BUILDING A CUSTOM DRUM KIT 
You can build your own custom Drum Kits. This is useful when you want to have a kick drum from one kit, a snare from another and toms and percussion from yet another. You can either build your own custom kits from scratch or you can simply edit any already made kit to suit your needs. We point that out because you may not want to spend the day picking 73 different sounds to create an entire kit. Remember, you most likely will not use all of the drums in a Kit – if you do, seek professional help! Your music may just be a bit too busy. 

Go to [VOICE] mode and select a drum kit, you can press [EDIT] and start to customize the kit immediately. Like all EDIT functions in the XF you have two levels of editing: a general overall and a specific
• COMMON EDIT – overall parameters that are shared by the entire VOICE (Name, Kit Output Volume, Controller assignments, Arpeggio assignments, and Effect selection.
• KEY EDIT – (press Track Select [1] – shown below) individual keys contain a drum instrument, and here you will find all the parameters to control that individual drum instrument (Oscillator wave, assign mode, alternate group, effect routing, output routing, tuning, pitch sensitivity, filter, output level, amplitude envelope, EQ).

Each drum has its own EQ, amplitude envelope, filter, etc… so when we say each key is like a separate instrument we mean it has the same type of controls you would find on each normal Voice. That is why a drum Voice is so very big compared to a normal Voice. You have an unprecedented amount of control over setting up the kit. And like a drummer setting up the kit is important prior to playing. That said, during record (i.e., in SONG or PATTERN) you have real time control over Insertion Effect parameter via your physical Controllers.

Call up the drum kit you want to start with – it can be a PRESET or USER kit. (Preset Kits can be edited,. However, when you STORE your edit you will need to store it to a USER location).

• Press [JOB]
• Press [F1] INIT

Here you can select to initialize the entire kit “All Parameters”. This will change all 73 Keys C0-C6 to a default snare wave. You can opt to not initialize “all”, but initialize only a single Key, or just the Common parameters or both. And there is an option to: “Initialize the settings of the waveform assigned to the selected key”.

Initializing KEYS is the way to go, particularly if you simply want to combine some of your favorite principal drums into one custom kit. After you initialize the KEYS you want to work with you can go about selecting drum sounds for those keys. It is recommended that you do initialize a key prior to assigning a new ROM sample or a sample you have imported or created. The reason is: this way you do not inherit any parameters from the previous drum that occupied that key.

From VOICE mode:
• Press [EDIT]
• Press Track Select [1] to view KEY parameters
• Press [F1] OSCILLATOR

It is on this screen that you can select the Wave Bank, Wave Category, and Wave Number

On this screen, on the right column you can see the three EFFECT parameters: “Ins Effect Output”, “Reverb Send”, and “Chorus Send”.

An individual drum Key (Element) can be routed either to the INSERT EFFECT OUTPUT or to the System Effects (Reverb Send/Chorus Send). It is either/or. If you route a drum to the INSERT EFFECT OUTPUT, you will notice that the System Sends disappear. This is normal and denotes you have isolated this Drum from all “communal” (shared) System Effects.

If the INS EFFECT OUTPUT = ‘THRU’ then the drum is available to go through the Reverb and Chorus – you have Send amounts for each drum element. Only the individual Keys that have a Send amount to the Reverb and Chorus will be affected when the overall Drum Kit Send is increased or decreased. This means if you set the kick drum as “dry”(Reverb 0) but the snare drum “wet” (Reverb 25), turning up the Send amount for the entire Kit will only increase the a Reverb of the snare. The kick drum will remain “dry”.

You can setup a Compressor as one of the Dual Insertion Effects (this is a COMMON EDIT parameter) and then route individual drums either to the Compressor or not. In the two screenshots below, “C0” is not going to the compressor, while below “C1” is going to the compressor.

