I want to transfer the Cubase data to a Motif song for more stability. I understood that the best (only) method is to use a SMF-file.

The Standard MIDI File is one way, not the only way. Real time transfer is the other way. It entails synchronizing clocks, setting the MOTIF to record All Tracks, and recording the data in a real time transfer.

Unfortunately you don't give us enough detail to tell you if what you want to do is feasible. The sequencer of the Motif XS, Classic or ES can handle 16 Tracks... Do you plan on using each sequencer, or can all data fit into one of the sequencers (that would be critical info necessary to tell you how to proceed).

How to do that in the best way, so that I do not have to rework a lot :
-Midi reset and instrument settings are all spread in the first measure (as advised)

MIDI RESET?
What MIDI reset? Do you mean GM Reset? Are these General Midi files?

While all GM files are SMF, not all SMF are GM.

-Can I reduce this measure to a minimum, so that I can dial a song (via Master ?) and start immediately ?
-How fast is the Master function? When I dial a default Motif song it gives very fast response.

Immediately, no. To recall a Song Mixing Setup could take approximately 200-300ms (or more) depending on your data.

If your XS has DIMMs installed you can stream your songs as audio, audio files can be made to Start immediately!

Thanks Bad Mister for this professional advise.

I understood already that my question is too multifunctional to solve in 1 time…
So I propose to clarify first some specs :

Main target is to play along in solo with a pre-recorded song (in Cubase-and no audio samples-no arps involved)

Sequencer to be used in live performance

I can use Cubase, but the stability is not good enough.
To reload a next song takes a lot of handling and the start is very doubtful (we are not in a recording environment anymore).
In Cubase I have to start the sequencer to organize a reset and all instruments (which takes more than 1 second- 1 measure is advised)
Loading a factory-song on the Motif gives me immediately the correct instruments and are available without starting the sequencer.
How do they do that ???? There is a big difference between 300 ms and 4 seconds in live performance.

For stability I should only use 1 sequencer (Motif XS for example).
And indeed, I mean by midi-reset a GM-reset, but am not sure what is really happening ???!!!
Does it reset also the VST's ???? That's not the meaning….Or can I exclude the VST's in the reset ???

Can I use VST's via the Master function on Motif ?
Again a lot of questions…. Sorry for that !

Thanks for yr advise

I'm confused about whether you want to use a computer, or not.

I can use Cubase, but the stability is not good enough.

Cubase can be extremely stable. Perhaps I don't know what you mean by "stability is not good enough". Are you having an issue with your computer? Cubase is stable enough to be used on tour with some of the top acts in the business, it is used in high pressure situations in Hollywood, on television, etc., it's stable enough to do all that... It'll do your gig!
🙂

To reload a next song takes a lot of handling and the start is very doubtful (we are not in a recording environment anymore).

No, you are not in a recording environment any more, you want to *playback* when you are on stage. The start should never be doubtful... *Properly prepared* it should be solid as a rock, absolutely repeatable, and never in doubt!

Did you know you can have all your songs open and ready in waiting. You simply click on the one you want to play to make it *active*. Say you are going to do ten Songs in the first set, you can have all ten Songs open ready to go. One by one you can activate the one you want to play. Activate each one when you are ready to play that song. No loading, necessary. They are all open... Think like you are working with a bunch of WORD documents or PDFs... You can open 10 documents at once... Click on the one you want read now. When finished click on the next one... It's already open, you simply activate them as you're ready to read it.

Perhaps you recorded each separately... But for performing, you need to reassemble your data so it does what you need. If you want one song to go smoothly into the next, then configure your data to make this happen!

If you are going to use a computer, spend some time learning to use it to suit your needs. You seem to think you can only have one Song open, this is NOT true. You "activate" the song title you want to play... When you activate the song by title you can have it recall the Voices, effects, settings for each of your synths and your VSTi's. You can automate everything!

Loading a factory-song on the Motif gives me immediately the correct instruments and are available without starting the sequencer.
How do they do that ???? There is a big difference between 300 ms and 4 seconds in live performance.

A Motif Song automatically recalls all the Voices and every setting for the Mix when you recall it. You can do the same thing from Cubase. So that when you activate the Song your computer sends the data to each connected device... be it a VST or a Motif, or both.

And forgive me, but if I'm in the audience 300ms between tunes is not enough for me, mentally, to clear my head of one song and prepare my ears for the next. In fact, if you leave 4 seconds between tunes, I'm still feeling rushed by the band. As an audience member, I'd prefer the band start the next song when the band is ready (and not a moment before). Your ears like a pause (especially when it's loud music), it's your eyes that get bored quickly. The ears will happily WAIT, and enjoy the silence between tunes.

Put yourself in the audience at a concert with your favorite artist... Between songs no one minds if the band tunes up... You know why? Because the ears like the time between songs!!!

Now I understand there are times you want one composition to go right into the next. In musical terms, this is called a "medley". The way you pull this off is simply make the two compositions one song. Then there is no break between them at all, they move smoothly one to the next. Copy one song onto the end of the first... Make it one Project (2 songs, 1 Project). Insert Tempo change, and it's done. (Like taking two Word documents - copying one onto the end of the other so they become a single document).

I think you need to decide what exactly would be the ideal situation for your band. Then explore all the possibilities. But from what I've read so far about what you want to do... Which is: Use a Motif classic, a Motif ES, a Motif XF and some VSTs... Your only choice is to use your computer, because VSTs require a computer, they cannot run on the Motifs, they must run on the computer.

We can help with your Motifs - but you have some homework to do with Cubase. Sounds to us like you think it cannot do what you need, I know it can!!!

