Hello. I'm thinking about buying a Yamaha Motif ES7 - please give me some advices about it wether i'm making a good choice or not. Thank you in advance

If you are looking for an arranger, then it is a poor choice, because Motif ES7 is a workstation.

If you are looking for a top end rompler ( sample based workstation ), then it is a a very good choice. I have an ES6. Any of the big three ( Triton Extreme, Fantom X ) are rather good boards imho.

Pros- Excellent soundset especially acoustic instruments vs the other two ( my opinion of course ). Maybe a little weak in the synth sounds though vs the other two, but you can add the AN150 plug in analog modeled synth and it rocks ( sounds a lot like a Prophet 5 ).

Ability to add user arps and user patterns. The whole "phrase factory" thing ( very good step-sequencer with slice functions ) is very cool.

Nice key feel for a synth action board. ( ES8 is weighted and feels more like a real
piano )

Assignable knobs and slider that helps make it a very decent controller for other synths or even Vsti / software samplers.

Cons- Small screen.

Difficult or complex OS to navigate through for some ( although it isn't bad for me once I learned it ).

Sampling- Cool functions, but a pain to learn the menus and navigate through. I always recommend using a dedicated sampler for anything complex anyway.

I still have mine, and probably will for a long time.

AJ

Thank you for answering me. I currently have a Casio wk5300, A roland va-76 ( professional arranger ) and i wanted a workstation. For playing at european weddings. Do you think that i made the right choice? I heard someone playing on a Motif ES7. What do you think about MOTIF 6 ? Again, thanks for answering me.

Are you going to be with a band or playing solo? A workstation like the Motif or Motif ES is fine for use with a band, but might not be the best choice for playing solo.... unless of course you don't need backing. Perhaps you would use midifiles and or a drum machine or just play acoustic piano ?? or string along drum patterns in the step sequencer while playing left handed bass and comping with the right hand ? Or perhaps you just want it to complement your arranger ( for better solo / lead voices ). I've used my Motif ES and stacked it with my Korg PA80 ( arranger ) when playing live solo.

When you ask about the Motif 6, I assume you mean the "classic" ( not ES ) ? I had one before I got the ES. Excellent sounds, very useful for band use.

Compared to the ES, the disadvantages are : half the polyphony ( you'll notice that when playing along with midifiles ). Very few arps and pre programmed drum patterns for the step sequencer. Only one bank for user sounds vs 2 banks on the ES. Less wav rom, so fewer voices and raw samples.

There are a few other differences as well, but either board works fine for someone playing in a band.

AJ


[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 10-23-2005).]

The Motif is great for band use. I still use AJ's old Motif 6 that I bought off him back when he upgraded to the ES Motif. You can see me pretending it is my Clavinet in Las Vegas http://www.synthzone.com/clips/LoveSneakin_1.AVI

And AJ is right it is great in a band but would not be the keyboard to use in a solo situation. You could play over MIDI files but an arranger would be a lot more flexible.

Hi AJ,
if Claudiu is actually keeping his VA7?? and just wants the motiff for better melody voices, another option may be midiing the two together, or playing it like an organ, left hand VA7 styles, right hand motiff melody.

I used to have my VA7 midied to my Clavinova
piano.

Suppose depends on what he wants it for.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
[B]Are you going to be with a band or playing solo? A workstation like the Motif or Motif ES is fine for use with a band, but might not be the best choice for playing solo.... unless of course you don't need backing.

I'm going to play in a band. I will use the Roland VA76 like an arranger and the casio wk3500 - for completing the VA76 - those two are on a double stander. And on the other side, a friend is going to do stuff with the Motif. Do you guys think that will work out? I'm using the casio because it has cool sounds, and i'll play with the left hand on it and on the va76. The motif is for the other guy. Do you think that the Motif is necessary ? or i should play on the va76 and him on the casio...? Please, advices... Thank you very much for your answers.

I don't know if anyone can give the right answer on that Claudiu. I know I can't. It's really going to depend a lot on the type of sounds you need. My best suggestion is find a Motif to demo and try it out.

I have only played a little on a VA76 quite a while ago, so I cannot remember much now about the sounds. As far as the WK goes.. I'm getting so tempted to buy one to hack around with. I had an MZ2000, which was Casio's one attempt at producing a higher end arranger. The WK 3700 supposedly uses the same sample engine. I liked some of the sounds a lot and the synth editing engine was about as good as any that I've ever used in any sample based machine. I disliked many of the styles though.

If the board you choose is mainly for playing solo voices, then either version of the Motif is going to have nice sounds. In a band setting though, in my own situation, I sometimes prefer to use my laptop with softsynths ( for even better quality of voices ) even though my ES is always there, since it also doubles as my midi controller.

AJ

Thanks Bluezplayer - I have a question: I bought my Roland VA-76 from a New B Stock and i didn't get the Zip Disk that should've came with it. How can I get it? Where from ? I need it. I need a Zip Disk for a Roland VA-76 - or a copy of it. I'll pay for it. Any offers are accepted ! Thanks you guys.

Hi,
if you don't have any luck, try the va7 user group, not sure how active they are anymore http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/va-7/
or try the Roland forum on this site.

best wishes
Rikki