The Dual Insertion Effects in a DRUM VOICE can be “parallel”. What that means is: the two processors are separate. Or you can route INS A into INS B (or vice versa). In that scenario the output of one INSERT goes to the other. This routing applies to the entire KIT. (In the example used below, the routing is “parallel” – so each Drum can be sent to one or the other of the 2 Insert Effects…

A good example of this (and a great one to learn about the routing within a drum Kit) is the Kit called “Garage Kit” PDR: 041(C09)

It has:
INSERT A = Compressor: Classic Compressor
INSERT B = Distortion: AMP Simulator 1
— the insert effects are connected in “parallel”
Reverb = R3 Room
Chorus = VCM Flanger

From the main screen press the [F6] EFFECT button (this is a shortcut to the [COMMON EDIT] > EFFECT > CONNECT routing screen). Move your cursor to highlight the KEY parameter in the extreme upper left corner (if it is not already there).

You can HOLD down [SF6] KBD and touch a key on the keyboard between C0 and C6 to recall the routing of each drum Key. In the upper left corner you can see that each drum KEY will be routed to one or the other of the Dual Insertion Effect or it will be available for Reverb/Chorus.

While holding down [SF6] KBD you can quickly see and Edit if necessary – each Drum KEY’s routing through the effects. Notice that KEY “C0” is selected and that it is routed to the REVERB and CHORUS processors. It does not go through the Insertion Effects.

You can see that when KEY “C1” is been selected (kick drum), it is routed to INSERTION A, the Classic Compressor. In this Voice you can see that the Insertion A and Insertion B processors are routed in “parallel”. You could select to have the routing configured A>B or B>A or, as shown, parallel.

Because the KEY “C1” is routed to an Insertion Effect, the individual Reverb Send and Chorus Send are not active for this particular key. So if you want to send just the kick and snare to the compressor you can – when you [STORE] your Kit to a USER location, and then place it in a SONG MIXING or PATTERN MIXING program it will recall all of the edits you made here. There is a post-Insertion Effect SEND amount to the System Effects, and these will affect all drums returning from the Insert Effects.

Here is the same information as seen from the EDIT KEY screen for “C1”. Notice that the “Ins Effect Output” = ins A. There is no Reverb Send and no Chorus Send for this drum.

If a drum is routed to the System Effects (Reverb Send and Chorus Send) it will respond when you raise the overall REVERB or CHORUS send level in the MIXING program, if however, the drum KEY was routed to one of the Dual Insertion effects then it will not be effected by the increase or decrease in the SEND level – it will instead be routed to the INSERTION EFFECT as designated in your VOICE.

Also notice that if you choose to use internal INSERTION EFFECTS – the OUTPUT SELECT parameter is unavailable. When you want to route a drum KEY to an assignable output (FW), you would do so to process this drum externally. Therefore you would route it directly to the assignable output without using any of the internal effect processing at all. For details on routing of individual drum KEYS to FW Outputs please download and study the ADVANCED APPLICATION: FW AUDIO SETUP tutorial.

Edits to a Kit must be stored to a USER DRUM Bank location. You may wonder how the individual Key routing can take place when using this Drum Kit in a 16-Part MIXING setup (SONG/PATTERN mode).

If you route a Drum to an “assignable” or “FW” output, then in the SONG/PATTERN MIXING setup you will want to set the OUTPUT SELECT parameter = “drum” (shown below). The screen shot is from a Drum Kit selected as PART 1 of a PATTERN MIXING setup. 
This setting for OUTPUT SELECT will recall all of your Output routings from the Voice mode. So it is totally possible to route individual drums to individual FW outputs when recording to your DAW software. This is extremely powerful and useful. It means that even though your Drums occupy a single PART of your 16 PART mix, and even though all their data is recorded on a single track, each drum can still be routed to an individual output. The Yamaha Steinberg FW driver allows you to have 16 audio buses out from the XF at any one time and any instrument (including individual drums) can be routed to a separate audio output. Other synthesizers might have to use a separate track to accomplish this type of advanced routing.

In order for the drum keys that are routed to the INSERTION EFFECT to access their Insertion Effect, the drum PART must be one of the eight PARTS designated to recall its Insertion Effects in the MIXING setup. Remember any eight internal PARTS can recall their Dual Insertion Effects when in a MIXING setup. The AD INPUT PART could be one of the eight PARTS.

