How to Layer Voices & Play Multiple Instruments in Song Mode with Motif XF 8

March 13, 2019 4 Comments

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to play multiple instruments at once with your Motif XF 8 in song mode by either layering them, having the voices split across the keyboard or both.

With these few easy steps, you can play back your song to an audience while playing all of the lead instruments without switching tracks as well as beefing them up with layered backup sounds.

Pretty cool, huh?

Let's get started...

First, you'll want to pick the track where you want to play all of the other instruments from and add a voice to it (in this example, I've picked track 3, the Airy Nylon). With this instrument, I will have the Vinyl EP layered where it is selected on the keys and the other voices in their own separate sections of the keyboard.

Next, add all of the other instruments on their own separate tracks. For me, it makes sense putting them all underneath track 3 where I'll play them all from; that way it's neat and organized.

Now that you've picked out your instruments, press > Mixing > Edit and with the <Track> light on, press your first track number that you intend to use.

On the Edit screen below, you'll see I've got track 3 selected.  Right on the top where it says "Receive Channel", it says "3" next to it, corresponding to the track where the voice is originally chosen from. The Receive Channel is the channel or we could say, track where the instrument is played from. This is basically the trick for layering instruments in song mode. Also, I've Note-Limited my keys to the octave where I plan on playing the bass line.

 

A little trick, (if you don't know this already), when you scroll down to Note Limit and select the low or high end, a little KBD button will pop up in the lower right hand corner. Then you can hold down SF6 and press the lowest or highest key to quickly pick the limitation.

And now, all we have to do is go through the other instruments, change the Receive Channel to #3 on all of them, and note limit the areas where you want to have them layered with other instruments and played on the keyboard.

Another trick you can do, too is play with the "velocity limit". Where you have two instruments layered together, you have the ability with the Motif XF8 to play with the velocity. So for example, you can play softly on the keys to trigger one type of voice and then when you play harder on the keys, you'll be playing a different instrument.

Once you're finished, back on the main track view screen of your song, you'll now see that the tracks where you selected to receive on a separate channel seem blank. Don't worry. They're still there. Now they are just set to trigger from the one channel.

I'm sure you'll probably agree after doing this that the Yamaha Motif XF 8 just keeps getting better as you learn more about it.

I mean, once I found this out, I was pretty frickin' stoked. And of course, just had to write about it.

Anyway, if this gets you jazzed, please comment and share ;-)

Check out my use of layering voices and instruments in the studio song performance of "Heroes":

 

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