Yamaha Genos V2.0 Update

Posted on November 15, 2019 by pj

The Yamaha Genos™ V2.0 update is available for download from your regional Yamaha musical instrument site.

Reading through the list of changes, the Yamaha engineers have changed many of the internal data structures and file formats in order to support new features. Thus, like the MODX update, you will need to save your user data before you install the update. Pay careful attention to these cautionary statements from Yamaha:

“After you’ve updated the firmware to this version, the System, MIDI, User Effect, and Registration data are initialized the first time you start up again.

Save the MIDI Setup File and User Effect Setup file before updating, and load after updating.
Save Registrations to a file before updating.
Even if you save the System Setup file before updating, it cannot be loaded after updating.
If you save the Backup data before updating and restore it after updating, the System, MIDI, User Effect and Registration data will not be restored.

Before executing the update, we recommend that you back up important data to an external drive using the backup function or data copy function, in case some trouble occurs.”

The list of changes and fixes is quite long and extensive. This is clearly a major update, if not an upgrade!

I keep everything backed up as I work. I put a lot of time and effort into voice and style programming, and just cannot bear the thought of doing it all over again. I honestly don’t mind making another back-up just in case.

While you’re at the download page, be sure to snag new copies of the Genos Owner’s Manual, Genos Reference Manual and Genos Data List. Also, grab the new version of Yamaha Expansion Manager (YEM) V2.6.0. You must use YEM V2.6.0 with Genos V2.0 firmware. Under the “Other Downloads” section, you’ll find a bonus playlist and documentation for the Genos V2.0 Superior Pack: Bonus Playlist for Genos V2.0 Superior Pack and GENOS V2.0 SUPERIOR PACK List.

A quick glance at the V2.0 Superior Pack List reveals the new EDM and bass voices from the PSR-SX900, the (expected) Super Articulation 2 (SA2) female voices, SA2 soft trombone, SA2 panflute, and a raft of “Alpen” voices. There are six new Mega Voices which signal new samples, too: Klarinette Mega, Trompete Mega, BariHorn Mega, Kontra Tuba Mega, Bass Tuba Mega and OberGtr Mega.

At the time that I’m writing this post (10AM PST), Yamaha have not updated the Genos pages to promote the V2.0 update. The European pages have info about V2.0 including a link to the V2.0 Superior Pack. If you can wait (!), here is a direct link to the V2.0 Superior Pack.

This is a lot to install and mentally unpack. Thank you, Yamaha!

Backed up, installed and running

It took a short while to fully understand Yamaha’s cautionary note. I decided to make a complete back-up file even though the System, MIDI and User Effect set-ups inside would not be reloaded by Genos V2.0. To fill the gap, I saved the MIDI Set-up and User Effect Set-up to files on a USB flash drive. Just to be ultra-safe, I copied my Registrations from the Genos internal USER area to the USB flash drive. I have a lot of time and effort invested in my Registrations and did not want to lose any recent edits. [I keep successive back-ups, so I can roll back to a previous, known-good state, if necessary.]

The System Settings are more of a problem. Genos V1.4 has a way to save the System Settings to a file, but V2.0 will not load pre-V2.0 save files. I followed Yamaha’s advice and studied the Parameter Chart in the Genos Data List PDF. The data stored with a System Set-up are clearly identified. I wrote down a short list of the parameters which I most likely had changed:

Compressor
EQ
Score, Text, etc.
Arpeggio
Registration Sequence
Metronome
Live Control
Assignable (Home shortcuts, Foot pedal, assignable buttons)

Your list might be different, so I recommend scanning the System Set-up column in the Parameter Chart. I wrote down the current settings in a text file using a personal computer.

After all of this prep, I was ready for the actual installation. I started with a blank USB flash drive and copied the Genos V2.0 update file (GENOSSETUP.PRG) to the USB drive. I plugged the USB drive into the rear HOST TO DEVICE port, held down the Style Control [START/STOP] button, and powered up. Genos found the update file and kicked into the installation process. Several minutes later, the installer said it was OK to power down and I did so.

On power up the first time, I saw a message like “Improper shutdown. Back up data … have been lost.” Gulp! That’s the Genos start-up code checking the consistency of the set-up data. As we were warned by Yamaha, the set-up data was initialized by the installer. After that, load the saved set-up files from the USB flash drive and ran through the System Settings, and started playing. Oddly, my assignable buttons were preserved, but I wouldn’t count on that happening to you. Back up before installing!

All appears to be good. I have music to rehearse, etc., and will eventually post about the Genos V2.0 Superior Pack, the Chord Looper and other new Genos features. I also need to install YEM V2.6.0, a prerequisite for the Superior Pack. Busy, busy.

Don’t forget auto power shutdown. I just heard Genos turn itself off…

Yamaha MODX: Inside stuff

Posted on November 6, 2019 by pj

Time for a quick look at the MODX internal hardware. I’m going to be brief, so please read my Yamaha Genos articles (main CPU and tone generation) and my Montage internals article for more details and background information.

The MODX main CPU subsystem should look familiar. It is essentially the same as the Montage main CPU subsystem. Again, the Texas Instruments AM3352 Sitara ARM microprocessor is the star, providing many of the important internal device interfaces. The eMMC bulk storage device is still 4GBytes although the MODX eMMC data clock is slightly slower than Montage (48MHz instead of 52MHz). Deja vu all over again.

The MODX is a reduced-spec Montage. Although the MODX has the same waveforms and Performances as Montage, its polyphony is less:

AWM2: 128 (maximum; stereo/mono waveforms)
FM-X: 64 (maximum)

The keybed is lower quality (semi-weighted vs. FSX) and the MODX front panel is greatly simplified.

