This short post is for MODX/Montage people looking for a little more electric piano (EP) “umph”.
I haven’t been all that happy with the factory stock suitcase and “Rd” patches. They seem to be lacking guts. So, I turned to the Genos 70s Suitcase Ballad voice for inspiration. Here are the EQ and effect settings:
Genos voice: 70sSuitcaseBallad
EQ Low -4/64 = -0.75dB @ 200Hz
EQ High +16/64 = +3.00dB @ 2.0kHz
Reverb: Real Medium Hall + (MODX/Montage: HD HALL)
1 Reverb Time 1.7s
3 Initial Delay Time 22.1ms
4 High Damp Frequency 8.0kHz
6 High Ratio 0.8
13 EQ Low Frequency 800Hz
14 EQ Low Gain +6dB
15 EQ High Frequency 1.0kHz
16 EQ High Gain +4dB
Return Level 64
Insert: Chorus 2 (MODX/Montage: SPX CHORUS)
1 LFO Frequency 0.34Hz
2 LFO Depth 29
3 Feedback Level 0
4 Delay Offset 0.0ms
6 EQ Low Frequency 500Hz
7 EQ Low Gain 0.0dB
8 EQ High Frequency 7.0kHz
9 EQ High Gain +2dB
10 Dry/Wet D63>W
11 EQ Mid Frequency 2.0kHz
12 EQ Mid Gain +4dB
13 EQ Mid Width 1.0
15 Input Mode Stereo
The 70s Suitcase Ballad voice has the guts and warmth that I’m looking for. Always steal from the best! I plugged these effect and EQ values into the stock Case 73 Soft Performance.
Yamaha’s signal flow introduces equalization at multiple levels. This makes it difficult to suss or judge the overall EQ curve. However, these settings appear to add a significant bump in the 800Hz to 2.0kHz range. The reverb stage, in particular, has an major effect.
The chorus effect gives a nice shimmer after tweaking. It replaces auto-pan in the original factory patch. I adjusted the chorus dry/wet mix to D16>W in order to get a deeper/richer chorus.
Pictures of the new Montage M8X have surfaced on the Facebook. I thank the folks at Yamaha Musicians Forum and the Musicplayer Keyboard Corner for the pictures and off-the-cuff comments. I suggest reading the ongoing discussions at these fine and well-informed Web sites.
Montage M8X in da box
The names “Montage M6”, “Montage M7” and “Montage M8X” are also confirmed.
Montage M8X — Does “X” stand for “escapement”?
Astute forum members at The Keyboard Corner noted the textured keys on the 88 model (Montage M8X). This raised my hope that Yamaha put the Natural Wood, Graded Hammer (NW-GH) keybed into the new Montage M8X. I’m hoping that the “X” stands for “escapement.” Will it have the triple sensors like the CP88? Will it have Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM)?
Montage M8X — 8 sliders and a simplified button matrix
Yamaha have my attention now and I will hold any decision on a piano for home until I see all of the details. At the premium price tier, I can be patient.
Let the kvetching commence! 🙂 I’m off to Saturday breakfast with the fam.
I really dug the Felt Piano from the get-go, so I had to get this for myself. One of the beauties of MONTAGE and MODX is the ability to share content between the two platforms. Let’s see what happens on MODX.
Installing a library – quick and dirty
Here is my quick and dirty guide to install an MODX library (expansion pack). Further details are described in the MODX Reference Manual.
If you’re looking for content, including the new Character Pianos, , browse the Yamaha USA shop. You will need a free account in order to download. Add a library to your cart and check out. Once you get a transaction confirmation, download the library from the “My Libraries” section of your account.
If you’re deciding how to use your expansion memory, here are the installed sizes of a few popular libraries:
Library name Size ---------------- ------ Bosendorfer 409MB Chick Mark V 401MB Montage_expanded 175MB CS80 471MB Character Pianos 140MB
Copy the new library (file extension X7L) to a USB flash drive. Oh, yeah, make sure the library file is unzipped!
In order to load a new library you need 1. sufficient free waveform space and 2. a free library slot. MODX allows up to eight libraries (library slots).
Check your waveform space!
To check free waveform space:
Utility -> Contents -> Data utility -> Waveform
Display libraries and check number of slots
To display installed libraries and to check number of used library slots:
Utility -> Contents -> Data utility -> Library
Load library file from USB flash drive
To install a new library (assuming free waveform space and library slots):
Utility -> Contents -> Load
Choose Content Type: Library File
Tap the library file to load (X7L file extension)
To import a specific, new Performance from an installed library into
the User Bank:
Utility -> Contents -> Library Import
Touch Import to User Bank (moves Performances and Waveforms)
The Felt Piano is truly nice and gentle. Of course, I’m now using it on everything whether it needs it or not. 🙂
MONTAGE/MODX Character Piano Performances
I like the Nashville C3 more than I care to admit. It should cut through a mix. The U1 Upright is OK, but I don’t have much need for it by itself.
Some of the Performances layer the C3 or U1 with the Felt. These combinations sound pretty darned useful as the Felt Piano adds depth and ambience while the C3 or U1 cuts through.
A word of caution, tho’. The “Felt Mono-SP Piano” Performance is possibly broken. It produces snap, crackle and pop as soon as it is selected before a single key is struck. Now, that ain’t right. I haven’t tried to troubleshoot the problem by deleting the library, re-installing and so forth. Hmmm. It is free and intended for MONTAGE, after all.
