This generation (MODX/Montage) got rid of having the "Voice" container for sounds. Now everything is saved as a Performance. The closest thing to a "Voice" would be a Part. If you want to take just one Part from an existing Performance and add it to your current Performance, there are provisions for only copying a single Part from a different Performance. Dealing with only the Part level of a Performance is similar to Voice -- only there is not a separate "mode" for Voice and not a separate storage area for just voices.

The preset sounds are all Performances and cannot be erased.

I don't own the Melas tools - so I cannot advise.

In the MODX, user-created voices seem to be permanently inside Performances and cannot be saved on their own. Am I correct?

Voices don't exist. As a result, you do not have a voice that is used by multiple Performances that you can edit that would cause all of the Performances that use this same voice change. What you would do instead is edit the particular Part on each Performance you want to update.

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[quotePost id=117694]
If I wish to build a library of my own edited voices to use in different Performances, how do I do that? [/quotePost]

In effect, a "Voice", as you are familiar with it, could be considered as a "Single Part Performance" on the MODX.

As a brief aside, if you do a "Performance Category Search" on the MODX, you will notice some Performance names are in Green Text, while others are in Blue Text.

The Green Text names are Single Part Performances. The Blue Text names are Multi-Part Performances.

If you wished to create, edit or inventory a "Voice" for later inclusion in any other Performance, you need to create it as a Single Part Performance.

For example, say you wanted a "MiniMoog Bass" Voice, that you could later select "off the shelf" to add to another or several Performances. You would open an AWM2 INIT Performance, which is a default, initialised, Single Part Performance. You would RENAME & STORE that Performance immediately as "Minimoog Bass".

Then you would Edit the Single Part, change the Element Waveforms to "MM Bass" or whatever you find suitable. Adjust Levels, Tuning, Filter and Amp parameters to build your sound. Then when you are happy with "the voice" you would STORE it once again.

Down the line, whilst creating a different Multi-Part Performance (think of it as a "Project"), you decide you wish to ADD your Minimoog Bass "voice" to the other Instruments/Parts.
You would click on an empty Part Slot ("+" symbol), which will call up the "Performance Merge" screen. Search for your Performance "MiniMoog Bass" and select it. Exit out of the Search screen and your MiniMoog Bass will now be a Voice/Part in your current Performance.

IMPORTANT NOTE:- If you Edit the "Minimoog Bass" Part in your current Performance, any changes you make WILL NOT be saved to your original "off the shelf" "MiniMoog Bass" Performance. Your original "MiniMoog Bass" will remain unaltered unless you choose to Edit it directly.

For this reason, I tend to treat my saved "voices" as minimal "bare" templates. I do not add Effects, Control Assigns, Motion Sequences, ARPs etc. I will add these later, in the context of the Performance/Project in which it is being used. Otherwise, you will find yourself having to alter/delete these "add-ons" every time you use that "voice". Which can amount to a lot of wasted time and effort.

The major difference to reiterate is the lack of inheritance by the current system. Although Parts are "like" Voices - they aren't a Voice replacement.

In Motif when you create a Voice this Voice is saved (stored). You then build Performances (in Motif) by combining Voices together. The Performance "inherits" the Voice. If the Voice is a user Voice then the Performance can change if you edit the Voice. Since the Performance "inherits" the Voice - any change to the underlying Voice will have an impact to the Performance(s) where that Voice is used. This is good and bad depending on your perspective. There's a case for this at times and a case against it at times.

Now that the structure is "flat" with no inheritance - you manually edit Parts inside each Performance. Always. A change to one "sound" isn't going to ripple through any other Performance. All Performances are completely independent.

Personally, having lived (for some time) through both systems - I don't really prefer either approach. What I mean is that I'm fairly ambivalent about which one "should" be used. Either system has cases where you need to extra work to make up for something it does (or doesn't do) when you would prefer it to work the other way. I think the amount of housekeeping by the programmer is about the same either way. YMMV since this depends on individual use tendencies.

Thanks for those informative replies. I think I get it now.

[quotePost id=117709]Thanks for those informative replies. I think I get it now.[/quotePost]

Sarcastically "I just bet you do".

If you are anything like me when I was first getting to grips, my head was spinning.

A personal tip from me...

Approach the MODX from a "Mono Timbral" perspective i.e. a "classic" Synth like the MiniMoog, Jupiter 8, Pro One, Prophet 5 or whatever.

These were all 1 Synth, 1 voice/timbre/sound at a time. Although they had many potential voices, you could only track/record one voice at a time. Then you would have to reconfigure/reprogram the synth for the next track.

The MODX shortcuts you straight to the top - effectively 8 "Voice" Multi-timbral, 192 note polyphony, with three different Synth Engines, AWM2, Drum Machine and FM. That's like climbing Everest in a tee-shirt and a pair of sneakers.

I think you're approach is right. Establish your "voices" first in isolation (easier said than done). Then work on integrating those different voices into a "Multi Part Performance"... which has its own learning curve, especially when you want to start automating Modulation with the Super Knob and Motion Sequencers.

I think the various Yamaha Manuals start from an assumption that you have already owned multiple previous Yamaha synth models and are familiar with the "Yamaha Way". The MODX nullified that assumption by opening the doors to a "new crowd". It's like walking into Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory. Walk, Listen, Don't Run. Take one bite at a time and chew hard.

Is there any embedded information that tells you which preset a part in a user performance came from?

[quotePost id=117769]Is there any embedded information that tells you which preset a part in a user performance came from? [/quotePost]

Refer to Page 66 of the MODX Reference Manual

Operation [PERFORMANCE (HOME)]  [EDIT]  Part selection  Element [Common]  [Part Settings]  [General]

Parameter "Part Name" (Screen Top Right) allows you to type in a Name for that Part that is relevant to you.

Unfortunately, in most cases, if you borrowed that Part from a Factory Performance, the Part Name will be something very generic, like "Synth Brass".

Having run into this same issue in the past, I have got into the habit of using "Part Name" to reference it's Performance Source. You only have 20 Text Characters to play with but this is enough. For example I may Name the Part "Lib Galac Nucl P3", if the Part came from a Library, Performance "Galactic Nucleus" and was Part 3.

"Galac" and "Nucl" are both text strings you can enter into Text Search in Performance Category Search. This will yield either the exact donor Performance, or at least a very short list (2 or 3 Performances), enough to Spring your memory.

There is no "Search Engine" on the MODX for Part Name.

Whether or not you adopt this method into your workflow, is very much up to you.

TIP1: If you borrow a Part, and modify it enough to your own needs, such that the original source becomes irrelevant. Change the Part Name to something Relevant to your project Performance. For example, I had a project to create an 8 Part Performance that could get me through all Organ,Synth & SoundFX Parts in a Pink Floyd Song. I renamed the Parts "B3 Bass", "Intro Strings", "Brass Lead", "B3 Theme", "Glass Tinkles".... you get the picture.

That means on the HOME Screen every Part has a "useful name", and at a glance I can see a Part's relative sound levels, and whether or not it is Active (dB meter, Keyboard Control etc).

TIP2: There is a similar custom "Name Holder" for Control Assigns. I suggest you utilise these also. For example "Brass Cutoff", "Strg +Oct", "Strg Rvb" etc. These will also appear in the HOME Screen (across the Top) with current "Assign Knob" levels (Encoder position).

The MODX is such a deep and complex synth, it is easy to lose track if you don't make use of available functions.