Where to put AN-X™?

Posted on August 26, 2022 by pj

Let’s not miss the forest for the trees…

Wishful thinking abounds — Let’s add an AN-X™ engine to the Yamaha Montage and/or MODX+. From the comments, you would think this is a done deal.

Well, the frenzied demand is certainly there. 🙂 With demand wafts the smell of money. How will Yamaha make money with AN-X?

Occasionally I see a forum comment that is so spot-on, it bears repeating. This comment comes from CyberGene on the Musicplayer Keyboard Corner:

The more I think about it (and knowing Yamaha of course, as well as owning and selling a MODX for being too awkward to work with) I have no high hopes for this hypothetical AN-X being integrated into anything intuitive and easy to use. 🙂 Most certainly it would need to be preprogrammed in advance rather then having a good hands on interface for real time manipulation. Yeah, you can route the knobs and faders to it as usual but still — I just think they should make a YC/CP type of instrument where they add the entire reface CS panel and engine. 😉 Why not add it to the YC73/88, so that it becomes a Nord Stage competitor. Call it a YCS73/88, bingo!

Amen. Could you imagine programming or controlling an AN-X engine within the context of the current Montage (MODX) user interface (UI)? Kill me now.

If Yamaha learned one thing from the YC and CP stage instruments, it’s “stage instruments with a focused user interface and engine (drawbar organ, piano, whatever) are desirable and sell.” [Ka-ching.]

Yamaha marketing folks are players as well as business people. The right way to do analog is to put the engine in a box that it is studded with knobs, buttons and analog controllers. Analog synthesis is meant to be interactive. Yamaha marketing surely knows this and the Reface CS — on a small scale –is proof.

So, AN-X on Montage and MODX+? How would that fit within a menu-based UI which many people find too complicated? In the case of MODX+, would you be happy with four sliders, four knobs and a Superknob for control? Would you enjoy menu-diving? [Sound of shrieking noises here.]

So, thanks, CyberGene for your insight. If Yamaha want to do AN-X right, they need to do it in a focused stage instrument. And make money.

Update: Yamaha have filed for a stylized (figurative) trademark in the European Union. See image below.

Yamaha trademark ANX (European Union, filing: 018741845)

Yamaha MODX+ madness

Posted on August 23, 2022 by pj

Thanks to a few pages posted from the Yamaha MODX+ user manual, the new MODX+ is a bit of a nothing-burger — a product spiff. The MODX+ got a few bumps over MODX (Mark 1): more expansion memory (1.75GB), FM-X polyphony on-par with Montage (128), and a way to add rhythm patterns:

Also, the MODX+ has a new feature for instantly adding rhythm patterns so that the players can take their music creation forward with dynamic rhythm parts. With this feature, creating rhythmic changes in the “Motion Controls” is easier than ever! [Yamaha]

Just enough to keep MODX+ competitive in its price bracket. The bump in FM-X polyphony indicates the likely addition of a second SWP70 tone generator IC.

I suspect Yamaha will use new downloadable libraries to drive a few pack-rat punters to upgrade to MODX+. Recently, IdeaScale participants had a chance to preview a new CP-80 voice (and waveforms). Yamaha were soliciting opinions as to which voices/waveforms had the most sonic appeal. A flood of must-have content might create demand among current MODX (Mark 1) players, making that 1.75GB a necessity.

The forums are filled with speculation about AN-X™. Again, a lot of wishful thinking about AN-X coming to Montage and/or MODX+. Only Yamaha know for sure.

As yet, however, no one has solved the mystery of the other registered trademarks: CK61™ and CK88™.

Yamaha have moved on from the SSP2 signal processing chip to the SSP3. The SSP3 first appeared in the Yamaha AXR4U and Steinberg UR44C audio interfaces. Yamaha move ahead like a shark and the SSP2 is deprecated for new designs. In fact, the MODX+ refresh likely includes the SSP3 as SSP2 production inventories must be low or exhausted.

That turns my attention to the Reface DX and Reface CS. The Reface DX and CS are sisters, sharing the same internal design modulo screen interface and front panel gizmos. Both are based on SSP2 and, thus, both may be in need of a refresh — or replacement. The SSP2 signal processor provides the FM and VA synthesis horsepower.

Simply put, will CK61 and CK88 replace the Reface DX and CS? Will the CK61 and CK88 be the AN-X machine? How will Yamaha monetize AN-X? When it comes to business, Yamaha are not fools. Never sell one model when two will do as well! Ka-ching. 🙂

On a personal note, I started this site to inform players about music technology and what’s inside the tin. It’s gratifying to read the forums and see how much this site has influenced discussion, especially discussion about Yamaha products. Thank you for reading and please keep coming back! — pj

A few handy links:

Is MODX+ on the way?

Posted on August 17, 2022 by pj

[Updated 18 August 2022.] Rumors are circulating about Yamaha MODX — either replacement or refresh.

Now pictures of a misdelivered “MODX8+” have appeared. Naturally, one asks “fake or real?” Cosmetically, the only external differences are:

A different product model legend on the right side of the top panel, e.g., “MODX8+ Music Synthesizer”.
Black plastic end-cheeks instead of grey.

The MODX8+ was shipped mistakenly to a customer. Support anticipates release in the Sepember or October timeframe.

The new livery reminds me of the Yamaha MX series V2 spiff. It was somewhat difficult for a customer to identify an MX V1 vs. an MX V2. The new MODX+ legend makes the mark 2 clearly distinguishable. No word about enhanced features or sound set. One must also ask if the Montage will get a spiff, too?

I’m going out on a limb — real.

Update: MODX+ discussion is rampant in the forums. Here are a few quick comments, corrections and a request.

SWP70 is an integrated circuit designed by Yamaha. It is manufactured by a partner fab. Yamaha is fab-less. Yamaha transferred its semiconductor manufacturing subsidiary to Phenitec Semiconductor in 2014. It takes a lot of money to build and maintain semiconductor fabrication factories — a money losing proposition for Yamaha (or my old employer, AMD, for that matter). Yamaha remains a manufacturing powerhouse at the board level and sells its own line of PCB assembly equipment.

