Hello:

You may have found my latest blog entry here via the link in the listening room. Or, if you are just reading this and would like to know what song I am referring to, it is in the Motif XS listening room: www.motifator.com/motifxs/motifxs-listen.php.

One of the joys I get working for Yamaha is creating song files for different products. This demo however is really special to me because of not only the quality of the voices involved, but the experience of actually playing them. I have to say that the expressiveness of the voices within the XS really makes creating music an absolutely rewarding experience.

I created this tune based on the chord changes to the George and Ira Gershwin standard "Love Walked In", one of my all-time favorite compositions. The melody of the tune is completely different (just like the multitudes of original melodies within the jazz idiom that have been created over the chord changes of Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm").

This MP3 (which is encoded as a Variable Bit Rate (VBR), the best MP3 format when considering size vs. audio quality) was created from a file composed ENTIRELY within the Motif XS sequencer in song mode using only three tracks:

Track one is an 8-element voice called "Nylon String Vel", an absolutely remarkable new nylon string guitar voice that is a perfect example of the new Xpanded Articulation feature that the Motif XS offers. Key off samples of the finger pulling of the fret board, occasional fret noise and upper velocity slides make this voice one of the most enjoyable voices to play in the Instrument IMHO.

Track 2 is a voice called "Vintage JB AF 1&2", AF standing for "Assignable Function" which is how the harmonic is engaged at the top of the bass solo (see those two switches right next to the master volume slider in the XS picture). This one also features very cool key off samples which can be heard right after the harmonic sound occurs at the top of the bass solo. The realism and expressiveness of this voice is almost spooky!

Track 3 features the "Brush Kit", one of my absolute favorite kits in the XS. The brush toms and ride cymbals are really great.

The reverb used is the Rev-X hall and I used the VCM Compressor 376 on the entire mix, which really added a great deal of punch to the mix (maybe too much...the work is never done, is it?). I then recorded a two track file into Cubase 4 and encoded it in as a VBR mp3 in Wavelab. No other processing was used, so what you are hearing is all Motif XS with nothing else.

A quick word about Variable Bit Rate MP3s:

If you are listening to this in iTunes you will notice that the time doesn't line up. For some reason a VBR mp3 vexes itunes. I have some songs in iTunes that are about 4 minutes long but the program lists them as 23 minutes long...not sure exactly why that is, but the size is generally about the same as a 192 kbps MP3. I'll have to contact my buddies at Apple at ask them why that is. Either way, I'm a big fan of VBR MP3. Just in case you didn't know: Most MP3s are encoded at a Constant Bit Rate. The user picks a rate like 128, 192, 320 kbps, etc., and the file is encoded at this fixed rate. The encoding process used in Variable Bit Rate encoding makes intelligent bit-allocation decisions: In passages where there is more data (i.e. louder passages with lots of frequencies) additional bits are allocated to insure better audio quality; places with less data (like really quiet parts or dead silence) the bit allocation drops. The end result is a higher quality of MP3 than a constant bit rate.

Anyway, enjoy the song. I certainly enjoyed creating it.