Update
Special thanks to Kevin at the YamahaSynth forum. He investigated the “Felt Mono-SP Piano” Performance and isolated the snap, crackle and pop to its vinyl record noise effect:
Edited: I played with the performance a bit and found the noise is there with the Superknob turned all the way to the left but goes away as the knob is turned to the right (clockwise). Going further into effects I found the noise is coming from the “digital turntable, old record” effect in the “B” slot. the noise goes away when that’s disabled. I guess that’s the way it was designed but I have to ask “why?”: sounds like a defect rather than “effect” in this case.
A few other punters thought it was a defect, too!
“Felt Mono-SP Piano” Digital turntable effect
Using the vinyl record effect is a cool notion by itself, but why does the effect persist into other performances when they are selected? That seems like inappropriate behavior, AKA a bug in handling the effect pipelines, maybe? I wonder if this is an unwanted side-effect of Seamless Sound Switching (SSS) where the synth engine keeps the previous Performance alive after a switch?
I quite liked Montage from the moment I played it. I opted not to buy it because I need a light-weight gigging instrument and the 61 was simply too much to schlep and set up every week (and/or rehearsal). Thus, I was positively elated when Yamaha announced the MODX as the younger sibling which had all of the Montage sounds I was craving.
As a MODX player, I had the benefit of Yamaha’s new “platform” approach to product development and lifetime management. Instead of forcing customers to buy a new instrument every few years in order to get new features, Yamaha provided periodic updates to Montage. Because Montage and MODX share large amounts of code and content, I got the new stuff as it trickled over to MODX.
I also got the benefit of all the Montage usage tips, explanations and other content posted by Phil Clendennin and Blake Angelos. Thank you, fellows!
The parsing
And, now, everyone is parsing Blake’s announcement. 🙂
“As much as we would have liked to, we cannot develop the current MONTAGE any further.”
There is huge expressed demand for a virtual analog engine. The AN-X trademark drove the feeding frenzy throwing chum in the water. For quite some time, I’ve maintained the argument that SWP70 alone is not enough to implement VA synthesis with multiple channels (polyphony). Yamaha tried grafting AN/VL into an AWM synth — the wonderful EX5 — and know the limitations of that approach. Plus, would a punter really be happy controlling VA through the MONTAGE front panel?
“And one more thing… the next generation MONTAGE synthesizer is coming in October.”
October is the important fact, here. If you’ve been reading my recent posts, you know I’m looking for an 88 at home in the studio. If the new ax has wonderful pianos and a decent 88 action, count me in.
Will the new synth bear the mark “MONTAGE”? After a lifetime of choosing variable names, I don’t really care what it’s called. 🙂 How does it play? How does it sound? What’s inside?
Wither MODX+? I think we will see, again, a major split between the MODX product line and the future MONTAGE line. Yamaha is going to monetize those new features (AN-X) and I expect MODX+ to be left behind. That’s marketing for ya.
A gift
“As a thank you we are providing a final set of content free of charge for all MONTAGE owners.” The pack includes three of the character pianos that were released for the YC/CP product lines: Yamaha U1 upright piano, Yamaha C3 grand piano and Felt Yamaha U1 upright piano. I love that felt piano!
I expect to see all of these pianos on the other side along with CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial. Pretty please, Yamaha, with all that extra DSP, may we have VRM, too?
The waiting
So, there you go.
As to the Interwebs, it will be groundhog day all over again as people churn the same bloomin’ rumors, half-truths and nonsense.
As to me, I was getting set to spring for an 88 digital piano. Maybe this is the kick I need to be patient? Yamaha have been rolling out new product like Christmas morn. October isn’t that far away, is it, Santa?
It should go without saying — the Leslie rotary speaker sound is critical to getting a good drawbar organ sound.
The Montage/MODX and Genos/PSR product lines have two rotary speaker effects in common:
MODX effect name Genos effect name ---------------- ----------------- Rotary Speaker 1 ROTARY SPEAKER 1 Rotary Speaker 2 REAL ROTARY
Yamaha’s naming scheme often makes it difficult to match up algorithms across product lines. Rest assured, however, the algorithms (and code) are the same. If you need to double check yourself, simply match up the effect parameters as listed in the Data List PDFs.
It’s like the engineers deliberately chose bad, meaningless variable names. Throw preset names on top of the algorithm (effect type) names and things get really confusing!
Rest assured, a lot of the information discussed in this post can be applied to Yamaha synthesizer and arranger products alike.
The real thing: mechanical
Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby. A real Leslie speaker moves air and throws it around in a 3D space. A “2D” stereo simulation will never do. Further, rotary speaker simulators model a mic’ed up speaker putting strong energy surges into the left and right channels.
We all know that a Leslie speaker, like the 122, has a rotating horn and rotor. Yamaha sometimes refer to the rotor as a “woofer”, so keep that in mind when reading through effect parameters!
The horn and rotor each have a motor. The motors have two speeds when turning: slow and fast. A pulley and belt system transfers rotation from a motor to the horn or rotor. The horn motor has three different sized-pulleys: small, middle, and large. The belt is usually around the middle pulley, AKA the factory setting. If the belt is around the small pulley, the rotor turns slower. Put the belt around the large pulley and the rotor turns faster (relative to the factory setting, of course.)
You should keep these speeds in mind when tweaking parameters, if you want authenticity. Please note that the rotor turns more slowly than the horn.
I gave the nominal speeds in both rotations per minute (RPM) and cycles per second (Hertz). Some algorithms need RPM and other algorithms need Hertz. Here are conversion formulas:
RPM = Hertz * 60 Hertz = RPM / 60
The pulley and belt system causes even more fun. The belt is flexible and slips around the pulley. Belt tension and wear determine slip. Tension (slip) has a greater effect on acceleration (change from slow to fast) than deacceleration (change from fast to slow). If you want authenticity, acceleration time should be shorter than deacceleration. In other words, the pick-up rate is higher than the slow-down rate.
