consistent way
that made the original Motif such an eye-opener. That said, Motif ES is,
and will remain for some time, one of the 'must-test' options for those
seeking an all-in-one synth/sampling workstation. The choice won't be
easy, but make it an ES and you won't be disappointed.
It's really good synthesizer. You can find free sounds for it here: Yamaha Motif ES Sounds download
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