SWP70 processors are manufactured in batches based on Yamaha’s estimated need. Depending upon the portability of the SWP70 design, Yamaha may turn to multiple alternative partners for fab. “Portability”, in this sense, means how easily the design can be re-targeted for a specific fabrication process.

Generally, Yamaha has done a good job exploiting commodity components. The SWP70 uses ONFI-compatible NAND flash and RAM. The MODX and Montage host processors are high-volume, embedded ARM microcomputers. Although Yamaha has preferred suppliers for NAND flash and RAM (e.g., Cypress/Spansion, Winbond), these are commodity parts and are available from many suppliers. Commodity components are probably not a pressure point.

As I’ve said before, Yamaha have just a few critical external supply vulnerabilities. Aside from fab capacity, SWP70s or other Yamaha proprietary processors are likely not the issue here. When it comes to DACs and ADCs, however, Yamaha is very reliant on Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM). AKM is still trying to recover from its factory fire. The AKM supply shortage has put Yamaha and many other vendors on the back foot.

Yamaha have the right to substitute components. Every manual has the following disclaimer:

Specifications and descriptions in this owner’s manual are for information purposes only. Yamaha Corp. reserves the right to change or modify products or specifications at any time without prior notice. Since specifications, equipment or options may not be the same in every locale, please check with your Yamaha dealer. Visit the web page for information on the latest Owner’s manual.

Of course, this could mean substituting for AKM devices. DACs and ADCs communicate via the I2S digital audio interface format. If Yamaha did substitute — speculation — would we hear an audible change?

Much speculation surrounds the second, unpopulated SWP70 position (TG slave) on the original MODX printed circuit board. The TG slave has an associated open position for DSP RAM only. Thus, if Yamaha choose to use the same board and to populate the open positions, these changes would bring MODX+ up to the same polyphony spec and tone generation horsepower as the current Montage. Montage would still have the advantage in digital audio routing and processing (including audio channels over USB). The original MODX board does not have provisions for upgraded audio channels.

A product spin is needed when a Yamaha proprietary component is obsoleted and out of inventory. Such may be the case with the venerable SSP2 — a workhorse in many Yamaha products including mixers, Reface CS and Reface DX. Yamaha and Steinberg have moved on to the SSP3.

Finally, a request. Please do not publicly reveal your source of leaks. Yamaha are incredibly paranoid, exceeded only by Apple and Sony in this regard. First, leaks get real people in trouble. Second, Yamaha learn from their mistakes. Protect your sources and methods!

You spin me right round

Posted on July 26, 2022 by pj

Spot product shortages have sparked speculation about discontinued products, new products, etc. Given the human propensity to look for and find patterns, it’s no wonder that conspiracy theories take hold!

The on-line inventory picture is mixed. Some retailers show Yamaha Montage/MODX, for example, in stock, some show them out of stock pending September availability and, in one case, discontinued.

Random “discontinued” tags seem to come and go. A month ago, the Yamaha Canada site marked the MX as discontinued. Now the marker is gone. Better indicators are blow-out pricing to move stock or a Yamaha spiff incentive to move old stock. So far, I haven’t seen any clearance pricing or promotions.

Yamaha’s mid- to upper-end keyboard products have a vulnerable supply dependency on Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) DACs and ADCs. The AKM factory fire was worse than originally thought and production is still not back on-line. Renesas has offered to manufacture AKM devices. The Yamaha UK site has the disclaimer, “Due to the difficulty in procuring semiconductors and procuring parts worldwide, some of our product area deliveries may be delayed. Thank you for your understanding.”

AKM aren’t very public about their recovery and certainly haven’t released a public roadmap. A recent press release for VELVET SOUND DACs and ADCs mentions sampling (no pun intended) in January 2022 with “mass production scheduled for the third quarter of 2022.” Given that Toyota is a top AKM customer, who wins, Toyota or Yamaha? 😉

The AKM shortage inspires other conspiracy theories, too. Theory #1: Yamaha are using non-AKM DACs and ADCs in Montage — the analog/jack (AJK) board was redesigned or manufactured with inferior non-AKM devices. Theory #2: MODX is suspended in order to give preference to and ship the wider-margin Montage. Someone went so far as to ask about replacement DACs in Montage and got the usual non-response from Yamaha. (What did they expect?)

Some of the Yamaha boards use Yamaha proprietary ICs, e.g., SWL, SWX, or SSP2 processors, creating a different supply dependency. When production inventory is exhausted, Yamaha need to re-spin end product to use a newer part. The July 2016 MX refresh is one interesting example. I believe that was the case with the MX refresh.

I haven’t seen a new version of the heavy weight SWP70 tone generator. However, Yamaha have updated both the SWX and SSP lines:

The SWX08 is replaced by the SWX09.
The SSP3 — now appearing in Steinberg and Yamaha pro audio products — will likely replace the SSP2.

The SWX update would affect mid-range keyboards, notably the Yamaha Reface CP and YC. The SSP update would affect Montage, MODX, and Reface CS and DX.

Are new product spins in the works? Something is coming (eventually) given the CK61™/CK88™ and AN-X™ trademarks. Once again, only Yamaha really knows. 🙂

Yamaha YC series: Tonewheels

Posted on June 30, 2022 by pj

overall Speculation about future Yamaha product reminded me of some unfinished business — analyzing the design of the Yamaha YC stage organ series.

Design of the YC series put some of Yamaha’s best minds to work including Dr. Toshifumi Kunimoto. “Dr. K” and his team are well-known for Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) and physical modeling (VL). Before reading ahead, it’s worth reviewing my post summarizing YC61 Developers’ comments. The article has link to a (subtitled) interview with Dr. K, Takashi Mori and Akinobu Shibuya. One big take-away is how the developers took a system-wide approach to emulation the Hammond sound.

The YC61 Owner’s Manual cites six specific innovations:

Natural, organic harmonies when playing chords — thanks to a matrix circuit that connects the keyboard, tone wheels, and drawbars.
Percussion sound with presence — based on vacuum tube circuit analysis.
Key clicks and leakage sounds — based on electrical circuit analysis.
Natural sound distortion — simulating vintage vacuum tube pre-amplifiers.
Vibrato/Chorus effect — from scanner-based vibrato circuitry.
Changes in frequency characteristics and drive amount that responds dynamically to operation of the expression pedal.