Both products employ an MB9AF141NA ARM microcontroller for user interface scanning assisted by an 89FM42AUG logic device (E-GKS) for keybed scanning. User input (e.g., controller messages) are sent to the Master SWP70 tone generator over the EBUS. The EBUS is a low-latency path for controller input and commands, making for a responsive instrument with excellent hand-to-sound connection.

When we look at the MODX tone generation subsystem, we immediately see why the FM-X spec is lower. The MODX has only one SWP70 tone generator integrated circuit (IC). The Master SWP70 performs both AWM2 and FM-X synthesis. The MODX printed circuit board (PCB) has space and connections for a second SWP70 (in Slave mode), but the real estate is unpopulated (“No Mount”). Yamaha have planned ahead for a future model. They did the same thing with the MOX, BTW, leaving space and connections that were filled in the MOXF.

The extra computational capacity within a single SWP70 is surprising! The Master SWP70 provides 128 channels of AWM2 polyphony and 64 channels of FM-X polyphony. In order to pull off this trick, Yamaha utilize a second dedicated DSP RAM channel and SDRAM. Montage, on the other hand, utilizes only one DSP RAM channel on each SWP70.

Thus, the SWP70 can expand in two different dimensions:

DSP RAM (two dedicated channels max) with a corresponding boost in DSP computation, and
Wave RAM (two dedicated channels max) with an as-yet unexploited boost in AWM2 synthesis.

MODX illustrates the first case while Montage has an unpopulated position and connections for a second WAVE working memory channel. Your guess is as good as mine as to how Yamaha will expand and exploit these channels in future products.

The MODX serial digital audio bus is a subset of Montage. An SSP2 processor supports audio-over-USB through the USB TO HOST interface, just like Montage. However, the overall spec is substantially reduced. A single DAC drives the MAIN and PHONE outputs. A single ADC encodes incoming stereo audio from the A/D input. The SSP2 does not have a direct channel to an SSP2; the needed logic device is missing from MODX.

In case you’re wondering about serial audio bus clocking, the bus clock is 11.2896MHz. The clock speed is 256 * Fs, where Fs is 44.1kHz. In MODX and Montage engineering-land, this signal is known as M_SYSCLK. Genos engineers refer to this signal as mcasp-256fs. The different terminology doesn’t help comparison across product lines! Bottom line, the master clock is fast enough to support 32-bit 44.1kHz stereo audio. Currently, only the Genos has a 32-bit DAC for its MAIN out, BTW.

Our look inside MODX shows how Yamaha can manufacture the MODX at a lower price point. More significantly, perhaps, is the cost leverage gained by reusing the Montage software and sound content. I think sometimes arguments on the Web play up component cost while neglecting manufacturing, software and sound development costs. I suspect that software and sound development (waveforms, voices, arpeggios, styles, etc.) are a very large fraction of unit cost.

We also caught a glimpse of what’s in store for the future. SWP70 is in early childhood and Yamaha have left room to grow in both the MODX and Montage. In addition to unpopulated PCB sites, Yamaha can build out by using higher capacity NAND flash devices for waveform memory. I’ve said it before — the real limiting factor is Yamaha’s capacity to produce high-quality content — a labor intensive job. Ultimately, the payroll is more important than the cost of commodity NAND flash!

Montage digital audio clocking

I’m still thinking this through…

The Montage USB audio interface supports 44.1kHz, 48kHz and 96kHz sampling frequencies. The number of supported audio channels depends upon the chosen sampling frequency as defined in the specs:

“[Sampling Frequency = 44.1kHz] Input: 6 channels (3 stereo channels), Output: 32 channels (16 stereo channels)
[Sampling Frequency = 44.1kHz – 96kHz] Input: 6 channels (3 stereo channels), Output: 8 channels (4 stereo channels) “

The MODX USB audio interface is strictly 44.1kHz supporting:

“Input: 4 channels (2 stereo channels), Output: 10 channels (5 stereo channels)”

The digital audio bus master clock is a multiple of 44.1kHz, so how does Montage handle 48kHz and 96kHz?

The Montage SSP2 processor handles 44.1kHz, 48kHz, and 96kHz internally. The tone generators, however, are 44.1kHz only. A-ha! That explains the function of Montage’s SRC16 gate array. The gate array is clocked at 49.152MHz, which is a multiple of 48kHz. It converts the sample rates and samples between 48/96kHz and 44.1kHz in DAC-A format (2 channels per line).

The schematic notations on SRC16 match the Montage 48/96kHz spec:

Output: SWP->SRC->SSP2 8 channels (stereo 4 channels)
Input: :SSP2->SRC->SWP 6 channels (stereo 3 channels)

Someday I will explore the Montage/MODX subsystems in more depth.

Update about the updates

Posted on October 25, 2019 by pj

Yamaha Genos V2.0 is on the way

Yamaha have updated their short video about the Genos V2.0 update. The release date is now specific: 15 November 2019. There was considerable squabbling on the forums as to what “Winter 2019” meant. I’m glad that Yamaha has put the question to rest.

The other big tidbit from the new video as to do with the “Genos V2.0 Superior Pack.” The new content will include 50 new styles and 68 voices including Super Articulation 2 voices. I’m not a big style hound, but new voices are always welcome! I’ve still got plenty of room in expansion memory and can’t wait for the new content. I’m looking forward to the Chord Looper, too.

[Update] The Yamaha Europe site has further details. The Genos Version 2.0 Superior Pack includes SArt2 Premium voices such as “Pan Flutes,” “Female Vocals,” and “Trombone.” The page shows thumbnails for the Yamaha Musicsoft Premium Expansion Packs of the same name. This might be a little disappointing to users who already own these packs. I have “Female Vocals” already. Of course, that’s just icing and we still need to taste the whole cake.

Improvements have been made to expansion pack installation (Yamaha Expansion Manager). Yamaha have also improved Genos Style Creator, which was looking rather long in the tooth. Other improvements include new portamento functionality, sorting playlists alphabetically, and an increase in the number of USER effects which can be stored.

