Just Ordered a G7 and some questions

Whoo hoo. My card was just charged which means my board is shipping today. BOY did I get a great deal on this one. Brand new for about the same price as a G6 listed on every US sellers website. Happy boy I am.

Anyone care to answer the above question?

Thanks,
Tom

It's pretty easy. In studio mode, you have a dedicated mixer for your external synth, and there are enough sequencer tracks (128) to dedicate separately to all it's 16 parts.

Thanks Artemiy. I'm very excited now

cool! I may add a XS rack but have a feeling that Yamaha may release a totally new board next year which may be worth waiting for. Will see if my Patient run out than will I squeeze in a XS and do the same thing you will be doing- midi out to all If I'm not mistaken-16 midi part on that XS or what ever it is now. I love the drums on the motif which is one of my reasons to get it.

Even if Yamaha adds a replacement to the Motif XS soon it will not change how good this synth already is.
I use both the Motif XS and the FG8 together and the combination is simply awesome.
Using the two together is simplicity itself and really does not need a manual to explain it, the only issues you will have will be in terms of how creative you can be with your music composition.
Song mode on the Motif and Studio more on the FG, both boards linked via Midi or routed through your computer, and away you go.

Nice! Can't wait for Dec 1!!!

cool podpad! I don't wanna miss out on any cool features or any addition stuff that Yamaha may cook up for its successor to XS. FG to me is easier to go through.

@ en76 and podpad

Yes, I am looking forward to the new Motif XS mkII, too. Maybe with a 10" screen!

@ Tom Castle

Yes, you will love the gear and I wish you happy music.

wat wat? new motif coming soon? really?

Thanks, Atziluth. I'm really looking forward to it. The wait is KILLING me. I feel like a kid....


Thanks,
Tom

Hey guys - another question along this line...

I understand I can use the Motif XS Rack through the Fantom but would need to hook up the rack to a mixer for sound. Using the Fantom as a midi controller (through the internal controls), can I then route the cables back into the Fantom to 'RECORD' audio into the sequencer?

Thanks,
Tom

You can do it using the XS' audio via the FG' INPUT, but you can also connect them idependently to the mixer, and then having the mixer AUX Sends or separate BUS (if your mixer have it) connected to the FG INPUT.
You can also use the MIDI connection to actually sequence XS

Tom, I do exactly what it is you're wanting to do in my Gig-Rig, which consists of the following:

Roland Fantom G7
Yamaha Motif XS6
Yamaha Motif XS Rack
Roland Fantom XR (Rack) with 6 SRX boards
Korg Triton Rack with 8 EXB boards
Roland AX-7 Keytar
Korg R3 Synth/Vocoder

Here's how I do it:

The G7 is the master controller. Running from Live Mode, you will be able to create all your splits/layers of internal Fantom G sounds, PLUS all your external sounds via MIDI. The Triton Rack runs on MIDI Channel 1 (because I used to gig with a Triton Extreme and downsized to just the rack plus 2 keyboards...it was too much to haul). The Motif XS6 runs on Ch 2, the XR on 3, the Rack XS on 4, and the R3 on 5. By progamming in all your MSB/LSB settings (on the Motif Rack XS, it's 63 for the MSB, the LSB varies depending on what bank of presets you want), and splitting/layering up the keyboard just the way you want it, you can then save the entire "combination" (in Korg-Speak) or "Performance" (in Yamaha/Roland-Speak) as a Live Set. From then on, it's simply a matter of dialing in that Live Set and your Rack will automatically switch to whatever patches it is you want and you're cooking. Can't be beat! Keep in mind that I don't use the sequencer yet (I'm learning to use it now), so once I implement that into my workflow things may change dramatically.

And yes, the rumors (and liklihood) of Yamaha launching a new Motif this year are strong. Motif was announced at NAMM of 07 and was in stores by March 07, right along with the Korg M3. Yamaha in the past has released a new Motif every 3 years, so this year is expected to be the year of the new one...and I've read that the name will be called the "Motif GS" but don't quote me on that. In fact, a posting in a thread on this subject popped up over on Motifator.com (Yammy's customer-service center) about 2 months ago with a SUPPOSED "picture" of this new Motif GS and it's incredible (if true). It showed a huge screen very similar to the FG's (and supposedly without the glare of the XS), and was rumored to have 160 note polyphony, 3x the wave ROM/internal user banks, new synth AND weighted keybeds for each model, velocity pads, and some other stuff I don't remember. The thread was taken down within 20 minutes of its posting...so who knows if it's true or not. I would highly expect us to see a new Motif in 2 months...and I'm sure it will give the FG a run for its money.

Regardless, the FG is absolutely AMAZING, and it's unquestionably THE easiest synth I've ever used...I'm so spoiled by it that even the Yamaha reps I know and talk to agree. I'm confident you'll fall in love with your G7 as soon as you get it!

WOW.. Great information AK-Jake. Thank you for posting.

Thanks,
Tom