These innovations are all in the realm of VCM and are needed to re-create the overall Hammond sound.

I assumed that Yamaha modeled the tonewheels, too. Now, I’m not so sure. I think the tonewheel waveforms are sampled and a modified form of AWM2 synthesis generates the basic, uneffected tonewheel signal (in digital form, of course). Here is my justification.

The interview and YC-series documentation

Yamaha are always honest about what they say even if they don’t say everything. Neither the developers’ interview or Yamaha documentation mention modeled tonewheels.

The YC specifications provide an important clue. Yamaha specify YC polyphony as:

VCM Organ + AWM2: 128 (Total of VCM Organ and AWM2), FM: 128

YC series keyboards have a single SWP70 tone generator (TG) integrated circuit (IC). Like the MODX design, the YC splits AWM2 and FM-X tone generation duties. It’s clear from the polyphony spec that the “VCM Organ” and AWM2 voices split resources, i.e., the AWM2 tone generation channels.

In AWM2 synthesis, each active voice element is assigned to an SWP70 tone generation channel. Genos and the upper-end PSR — also AWM2- and SWP70-based — assign a single drawbar waveform to an element (so-called “Organ Flutes” mode). Organ emulation on MODX (Montage) is similar.

Clearly, the AWM2 pipeline is involved in “VCM Organ” synthesis in some way.

Oh, the complexity!

Everyone is familiar with the 100,000 foot view of the Hammond tonewheel generator. A synchronous motor drives an assembly which spins the tonewheels. Each tonewheel has a pick-up that produces a fluctuating sine-like waveform. The waveforms pass through a key switching matrix and drawbars producing a mixed-down, composite organ tone. The tone is sent to the vibrato scanner, reverb, Leslie speaker, etc.

When it comes to modeling, the devil is in the details. I highly recommend reading one of the excellent Hammond tonewheel deep-dives on the Web:

When reading, please think about what is would take to write a mathematical model of this wonderful electro-mechanical contraption! It ain’t as trivial as summing up a bunch of sine waves. 🙂

The tonewheel assembly itself is closer to Charles Babbage’s mechanical Analytical Engine, than it is to an electronic home organ. The twelve (24, really) fundamental pitches are determined by integer gear ratios which approximate equal temperment. The tone wheels themselves have 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 192 notches, producing subpitches at (near) octave intervals, derived from the fundamental scale pitches.

We know from our own experience that other aspects of the Hammond and Leslie organ system affect the final sound more than the basic tonewheel tones. If I were a developer, I would say, “Memory is cheap,” sample the tonewheels, move on and concentrate on the scanner, vacuum tube distortion, rotary speaker, etc.

Patents

Except, there is the issue of phase relationships when samples are played back. The Hammond tonewheel generator is a mechanical system with fixed relationships between tonewheel positions. This must be taken into account. Naive sample playback moves phase all over the place in an un-Hammond-like manner. Sample playback should be positionally aligned to preserve the fixed relationships present in a real, physical Hammond tonewheel generator.

Dr. K refers to “phase interference:”

“While collecting a range of different pitch waveforms, combining them, and including some non-linear additions, we also had to deal with phase interference between them. It turns out that this interference is not constant, and while balanced over the entire pitch of the instrument, the pitches do shift in subtle and inconsistent ways. … [T]his disordered yet harmonious behavior” is essential and necessary.

I believe that Yamaha have solved this problem by fetching and combining sampled tonewheel waveforms in a different way than everyday AWM2. Here are some patents to consider:

US Patent 10,388,290 B2 Multifunctional audio signal generation apparatus, August 20, 2019, Inventor: Taro Shirahama, Yamaha.
Japanese Patent 6360692 B2, Audio signal generation apparatus, July 4, 2018.

Yamaha could be aligning tonewheel waveforms when samples are fetched, thereby eliminating phase errors with respect to Hammond behavior. The sampled waveforms, of course, must also preserve the near-equal temperment of integer Hammond gear ratios. The end result is “Natural, organic harmonies when playing chords.”

I also want to draw attention to:

European patent application 20214572.8, Rotary speaker emulation — Device, musical instrument, method and program, December 16, 2020, Inventors: Yuji YAMADA and Takashi MORI, Yamaha.

This patent may summarizes Yamaha’s most recent work on rotary speaker emulation although the patent seems to be written as to obfuscate its intent. Yamaha has covered this territory before including:

US Patent 9,899,016 B2, Time stretching applied to rotary speaker sound, February 20, 2018, Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki and Taro Shirahama, Yamaha.

Please note the inventors!

Guess again: AN-X ™

Posted on June 23, 2022 by pj

Various forums are buzzing about Yamaha’s latest trademark application: AN-X™. The application was filed 9 June 2022 and must go through several steps before approval.

Like “CK61™” and “CK88™”, the primary class is “Musical Instruments” and the trademark registration is “intended to cover the categories of musical instruments, namely, electronic musical keyboards, electronic pianos, music synthesizers.”

Although Yamaha submitted a drawing (below), the “mark is presented in standard character format without claim to any particular font style, size or color.” So, keep your fingers offa those characters! 🙂

Update: Yamaha have filed for a stylized (figurative) trademark in the European Union. See image below.

Yamaha ANX trademark (European Union, filing: 018741845)

Of course, everyone is deconstructing the proposed mark. “AN” is known as Yamaha’s Analog Physical Modeling Synthesis as embodied in products like the AN200 Desktop Control Synthesizer. I’ve still got my AN200 and it’s a keeper. The AN200 consists of an SWX00B host processor and a PLG150-AN daugherboard. The PLG150-AN itself has a Renesas H8/300H 16-bit microcontroller and two Yamaha custom integrated circuits: VOP3 and MDSP. The custom circuits implement the VA synthesis and digital effects.

Yamaha AN200 analog physical modeling synthesis

It’s worth mentioning that VOP3 appears in the Yamaha FS1r — the inspiration for today’s FM-X. The FS1r does both 8-op FM and Formant Shaping Synthesis. Internally, two custom FS1-AB integrated circuits perform FM and formant shaping synthesis. Two VOP3 integrated circuits implement the filters (the first VOP3) and effects (the second VOP3).