Additional improvements flash by near the end of the video. (Look for the flying boxes!) Unfortunately, the English is a little rocky and its hard to tell what some of them actually mean! One useful improvement is the addition of USER voices to FAVORITES. (?) I hope they allow USER styles in chord step record because I didn’t see this mentioned.

Yamaha are listening. They cite user feedback as the source for many of these enhancements.

BTW, some folks have noted an increase in the USA Minimum Advertised Price (MAP). Please remember that all dealers cannot publicly advertise below MAP as part of their dealership agreement with Yamaha. That doesn’t mean selling at MAP because that would be illegal price fixing in the USA. If you want a good deal, be sure to call around, especially smaller focused dealerships like Audioworks CT. The large on-line retailers don’t have as much incentive to negotiate or to offer a better price below MAP. Smaller dealerships are often more flexible.

Yamaha MODX update V2.0 is here

Yay! The MODX V2.0 update has dropped! I’m downloading now and will be installing shortly.

Yamaha have posted a new MODX Supplementary Manual and a new MODX Data List PDF in the downloads section of the MODX Web pages. You’ve probably already seen the list of new features as implemented in the most recent Montage update:

New effect types have been added: VCM Midi Filter, VCM Mini Booster, Wave Folder.
52 new Performances have been added.
The Pattern Sequencer function has been added.
You can now play songs, patterns and audio files from the Live Set display.
Super Knob Link has been added to the data that is recorded in the Scene function.
Keyboard Control has been added to the data that is recorded in the Scene function.
Increased the range of the LFO Speed parameter.
You can now connect MIDI equipment via the USB TO DEVICE terminal.
The Global Micro Tuning settings have been added.
The Audition Loop setting has been added.
Improvements have been made to the user interface.
The sequencer storage capacity (total User Memory) has been increased from about 130,000 to about 520,000 (for Songs) and about 520,000 (for Patterns).

The new Performances are listed on page 17 of the new Data List PDF (version c0). The new Performances are numbered from 2144 to 2195. Laser Trumpet?

Not going to the gym today… 🙂

Installing the MODX V2.0 update

The first thing to note: This is a major update.

I don’t just mean that as a compliment to Yamaha. The software engineers had to touch many, if not all, of the major internal data structures. You must perform a complete back-up before attempting installation as you will need to initialize all data and then reload your back-up file.

Please read the installation directions before starting. The directions clear state that all of User Memory (Library Data, User Data, etc.) will be initialized. Be sure to do a complete back-up following the directions on pages 60-61 of the Owner’s Manual and pages 201-202 of the Reference Manual. You want to write a back-up file, also known as an “ALL file” or “X8A” file by its extension. A back-up file saves the whole shee-bang including your libraries.

Follow the steps in the installation guide. The installation process takes about 4 to 5 minutes. If everything is successful, you will see messages like:

Searching for the updater ... OK

MODX updater 2.00.1

Preparing ... OK (current version 1.10.0)
Updating ... OK
Verifying ... OK
Finish.
Please turn off.

Turn MODX off, remove the USB drive with the updater, and turn MODX on again. Navigate to the System Settings by pressing [UTILITY] > [Settings] > [System]. I pressed the “Initialize All Settings” screen button first and then pressed the “Initialize All Data” button. (Deep breath.) Yamaha’s installation directions should be a little more specific here as to which buttons to press.

The initialization steps will, of course, wipe everything clean. Next, insert the USB drive with your back-up file. Navigate to the load contents page, i.e., [UTILITY] > [Contents] > [Load] and select the “Backup File” content type. Find your back-up file on the USB drive and re-load your content. If all goes well (modulo power failure, cosmic debris, pulsars, etc.), you should be good to go again.

Yamaha Genos update v1.4

Posted on June 28, 2019 by pj

Yamaha have posted Genos™ update v1.4 to their support sites. I’m in the process of downloading and installing the update. [More later.]

Yamaha have also updated the Genos manuals and the AudioPhraser program. AudioPhraser definitely needed some touch-ups. Hopefully, there is a new version of Yamaha Expansion Manager (YEM) and ChordTracker just around the corner.

Looking through the list of changes, v1.4 is not the major update many punters are looking for. However, Yamaha’s strategic decision to issue updates for its flagship products is very welcome. This move brings Yamaha into parity with its major competitors (Korg, especially).

Here’s the list of changes from the Version History:

Some information displays have been added to the Home display.
Many additional functions have been included for assignment to individual controllers on the Live Control display and the Assignable display
You can now see the result of operations of the ASSIGNABLE buttons via the pop-up window.
It is now possible to output to an external display by connecting a commercially USB-display adapter. For details on the supported device list, download from the “Downloads” tab on the product site.
You can now select the content displayed on the external display, from the Utility display.
Changes: The maximum capacity per file of MIDI Song has been expanded to about 3 MB.
Changes: Disabled switching between Dual Player mode and Song List mode during Song playback.
Changes: Changed the buttons for display/operation on the Song List mode to the SONG B buttons instead of the SONG A buttons.
Changes: The font settings on the Lyrics display and the Text display are backed up and retained even after the power is turned off.
Changes: The “Song” item which can be selected on the Registration Memory window is divided into “MIDI Song” and “Audio Song.”
Changes: When operating the on-screen knobs and vertical sliders, the first touch will not change the value immediately, but only select (focus) it.
Changes: The Voice Guide function supports display changes of this version. Please download the latest Voice Guide file from the product site for the additional sounds to work properly.
Fixed a problem in which, under a certain situation, the Audio Section of Audio Style would not play back.
Fixed a problem in which, under a certain situation, an Audio Song longer than 80 minutes would not play correctly.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument would become unresponsive to operations when playing back a specific MIDI Song.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument response would slow down when certain Preset Wallpaper settings were selected.
Fixed a problem in which Initial Touch On/Off settings would not function properly when calling up a specific Registration Memory.
Fixed a problem in which, under a certain situation, the Registration Freeze function would not work properly.
Fixed a problem in which certain Music Finder Record files of Tyros series could not be imported.
Fixed a problem in which the Panel Sustain parameter seems to have an effect on the Left part because the Panel Sustain can be edited on the Voice Edit display for the Left part.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument would occasionally become unresponsive to operations when executing Search.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument would occasionally become unresponsive to operations when changing the mode of Wireless LAN.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument would become unresponsive to operations when the pop-up window is closed in certain situations.
Fixed a problem in which the instrument would become unresponsive to operations when saving a file in certain situations.
Fixed a problem in which characters would occasionally not be displayed correctly.

