We all know about the great Super Articulation voices in the Tyros 2 (and soon also in the PSR-S900). In the new Motif XS Yamaha uses a slighthly different term, i.e. Xpanded Articulation. I have been wondering how closely these two concepts - SA and XA - are related to each other?

The great thing about SA voices is that the keyboard is constantly analyzing your playing style and uses this to select which samples are going to be played. This works extremely well and you can have your left hand free for playing chords. On the Moitf XS demos I have seen the demonstrator uses controllers - buttons, knobs, and sliders - when playing the XA voices. I had hoped that the Motif XS range would have sounds similar to the SA voices in the Tyros 2/PSR-S900, but now I am in doubt.

Does anyone dare to comment on this - maybe Squeak

Kind regards,
Tommy

[This message has been edited by TommyF (edited 04-16-2007).]

The Expanded SA voices are basically the 2nd generation SA voices. These take the current SA voices to another level. It puts more of the nuance control in the hands of the user. There are dedicated buttons on the Motif XS that allow the user to control various things within an SA voice. To be honest Yamaha fixed my complaint about the SA voices with the new Motif XS.

Squeak

Sounds great, but does this mean that if I choose a XA trumpet on the Motif XS and only play it with my right hand (not using any controllers) I will get a result similar to playing a SA trumpet on the Tyros 2?

Kind regards,
Tommy

That I'm not too sure about. I'll be test driving the Motif XS this weekend as well as the Tyros2. I'll be able to do a side by side comparison of the traditional SA and Expanded SA voices. I'll post my opinions over the weekend.

Squeak

I will be looking forward to your report

Kind regards,
Tommy

whatever you do Squeak, dont use the standard Tyros 2 satellite speakers as they do the board absolutely no justice compared to a cheap $100.000 AUD Logitech 5.1 setup...

Most styles in the T2 that use a drum kit other than the Live Power kits will not sound as good or as "live" unless u switch the kits to the live power Kit 1 or 2...(ignore this if its a dance or hip hop kinda style). Believe me you will know what im talking about when you have your hands on the board...

there are alot of other secrets such as eq settings, reverb effects on certain voices ie live grand piano, SA Sax that u need to adjust as well that will enhance the sound quality...send me an email if you have any queries...

nickgalea83@optusnet.com.au

cheers

Nick I already plan on digging into the master EQ, and making some adjustments with the T2. It'll be interesting to do a side by side of the 1st and 2nd generation SA voices too.

Squeak

I, for one, am enormously interested whether the XS Sax is as good as the SA Sax. There's an XS module in my future if that is as good as the T2.

I would also be very interested in finding out if any of the XS guitar voices are close to exact duplicates of T2 Mega and SA voices. It would be nice to run some T2 styles on my G70, and have them trigger the correct guitar nuances which, IMHO, are what really make the T2 styles so much better....

If there's a way to use the XS module as a 'virtual' T2, this is going to be a no-brainer (not to mention all the other great sounds)!

As Nick says it's essential to make adjustments to voice settings to get the best sounds. With the default settings most of the SA voices for me are just "vin ordinaire".
IMO it's essential to bring the voices more upfront which encourages you to use a lighter touch which more effectively brings out those nuances that keep being mentioned.

Here's a link to a brief demo I made using the SA BigBandSax. The first few bars are played using default settings, the remainder using the edited version. I hope you notice the difference!!!

Note. Master EQ & Compression settings were left unchanged throughout


http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/whiskarellafarm/demos/minverm.wma

John

[This message has been edited by jwyvern (edited 04-16-2007).]

[This message has been edited by jwyvern (edited 04-16-2007).]

Somehow couldn't connect to that example, John. Could you esnips it, or some other form of delivery?