Yep, I’ve mused about adding VA synthesis to Montage before and was skeptical about adding it to the existing SWP70-based Montage pipeline. I remain doubtful about adding VA synthesis to the existing Montage/MODX platform.

It’s worth noting, again, that Yamaha have never published nor described the actual data processing pipeline and signal paths within the SWP70 tone generator. I don’t have any formal relationship with Yamaha nor does Yamaha engineering ring me up regarding the internal details of their tone generation hardware. 😉 Do I have a right to change my mind in light of new information and analysis? Yes. Do I hope for a surprise from Yamaha? Yes.

The question is whether the SWP70 is capable of subsuming VOP3-like DSP functionality for VA synthesis. ~~It’s how the YC series implements its Virtual Circuitry Modeling (VCM) organ engine. Clearly, if you can model drawbars, you can model an analog oscillator.~~ Lest anyone forget, the Montage V3.0 upgrade (MODX V2.0) added the VCM Mini Filter, VCM Mini Booster and Wave Folder DSP effects.

An earlier version of this port stated the YC series uses modeled tonewheels. Further analysis makes me believe otherwise.

As to filtering, what is a hardware or software digital filter other than a mathematical model of an analog filter — even if its cold and heartless? What is a digital amplitude envelope other than a model of an analog envelope generator and VCA? Distinction due to implementation technology is nearly moot; it comes down to the characteristics of the particular models.

What does all this portend for the future? If I were Yamaha and I could add VA to the Montage (MODX) platform, I would sell it as an upgrade. Many people want VA on Montage and there is money to be made.

I’m willing to go a step further. Yamaha could and should offer a VCM organ upgrade, too. The SWP70 can support it. I’ll put money where my mouth is — I will pay real money for a YC upgrade on MODX (Montage). BTW, there’s no technical reason to not offer the FM-based YC organs on MODX/Montage already — it’s FM-X, after all.

Now, what are “CK61” and “CK88”? 🙂

Critique: Genos™ drawbar organ

Posted on October 25, 2021 by pj

I like the Korg Module Pro “GospelOrgan” patch, so I tried to create a sound-alike voice on Yamaha Genos. Genos and MODX share the same waveforms and DSP effects, and I may port the result to MODX, too.

The experience recalled my previous misgivings about the rotary speaker simulation and limitations of the Genos DSP effect implementation. I will amplify those comments here.

Mid- to upper-level Yamaha arranger workstation have long had a drawbar organ feature which Yamaha calls “Organ Flutes.” This feature dates back to 1999, appearing in the PSR-9000 keyboard. Although a few details have changed over the years, Yamaha has not substantially overhauled Organ Flutes. It’s time, Yamaha — the world has moved on. I’d love to see the new YC organ technology in Genos. It’s the flagship of the arranger line and YC organs would definitely differentiate Genos from its lower-cost brethren.

Yamaha Organ Flutes main voice editing screen

The main, tweakable organ parameters are:

Nine drawbars
Percussion (first note/each note, length)
Percussion pitch (4′, 2-2/3′, 2′)
Response (onset delay of drawbar and percussion sounds)
Vibrato (on/off, depth, speed)
Rotary speaker speed (slow/fast)
Volume level (1 to 8)
DSP effect (e.g., rotary speaker)

For B-3’ers, the 4′ percussion pitch is the 2nd harmonic setting and the 2-2/3′ percussion pitch is the 3rd harmonic setting. The 2′ pitch supports non-Hammond organs which require it.

Compared with a contemporary clonewheel, one immediately notes a few missing features:

Vibrato only, no chorus
No key click
No rotor noise
No leakage

Overall, the Genos B-3 is super clean and polite — not vintage. MODX (Montage) provides key click, rotor noise (grit) and rotor whistle waveforms. Why does Genos lag behind? Although MODX is AWM2, not modeling, these extra waveforms are better than nothing at all.

The Genos synthesis engine is also AWM2 sample-playback and AWM2 provides the Organ Flutes vibrato. Organ Flutes does not simulate the one-of-a-kind Hammond vibrato/chorus scanner. The Korg Module “Gospel Organ” voice incorporates C-3 chorus and the AMW2 vibrato just doesn’t cut it (head-to-head comparison). I had to substitute Genos’ V-2 setting and move on.

Simplified, graphical rotary speaker interface

If you want to change the rotary speaker type, you need to dive through the effect setting button at the top of the Organ Flutes screen. After selecting the insertion effect, Genos displays a skeuomorphic (graphical) rotary speaker cabinet with a few knobs. In the screenshot above, we get rotary speed, horn and rotor balance, and microphone left/right angle. Like many (most?) rotary speaker simulations, the rotary effect emulates the sound of a mic’d up, stereo recording of a Leslie, not a horn and rotor moving air in a room.

Additional rotary speaker (DSP) parameters are changed by tapping the “Detail” button in the lower right corner. deep-diving reveals a few more deficiencies:

Missing parameters due to a limitation on the number of DSP effect parameters (16 parameters maximum)
Only one insert effect (typically the rotary speaker)
Volume control is post-effect and does not affect overdrive

Here is a little more information about each issue.

At heart, the Genos (PSR, Tyros) sound engine implements the Yamaha XG synthesis and effects architecture. The XG architecture allows up to sixteen (!6) parameters per DSP effect unit. Unfortunately, Yamaha’s DSP engineers are creating effect algorithms (AKA “effect types”) with more than sixteen parameters! The MODX ROTARY SPEAKER 2 algorithm has eighteen (18) parameters. The Genos REAL ROTARY effect type is the same algorithm as MODX. However, only 16 parameters are accessible or stored on Genos. The two missing REAL ROTARY parameters are:

Slow-Fast Time of Rotor
Fast-Slow Time of Rotor

You cannot change these rotor ramp times on Genos, yet, you can change them on MODX.

This issues affects the Genos UNI COMP compressor algorithm (MODX: UNIVERSAL COMPRESSOR DOWN). Dare I mention the inability to specify a side-chain part, too? People are trying to create EDM on arrangers.