The previous firmware version cannot be restored after updating the firmware to this version (v1.4).

Well, I can confirm that the v1.4 update did not kill my Genos. 🙂 The Home page definitely displays more useful information. (Check out the link to the video to see what I mean.) I like the visual feedback as to where “the one” (downbeat) is. Some styles do not have a firm downbeat in MAIN A and I easily get lost.

I love having more assignable functions although nothing blows me away initially. The assignable functions are listed in the updated (e0) Genos Reference Manual starting on page 126. I’m glad to see the MIDI file size limit kicked up to 3MB. Controller intensive MIDI files can get pretty big.

Overall, I’m looking forward to improved stability. Yamaha gave us a few functional improvements, but nothing stunning. The list of bug fixes, however, shows attention to detail and quality. I will certainly miss the Genos while it’s in storage during the move!

Genos sound alike voices on MODX

Posted on April 30, 2019 by pj

I love kicking back in the afternoon and playing some old classic tunes from the 60s and beyond. The Yamaha Genos™ is a great machine for producing backing tracks and for jamming against them.

I spent a fair amount of time selecting the appropriate instrument for each cover tune. Now, I’d like to play the MODX over the same backing tracks and perhaps keep the same voices.

Time to play “What’s that voice?”

The Yamaha arranger keyboards and synthesizers share a lot of the same sonic DNA. This is a theme that I’ve written about in earlier blog posts. Sometimes the arranger voice and the MODX Performance share the same name. Sometimes you need to find a sound-alike. And, as I’ve learned, sometimes I need to do some MODX programming to get what I want.

The table below is a quick, rough correspondence between my favorite Genos voices and a MODX Performance (or two, or three). In the case of multiple mappings, the preferred Performance is marked with a star (“*”).

    MODX Performance         Genos Voice
    -----------------------  -----------------------
    TC Clean Pick            SingleCoilClean
    Clean Ballad Pick        SingleCoilClean
    TC Clean Pick            VintageAmp (BRITISH LEGEND CLEAN)
    Dual Coil Slap Vel       Slapback (ROCKABILLY))
    Clean Fingers            50sVintagePure (MULTI FX OLDIES DELAY)
    Melodic Jazz             JazzGuitarClean
    Fat Oil Jazz AF1&2       JazzArtistGuitar
    Jazz Blues               JazzGuitarAmp (MULTI FX OLDIES DELAY)
    Jazz Guitar              JazzGuitarClean (JAZZ COMBO)
    Crunchy Guitar           MetalMaster
    Hard Drive               MetalMaster
    Hard Ramp                MetalMaster

    Tenox Max                Rock Sax
    SoftTenorSaxLegato       SmoothTenorSax
    Sweet Flute AF1          JazzFlute
    Concert Flute            OrchestralFlute
    Latin Flutist*           OrchestralFlute
    Oboe1 AF1                OrchestralOboe
    Oboe2*                   OrchestralOboe
    Clarinet 1 AF1           OrchestralClarinet
    OrchClarinet             BalladClarinet
    Flute & Clari            Clarinet&Flutes
    Bluz Distort             BluesHarp
    FM Accordion 1           JazzAccordian

    Dynamic Brass            DynamicBrass
    Mixed Sax Section        SaxSection
    FM JP Brass              80sSynthBrass
    Simple Saw Brass         80sSynthBrass
    Flugelhorn               Flugelhorn

    Soft Case                70sSuitcaseTrem (E-PIANO TREMOLO)
    Rd Old                   70sSuitcaseClean
    Contempo*                SuitcaseEP
    Hard Vintage             SuitcaseEP
    Wr Rock                  70sVintageEP

    Vibraphone               Vibraphone
    Vibes                    JazzVibes

    Soft RnB                 SoftR&B
    Singleline 1             WireLead
    SingleLine 2*            WireLead
    WindSynth                WireLead
    VeloMaster               VelocityMaster
    Bleep Lead AF2           BleepLead
    Detuned Vintage          DetunedVintage
    FM Syn Lead 2*           FusionLead
    Straight RB              FusionLead
    Saw Lead                 FusionLead
    Dynamic Mini             BrightMini
    Whistle                  Whistle
    Early Lead               Oxygen
    Saw Lead                 Oxygen

    Big Strings              ButterStrings
    Analog                   AnalogPad
    Dark Light               DarkFatSaw
    VP Soft                  VPSoft
    Feeling                  LightPad
    Dark Atmo Pad            NewAtmosphere
    Angel Eyes               DarkAngelPad
    NighttrainToMunich       NightMotion
    Gospel Hmm               Mmh, GospelVoices
    Boy Choir MW Xfade       GothicVox

    All Out None             AllBarsOutFast
    Fully                    AllBarsOutFast
    Bowed Bars CV            CurvedBars, UpsideDownSmile
    Draw Organ               BalladOrgan
    Whiter Bars              WhiterBars
    Jazz 2nd Perc + C3       RotarySwitch
    Vx Full Bars*            60sOrgan, Italian60sOrgan
    Clean                    60sOrgan
    1967 Keys                60sOrgan

Even when the name matches (e.g., Bleep Lead), you’ll find slight differences in programming. The basic sound is there, but maybe one implementation will open up the filter dynamically, or maybe it will have a longer portamento time. These differences are easy to iron out, if they’re important at all.