The real thing: electronics
The Leslie 122 tweeter and woofer are driven by a three tube power amplifier through a cross-over network. The classic Leslie crossover frequency is 800 Hertz. The crossover filter is not super steep and there is definite frequency bleed beyond the crossover frequency.
The power amp consists of a 12AU7A tube driving dual 6550 power tubes. The 12AU7A belongs to a family of nine pin, twin triode tubes. The chief difference between family members is the gain factor. The 12AU7A has a gain factor of 20 while the more powerful 12AX7 — the most familiar member of the family — has a gain factor of 100.
The power amp has a gain knob. At about 70%, the power amp starts to distort. Oh, never, ever go past 70%. Ever. 🙂
The sims
With that background in mind, let’s take a look at the Yamaha MODX rotary speaker effect algorithms.
Yamaha MODX Rotary Speaker 1
Historically, “Rotary Speaker 1” came first. The following table summarizes the Genos parameter values for the “Dual Rotary Speaker Bright” and “Dual Rotary Speaker Warm” presets:
# Parameter Bright Warm -- -------------------- -------- ---------------- 1 Woofer Speed Slow 40.2rpm 40.2rpm 0.67Hz 2 Horn Speed Slow 45.6rpm 45.6rpm 0.76Hz 3 Woofer Speed Fast 383.4rpm 363.6rpm 6.06Hz 4 Horn Speed Fast 403.8rpm 403.8rpm 6.73Hz 5 Slow-Fast Time Woofer 39 45 6 Slow-Fast Time Horn 7 7 7 Drive Low 35 31 8 Drive High 37 36 9 Low/High Balance L<H4 L13>H 10 11 EQ Low Frequency 100Hz 100Hz 12 EQ Low Gain +8dB +8dB 13 EQ High Frequency 1.0kHz 1.0kHz 14 EQ High Gain -3dB -4dB 15 Mic L-R Angle 177deg 177deg 16 Speed Control Slow Slow
Feel free to borrow the Genos settings for MODX (and vice versa).
The horn and woofer speeds are ballpark with respect to the factory settings. If there is one major complaint with this algorithm, it’s the relatively weak drive effect. Increasing drive does not add distortion. On MODX, be prepared to couple “Rotary Speaker 1” with an amp simulator (e.g., STEREO SMALL or MULTI FX).
Obviously, there are a lot of parameters to tweak: microphone angle, equalization, rotor and horn balance (low/high balance). Imagine yourself as a studio engineer mic’ing up a real Leslie.
Just for grins, the following table summarizes rotary speaker parameters for four MODX presets:
# Parameter Basic Horn Mic Light Heavy RTR -- -------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------- 1 Rotor Speed Slow 0.88Hz 0.80Hz 0.88Hz 1.01Hz 2 Horn Speed Slow 1.30Hz 0.72Hz 1.30Hz 0.93Hz 3 Rotor Speed 6.06Hz 6.06Hz 6.06Hz 6.06Hz 4 Horn Speed Fast 7.07Hz 6.73Hz 7.07Hz 6.73Hz 5 Slow-Fast Time Rotor 40 40 40 64 6 Slow-Fast Time Horn 13 12 13 33 7 Drive Rotor 52 37 26 28 8 Drive Horn 31 29 21 22 9 Rotor/Horn Balance RH 10 11 EQ Low Frequency 1.0KHz 1.0KHz 1.0KHz 1.0KHz 12 EQ Low Gain 0.0db -1db 0.0db 0.0db 13 EQ High Frequency 2.0KHz 2.0KHz 1.0KHz 2.0KHz 14 EQ High Gain 0.0db +1db 0.0db 1.0db 15 Mic L-R Angle 150deg 177deg 180deg 30deg 16 Speed Control Slow Slow Slow Slow
Enough starting points yet? Please don’t be afraid to tweak, listen and evaluate. It’s only bits and if you don’t like what you’re hearing, then throw the bits way away. Ever wonder why people spend so much time in the studio? That’s why!
Yamaha MODX Rotary Speaker 2
The MODX “Rotary Speaker 2” algorithm is the newer algorithm. It first appeared in Montage and Genos, and it’s been trickling down to mid- and low-range Yamaha products. In Genos-land, it’s known as “REAL ROTARY”. This algorithm provides control over both acceleration and deacceleration times and drive level/tone.
Here are settings from Genos for three drawbar organ voices:
# Parameter Jazz Gospel Rock -- ------------------- -------- -------- -------- 1 Speed Control Slow Fast Fast 2 Drive 2.0 4.0 10.0 3 Tone 8.2 10.0 10.0 4 Low/High Balance L<H10 L<H9 L<H9 5 Output Level 100 100 100 6 Mic L-R Angle 180deg 120deg 120deg 7 Input Level +6dB +6dB +6dB 8 Modulation Intensity 0 63 63 9 10 11 Slow-Fast Time Horn 1.19 1.13 1.13 12 Fast-Slow Time Horn 0.86 0.97 0.97 13 Woofer Speed Slow 43.5rpm 43.5rpm 43.5rpm 14 Horn Speed Slow 47.3rpm 47.3rpm 47.3rpm 15 Woofer Speed Fast 413.8rpm 403.7rpm 413.8rpm 16 Horn Speed Fast 474.4rpm 464.3rpm 464.3rpm 17 Slow-Fast Time Rotor ? ? ? 18 Fast-Slow Time Rotor ? ? ?
Unlike “Rotary Speaker 1”, REAL ROTARY brings overdrive. Turn up the drive to add distortion. Tone sweeps from darker to brighter.
No doubt, you noticed values missing in the last two rows. The Genos user interface supports only 16 effect parameters! [Genos engineers need to fix this limitation.] Your guess is as good as mine — maybe 1.22 and 1.86?