INITIALIZE [JOB]:
When constructing your own Drum Kit you will need to master the skill of initializing a KEY, rather than starting from scratch, you can edit an exisiting kit, customizing just the KEYS that you need. Here is how to initialize a single KEY:
Press [JOB]
Press [F1] INIT
Clear the ALL box, and set the attributes you need.

The other important skill is to COPY Drums from one place to another. In other words, you will find a Drum Kit in the Motif XF that is “All Kicks” – obviously a storage Voice, you can copy any drum from any Kit to another using the [JOB] > [F3] COPY

ONE SEQUENCER MANY (related) JOBS
There is no one method when constructing your drum tracks. You might choose to record in SONG mode using a basic drum groove as a working tool, and later “paint” the track with arpeggio data. Or you may use the PATTERN mode to refine your drum track… placing fill-ins where necessary. Learning about moving data between PATTERN mode and SONG mode and vice versa can be very useful in creating and placing data where you need it. Each of these (SONG mode and PATTERN mode) is part of the same sequencer. Certain functions are best carried out in one or the other. As we will begin to see in this section of the article, moving data back and forth will open opportunities for you and is easily accomplished. First we will describe moving data from a PATTERN to an associated SONG. You can move all tracks together with some functions or you can move individual track data with others. Then we will describe moving from SONG to an associated PATTERN. Again you have some functions for moving all tracks together and others that will allow you to select individual data and move it.

Not only can you “CHAIN” an entire PATTERN Section play order arrangement and move it to a linear SONG, but you have the ability to put individual Phrase data directly from PATTERN mode to SONG using the PATTERN Mode JOB: PUT PHRASE TO SONG. And conversely, you can use the GET PHRASE FROM SONG Job to grab specific data from a SONG and bring it into your PATTERN workspace.

If you are working initially in SONG mode, you can use the JOB: SPLIT SONG TO PATTERN to move entire measure regions (all tracks) of a SONG to a specific PATTERN Section. And conversely, you can use the COPY PHRASE Job to grab a specific individual Phrase data from a PATTERN and bring it into your SONG workspace.

Moving data PATTERN mode > SONG mode
PATTERN CHAIN: Pattern Chain allows you to string several different Sections together to make a one complete composition. It is like automating the playback order of the musical sections. It lets you try out different arrangements: AABACABAD. For example, create a Section [A] for the intro, a Section [B] for the verse, a Section [C] for the chorus, and a Section [D] for the ending — and you have the basic blocks to build an original composition. You are provided with up to 16 different Sections [A] through [P] simply for flexibility. You may want to make a COPY of a section and then make subtle changes to it so that it is not exactly the same. The created Pattern Chain data can be converted to MIDI sequence data and stored to a Song. To call up the Pattern Chain display, press the [F5] Chain button from the Pattern Play mode. A Pattern Chain can be created for each Pattern, letting you call up a different, dedicated Pattern Chain each time you select a Pattern.

The following events can be recorded to the Pattern Chain.
• Playback order of Sections
• Pattern track on/off—Track Mute status
• Tempo change
• Time signature change—Real time control of measure length (stutter effects possible)

There are two methods to create a Pattern Chain: Recording playback of a Pattern in the Pattern Record display in real time, and programming the playback order of Sections one by one in the Pattern Chain Edit display. The Pattern Chain data recorded in real time can be edited in the Pattern Chain Edit display. It is from the Pattern Chain Edit display that you can convert the Chain to a linear SONG. [SF3] SONG. (See the section of the Reference Manuall starting on page 171 for details about Pattern Chain function).

PUT PHRASE TO SONG: While Pattern Chain is excellent for moving all tracks from Pattern mode to a Song, the PHRASE JOB called “Put Phrase to Song”, allows you to move just a single Pattern recording (Phrase) to any location within a Song. This is useful if you have worked out a short drum fill-in or transition and want to “paste” it into your Song. Perhaps you used “Real Time Loop Remix” to create a unique transition phrase and you want to place it on the drum track in your SONG. From PATTERN mode:
• Press [JOB]
• Press [F4] PHRASE
• Select Job 07: Put Phrase to Song
• Press [ENTER]

Of course you can select the Pattern Phrase, you can target the SONG, the Track, select the Measure region, and you can Copy any samples assigned to the track.