The XG architecture allows only one insert effect per part. The Organ Flutes insertion effect is typically a rotary speaker simulator. The MODX effect architecture, on the other hand, allows two insert effects per part. Yamaha synths take advantage of the second insert effect to add overdrive or vintage EQ:

Rotary speaker 1 → Multi FX (Distortion Solo)
Rotary speaker 2 → VCM 501 EQ (Flat)
Amp Simulator 3 (Tube) → VCM 501 (Flat)
Amp Simulator 1 (Stack 2) → Rotary Speaker 1
VCM 501 EQ (Flat) → Rotary Speaker 1

The rotary speaker drive alone is not enough to warm up the basic sound nor is it enough to get a sweet, realistic overdrive with guts. I experimented with the Genos REAL ROTARY effect and got some very squirelly results at high drive levels. The algorithm can be pushed in unexpected, undesirable ways while searching for true funk.

Unlike a real Hammond/Leslie combination, the Genos expression pedal controls post-effect part volume. This is like putting the volume control after the Leslie speaker. A Hammond B-3 pedal controls the level into the Leslie pre-amp. Thus, the pre-amp frequency characteristics and overdrive track the Hammond pedal. The Yamaha YC61 modeling gets this right. Putting the volume pedal before the pre-amp lets the player get clean or dirty in the same way a guitarist uses picking and/or the guitar volume knob to distort or clean up their tone.

If the Genos developers must work around the XG architecture, they should consider a new effect algorithm that combines overdrive with the rotary speaker simulation. The algorithm should allow foot pedal control over the Leslie pre-amp input level. Genos and other PSRs allow wah pedal control, so they obviously know how to achieve this capability within the current architecture.

Random answer day (1)

Posted on September 9, 2021 by pj

Maybe it’s the first day of the regular NFL season or the phase of the moon. Here’s a recap of a few questions that came into the forums.

How are arranger/synth preset voices stored? First, one may ask, “How is a preset represented?” Typically, a preset voice consists of waveforms (AKA “samples”) and voice (meta-)data. The voice data control how the sample-playback engine applies filtering, amplitude envelope, modulation and so forth. The waveforms, of course, provide the basic digital audio data.

There is such a broad range of arranger/synth products at different price points, that the amount of storage and the kind of storage varies quite a lot.

The lowest of the low in the Yamaha range: PSS-A50, -E30, -F30, PSR-F51. Presets are stored on a 2MByte serial flash ROM and are loaded into the processor (SWLL) at start-up. The 2MBytes include code, too! Tone generation is integrated into the SWLL. Insanely small, and very low cost.

The highest of the high in the Yamaha range: Genos. Factory presets are stored in four 1GByte ONFI NAND flash devices. Expansion memory consists of two 1GByte ONFI NAND flash devices. Wave memory connects directly to external tone generators (SWP70).

I’ve looked at the diagrams for Genos and I’m not sure about the size and function of those memory units, especially Genos USER memory and expansion memory.

Yamaha confuses people when they speak of “user memory,” “internal memory,” etc. They are usually referring to logical, user visible storage.

When getting down to the hardware level, there are many different physical memory units. since we’re not discussing fairy dust or magic, the logical storage must be assigned to one or more physical memory units. And, of course, the physical memory units themselves may be composed of multiple integrated circuits. The other dimension is “what communicates to what.” Memory is passive and needs a processor to initiate reads and writes and to do something with all that data. At the physical level, a memory unit essentially belongs to a single processing unit (host computer, tone generator) and directly communicate with it.

Sometimes I think of the SWP70 as a parallel processor just like a GPU. The CPU/SWP70 is not exactly analogous to host CPU plus GPU, however. Graphics memory is shared between CPU and GPU. The SWP70 does not share its waveform memory with anybody — it’s dedicated to the tone generator. That’s why installing an expansion pack (voice library) is kind of slow and technically complicated, and why a Genos reboot is required.

Staying with Genos, Genos has two SWP70 tone generators: one handles factory presets and the other handles user expansion voices. The factory SWP70 has 4GBytes of flash memory while the expansion flash memory has 1GB of flash memory. That’s physical memory. Yamaha boosted the effective capacity to 3GB expansion through compression.

The SWP70s also have DSP RAM. As a user, you never know about this memory. It’s scratchpad memory for DSP effects. Physically, the DSP RAM is completely separate and independent from the waveform memory, and communicates with only its parent SWP70.

The host CPU has two kinds of memory (as determined by its bus interfaces): 1GB of working RAM on the CPU memory bus (EMIF) and two embedded eMMC memory devices that act like solid state storage drives (MMC0 and MMC1). As far as a user is concerned, the user never sees the 4GB eMMC drive (MMC0) just like you don’t see the DSP RAM; it’s hidden. The MMC0 drive contains the Linux operating system kernel and the root file system.

The user sees only part of the second 64GB eMMC drive (MMC1). The user sees the logical storage which Yamaha calls “Internal memory” or “USER drive.” What’s in the remaining 6GB? I don’t know — Yamaha haven’t left any clues.

What about Montage and its 5.67GByte waveform memory? 5.67GB is the capacity when the waveforms (samples) are compressed. Again, this is logical storage capacity.

Montage has two SWP70s. One SWP70 is dedicated to FM-X and it does not have waveform memory. The second SWP70 handles AWM2 synthesis (sample playback) and has waveform memory connected to it. The waveform memory consists of four 1GByte devices totaling 4GBytes. Thanks to Yamaha’s proprietary compression, Montage stores 5.67GBytes-worth of data in the physical waveform memory. The remaining space, 1.75GB physical, is available for user samples.

How does sample capacity relate to price? It doesn’t. Component cost is outweighed by manufacturing costs, software development cost and sound design cost.

If the memory components are so cheap, why isn’t there more waveform memory? If there was more, then you wouldn’t buy the Mark II model, would you? 🙂

I understand that E30/F30 do NOT offer velocity sensitivity. My question is about the internals. Is it confirmed that it’s a keybed with two switches per key, that just aren’t supported in software?

Yes, you need to be careful here. There are hardware model differences: E30 and F30 are not velocity sensitive. A50 is velocity sensitive.

There are two different keybed printed circuit boards (PCB). Yamaha part number VAY27800 for F30/E30 and VAY28500 for A50. The A50 PCB has the necessary diodes installed for velocity sense. The F30/E30 PCB does not have the diodes. Further, the A50 board has a 12-pin connector while the F30/E30 board has an 11-pin connector — perhaps to avoid assembly mistakes.