Other blog posts about Yamaha MODX drawbar organ sound design:
I’m trying to recreate the experience of playing the new Yamaha CK keyboards with MODX. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…
I received a few comments and ideas that are worth passing along. All of the basic principles and sonic DNA are applicable to Genos and PSR, I might add.
First up, what makes a good overdrive or distortion? My colleague Uli is pursuing a similar investigation and he is using an Electro Harmonix Lester K as a reference. Using a reference sound is a super idea.
So, I dug into my old bag of tricks — literally. I have four different references on hand:
ART Tube MP
Electro Harmonix Lester K
Behringer GDI21 guitar preamp
Fender Super Champ xD modeling guitar amp
As yet, I haven’t tried the Super Champ xD because it is a solid state and tube hybrid. I will need to find a way to isolate the effect of the 12AX7/6V6 power stage. That experiment will likely require high volume and there’s only so much my poor ears can take! [Be sure to protect your ears.]
I bought the ART Tube MP mic preamp a zillion years ago. Tube MPs are still inexpensive going for roughly $100 USD. I used the Tube MP to warm up the sound of my old Nord Electro 2, trying to file the edge off of its digital sound.
The Tube MP is really intended as a mic preamp having a 12AX7 vacuum tube gain stage. If you crank up the gain, you can hit the 12AX7 pretty hard and get gobs of distortion. The Tube MP distortion gradually increases with gain and is warm and smooth. By “smooth”, I mean distortion which is not grainy or fizzy. To me, grainy distortion has an uneven clickiness to it, like a fast-ticking geiger counter instead of an old analog TV receiving the sounds of the universe. [Really.]
That said, the Lester K overdrive — a digital simulation — is not bad. The Lester K overdrive gets good reviews and deservedly so. The Lester K overdrive has a pleasing smoothness.
The Behringer GDI21 is sometimes disparaged as a copy of the Tech21 SansAmp. Compare schematics and you will find differences. The GDI21 uses a pair of JFETs to simulate a tube preamp (12AX7).
Both GDI21 and SansAmp emulate the input stage and power amp effects of a guitar amp. There are lots of variations to dial in, but you pretty much get three flavors: Fender Tweed, Mesa/Boogie high-gain and British lead. Maybe the GDI21 is authentic on guitar, but I didn’t care for its sound when applied to drawbar organ. The Tube MP and Lester K are better references, IMHO.
Given all that, what is my favorite MODX (Genos) amp sim (or whatever) for overdrive? Here are my top three picks:
SMALL STEREO (Preset: Overdrive)
US COMBO (Preset: Rich clean)
BRITISH LEAD (Preset: Dirty)
Judging from its distortion parameters, the SMALL STEREO is part of the MULTI FX pedal board chain. Thus, if you want to slap pedal effects on a drawbar organ, MULTI FX is a good way to go, giving you a pedal or two for free along with the amp sim. Uli is experimenting with chorus, too, and is giving MULTI FX a try.
The presets mentioned above are just starting points. Check out other settings in Part 3.
I grew up with the sound of 1960s Fender and that’s probably why I have a fondness for the US COMBO. I always wanted a Fender Twin Reverb (or Bassman) as a kid. Well, THAT dream never came true. [Might as well add a Vox Continental to the list of broken dreams, too.] 🙂 Twin and Bassman amps were the weapons of choice for combo organ back in the day.
The BRITISH LEAD conjures the sound of Wakeman, Emerson and others. Nuf said.
So far on our tour of MODX (Montage) drawbar organ tech, I’ve discussed drawbar control and drawbar waveforms. Convincing overdrive and distortion are essential to an authentic drawbar organ sound (B-3 plus Leslie). Technically, the overdrive (or distortion) is produced by the tube electronics in a Leslie rotary speaker. We synthesizer types must use amp and speaker simulators to produce overdrive or distortion.
Engineers are creatures of habit. After browsing a zillion MODX and Genos organ voices, I noticed that Yamaha engineers kept returning to the same effect algorithms albeit with slightly different parameter values:
MODX Algorithm Genos Algorithm Characteristics --------------- --------------- ---------------------- BRITISH COMBO BRITISH COMBO Vox combo amp MULTI FX MULTI FX Pedal board AMP SIMULATOR 1 V DISTORTION Vintage amp AMP SIMULATOR 2 STEREO AMP SIM Vintage stereo amp SMALL STEREO SMALL STEREO DIST Stereo amp and speaker sim
Usually, overdrive is configured as a MODX (Montage) insert effect. Once you navigate to the effects routing page (or one of the insert effect pages), you can change the effect type (algorithm) and/or effect parameters. Yamaha documentation refers to “effect types”; I use the word “algorithm” instead because we are selecting an algorithm (code) along with its parameters.
MODX/Montage MULTI FX insert effect
Yamaha provide several different distortion, overdrive and amp simulator algorithms. As if that isn’t enough choice, sometimes the kind of overdrive (or distortion) can be chosen by a parameter (e.g., tube, transistor, etc.) In some cases, we can choose the speaker cabinet (e.g., 2×12), too.
Why are there so many choices? If you follow the guitar pedal market, you would ask “Why are there so many distortion pedals?” Like anything else in sound and music, there are many varieties of distortion or overdrive. Some are warm (tubes), some are bright (transistor), and so forth. The trick is to use your ears and find the most appropriate kind of distortion, overdrive or amp type for the sound you want to obtain. Guitarists call this ephemeral quality “tone”.
I’ve cataloged several detailed examples in the next section. These are starting points for experimentation. If you don’t know where to start, choose something and start tweaking! If you can’t get your tone, change the kind of distortion effect if the selected algorithm allows, or move on to a different effect algorithm.