Tip: One thing you will really like about setting up to work with SONG and PATTERN mode together is that much of the dialog box information will be setup for you. For example, say you are writing a composition in SONG 01 and working out parts of it in PATTERN 01. As you move back and forth the context sensitive operating system will recognize that you are moving between these two entities. Even if you are working on PATTERN 12 and SONG 03, the association will be made between the two you have selected. So, for example, once you establish a link between the SONG and the PATTERN, the Jobs that move data back and forth will use those locations. You establish this link by simply going to SONG mode and selecting a SONG number, move back to PATTERN mode – the link is automatically established (as it “remembers’ what you selected last). If you last selected PHRASE number 039, it will populate the dialog box with “Phrase 039” when you select this JOB. If you last selected SONG 22 it will populate the dialog box with “Song 22”.

GET PHRASE FROM SONG: The PHRASE JOB called “Get Phrase from Song”, allows you to import a region of measures from any location within a Song and create a Pattern phrase. This is useful if you have data you recorded in SONG mode and you want to bring it into the Pattern. In Pattern mode you can Remix it or apply any of the Pattern functions to that data. Or you might grab data from some MIDI file. Perhaps you want to use Real Time Loop Remix to create a really unique transition phrase and then you want to place it back on the drum track in your SONG. From PATTERN mode:
• Press [JOB]
• Press [F4] PHRASE
• Select Job 06: Get Phrase from Song
• Press [ENTER]

You can specify the SONG, the Track, select the Measure region, you can Copy any samples assigned to the track and of course you can select the Pattern Phrase.

Tip: Important to know about the Measure region setting: you will notice that the default region is 001-002. What you need to know here is that this is the minimum setting. In other words, 001-002 is 1 measure. It is from the top of measure 001 to the top of measure 002 (but does not include the information in measure 002). If you want to include the information in measure 002, set the region to 001-003. If you want to move a four-measure phrase using this JOB, you would set the measure region: 001-005.

Moving Data SONG mode > PATTERN mode
SPLIT SONG TO PATTERN: There may come a need for you to take an entire region of a linear SONG and move it (all tracks) to a PATTERN Section. If your original idea came about while in a linear SONG, and you want to take region of it and work on it (perfect it) in Pattern mode, this SONG JOB is invaluable.
• Press [JOB]
• Press [F6] SONG
• Select JOB 02: Split Song to Pattern
• Press [ENTER]

Again you will be able to set the measure region – for example, if you wanted to take the first 16 measures of your linear Song and make it a Pattern Section, you would set the measure region 001-017 (this would include all 16 measures). It will target the associated (last selected) Pattern and Section. And if an audio sample is involved the sample data will be copied to the PATTERN.

COPY PHRASE: To complete the ring of Jobs that move data to/from Song and Pattern mode, the SONG Job called COPY PHRASE allows you when you are in SONG mode to grab an individual Phrase from a PATTERN and place it where you need it in your current linear structure.
• Press [JOB]
• Press [F5] TRACK
• Select JOB 08: Copy Phrase
• Press [ENTER]

The ‘associated’ Pattern will be automatically entered, as will the last selected Phrase from Pattern mode. You have an option to select to copy any sample if the phrase includes a sample, and you can target any track and any measure of your current SONG. The targeted measure will be overwritten.

Routing Drums to individual Outputs
If a drum is not being assigned to go through one of the two INSERTION EFFECTS designated for the Kit, it can be routed to an assignable output. The assignable outputs include both the analog “asL” and “asR” but all the digital (FW) outputs “FW1” through “FW14”, plus “L&R”. Please see the ADVANCED APPLICATION: FW AUDIO SETUP tutorial for a detailed example of the routing possibilities, including the background that goes into the decision making process.