Feeding arpeggios into a XS Rack from a computer?

[mrdelurk]

I heard that the arpeggio files on the Yamaha XS Rack are MIDI files basically. Since the unit has an USB port, is it possible to move individual MIDI files back and forth between the XS Rack and a computer? (As in: "this MIDI pattern sounds cool on my Mac, let's throw it over to the XS Rack to use it as an arpeggio.") Thank you for your help in advance

[Meatball Fulton]

None of the Motif racks allow loading user arpeggio patterns, only the keyboard versions have that feature.

[mrdelurk]

Thank you for the answer, Meatball Fulton. Do you know if the new Yamaha S90 XS keyboard can do this arpeggio file import / export? It has USB...

 

(Scouting the Net for a comparison, which XS8 features were left out of the S90 XS exactly, I found the following resource:

 

http://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/keyboards/synthesizers/?checked_object=8020:50023:17427:8023&mode=compare&page=1

 

It does not answer whether it's possible to import / export / manage arpeggio files easily, though.)

[Meatball Fulton]

Take a look at this.

 

Currently appears to have no XS support, though...only ES.

[mrdelurk]

 

Take a look at this .

 

 

Wow! If I could only get the 6000+ XS arpeggios with this (even if at an extra cost) I could get by with an ES too. The program's feature list does include MIDI import feature, so if everything fails, maybe I could borrow or rent an XS6, export all the arps via USB as MIDI files... hmmm.

 

(One wonders why KeyFax, reportedly the creator of those 6000+ Yamaha arps, never released the XS arp set as a collection for ES and earlier Yamaha model users. Perhaps Yamaha told them not to. Nicebeats does have a similar package, though, their "Complete MIDI Range" collection. I wish they had any demos so that I could compare the quality.)

[Meatball Fulton]

Until that editor (written by a Motif user) became available about 2 years ago dealing with user arps on the Motif was extremely ugly.

 

With only the hardware UI to work with, you can only load an entire set at once and there is no way to edit them once loaded. To create a custom set of "favorites" from existing sets is torturous.

[mrdelurk]

 

Until that editor (written by a Motif user) became available about 2 years ago dealing with user arps on the Motif was extremely ugly. With only the hardware UI to work with, you can only load an entire set at once and there is no way to edit them once loaded. To create a custom set of "favorites" from existing sets is torturous.

 

 

Yep, pretty much how the Korg Triton/M3 line is, without Karma-Lab's Karma Triton or Karma M3 editor program. Even if you have it, you cannot take the program to arp-swapping sessions at friends' studios without having to lug a 80lbs Korg 'board along, for without sensing one physically connected, the program won't even run... the mother of all dongle schemes.

 

Does the Motif arp editor program also require that a big Yamaha Motif keyboard be physically connected and running to run?

[mrdelurk]

I just bought this "Complete MIDI Range" arp set today. There are no demos anywhere of it on the Net, so it was a bit of a gamble. If anyone cares, I can report how good it is after I get it.