usb Keyboard motif xs not working with virtual instruments

[bobleworm]

Hi everyone,

I would love to have some help with my motif xs8. I've tried to plug it with usb to drive virtual instruments such as structure free. It is declared as a HUI peripheral and i have assigned it to the structure port 1-A however it is not receiving any sounds. It is strange because it works immediately with logicpro or garageband. In structure i can click on the virtual keyboard to make sound but not with the yamaha. I can see that it is transmitting some data because when i press a key, the little yellow bar on structure is blinking but no sounds comes up. Could you bring any help ? thanks in advance,
have a good day !

[albee1952]

Have you set it up under the Midi Studio setup page? It needs to be.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by bobleworm

Hi everyone,

I would love to have some help with my motif xs8. I've tried to plug it with usb to drive virtual instruments such as structure free. It is declared as a HUI peripheral and i have assigned it to the structure port 1-A however it is not receiving any sounds. It is strange because it works immediately with logicpro or garageband. In structure i can click on the virtual keyboard to make sound but not with the yamaha. I can see that it is transmitting some data because when i press a key, the little yellow bar on structure is blinking but no sounds comes up. Could you bring any help ? thanks in advance,
have a good day !

To do basic MIDI work like triggering sounds on a vi in PT you don't have to declare it as a HUI controller. Go into OSX audio MIDI setup and set up your keyboard there. Something else to do is to download a free MIDI monitor program like snoize to see if the Yamaha is really communicating with your computer. Yamaha keyboards that have both USB MIDI and traditional 5 pin round MIDI connectors may not work on both connections at the same time; you'll have to check the manual to see if you need to make a configuration change on the XS8.

Also make sure you have any driver s/w for the Yamaha installed on your computer.

[bobleworm]

Thanks a lot for the replys ! I have checked my midi studio but the keyboard doesn't appear. I have downloaded snoize and it shows that the wordclock is shared as well as the key pressed infos. By un-assigning the HUI, i've managed to make sound enter to structure. But it only send the impulse of the signal. It can send impulse but not keeping the note on.
I think the issue is with the midi configuration. However i've tried different settings directly on the xs8 and it didn't work. I'm not shure that i'm on the new firmware so i'll try to update and i'll keep you informed. If you know how i can make the midi editor to detect the motif, i wait your advices !
Thanks a lot :)

EDIT : I managed to get into midi configuration correctly (thanks sierra !) and the motif is seen when pluged in. However i still have the same problem in protools.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by bobleworm

Thanks a lot for the replys ! I have checked my midi studio but the keyboard doesn't appear. I have downloaded snoize and it shows that the wordclock is shared as well as the key pressed infos. By un-assigning the HUI, i've managed to make sound enter to structure. But it only send the impulse of the signal. It can send impulse but not keeping the note on.
I think the issue is with the midi configuration. However i've tried different settings directly on the xs8 and it didn't work. I'm not shure that i'm on the new firmware so i'll try to update and i'll keep you informed. If you know how i can make the midi editor to detect the motif, i wait your advices !
Thanks a lot :)

EDIT : I managed to get into midi configuration correctly (thanks sierra !) and the motif is seen when pluged in. However i still have the same problem in protools.

When you say 'keeping the note on' are you using a sustain pedal connected to the Motif or are you manually holding down the note? If it's a sustain pedal make sure it's plugged into the correct connection on your keyboard and that it's also the right polarity. Different synthesizers use different schemes for the sustain pedal and a lot of sustain pedals have a little switch to accomodate that. Make sure the sustain pedal sends out a sustain on message when it's pressed down; if it doesn't and your pedal has a switch, flip the switch to the other position and give it a try.

[bobleworm]

Sorry it wasn't very clear ^^
it's just keeping the key down that doesn't work. It sends the info "press on" and "release" but the sound isn't hold when i keep the key down so i have "on-cut(nosound)-info release(so nosound)"

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by bobleworm

Sorry it wasn't very clear ^^
it's just keeping the key down that doesn't work. It sends the info "press on" and "release" but the sound isn't hold when i keep the key down so i have "on-cut(nosound)-info release(so nosound)"

That's weird for sure. Does this happen with all sounds? Do this: instead of using Structure use Xpand!2 and call up one of the organ sounds. Hold down a key - you should get a sustained sound.

Just thought of something: did you download and install snoize? If you did run the program and hold down any key on your Motif - it should generate a series of note events which will show a variance in velocity in snoize (that's natural because unless you're a robot you can't hold a key down at the same pressure for a long time). If this works then we can rule out the keyboard.

[bobleworm]

I've tried using the minimoog also and other plugs but i still have the same issue, in snoize i can see the first info, i think i don't see the generated notes if the key is kept down, but it scrolls very fats as i have all te wordclock info. The strange thing is that it works perfectly fine on logic pro.

[bobleworm]

Hi guys, just a quick update. I think i've found the issue, i'll check tomorrow to see if works well but i had not selected "first midi track" for "default thru instruments" under Preferences/midi. I had also tested with the mini grand which seems to have an issue because when i switch to structure it worked fine.

[DonaldM]

I use the Motif XS8 as my main MIDI controller. Make sure you've downloaded the USB driver for the Motif from the Yamaha website and installed it for your system.

Once installed, you have to do things in the right order. The Motif must be on and running BEFORE you open Pro Tools, otherwise, PT will not properly "see" the Motif.

If you haven't already, in PT, go to the MIDI Studio set up and add your Motif as a MIDI controller there. You will see "Motif 6,7,8" as options. Choose that.

Once that done, you should then be able to use the Motif as MIDI controller to play any VI. Make sure the Motif MIDI set up page on the Motif is set to send and receive correctly (see the manual if you're not sure how to do this.)

Install a VI on an instrument track, record arm it, and then play the VI off the Motif and enjoy!

Let me know how you're getting on. If you run into problems, let me know.

I also strongly recommend you get the Motif XS Editor. It makes editing sounds and such on the Motif a whole lot easier than going through the limited views on the Motif screen. What's really nice is you can host the Motif editor as a VST plugin if you have Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork plugin. The Motif editor is VST3 and Blue Cat will host it. I use it ALL the time. It essentially makes my Motif look like one giant VI in PT. Edit on the fly and all that. Its awesome! If you don't have the editor you can get here.

Good luck!