Yamaha MOTIF XS6, MOTIF XS7, MOTIF XS8

Start Guide

Step 2: Selecting and Playing a Voice

MOTIF XS Owner’s Manual

Using the Category Search

function

Since the MOTIF XS has such a huge variety of Voices and

so many to choose from, it may be difﬁcult or time

consuming to ﬁnd the Voice you want. This is where the

convenient Category Search function comes in handy. It

lets you select desired Voices easily, based on general

instrument categories. Here for example, we’ll try selecting

a Guitar Voice.

In the Voice Play mode, press the [CATEGORY SEARCH]

button so that its indicator lights. The Category Search

window appears on the display, indicating that you can use

the Cursor buttons and data dial to select the desired

Category, Sub Category and Voice. In this state, you can

also use the Bank/Group/Number buttons on the panel to

select a Voice. Browse the Category names printed below

the Bank buttons as illustrated below then press the

desired button. In this example, press the [GUITAR] button.

The Voice list of the selected Category appears in the

display. You can select the desired Voice by moving the

cursor upward or downward.

At the bottom of the display, the Sub Categories are shown

at the tabs corresponding to the [SF1] – [SF5] buttons

respectively. When the Guitar Category is selected, guitar

types such as Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, and Electric

Distortion Guitar are shown as Sub Categories. From this

display for example, you can instantly call up the Clean

Guitar Sub Category by pressing [SF2], which corresponds

to “E.Cln” in the display. This feature lets you quickly and

easily get at the speciﬁc kinds of Voices you want to use.

Press any of the [CATEGORY SEARCH], [EXIT] and

[ENTER] buttons to return to the original display.

nFrom this display, you can register your favorite Voices to the

Favorite Category. For details, see page 88.

Playing the Arpeggio

This function lets you trigger rhythm patterns, riffs and

phrases using the current Voice by simply playing notes on

the keyboard. Since the preset Voices already have their

own Arpeggio types pre-assigned, all you need to do is

select the desired Voice and turn on the Arpeggio function.

For certain Voices, simply selecting the Voice will turn

Arpeggio on.

Try selecting different Voices and check out the various

Arpeggio types.

For example, select the Voice numbered “A01” of the

Preset Drum Bank, turn the [ARPEGGIO ON/OFF] button

on, then hold down a key (any key) on the keyboard, and

listen as a rhythm is played automatically. The rhythm stops

when you release the key. Other preset Voices also have

their own appropriate Arpeggio types for automatic playing

of arpeggio/rhythm patterns.

Up to ﬁve Arpeggio types can be assigned to the [SF1] –

[SF5] buttons for each Voice.

When a certain Voice is selected, the same sequence is

played back both regardless of the pressed note or notes.

When a certain Voice is selected, on the other hand, the

different sequence is played back depending on which

notes are played or how they are played. Check out how

Arpeggios are played back for different Voices by selecting

various Voices and playing notes in various ways.

SUB CATEGORY

PRE 1 PRE 2 PRE 3 PRE 4 PRE 5 PRE 6 PRE 7 PRE 8 PROGRAM

ABCDEFGH

USER 1 USER 2 USER 3 GM DRGM PRE DR USER DR

CATEGORY SEARCH

PIANO KEYBOARD ORGAN GUITAR BASS BRASSSTRINGS SAX/

WOODWIND

SYN LEAD PADS/

CHOIRS SYN COMP CHROMATIC

PERCUSSION

DRUM/

PERCUSSION SOUND

EFX

MUSICAL

EFX ETHNIC