Yamaha Reface key switch matrix schematic

Is velocity sense worth the extra bucks? There may be other differences, too, but these differences are plainly visible.

And the usual caution/disclaimer — kiss the warranty good-bye! For the money, the PSS should be good mod-fodder. Korg probably sold a mess o’monotron that way.

Arpeggio to style conversion

Posted on April 14, 2021 by pj

Let’s get one out of the vault… 🙂

The Motif XS/XF (MOX/MOXF) and Montage (MODX) arpeggios and performances are a great source of inspiration. Unlike Yamaha’s arranger series, the built-in phrase library is rich in urban and chill patterns. For some odd reason, one of the classic XS/MOX performances — “Dresden At Night” — never made the leap to Motif XF. And, it’s missing from Montage/MODX, too.

A PSR Tutorial forum member sought help resurrecting Dresden At Night, albeit a recreation for the PSR-SX700 arranger. I thought I would help out since I wrote a series of articles about MOX performance to style conversion:

The end result of that work is a small collection of PSR (Tyros, Genos) styles based on MOX (Motif XS) performances.

If you would like to try Dresden At Night or experiment with a conversion of your own, download the free ZIP file.

MOX performances have four parts (voices). Each part has up to six musical phrases (arpeggios) associated with it. Six front-panel buttons select the currently playing set of arpeggios, i.e., button one selects the first arpeggio for each set and so forth. To get the basic MIDI data, I played each arpeggio (group) for four measures while recording in MOX performance quick record mode. I wrote out the MIDI data as a Standard MIDI File (SMF), transfered the SMF to PC, and imported the SMF into a DAW (Sonar).

Dresden At Night is a downtempo (91 BPM), urban-ish chill performance. It has four parts:

Part# Voice    Name              NoteLo NoteHi VelLo VelHi Level Pan
----- -------- ----------------  ------ ------ ----- ----- ----- ---
  1   PRE8:070 8Z Heavy Hearts     C-2    G8     1    127    81   C
  2   PRE3:053 Dark Bass           C-2    G8     1    127    51   C
  3   PRE7:110 Ibiza Groove        C-2    G8     1    127   127   C
  4   PRE5:121 Smooth BPF Sweep    C-2    G8     1    127    73   C

The first part is the rhythm voice and the second part is the bass voice. As we’ll see below, arpegiation is turned for these two parts. The third and fourth voices are a play-along pad layer and arpeggiation is disabled. Thus, the rhythm and bass parts provide a looped backing while the pad voices provide an atmospheric you-steer-it, right hand part.

Here are the arpeggio assignments:

Arp#1 Tempo:91              Arp#2 
-----                       ----- 
  1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt1         1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt3      ON 
  2   MB_WestCoastPop _XS     2   MA_WestCoastPop _XS  ON 
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   MA_Space Arp         OFF 
  4   MA_Up Oct1              4   MA_Up Oct2           OFF 
Arp#3                       Arp#4 
-----                       ----- 
  1   MA_8Z HeavyHrt4         1   MA_8Z GatedBt3       ON 
  2   BA_Jazz Pop _XS         2   FB_WestCoastPop _XS  ON 
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   MA_Space Arp         OFF 
  4   MA_Up Oct4              4   MA_Down Oct1         OFF 
Arp#5                       Arp#6 
-----                       ----- 
  1   MA_8Z ChillBrk4         1   BA_Sp SFX            ON 
  2   MB_WestCoastPop _XS     2   MA_WestCoastPop _XS  ON 
  3   MA_Space Arp            3   Off                  OFF 
  4   MA_Down Oct2            4   Off                  OFF

The Arpeggiator is turned ON for Parts 1 and 2 only.

A big factor is the “8Z Heavy Hearts” drum kit. The “8Z” in its name means “eight zone”. Eight zone (8Z) voices are a Motif innovation beginning with the XS (MOX) family. If you would like more information, check out these earlier posts about eight zone voices:

8Z voices aren’t drum kits. They are implemented as synth voices and are just a clever way of using the eight elements which make up a voice. The eight zones (8Z) are divided across specific note ranges. 8Z Heavy Hearts assigns waveforms (zone sounds) in the following way:

Element#  Note Low  Note High  Waveform 
--------  --------  ---------  -------------- 
    1         C0       F#0     Bd T9-1 
    2         G0        C1     Bd Hard Long 
    3        C#1        D1     Sd Elec12 
    4        D#1        F1     Sd HipHop6 
    5        F#1        A1     HH Closed D&B 
    6        A#1        C2     HH Open T9 
    7        C#2        C4     Clap AnSm 
    8        C#4        C6     Shaker Hip2

Yamaha messes with each of the zones in crazy ways and ties keyboard notes to voice parameters (AKA “key follow”). For 8Z Heavy Hearts, the most notable effect is how the Clap AnSm pitch follows the keyboard.

Arrangers (even Genos!) don’t have 8Z voices. They have standard drum kits where each MIDI note is a separate drum instrument. In order to make a PSR style using a DAW, one must translate the 8Z MIDI notes to standard drum kit notes. You need to assign appropriate drum kits (e.g., DrumMachine, Analog T9, House, Break or HipHop) to style parts 9 and 10 (MIDI channels 9 and 10) and copy the Heavy Hearts MIDI data to both Parts. Then, delete the notes that aren’t needed in a style part, compress each zone into a single drum instrument, and map the resulting “compressed” notes to the appropriate drum instrument(s). So, for example, all of the notes in C0 to F#0 might be compressed into the Kick T9 1 instrument (B0) in the Analog T9 Kit, which is one of the target drum kits.

I found two PSR drum parts to be enough. However, styles are flexible and you could assign a third (fourth, …) drum kit to one of the other style parts. There’s nothing in Yamaha styles that prevents this. It’s just that parts 9 and 10 (MIDI channels 9 and 10) are conventionally assigned to drum parts in a style.