An effect algorithm is a mathematical model of a real-world device. Each algorithm simulates one or more real-world distortion, overdrive, amplifier and/or speaker cabinet effects. The models mimic an audio signal hitting a component like a tube, transistor or a mic’ed speaker cabinet. The amount of distortion usually increases when the incoming audio signal is stronger, i.e., the input level or gain (sometimes called “drive”) is turned up. The input signal drives the simulated device or component harder.
One thing to keep in mind — increasing input level (gain) also increases the output level. When you increase the gain (drive), you must decrease the output level lest you cause nasty digital distortion in the outgoing digital audio stream. Digital distortion (digital clipping) sounds unnatural and is not desirable.
Warning
Increasing drive also raises the volume of the outgoing audio, sometimes to painful levels! Keep volume low when experimenting with high drive. Protect you ears.
Most of the algorithms provide a parameter controlling the Wet/Dry mix. You’ll see settings like “D15>W”. The wet/dry value range is:
D63>W to (D=W) to D<W63
This determines the balance between the direct, unprocessed signal (dry) and the processed sound (wet). At dead center, “(D=W)”, the wet and dry signals are equal. Move to either side to pass more of the dry sound or wet/effected sound.
The details and examples
The BRITISH COMBO effect algorithm (Vox AC30) is a Yamaha favorite. In the table below, the first settings are taken from the MODX “All Bar None” Performance, and the second and third settings are from the Genos “ClassicJazz” and “RockOrgan JS” voices, respectively.
MODX Genos Genos ## Parameters All Bar None ClassicJazz RockOrgan JS -- --------------- ------------ ----------- ------------ 1 Mode Bright Bright Top Boost 2 Normal 5.8 3.6 4.0 3 Brilliant 6.0 5.4 6.0 4 Bass 4.4 5.0 4.4 5 6 Treble 6.0 6.2 6.0 7 Cut 0.6 0.0 0.6 8 9 Output Level 69 126 71 10 11 Speaker Type AC 4x10 AC 1x12 AC 4x10 12 Speaker Air 2 2 0 13 Mic Position Center Center Center
The parameters “Normal” and “Brilliant” dial in the distortion.
Here’s the rotary speaker settings for two Genos drawbar organ voices. Both voices use the Genos V DISTORTION effects algorithm. The equivalent MODX algorithm is AMP SIMULATOR 1.
The first voice simulates a tube preamp and the second voice simulates a transistor preamp. Tube amps have a warmer sound than transistor amps.
MODX does not have all of the Genos distortion algorithms. MODX implements the latest and greatest algorithms while Genos (Tyros and PSR) retain many legacy algorithms for backward compatibility. The table below shows the settings for the STEREO AMP SIMULATOR used by the “ClassicBars JS” voice.
Genos MODX ## Parameters ClassicBars JS The Jazz Organ -- ----------------- -------------- -------------- 1 Drive 0 15 2 Amp Type Stack Tube 3 LPF Cutoff Frequency 8.0kHz 5.0kHz 4 Output Level 114 112 10 Dry/Wet D24>W D17>W 11 Edge (Clip Curve) 0 n/a
The nearest equivalent MODX algorithm is AMP SIMULATOR 2. The parameters are the same except “Edge (Clip Curve)” is missing on MODX. Still, I would give these parameter values a try on MODX.
The MULTI FX algorithm simulates a guitar pedal board. The input signal hits a simple compressor (sustain) which drives a distortion block (Dist). The phaser and wah blocks are turned OFF in the examples below.
MODX Performance: More Shade MODX Algorithm: MULTI FX MODX Preset: Distortion Solo MODX MODX ## Parameters More Shade 8.8.8.8.6.2.2.0.0 -- ----------------- ---------- ----------------- 1 Comp. Sustain 2.3 2.7 2 Wah SW Off Off 3 Wah Pedal 0 0 4 Dist SW Clean Clean 5 Dist Drive 2.1 1.3 6 Dist EQ High Boost High Boost 7 Dist Tone 0.8 1.3 8 Dist Presence 6.0 5.2 9 Output Level 108 115 10 11 Speaker Type Twin Twin 12 LFO Speed 0.1Hz 0.1Hz 13 Phaser SW Off Off 14 Delay SW Echo1 St Off 15 Delay Ctrl 40 40 16 Delay Time 48 48
The “More Shade” Performance adds a stereo echo effect using the delay block. MULTI FX is a super handy algorithm and I’ve discussed its use with organ and electric piano before.
Yamaha CK- and YC-series
The table below summarized the YC- and CK-series rotary and distortion insert effects.
YC61 rotary effects Rtr A Standard rotary speaker for organ Rtr B Rotary speaker connected to a transistor preamplifier with strong distortion Lead Guitar amp (bass of high sound pressure and sharp treble) Crunch Guitar amp (crunch sound) Double Guitar amp (bright sound) Case Speaker amp for vintage electric piano CK61 drive (rotary) effects Rotary A Standard rotary speaker for organ Rotary B Rotary speaker connected to a transistor preamplifier with strong distortion O.Drive Warm distortion (overdrive) Dist Hard rock distortion Comp Compressor controlled by a single knob YC61 and CK61 insert effects British Combo Crunch distortion (Vox AC30 Top Boost) British Lead Hard rock type distortion (Marshall Plexi) Small Stereo Stereo distortion
I’ll let you guess as to which Yamaha algorithms are (re)used. If you want to re-create the CK sound on MODX (Montage), have at it!
Last time, we looked at the drawbar programming in MODX Performance “The Basics”. The first five voice Elements are each assigned a single drawbar waveform: 16′, 5 1/3′, 8′, 4′ and 2′.