Occasionally, a Performance and its corresponding Genos voice responds differently due to Expanded Articulation vs. Super Articulation programming. Such differences are fundamental to the arranger or synthesizer design. I’ll just need to keep mental notes about what to do where when playing, that is, push an assignable function button or some other gesture. If a Super Articulation voice is based on a Mega Voice, then chances are good that one can find a way to get a similar result on MODX using Expanded Articulation (XA).

Of course, the Super Articulation 2 (Articulated Element Modeling) technology does not carry over to MODX (Montage). Super Articulation 2 (SArt2) stitches successive notes together, blending tone heads, tails and bodies in real time depending upon the playing gesture. SArt2 requires additional samples and computation which are not implemented in MODX (Montage).

Not so easy are a few of the electric guitar voices. Electric guitar tone depends heavily upon the DSP effect chain. The Genos VintageAmp voice is a good example. It’s a single coil guitar driving the British Legend Clean effect. I couldn’t find a MODX preset to match. However, I quickly cooked up a Performance starting with the TC Clean Pick Performance (a single coil Telecaster). It was a piece of cake to put the British Legend clean effect into the signal chain. Voila — a new sound-alike Performance!

Genos/PSR organ registrations

Posted on April 26, 2019 by pj

I’m deep in another one of those “cross-platform” projects in which I share voice programming between Yamaha Genos™ and Yamaha MODX. In this case, I’m recreating some of the PSR/Genos “organ flutes” registrations on MODX.

“Organ flutes” is Yamaha-speak for drawbar organ emulation. Genos and S-series PSR arranger workstations implement two kinds of drawbar (Hammond B3) organ voices: normal sample playback voices and organ flutes voices. The organ flutes have their own drawbar user interface where the user can move virtual footage drawbars, including percussion. Organ flutes voices make use of a rotary speaker DSP effect while sample playback organ voices may have the rotary effect sampled-in instead of using a DSP effect. The chief disadvantage of sampled-in is the inability to smoothly change rotary speaker speeds (i.e., ramp up or ramp down between speeds). The abrupt speed change is very unrealistic. Of course, you can’t change the drawbar setting of a sampled-in voice either.

Everyone loves new organ registrations, so here is my go-to table of Yamaha presets. Vibrato is OFF in all cases.

Preset         Drawbars     VOL  RESP  4' 2 2/3'  2' LENG  Rotary effect
-------------- -----------  ---  ---- --- ------ --- ----  -------------
OrganFlutes    78 6600 000   8     0   8     0    0    6   DUAL ROT BRT
USDSmile       87 4323 468   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
ReggaeBars     70 0000 008   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
WarmTheatre    80 0605 000   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT WRM
OrganPops      70 8000 000   8     0   8     0    0    8   DUAL ROT BRT
RockOrgan      65 5444 644   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
SoulPercussion 70 0000 530   8     0   0     7    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
GospelTruth    87 6000 568   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
PadOrgan       00 8520 000   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT WRM
FullOrgan      88 7677 788   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT

StringBars     48 0787 532   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
LatinSpin      70 0003 443   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
ShadyBars      68 8600 000   8     0   0     0    0    7   DUAL ROT BRT
FunkOrgan      83 5035 788   8     0   0     0    0    7   DUAL ROT BRT
BalladOrgan    86 7300 000   8     0   0     0    0    7   DUAL ROT WRM
RichBars       63 8457 530   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
TrumpetBars    06 0786 540   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
SoulBars       80 0050 578   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
ClariBars      08 0080 760   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT
JazzSquabble   80 0008 888   8     0   0     0    0    0   DUAL ROT BRT

These are the registrations for Yamaha’s preset organ flutes voices.

The RESP, 4′, 2 2/3′, 2′ and LENG columns control envelope and percussion. The manual describes these parameters in the following way:

Response (RESP): Affects both the attack and release portion of the sound, increasing or decreasing the response time of the initial swell and release, based on the Footage controls. The higher the value, the slower the swell and release.
4′, 2 2/3′, 2′: 4′ is second harmonic percussion level and 2 2/3′ is third harmonic percussion level.
Length (LENG): Controls the length of the percussion sound.

There is also an Attack switch to apply percussion to the first note or each note. For realism, I apply first note. Always.

The registrations above use the older rotary speaker effect algorithm which had two PSR/Genos presets: DUAL ROTARY BRIGHT and DUAL ROTARY WARM. I recommend trying the “new” rotary speaker algorithm if you got it (Montage, MODX, Genos).

Here are a few bonus registrations, just for grins:

Preset      Drawbars     VOL  RESP   4'  2 2/3'   2'  LENG  Rotary effect
----------- -----------  ---  ----  ---  ------  ---  ----  -------------
SmithPlus   88 8800 000   8     3    0      4     0     0   DUAL ROT WRM
Simmerin    83 0000 378   8     0    0      0     0     0   DUAL ROT WRM
MellowDee   80 4600 000   8     4    0      0     0     0   DUAL ROT BRT
Shoutin     66 8848 588   8     4    0      0     0     0   DUAL ROT WRM
WhistleStop 88 8000 008   8     3    0      0     0     0   DUAL ROT WRM
WhiterShade 68 8600 000   8     0    4      0     0     8   DUAL ROT WRM

If you want to ditch the sampled-in voices and use organ flutes instead, many of the Yamaha organ flutes presets are equivalent to a sampled-in voice. You just need to decode the names: WhiterBars → ShadyBars, Curved Bars → USDSmile, GospelOrgan (Legacy) → GospelTruth, etc. Save the registrations as Genos or PSR USER voices and use them in place of the sampled-in voices. Then, enjoy the rotary speaker ramp up and down!