I went with two PSR drum kits: Analog T9 kit and Drum Machine kit. Here is one possible assignment:

Note Low Note High Waveform       Instrument        Note#   Kit 
-------- --------- -------------  ----------------  ------  -----------
  C0 24   F#0 30   Bd T9-1        Kick T9 1         35 B0   AnalogT9Kit
  G0 31    C1 36   Bd Hard Long   BD Hard Long      24 C0   DrumMachine
 C#1 37    D1 38   Sd Elec12      Snare Analog CR   63 D#3  DrumMachine
 D#1 39    F1 41   Sd HipHop6     Snare Hip 1       86 F#3  DrumMachine
 F#1 42    A1 45   HH Closed D&B  Hi-Hat Closed Syn 91 A4   DrumMachine
 A#1 46    C2 48   HH Open T9     Hi-Hat Open T9    46 A#1  AnalogT9Kit
 C#2 49    C4 72   Clap AnSm      Clap Analog Sm    27 D#0  AnalogT9Kit
 C#4 73    C6 96   Shaker Hip2    Analog Shaker     57 A2   DrumMachine

A lot of detail, huh? Nobody said style conversion was easy. 🙂 In the end, I spread each zone across multiple drum instruments of the same type, i.e., assigning the Shaker Hip2 zone to a few different Analog Shaker sounds in the Drum Machine kit. Part of 8Z Heavy Hearts’ charm is the subtle sonic variation provided by each zone.

Trying to keep this all straight in the DAW piano roll is cognitively challenging. Did I say, style conversion isn’t easy? 🙂

Fortunately, one can loop four bar sections and play the MIDI through the arranger (Genos, in this case) just like a MIDI song. Then, it’s the usual tweak, listen, rinse, repeat edit process. When the MIDI is tweezed to your liking, you need to add MIDI markers to delimit the style sections. (BTW, leave a one bar MIDI set-up measure at the beginning.) Style section markers are:

    Set-up measure 1: SFF1 
    Set-up measure 1: SInt 
    Main sections:    Main A, ... 
    Fill sections:    Fill In AA, ... 
    Break section:    Fill In BA, ... 
    Introduction:     Intro A, ... 
    Ending:           Ending A, ...

At a minimum, you need a few MIDI set-up System Exclusive (SysEx) messages at the beginning of the SMF (measure 1, beat 1):

    F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7                 GM Reset 
    F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7        XG System ON 
    F0 43 10 4C 02 01 00 01 16 F7     Reverb type 
    F0 43 10 4C 02 01 20 16 00 F7     Chorus type

Reverb is the “Light Hall” preset and chorus is the “Tempo Cross 1” preset. The tempo cross delay is an 8-beat echo.

Which brings me to a necessary ingredient: crunch. 8Z Heavy Hearts gets a lot of its appeal from the Lo-Fi effect:

#  Parameter                   Val  Hex   Meaning 
-- --------------------------  ---  ----  -------- 
 1 Sampling Frequency Control    4  0x04  8.82kHz 
 2 Word Length                  98  0x62 
 3 Output Gain                   7  0x07  0dB 
 4 LPF Cutoff Frequency         56  0x38  12kHz 
 5 Filter Type                   1  0x01  PowerBass 
 6 LPF Resonance                63  0x3F  6.3 
 7 Bit Assign                    4  0x04 
 8 Emphasis                      1  0x01  On 
10 Dry/Wet                      88  0x58  D<W24
15 Input Mode                    1  0x01  Stereo

Since we need Lo-Fi on both style parts 9 and 10, I configured the variation effect as an XG SYSTEM effect. Parts 9 and 10 also require variation send (MIDI CC#94) set to 127. Add a CC#94 message to parts 9 and 10 in the set-up measure. Here are the MIDI System Exclusive messages to add to the set-up measure:

F0 43 10 4C 02 01 40 5E 13 F7       Variation type 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 5A 01 F7          Variation SYSTEM 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 56 40 F7          Variation return 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 58 10 F7          Variation send to reverb 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 59 10 F7          Variation send to chorus 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 42 00 04 F7       Variation parameter 1 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 44 00 62 F7       Variation parameter 2 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 46 00 07 F7       Variation parameter 3 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 48 00 38 F7       Variation parameter 4 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 4A 00 01 F7       Variation parameter 5 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 4C 00 3F F7       Variation parameter 6 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 4E 00 04 F7       Variation parameter 7 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 50 00 01 F7       Variation parameter 8 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 54 00 58 F7       Variation parameter 10 
F0 43 10 4C 02 01 75 01 F7          Variation parameter 15

At this point, you could save the MIDI to “DresdenAtNight.sty” and load it into your arranger as an SFF1 format style. The arranger should create the style CASM segment. As an alternative, you can add a CASM segment to the SMF with Jørgen Sørensen’s CASM editor. You might as well download his OTS editor, too, and use it to add OTS voice settings to the new style as well. Or, you can do this sort of work on your arranger itself. Mid- and high-end Yamaha arrangers save styles as SFF2 format, which is one way to convert from SFF1 to SFF2. I highly recommend Jørgen’s site, tools and style creation tutorial.

BTW, you can recreate Dresden At Night on MODX (Montage). Create a new MODX performance with 8Z Heavy Hearts and Dark Bass. 8Z Heavy Hearts has the appropriate arpeggios by default. You’ll need to assign different arpeggios to the Dark Bass part. Modify effects as needed. Choose and add pad or lead voices to give your right hand something to do. Done! Use the Scene buttons to switch arpeggio groups.

Combo organ: Montage, MODX, Genos

Posted on March 23, 2021 by pj

Contemporary workstation instruments offer several options for combo organ emulation. Every workstation has at least a few internal combo organ waveforms. Korg Kronos, for example, has two Vox organ waves built in. Even the lowly Korg microKorg XL+ has two Vox waveforms (DWGS single cycle).

Yamaha MODX and Montage — my focus in this article — have a good variety of Vox and Farfisa waveforms. Yamaha Genos has a lesser endowment as we’ll see. Yamaha Reface YC shares sonic DNA (AWM2 and effects) with the Motif XF and will be the subject of a future post.

Motif, Motif ES and Motif XS

Models in the early Motif series primarily base combo organ patches on two waveforms:

Portable Electronic: Vox-y tone
Compact Electronic: Farf-y tone

You can hear these waveforms at work in the Tiny Combo Bars 1 performance and the Tiny Combo Bar 2 performance. The patches layer three are more elements playing Portable Electronic or Compact Electronic (respectively). Each element is filtered differently: low pass, band pass and high pass. The net effect is like several distinctive tab stops or drawbars pulled at once.