A lot of folks (me!) frequently build on a foundation like pulling the first three or four drawbars and then pull higher bars while playing. Thus, assigning individual drawbars seems a little wasteful in these kinds of registrations, when the foundation doesn’t change. Fortunately, MODX (Montage) provide waveforms for typical drawbar foundations:
Wave# Waveform name Registration? ----- ---------------------- ------------- 441 Rock Chorus Vibrato 442 Rock Percussion 443 Rock2 65 5444 644 446 Jazz w/Percussion 448 Jazz 78 6600 000 451 Full Draw 88 8888 888 454 Swish 456 Bow 87 4323 468 457 Bow Chorus Vibrato 458 Gospel 87 6000 568 459 Soul 80 0050 578 460 1st Four Draw 88 8800 000 479 Draw 1+3 80 8000 000 482 Draw 2+4 08 0800 000 485 Draw Even 488 Draw Odd
The MODX data list PDF has the complete list of waveforms, including the slightly detuned and offset variations. I tried to guess the registrations and please take my guesses with a grain of salt! [See Genos/PSR organ registrations.]
MODX Performance “Vib Chorus AF1” is as simple as you can get:
Performance: Vib Chorus AF1 El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse XA Control --- ------------------ ----- --- ------ ---------- 1 Bow 100 C 0 A.SW Off 2 Bow Chorus Vibrato 102 C 0 A.SW1 On
It consists of two Elements. “Bow” refers to the overall shape of the drawbars with the lowest and highest drawbars pulled out the farthest. You might hear this registration in a gospel music or soul setting.
The Elements depend on the state of the ASSIGN 1 front panel button. The Extended Articulation (XA) control parameter chooses the first Element when the A.SW switches are OFF and chooses the second Element when the A.SW1 switch is ON. This configuration conserves polyphony and Elements sparingly. You can add or disable chorus/vibrato (C/V) by pressing the ASSIGN 1 switch. The C/V is sampled into the “Bow Chorus Vibrato” waveform and you do not have the option of selecting V1, C1, etc. Unlike real world Hammond, C/V is added (or removed) only on new notes played after switching. It’s not an independent effect unit.
You could use “Vib Chorus AF1” as the basis for new Performances that switch between drawbar registrations. Why not switch between “Jazz” and “Jazz w/Percussion”, for example? Simply change Element 1 to the “Jazz” waveform and change Element 2 to the “Jazz w/Percussion” waveform.
Here are the Element assignments for another simple Performance, “Draw Control”:
Performance: Draw Control El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse XA Control --- ------------------ ----- --- ------ ---------- 1 Draw 1+3 100 C 0 Normal 2 Draw 2+4 67 C 0 Normal 3 Draw Even 0 C 0 Normal 4 Draw Odd 0 C 0 Normal
You can go from quiet to shoutin’ with this one! For extra credit, learn how to add rotor grit and rotor whistle Elements in order to sweeten the pot. [Hint: Learn how to copy Elements with SHIFT+EDIT.]
New waveforms in Montage/MODX
There are several new drawbar organ waveforms in Montage (MODX) which don’t get mentioned very often. These waveforms have the Leslie speaker effect sampled in:
Wave# Waveform Name Performance Registration? ----- ------------------- -------------- ------------- 495 Tonewheel1 Fast Whiter Bars 68 8600 000 496 Tonewheel1 Slow 497 Tonewheel2 Fast All Bar None 88 8888 888 498 Tonewheel2 Slow 499 Tonewheel3 Fast L The Jazz Organ, Groove Organ 500 Tonewheel3 Fast R 501 Tonewheel3 Fast St 502 Tonewheel3 Slow L 503 Tonewheel3 Slow R 504 Tonewheel3 Slow St 505 Tonewheel4 Fast 88 8888 888 506 Tonewheel5 Fast Rich Bars 63 8457 530 507 Tonewheel6 Fast
Sampled-in Leslie doesn’t get much love because the effect cannot be modified and the switch from slow speed to fast is abrupt — no acceleration ramp between the two speeds.
The first three sets of tonewheel waveforms cover the three most common registrations: 1. Whiter Shade Of Pale, 2. full drawbars, and 3. jazz organ a la Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes. If you want to try them out, I took note of the MODX Performances built on these tonewheel sample sets.
I believe these tonewheel waveforms are used in the Genosâ„¢ “joystick (JS)” voices: “WhiterBars JS”, and “AllBarsOut JS” and “JazzRotary JS”. The ears don’t lie. Tonewheel4, 5 and 6 are probably in the Genos ROM somewhere, too. No time for an Easter egg hunt today. 🙂
Here is what you will see if you look inside of these Performances:
Performance: The Jazz Organ El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse --- ------------------ ----- --- ------ 1 Tonewheel 3 Slow L 115 L63 0 2 Tonewheel 3 Slow R 115 R63 0 3 Tonewheel 3 Fast L 0 L63 0 4 Tonewheel 3 Fast L 0 R63 0 5 Draw 16' Of 32 C +20 6 Rotor Whistle 0 C +17 7 Rotor Grit 1 0 C 0 8 Draw 4' Of 0 C 0
Performance: Whiter Bars El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse XA Control --- ---------------- ----- --- ------ ---------- 1 Tonewheel 1 Slow 127 C 0 2 Tonewheel 1 Fast 0 C 0 3 Draw 16' Of 23 C +20 Key off - Rel key click 4 Rotor Whistle 0 C +17 5 Rotor Grit 1 0 C 0 6 Draw 4' Of 127 C 0 Assign SW #1 - Percussion
Performance: All Bar None El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse XA Control --- ---------------- ----- --- ------ ---------- 1 Tonewheel 2 Slow 127 C 0 2 Tonewheel 2 Fast 0 C 0 3 Draw 16' Of 32 C +20 Key Off - Rel key click 4 Rotor Whistle 5 C +17
Example performance
I set out to build a new Performance, “8888+”, using a few of the ideas that I outlined above. The new Performance puts the “1st Four Draw” waveform in the first Element and places four individual drawbar waveforms into Elements 2 through 5:
Performance: 8888+ El# Waveform Level Pan Coarse --- ------------------ ----- --- ------ 1 1st Four Draw 127 C 0 2 Draw 2 2/3 0 C 0 3 Draw 2' 0 C 0 4 Draw 1 1/3 0 C 0 5 Draw 1 3/5 0 C 0 6 Rotor Grit 2 70 C -24 7 Rotor 127 C -17 8 Percussion 0 C -7
Elements 6 and 7 add rotor noise. Element 8 handles percussion.