Yamaha MODX gospel organ

Posted on April 9, 2019 by pj

I’ve been woodshedding an up-beat gospel tune, “Stop By, Lord” by Doris Wesley Bettis. It needs a brighter B3 registration than my typical church registrations. So, I turned to Genos™ for inspiration.

Two Genos voices stood out: GospelOrgan and UpsideDownSmile. They are similar and the drawbar settings form an arching curve (i.e., the upside down smile). Here are the registrations:

Genos GospelOrgan

     16   5 1/3  8    4   2 2/3   2   1 3/5  1 1/3   1   Perc
    ----  ----- ---  ---  -----  ---  -----  -----  ---  ----
      8     7    6    0     0     0     3      4     5    No

Genos UpsideDownSmile

     16   5 1/3  8    4   2 2/3   2   1 3/5  1 1/3   1   Perc
    ----  ----- ---  ---  -----  ---  -----  -----  ---  ----
      8     7    4    3     2     3     4      6     7    No

The UpsideDownSmile voice is at essence a brighter version of the GospelOrgan voice.

We need to translate the drawbar registrations (range [0:8]) into MODX Element levels (range [0:127]). The MODX factory patches use a range from 0 to 104. My own patches are using the range 0 to 127. Below is a table mapping each drawbar setting to the equivalent MODX Element level:

    1 * 13 =  13   1 * 16 =  16
    2 * 13 =  26   2 * 16 =  32
    3 * 13 =  39   3 * 16 =  48
    4 * 13 =  52   4 * 16 =  64
    5 * 13 =  65   5 * 16 =  80
    6 * 13 =  78   6 * 16 =  96
    7 * 13 =  91   7 * 16 = 112
    8 * 13 = 104   8 * 16 = 128

Take your pick: soft or hot.

I decided to implement each voice in its own MODX Part. Thus, we need to drop one of the drawbar harmonics in order to shoe horn the registration into eight Elements, the maximum number of individual elemental tones per Part. (Each Element is a drawbar footage.) A quick experiment on Genos found that I could drop the 2 2/3′ bar from the registrations without much sonic effect. It was pretty much buried in the harmonic mix.

The next table shows the Element levels for each MODX Performance.

Genos GospelOrgan

     16   5 1/3  8    4   2 2/3   2   1 3/5  1 1/3   1 
    ----  ----- ---  ---  -----  ---  -----  -----  ---
    104     91   78    0     0     0    39     52    65
    127    112   96    0     0     0    48     64    80

Genos UpsideDownSmile

     16   5 1/3  8    4   2 2/3   2   1 3/5  1 1/3   1 
    ----  ----- ---  ---  -----  ---  -----  -----  ---
    104     91   52   39    26    39    52     78    91
    127    112   64   48    32    48    64     96   112

The upper row in each case contains the Element levels over the range [0:104]. The lower row shows the Element levels over the range [0:127].

Starting with one of my church Performances, I created a three Part MODX Performance. There is one Part for the GospelOrgan setting and one Part for the UpsideDownSmile setting. The third part handles rotor noise, etc. I programmed two Scenes, one for each registration setting. Scene 1 mutes the UpsideDownSmile Part and Scene 2 mutes the GospelOrgan Part. Thus, I can switch between registrations by switching between Scenes. [In my next experiment, I’m going to try the SuperKnob to morph between registrations.]

Next up is the rotary speaker effect. Genos applies the REAL ROTARY effect:

                            USD Smile   Gospel
                            ---------   ------
    Drive                   2.5         4.0
    Tone                    8.5         10.0
    Low/High Balance        L<H1        L<H9
    Output Level            100         100
    Mic L-R Angle           180deg      120deg
    Input Level             +6dB        +6dB
    Modulation Intensity    63          63
    Slow-Fast Time of Horn  1.13        1.13
    Fast-Slow Time of Horn  0.97        0.97
    Woofer Speed Slow       43.5 RPM    43.5 RPM
    Horn Speed Slow         47.3 RPM    47.3 RPM
    Woofer Speed Fast       403.7 RPM   403.7 RPM
    Horn Speed Fast         464.3 RPM   464.3 RPM

REAL ROTARY is the “new” rotary speaker effect added in Montage. On MODX, this effect is called “Rotary Speaker 2”. The Tone parameter seems to function like a high-cut filter, BTW.

I prefer to slow the horn and rotor (woofer) down. Here is my LeslieChurch USER EFFECT preset on Genos:

    Woofer Speed Slow         40.2 RPM   0.67Hz
    Horn Speed Slow           48.0 RPM   0.80Hz
    Woofer Speed Fast         343.2 RPM  5.72Hz
    Horn Speed Fast           403.8 RPM  6.73Hz
    Slow-Fast Time of Woofer  47
    Slow-Fast Time of Horn    20
    Drive Low                 17
    Drive High                42
    Low/High Balance          L=H
    EQ Low Frequency          100Hz
    EQ Low Gain               -2dB
    EQ High Frequency         14kHz
    EQ High Gain              -12dB
    Mic L-R Angle             162deg

When moving between MODX and Genos, be prepared to convert RPM to Hertz and vice versa! Divide RPMs by 60 to get Hertz.

To complete the picture, let’s take a look at the MODX Rotary Speaker 2 presets. The MODX (Montage) has five presets:

Clean and Wide
Vintage Mono
Slow and Dirty
Full Drive
Broken Motors

The following table shows the parameter values for each preset.