These waveforms are very old, going back to the original Motif (maybe S80) in the early 2000s. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that the Portable Electronic waveform is the basis for the 60’sOrgan voice (MSB: 0, LSB: 116, PC: 18) in PSR and Tyros keyboards. The 60’sOrgan voice was the sole combo organ mainstay in the arranger line for a loooong time.

Motif XF, Montage, MODX

Motif XF got a big shot of combo juice. Motif XF added several combo organ waveforms:

Fr All Tabs
Fr Bright Boost
Fr Flute
Fr String Lo
Fr String Hi
Fr Trumpet
Fr Piccolo
Fr Pedal
Fr KeyOff
Vx Drawbar1-3
Vx DrawbarIV
Vx KeyOff

The Farfisa (Fr) waveforms support emulation of specific Farfisa features: individual voice tabs (flute, string, trumpet and piccolo), the wicked Bright Boost knee lever, bass keys (pedal), and key off sound. The Fr All Tabs waveform covers one of the most common use cases — all of the tab stops turned on. Subtlety was not a hallmark of sixties combo organ music. 🙂

The Vox (Vx) Vx Drawbar1-3 waveform covers the three Continentel footage drawbars while the mixture drawbar is handled by the Vx DrawbarIV waveform. The Vox waveforms include a Vox key-off noise.

In terms of voice programming, one uses note shift to achieve different footage ranks. Passive filtering is emulated through filter type (low pass, band pass, high pass) and cutoff frequency. Of course, everything can be routed into insert effects for distortion, amp simulation, and other grunge.

Since Montage and MODX inherit all things Motif, these waveforms and the Motif performances are there for you. The Montage and MODX sliders allow control over individual voice elements. For example, choose the Raspy Tabs performance and assign slider control to element level. The Fr Raspy Tabs waveform-to-element assignment is:

El# Waveform     KeyLo KeyHi VelLo VelHi Coarse Level Cutoff XA Ctrl 
--- ------------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------- 
 1  Fr String Lo   C2    G8     1   127     0     97   255   Normal 
 2  Fr Trumpet     C2    G8     1   127     0     82   255   Normal 
 3  Fr Flute       C2    G8     1   127    24    120   236   Normal 
 4  Fr Pedal      C-2    B1     1   127     0    127   160   Normal 
 5  Fr String Hi   C2    G8     1   127    19     24   236   A.SW2 On 
 6  Fr KeyOff      C2    G8     1   127     6     87    80   Key Off

Different tabs are brought in and out by moving the corresponding slider. Assignable switch 2 turns on additional brightness. The low keyboard octaves play the bass (pedal) tones. Overall, this is a fairly controllable representation of a wheezy Farfisa Compact.

Because the sliders are not discrete, you can probably make up Farfisa tones which aren’t entirely authentic. But, really, should one care? 😉

Vox performances have similar control-ability. Here is the waveform-to-element assignment in the Vx Full Bars performance:

El# Waveform      KeyLo KeyHi VelLo VelHi Coarse Level Cutoff XA Ctrl 
--- ------------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------- 
 1  Vx Drawbar1-3  C-2    G8     1   127     0     75   255   Normal 
 2  Vx Drawbar1-3  C-2    G8     1   127    12     77   255   Normal 
 3  Vx Drawbar1-3  C-2    G8     1   127    24     91   255   Normal 
 4  Vx DrawbarIV   C-2    G8     1   127     0    127   250   Normal 
 5  Vx KeyOff      C-2    G8     1   127     4     68    85   Key Off

The first three sliders control the 16′, 8′ and 4′ Vox drawbar settings and the fourth drawbar controls the Mixture (IV) tone. Go ahead, just everything to eleven. 🙂

Montage and MODX FM

But, wait, there’s more! Montage and MODX have two FM combo voices: BOX FM Combo Organ and FM YC Combo Organ. Although these performances don’t sound authentic to my ears, they provide starting points for further programming. I haven’t heard the YC61 as yet, but I wonder if the YC61 combo emulations can be ported to Montage and MODX?

Genos

As I mentioned earlier, the arranger series has been historically short on combo organ sounds, relying on the old 60’sOrgan voice. Wheezy, raspy Farfisa tones are noticably absent. The 60’sOrgan voice sounds like the Portable Electronic waveform on which the Motif 1967 Keys performance is based.

Tyros 4 and Motif XF were introduced at approximately the same time. They certainly were together in the development lab during late 2009. Tyros 4 added four combo organ voices:

60sComboOrgan1: VoxContiComb1_Full_NoVib waveform
60sComboOrgan2: VoxContiComb1_Full_VibOn waveform
60sComboOrgan3: VoxCombi4NoVib waveform
60sComboOrgan4: VoxCombi4NoVib091117 waveform

Voices 1 and 2 capture one Vox Continental drawbar combination (Comb1) and voices 3 and 4 capture a second combination (Combi4).

Voices 1 and 3 are without vibrato. Voices 2 and 4, unfortunately, have an excessive amount of vibrato — almost painfully so. When I use voices 2 and 4 in a MIDI sequence, I dial down the vibrato depth using MIDI CC#77 messages. Vibrato frequency is about 5Hz. I also remove touch sensitivity by setting:

Velocity sensitivity depth to zero, and
Velocity sensitivity offset to 114.

An organ voice should not respond to touch (key velocity) — ever.

PSR, Tyros and Genos players shouldn’t forget the “hidden” Italian 60s organ voice (It60’sOrgan) in the GM2 sound set. On PSR and Tyros, you’ll find It60’sOrgan within the Legacy voices Organ subfolder. On Genos, you need to download GM2 and XG user voices to the USER voice folder. (See this thread in the PSR Tutorial Forum.) Of course, you can select
It60’sOrgan from a DAW (MSB: 121, LSB: 2, PC: 17) .

All-in-all, you can get a nice Vox tone out of Genos. Farfisa is still missing in action, tho’. Kind of an odd shortcoming of a keyboard with styles and a user base that want to play popular hits from days past.

In the next post, I’ll compare Reface YC combo organs against Montage/MODX (Motif XF). The result may surprise you.

Sand, software and sound

Electronics and computing for the fun of it

Category Archives: MODX