Example: when you "activate" a Cubase Project, you can have it send all the setup data to your synths... Be they internal VSTs or external synthesizers. The amount of time it takes to setup your synths, is whatever it is... In my years as a performer there is one thing I've learned... The audience wants you to do well, and will wait for you. Even if you leave 10 seconds, 20 or 30 seconds betweens songs. If they get antsy after 4 seconds, they need to relax. I've found that they will wait for you.

Let us know what you think is the ideal situation. Please assume Cubase can do what you need... Map out a set. Then figure out how to get it done.

Are the sequence files you are using MIDI data you've purchased, like commercially available GM Files. Or did you create the MIDI data yourself?

Thanks again Bad Mister for your clear statements.:D
Let me go through the comments step by step, but I will first answer on your questions :

I'm confused about whether you want to use a computer, or not.

-Best result will be by using VST's as well (This means Cubase on my Macbook)
-As I had stability problems (possible solutions below) my intension was to put everything on Motif XS as Master and slave the Motif Classic and ES (with PLG 150 VL).
Then I loose the VST's of course.

Are the sequence files you are using MIDI data you've purchased, like commercially available GM Files. Or did you create the MIDI data yourself?

Basically purchased (for example http://eu.yamahamusicsoft.com/en/home) and slightly adapted by myself.
On this site you cannot buy SMF GM files, as they are always referring to a specific instrument (Tyros 5 for example….). The files are well documented, so you can adapt them to the correct settings if you know some basic GM things. Nevertheless there are a lot of typical settings for the target instrument (e.g. Tyros) where I want to get rid off as they are potential trouble-makers.

Other files are purchased as SMF GM and also slightly reworked (e.g. Hittrax).

I can send an extract of the first measures if you want.

Cubase Stability Problems ?

There are perhaps some reasons for the crashes on my Notebook :

Notebook has to be installed each time on stage/rehearsel from scratch.
There are 8 USB connections to be made :
-Cubase-Dongle
-USB to Motif XS
-USB to Motif Classic
-USB to Motif ES rack
-USB to HD or memory stick
-USB interface to another old Keyboard (Roland UM-One)
-Breath-controller TEC
-Mouse

This has to happen in the exact sequence and preferably not changed afterwards.
Best is to stop all the rest of the programs and to restart the Notebook.
When all cabling is done I can startup the notebook and the Keyboards.
Switch the Motifs to Multi/Song mode.
Start Cubase
Load the Cubase song.
And …Start the sequence…

The Sequence start (GM reset) is another difficult item for me

Again reading your Tutorial which is great :
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/view/a_short_tutorial_creating_proper_gm_files

I will delete a lot of superfluous reset data to keep the track-resets as clean as possible.
In fact I do not need much more than :
MSB-LSB-Pr Ch- Main Volume-Eff Reverb & Chorus

I will also make a template for this.

Yes, I believe in your professional experience and I will put all efforts on Cubase now.
I will come back with my results and other questions (don't want to overload this thread….)

Okay, thank you for including the details. As you can probably imagine, I have done what you are doing (I do it so I can help others). And by doing so I can understand each issue you mention!

You are to be commended - it is quite advanced to take a Tyros5 file and reformat it for Motif type keyboards! Even if you only "slightly adapt" them, it is no simple thing. So I do understand now that you do have experience in digging deep into editing these Files. (This is why I asked if these were commercially prepared SMF for GM).

And I agree, it is complex to have to setup this entire system on stage and at rehearsal, and I now more fully understand your situation.

I would hate to have you leave out some part of your musical setup (like the VSTs) just because of a computer setup issue, however... I asked about whether or not you had sample RAM because "streaming audio" can eliminate some of the setup hassles. I know, it is not quite the same as running everything in real time as MIDI, but many of the big tours these days have many of the parts streaming as audio directly from DAW software.

(The XF (with its FLASH BOARDS) can permanently keep your audio data ready to play and eliminates having to LOAD data every time...)

When you see someone onstage dancing *and* singing nowadays, much of what you hear is streaming from a hard drive. If you watch closely you can start to pickup on the 'secret' hand signals to the sound person when they want to "go live" and actually say or sing something into a live mic... 🙂

Using a computer onstage is currently a major hassle (still), primarily because computers are not specifically designed as musical tools. Trust me, at Yamaha we know this, all to well. When I joined the company some 27 years ago, they were releasing their third or fourth computer... One designed to do music, specifically. Imagine a laptop with 8 MIDI OUT ports... Made setup fairly easy... But the world went in a different direction. Alas...

Anyway, if we can help you figure any of this out, just let us know. I truly do appreciate what you are attempting to do... And that you need to be concentrating on playing and having FUN, not worrying about the order in which you connect and boot up each piece of gear!

And don't worry about asking too many questions, that's why Yamaha decided to create this site!!!

Slightly Off Topic:
Let me ask a question about something you mentioned: would you be interested in Midi Files prepared for specific Synthesizers (like those files that are prepared specifically for the Tyros5?) As you've probably noticed, the true synthesizers (Motif, MO-series, etc) have just recently been added to www.yamahamusicsoft.com for Voice Libraries... The MIDI Files are all for GM/XG tone engines, as you know...

Thanks again Bad Mister, I think we are now on the same wavelength:D

To proceed I propose to open separate subjects. This will make things easier and probably more interesting for others.
I should appreciate very much that you accompany me in the following steps :

How to make a proper SMF-file for recording from scratch or to adapt purchased songs
How to optimise these files for efficient use on stage for solo-ing essential instruments
Configuration on stage to switch solo-instruments easily
How to load 10 songs and switch from one song to another in a not predefined sequence (with at least 2 different instruments)

Let me open the first item on a new Topic and see how far we come.
All items are of course interrelated…

Thanks again
Paul