Is anybody using XGWORKS these days. If so, what arranger / synth do you play and what aspects of XGWORKS do you use. I find it a bit rich that Yamaha have withdrawn support and development for this product and still sell it on their web-site.

Jon.

I still have it on one of my computers, but I probably should just get rid of it as I am certain I wouldn't miss it. It has useful midi editing features but very little in audio production capabilities. The arranger function isn't real time, so I use One Man Band for that.

The SQ01 soft sequencer that came bundled with my Motif still gets some occasional use. I also have a Korg PA80. SQ01 has better audio capabilities than XG works, and it will host Vst soft synths and effects. Some of these don't always work so well in it though. For example, it has a problem synching up with FL studio, which is one of my favorite apps.

So.. I use Sonar, which handles all my DX and VSt Plug ins flawlessly, and works well with my hardware keyboards as well. Sometimes I just use FL studio as a standalone ( it's more than capable ), and sometimes I open it up as DXi or Rewire device in Sonar.

The way Yamaha has orphaned things like XG Works and the SYXG 100 software XG module makes me less than happy that they decided to take over Steinberg. I hope they don't mess up the VST platform now that they basically own it.


AJ

Hi Jon,
I originally got it so I could access my psr styles after I sold my 9000 pro
ie I was able to create a backing track in steptime ( similar to how Band in a Box works ) then do a bit of editing.
It has it's own built in styles, but there is also a way of using psr styles.

Nowadays I'm using One Man Band for the above functions instead.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JonPro:
[b]

[This message has been edited by rikkisbears (edited 01-09-2005).]

I haven't sequenced in a couple of years, but I used to love XGworks. I had a CS2x as a controller and loved the XG editing capabilities, but I never felt that Yamaha ever really promoted it as they should have. Very disappointing. -charley

Yep, I agree Charley. The thing has excellent midi editing features ( more intuitive than Sonar... for me anyway ), but like many other Yamaha softwares, they just let it slip away.

I still use XGworks regularly with my PSR-740. I mostly use the XG Editor as my 740 contains a full blown synth which is mostly inaccessible from the keyboard. The XG Editor gives me almost full control of the synth though I had to do a major update of the XGworks tables to provide this facility. The only thing XGworks doesn't support is the Organ Flutes but I can get around this with some extra sysex or by using Cakewalk Studioware and XGworks in conjunction with MidiOx/MidiYoke.

I also find the styles useful. I can copy a melody and the chords out of a fake book to get an idea of how it should sound, and then do an arrangement based on the result.

XGworks doesn't print scores too well so I use PowerTracks for that as it has a rather nice "Engraver Spacing" option.

As to support, I've been supporting XGworks in a small way by updating the tables for various instruments and shipping them to various folks and to Yamaha for their enlightenment. The problem there is that high end synths designed after the 740 use an extended effects map which XGworks cannot support without a major rewrite of the code, so I just update the instrument tables for those synths.

Bryan

Hi Bryan,
it certainly has been a while.
Great to hear from you again.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Pilot:
[B]

I have XGWorks with SW1000XG. Always prefer to do midi editing on XGWorks compared to doing it on Cakewalk Home Studio, but use Cool Edit along with Home Studio for audio editing. I still use XGWorks when creating styles for PA80.

Shiral

I own XGWorks as well but only utilize it when I need to PRESERVE a Tyros/PSR keyboard created midi file's: auto-accompaniment 'CHORD NAMES', of which is required to properly trigger the vocal harmonizer's chord changes on playback.

When a Tyros/PSR keyboard created midi file is loaded into any other commercial sequencer (Cakewalk Sonar, etc), all Yamaha exclusive commands (sysEX commands begining with FF) are not only ignored, but when the midi file is subsequently re-saved, this critical data is lost forever. A listing of these Yamaha exclusive commands are listed on page 62 of the Tyros "Data List" manual.

I heard rumors quite a while back that Cakewalk was considering adding support (recognition) for these Yamaha Exclusive SysEX commands with a Sonar add-on plug-in. Anybody here know whether Cakewalk & Yamaha ever joined forces to implement this in Sonar? Thanks.

Scott

I can echo a lot of what AJ's experiences have been like, including the former use of XGWorks and SQ01. I just got a new studio computer on the only software going on it is what I actually use - won't be Yamaha software. I'm waiting until after NAMM to be certain but I'm probably going to have to upgrade to Sonar v4 for the surround-sound capability. The new computer has surround and my studio is going that way this year. I use the Motif's OPT voice editors in Sonar also. I'm finally adding the mLan interface to my Motif ES 8 which is partnered with a studio 9000 Pro. Otherwise I use Reason 2.5 (going to v3) and Sony Sound Forge.

I own a lot of softsynths but the only one I actually use a lot is still Yamaha SYXG100 on a laptop... wouldn't it be great if Yamaha revived and developed a new VST version of that?

Yamaha's Cubase... that's going to take getting used to. Who knows what they will do with it? But they sure have left behind some nice and often useful technology along the way. That what worries me... what they'll discontinue next.

There are some pretty farout rumors floating around NAMM this year, such as a possible new Korg "Open" synth that may be in the mold of the Open Labs nEko. It makes a lot of sense - Korg makes softsynths. If so, the softsynth-host-keyboard war has begun. It could be epic. It's fun to imagine that we're not that far from a hardware arranger that could load VSTi's.