I didn’t build “8888+” from scratch. I started out with the Performance “More Shade” and modified it, following the basic editing procedure which I outlined in my last post.
MODX “8888+” All Elements
In the MODX All table, tap the name of the waveform that you want to change in order to select it. MODX (Montage) displays two buttons on the left-hand side of the display. Tap the “Category Search” button.
MODX Waveform (category) search
MODX displays waht looks like a category search page. Instead of Performances, this category search displays and searches waveforms. You can scroll through the waveform or type in the name of the waveform that you’d like to find. Select a waveform and press the ENTER button.
I followed his basic procedure for each of the first five Elements. Yeah, the 1 1/3 and 1 3/5 drawbars are not in the usual order, but I want to have 1 1/3 in the first group of sliders. I’m more likely to pull that drawbar than 1 3/5.
If you ride the sliders and noodle around, the individual drawbar sounds will be louder than the “1st Four Draw” sound. We need to rebalance the choir so that no individual drawbar will sound out-of-place with its peers.
MODX Performance 8888+ first Element AEG
In order to balance the bars, I visited the Amplitude EG page for drawbars 1 through five. The picture above is the Amplitude EG page for the first Element, “1st Four Draw”. Please notice the envelope Levels: Initial, Attack. Decay1 and Decay2. Attack, Decay1 and Decay2 levels are the maximum, 127. That’s good. We want the “1st Four Draw” waveform at the maximum output level.
MODX Performance 8888+ second Element (2 2/3) AEG
The next screen capture shows the Amplitude EG for the “Draw 2 2/3” Element. I reduced the four envelope levels. Attack, Decay1 and Decay2 levels are 70, which will make the “Draw 2 2/3” blend into the overall drawbar choir. I programmed Elements 3, 4 and 5 in the same way. If 70 doesn’t sound/feel right to you, dial in a different level!
MODX Performance 8888+ sixth Element (rotor noise) AEG
I also adjusted the envelope levels for Elements 6, 7, and 8. In the case of 6 (above) and 7, lower envelope levels prevent outrageously loud rotor noise if I accidently push the sliders up for 6 and 7. This can happen in the heat of battle when I’m concentrating on the music and not watching my hands on the sliders. 🙂 Similarly, I set the envelope levels for Element 8, percussion, to obtain soft percussion when its slider is all the way up.
I hope this discussion encourages experiments of your own. I also hope that you are becoming more comfortable with MODX (Montage) editing.
Test driving Yamaha’s CK88 motivated me to get off my tail and learn how to make the experience of playing MODX more CK-like. In particular, I want to make better use of the MODX front panel sliders for drawbar control.
This requires the most basic knowledge of MODX (Montage) Performance structure. All MODX folk should read through the first section of the MODX Reference Manual, titled “Basic Structure.” In this post, I’m going to concentrate on the Tone Generator Block.
Now, honestly, I don’t expect you to recall and understand every detail! Here are the essential basics:
A Performance is a single set of sounds consisting of multiple Parts.
Each Performance has two types of parameters; parameters unique to each Part and parameters common to all Parts.
An Element is the basic, smallest unit for an AWM2 Normal Part.
A Normal Part consists of up to eight Elements.
Each Part is created by editing parameters unique to each Element and parameters common to all the Elements.
Yep, those are direct quotes from the manual (with a few simplifying tweaks). That’s pretty much all of the “theory” that you need to know. The rest is button pushing. 🙂
I’m going to focus on single part organ Performances in this article. That will streamline the discussion. If you understand single part Performances, you should be able to scale up to multi-part. When navigating the CATEGORY screen, single part Performances are displayed in green text; multi-part Performances are displayed in blue text. I assume you know how to select a Performance…
Deconstruction
Knowing how to deconstruct a Performance is an essential MODX skill, even if you’re a player and not a sound designer. This is the way to wring the most out of the factory presets whether you ever intend to change a single preset or not.
MODX Performance “The Basics”
To get started, press the CATEGORY button, then find and select the organ Performance named “The Basics”. This is a single part Performance and, yeah, it’s basic. 🙂 Press the ENTER button to go to the main screen.
When the Performance name is highlighted, pressing the EDIT button takes you to the COMMON parameters for the Performance. I’ll discuss some of those parameters in a future note about effects (i.e., system-level effects like reverb).
“The Basics” Part COMMON parameters
For now, use the arrow keys to navigate down to the first part. (You can touch the first part, too, to select it.) Press the EDIT button and MODX displays the COMMON parameters for the first and only part in “The Basics”. There’s tons of fun stuff here including access to the insert effects like rotary speaker. [Another day.]
What we really want is information about the Elements in “The Basics”. You’ll find a row of on-screen buttons along the bottom of the display. These buttons are especially handy when navigating through Parts, COMMON parameters and Elements. We could step through the Elements one by one by pressing the “ElemX” on-screen buttons. Let’s hit “All” instead.