                       Clean     Vint Mono  Slow Dirt  Full Dr  Broken
                       --------  ---------  ---------  -------  ------
Drive                  0.0       1.9        4.6        10.0     1.9
Tone                   6.0       4.4        5.4        8.0      7.5
Low/High Balance       R=H       R=H        R7>H       R=H      R<H11
Output Level           111       111        111        111      111
Mic L-R Angle          180deg    0deg       90deg      120deg   180deg
Input Level            +1.5dB    +1.5dB     +1.5dB     +1.5dB   +1.5dB
Modulation Intensity   63        20         25         19       63
Slow-Fast Time Horn    0.95      0.78       0.98       0.98     0.95
Fast-Slow Time Horn    0.92      0.78       0.92       0.92     0.92
Horn Speed Slow        42.3rpm   40.4       33.4       42.3     59.9
Horn Speed Fast        398.7rpm  403.7      398.7      398.7    270.0
Slow-Fast Time Woofer  1.22      1.43       1.38       1.21     1.33
Fast-Slow Time Woofer  1.86      1.78       1.87       1.87     2.00
Woofer Speed Slow      40.1rpm   39.4       30.6       40.1     22.7
Woofer Speed Fast      323.0rpm  338.1      323.0      323.0    254.9

If you have a Genos, you might want to give these a spin. As of Genos update v1.3, it isn’t possible to set the Slow-Fast and Fast-Slow times for the woofer. I hope that Yamaha fix this oversight.

With respect to the gospel organ Performance, I started with the “Clean and Wide” preset values, then dialed in a few tweaks.

Changing the effect algorithm affected the rotary speaker speed control routing. I needed to drop into the Part Common Mod/Control parameters to select the Mod Wheel source and to set its destination to “InsA SpdCtrl”. (Insert A is the rotary speaker effect algorithm.)

If you’re looking for a gospel organ sound on MODX (Montage), I hope this information will help you out.

Winter NAMM 2019: Random Youtube videos

Posted on February 14, 2019 by pj

I’m going to post a random selection of Youtube videos here as I stumble into them.

First up are a couple of Yamaha Sonogenic SHS-500. The first video featuring Gabriel Aldort from Yamaha is funny, but shows the essence of the Sonogenic — a fun instrument to play along with tunes. One tidbit — Android support is coming down the line. Does this mean a version of Chord Tracker for Android? Chord Tracker is an important ecosystem cornerstone for several Yamaha digital instruments.

The second Sonogenic video is in Polish. The demonstrator is clearly having fun and there are a few snippets of the instrument sounds. Gratefully, they ducked the vocal and ambient noise during the snippets so you can hear how the SHS-500 really sounds. The drums and eleectric piano aren’t bad.

Everybody’s main man Katsunori UJIIE gives us the run down on the Yamaha MODX synthesizer. Also, check out this blast from the past: UJIIE’s Reface CP demo. Man, that guy is creative! Can’t wait for his demo of the new Yamaha CP73/CP88 digital pianos. It’s no wonder that the street price on the CP and YC have remained firm while the DX and CS are heavily discounted from their initial price. The Reface CP is still a quick and cheap way to get SCM electric pianos (Spectral Component Modeling).

BTW, UJIIE has really mastered those Reface mini keys. I still use the Reface YC at rehearsals. So easy to schlep! I can set up and be ready to go in 60 seconds. Just give me a music stand with the Reface YC across my lap.

On February 12, Frank Ventresca at AudioworksCT hosted a Yamaha Genos™ demonstration and workshop featuring Yamaha Product Specialist Heratch Touresian. (Heratch was assisted by Maio Obregón, Yamaha District Manager.) Frank has posted the video on Youtube. It’s almost three hours long! Thank you Heratch and Frank.

Full disclosure: I purchased an PSR-S950 and Genos from Frank. A great experience both times.

Overall, you get a terrific overview of Genos and current owners will learn new tricks. The last half-hour or so shows off Genos as a songwriting tool. Today’s arrangers — especially Genos — are not your grandfather’s boom-chukka.

If you’re new to Genos, check out my Genos quick start. Also, click on the Genos tag to find all the other Genos-related content on my site.

Genos to 60 in 4 seconds

Posted on January 4, 2019 by pj

Well, maybe two minutes. 🙂 Let’s say that you want to use Yamaha Genos™ solely as a synthesizer. Here’s a quick start or at least enough to get you familiar enough to get into the Owner’s Manual.

Turn accompaniment off

If you want to use Genos as a synth, I recommend turning the accompaniment features off. Accompaniment is all the AUTO stuff including styles, rhythm pattern and such. Press the ACMP button in the left hand corner of the front panel. If the light is off, accompaniment is off.

Select a new voice

When you power on Genos, you’ll see the HOME screen as shown below. [Click images to enlarge.]

The HOME screen is a top-level view of Genos’ current configuration. From here, you can select a voice for each of Genos’s Parts: LEFT, RIGHT1, RIGHT2, and RIGHT3. (More about this in a second or two.)

Touch the big square button for the CFX Concert Grand. In response, Genos displays the voice selection screen. The Part (RIGHT1) is shown in the upper left corner of the screen. Use the soft buttons on the left hand side of the screen to select a voice category. Then use the tabs (P1, etc.) to navigate through pages and pages of available instruments. Touch the instrument that you want to assign to the Part.

In the example above, I touched the Woodwind button, went to page 3 (P3) and selected the MOR Oboe voice. If you press the nice bright HOME button on the front panel (located just to the right of the screen), Genos will display the HOME screen and you will see the MOR Oboe voice assigned to RIGHT1. Those six bright gateway buttons are the most important shortcuts into the Genos menu system.

Parts is parts

The LEFT, RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3 business is a cut-down form of (Yamaha) synth parts and zones. Unlike a synth where you can create arbitrary keyboard zones, splits and layers, the Yamaha arranger concepts are more limited.

