The Yamaha Montage & MODX synthesizers have three ways to record what we play:
– Song Recorder MIDI .mid – discussed in video 26.
– Song Recorder Audio .wav – discussed in video 27.
– Pattern Recorder MIDI .mid
All three are 16 track recorders, they record the max 16 Parts of the current Performance. Parts can be individually switched on/off. We can also decide if we want to record the generated arpeggios or only the notes we play ourselves.
In this video we’ll have a look at the Pattern Recorder. We’ll record part of the song called ‘So in Love’ by Eddie Garrido (with his permission).
Scroll down below the video for more text and images, which can be clicked to enlarge.
The Pattern Recorder is by far the most versatile recorderof the three. Its main feature is that it can make not just one recording … it can make eight. These recordings can then be sequenced, chained, to create a song with intro, verse, chorus, ending.
The recordings are called Scenes. They’re linked to the Scene buttons and if Scenes were defined in the Performance, the Scene sounds are used in the recording. Each Pattern Scene is a 16 track (Parts) recording with a maximum length of 256 measures. Scenes can be ‘chained’ to create a song with intro, verse, chorus, outtro. The same Scene can be used multiple times.
Edit options like copy & paste or exchange are available as well as some post recording mods like e.g. quantize.
A Scene can be saved as a MIDI .mid file, or as an Arpeggio. The Chain can be saved as a Song MIDI .mid file.
Let’s create a Performance with four Parts:
– Fender Rhodes Piano
– Pad / Choir
– Synth Bass
– New Oak Drum Kit
Tap the Play / Rec field and then tap Pattern.
To not accidentally overwrite an existing Pattern, make sure at the top a NewPattern is visible. If not, tap the name and then at the left tap ‘New Pattern’, or rotate the Dial Wheel until a new pattern shows.
Check the Performance. If it’s not the correct one use Category Search to find the one you want to record.
Tap the Rename field.
Give the new Pattern a name and tap Done.
Press the Record button and make the settings you like for:
– Time Signature
– Rewind to 001:01:000
– Tempo
– Quantize
– Replace or Overdub
– Scene (Press buttons to change)
– Length (# of measures)
– Enable Key Start
– Loop on / off
– Enable the Parts to record
To add new notes or other instruments (Parts) to the recording, press Record again, make the settings needed, and be sure to select Overdub.
To correct playing errors, we can either remove the last recording by tapping ‘Undo Media Record’ or we can take away the wrong notes by playing them again, while pressing the SHIFT button.
When Scene 1 is recorded to satisfaction, we can record another Scene by pressing a SCENE # button. The sounds that are used are the sounds that are saved under this Scene. If the Performance contains only one Scene, then the sounds of Scene 1 are used in Pattern Recorder Scenes 2-8.
When we’re finished recording all scenes, there’s no need to save anything … this is done automatically while playing. There also is a blue chain lock icon between the Pattern name and the Performance name, which means these two are now linked. Any timewe load this Pattern, automatically the linked Performance also loads such that the synth will play back the MIDI file using the correct instruments / sounds.
In the next video we’ll have a look at how to create a song using the Chain function.
This article and video about Pattern Recording is part of a series on the Yamaha Montage & MODX synthesizer / keyboard.
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Yamaha Montage & MODX FAQ 