“The Basics” Osc table
MODX displays a table showing all of essential parameters (information) about the Part (the “Osc” tab). Each row in the table is an Element showing:
Element ON/OFF status
Extended Articulation (XA) control
Waveform
Velocity limit
Note limit
“The Basics” Balance table
Press the “Balance” tab. MODX displays another table showing:
“The Basics” consists of five individual drawbars: 16′, 5 1/3′, 8′, 4′ and 2′. In Hammond language, the registration is (roughly) 68 6210 000. There is also percussion, provided by Element 8. Element 6 adds a little bit of rotor grit. Element 7, rotor whine, is turned off initially. Press the on-screen ON/OFF button for Element 7 if you want to add rotor whine to the mix.
Extra credit. Press the on-screen “Elem7” button. This takes you to the main page of parameters for Element 7. You can turn Element 7 ON/OFF there and do a whole lot more damage to it! Press “All” to return to the table(s).
You can change the drawbar registration by adjusting one or more of the Element levels. For example, touch the Level parameter for Element 1 in order to select it. Then, hold a key, spin the data wheel and listen to the sound change. More dramatically, change the Element 5 level and listen to the 2′ drawbar come in.
Play the drawbars
Of course, this isn’t a practical way to change a registration while playing. That’s where the MODX front panel sliders come in.
MODX sliders controlling Elements 5 through 8
As shown in the picture above, use the top button to select ELEMENT/OPERATOR. Use the middle button to select Elements 5 through 8. Now move the first slider and watch Element 5 level change. Hold a key and hear the change.
Congratulations! You can now play the drawbars and you understand the relationship between the sliders and Element levels.
But, wait, there’s more. Move the fourth slider to change Element 8 level. This adds and removes percussion. Move the second slider (Element 6 level) and listen to the rotor grit. Now you know how to make your Leslie sound busted. 🙂
If you grok all of this, try deconstructing the “More Shade” Performance. Judging from its name, this Performance tries to emulate “Whiter Shade Of Pale.”
Thanks to Saul’s recent post at Yamaha Musicians Forum, it looks like tomorrow is the day for CK.
By Tuesday evening, we’ll all be laughing at the ridiculous predictions and wishful thinking that we’ve all posted.
So, here’s some more wishful thinking. 🙂
Knowing the price points, about $1,250 USD for the 61 and $1,920 for the 88, we instantly know that these aren’t the droids some people have been looking for. At these prices, the CKs impinge on the entry-level niche held by the long-in-the-tooth MX series. Yamaha may have decided to spiff up and bulk up the MX to CK in order to establish higher margins at the entry-level without blowing up the magic $1,000 barrier. [I have some reason to believe that the rumored prices are MSRP.]
Yamaha CK61 and CK88 portable synthesizers
At such low price points, forget an FSX keybed, aftertouch, a large touch display, etc. I suspect that Yamaha engineers chose one of its proprietary SWX processors instead of the higher spec SWP70 which is the mainstay of mid- and high-end Yamaha keyboards. The SWX series integrates the host processor, display interface, USB interface and AWM2 tone generator into a single integrated circuit package. Reface YC, Reface CP and first-gen MX are based on an earlier version of SWX (SWX08). The current rev is SWX09.
The word “portable” in the terse CK description might imply an internal battery power option. Choosing SWX would at least give the engineers a fighting chance at low power. I suspect that the SWP70 tone generator is a bit of a power hog. Yamaha do not currently offer a battery-powered synth while some competitors do (e.g., Roland JUNO DS61). I would love battery power for rehearsals — anything to make the schlep and set-up easier.
Part of the MX pitch is “controller integration.” Yamaha currently do not offer a MIDI controller with all the front panel knobs, sliders, widgets and gizmos that warm the heart. Even though Yamaha tout the MX for control, it’s really feature poor in comparison to most full size MIDI controllers. Although the MX is reasonably well-integrated with Cubase, more people are running virtual instruments on IOS/Android tablets/phones instead of laptops. Yamaha must (should) respond to these trends.
I often wonder why Yamaha haven’t put forth a Halion-based version of Arturia’s wonderful V Collection or Analog Lab? I was immediately impressed by the integration of Analog Lab with Arturia Keylab Essential. Yamaha have been missing an opportunity here.
Up to this point, Yamaha seem reluctant to offer an all-in-one stage keyboard combining, piano, organ and synth. As a player, you’re forced into a multi-keyboard “top and bottom” rig decision. Implications are many. If organ or piano are your main need, then perhaps you choose a YCxx or CPxx for the bottom. Neither ‘board provides comprehensive synth sounds, so you need a synth for the top. Maybe a CK61â„¢?
Schlep and cost are major factors. Two keyboards is a lot more trouble and cost than one. The keyboard stand is bigger and heavier. Yada-yada. For me, I play in an incredibly small space and, as an older adult, my body is whacked out from hauling gear! Cost is another big factor as I don’t want to tie up funds in idle keyboards — no matter how pretty they are. 🙂
So, maybe I will view the CK61â„¢ as a Korg Triton Taktile on steroids. The Triton Taktile 49 was a light-weight controller with lots of knobs and sliders, and had a “courtesy” Triton engine. The Triton Taktile had its disdvantages — no way to store user edits, no internal battery power. The CK likely avoids these pitfalls in which case a CK plus an iPad (Camelot, Korg Module, iSymphonic, SWAM) might do the trick as a light-weight stage gig rig.
As to that “all-in-one,” might that be the Montage successor? Yamaha was slow to follow Motif XF (August 2010) with Montage (January 2016), so the wait for the Montage successor is not that surprising. Plus, you don’t really think you’re getting AN-Xâ„¢ for free, do you? 🙂