Each of LEFT, RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3 are voice parts which can be turned on and off. There are four voice select buttons and four voice on/off buttons in the lower right hand corner of the front panel. The voice select buttons choose the current Part for editing, etc. The voice on/off buttons turn the voice on and off, letting one add or remove a voice while playing.

LEFT, RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3, from the synth perspective, are also keyboard zones. In terms of voice splits, you can have a single left hand voice (LEFT) and up to three layered right hand voices (RIGHT1, RIGHT2 and RIGHT3). If you’re playing with accompaniment styles, chord recognition is often in the left hand and melody/comping is in the right hand. (This is a gross simplification; Genos has more capability for chord recognition than this.)

The screen shot below shows one of my orchestral splits. There is a cello in the left hand and there is an oboe plus flute layer in the right hand.

Ordinarily, the the split point is middle C. If you want to change the split point (and other aspects of the key layout), press the MENU gateway button on the front panel. Genos displays a page of buttons that lets you tweak tempo, transpose, MIDI, split point and fingering, and just about everything else which is Genos.

Touch the Split & Fingering button and Genos displays the screen giving control over the split point.

Press the arrow buttons to move the split point(s) around. Or, press and hold one of the three soft buttons on the left hand side of the screen. While holding one of those buttons, press the desired split point on the keyboard.

A word of caution — watch out for the RIGHT3 split point. Genos offers a little more flexibility for the RIGHT3 zone than the simple scenario that I’ve described here. Please see the Owner’s Manual page 49 for more details. Sometimes the RIGHT3 setting causes confusion. (Why don’t I hear…?)

How to remember settings

Now that you have a voice set-up, you’ll want to remember it. Genos remembers such things in registrations. A registration is a memory location that remembers all sorts of fun stuff: the current voices, the current style, tempo, MIXER settings, etc. The Owner’s Manual Chapter 7 goes into registrations in detail.

To save the current configuration, press the MEMORY button on the front panel. Then press one of the ten numbered registration buttons. The current configuration will be saved to that location (button).

Even though it’s beyond the scope of a two minute introduction, the ten registrations taken together constitute a registration bank. Genos can save and recall banks. I strongly recommend saving the entire bank to either the Genos internal memory or to a USB flash drive. Otherwise, it’s all to easy to lose your work by overwriting a button!

Extra credit

Keen eyed readers probably noticed the words “MIXER settings.” Yep, Genos has an on-screen mixer for balancing levels and other tweaks. Press the soft Mixer button at the bottom of the HOME screen to see more. BTW, when I use Genos as a synth, I set the STYLE level to zero in the MIXER. I’m paranoid and don’t want any unintended and unwanted auto accompaniment triggered when I’m playing Genos purely as a synth.

If you don’t want to deal with the MIXER, then grab those sliders and knobs! The LIVE CONTROL screen shows the currently assigned knob and slider parameters. The OLED display switches between slider and knob values whenever a slider or knob is moved. Use the KNOB ASSIGN and SLIDER ASSIGN front panel buttons to flip through parameter groups. The groups are configurable, but that is way beyond extra credit.

The Voice Part Setup screen is another way to tweak. Press the front panel VOICE gateway button. Genos displays the Voice Part Setup screen (below).

Here, you can turn Parts (voices) on and off, set levels, set pan, change the octave range, and change the DSP effect assigned to the voice. Peek and poke away!

MULTI FX: It’s for organ, too!

Posted on November 20, 2018 by pj

Every now and again, a question pops up on a forum that is worth reposting here. A member of the YamahaSynth.com MODX forum inquired about distortion effects for drawbar organ.

Yamaha has introduced new DSP effects with every generation of synth and arranger. Unless you don’t have a life (and I resemble that remark), you’re probably not steeped in the history of Yamaha effect algorithms (AKA “effect types”.) Some of the amp simulations (e.g., AMP SIM 1) have been around a loooooong time.

When it comes to distortion or overdrive, I start with the effects added with the Motif XF version 1.5 update:

    US COMBO
    JAZZ COMBO
    US HIGH GAIN
    BRITISH LEAD
    MULTI FX
    SMALL STEREO
    BRITISH COMBO
    BRITISH LEGEND

Of course, you’ll find these effects on Montage and MODX, too. BTW, These same effect types (algorithms) are available on Genos, Tyros 5 and a few other Yamaha arrangers. On arrangers, they are called “Real Distortion.” The arranger presets are voiced differently to fit the needs of arranger styles.

The “All 9 Bars!” Performance insert effects perform distortion and rotary speaker emulation. The effect routing is:

    Insert B --> Insert A

where Insert B is MULTI FX and Insert A is Rotary Speaker 1.

MULTI FX is effectively a chain of guitar pedal effects and is quite versatile. The effect parameters for “All 9 Bars!” are:

    1  Comp. Sustain   2.0
    2  Wah SW          Off
    3  Wah Pedal       0
    4  Dist SW         Clean
    5  Dist Drive      1.8
    6  Dist EQ         Hi Boost
    7  Dist Tone       1.5
    8  Dist Presence   5.0
    9  Output Level    100
   10  --
   11  Speaker Type    Twin
   12  LFO Speed       7.738Hz
   13  Phaser SW       Off
   14  Delay SW        Echo 1 St
   15  Delay Ctrl      40
   16  Delay Time      48

The Compressor Sustain stage is always on. Here, the Wah and Phaser are turned off. So, after the compressor, the rest of the chain applies distortion, amp simulation (Twin) and delay. Arranger people might want to try the MULTI FX with these parameter settings in order to spice up the rather polite drawbar organ voices. Then, crank the parameters!

There’s plenty to tweak here. I recommend reading Phil’s blog covering the new effects in Motif XF version 1.5:

https://yamahasynth.com/blog/exploringmotifxf15guitareffects

If MULTI FX doesn’t get the sound that your looking for, then maybe one of the other “Real Distortion” effects will get the job done.

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Tag Archives: Yamaha Genos