What's your target tempo for the primary tempo (not sub-divided)? In other words, your "100%" tempo?

The fastest tempo/beat sync I seem to be able to set is 50%.

You are referring to the “Unit Multiply” parameter which is how an Arpeggio Phrase or a Motion Sequence can reference the current clock Tempo. Settings include: Common, 50%, 66%, 75%, 100%, 133%, 150%, 200%, 266%, 300%, 400%, 600%, 800%, 1200%, 1600%, 2400%, 3200%, or 6400% of the current tempo setting.

To understand how this works, it is best to first talk about the default setting of “Unit Multiply” = 100%. When you have an Arp Phrase or Motion Sequence that is set to 100% of the current Tempo that will mean it plays at the currently set Tempo. “Unit Multiply” is how the Arp/MS references the Tempo, it is not referred to as Tempo, but is a multiple or division of the Tempo. A Phrase that takes a certain amount of time to play, will play in 50% of the time (twice as fast), if that phrase is to play at 200% it will take twice as long to complete.

The Tempo of the MODX can be set to between 5 bpm and 300 bpm. The fastest tempo is 300 bpm.

How can I speed up the Motion Sequencer's cycling to (eg) 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% or even 3.125% of the underlying beat/tempo?

The items listed with the % are the Unit Multiply (not the Tempo) this is how the Phrase references the tempo. Sorry some math is involved. It’s fairly obvious these % settings are not listed... that said...
Change the length of the Motion Sequence. This is accomplished by changing the number of Steps in the “Cycle”

It’s basic musical mathematics.

Here is an example... I’m using the Motion Sequence to vary the volume of a droning synth bass sound so that I can create a bass line that pulses at specific musical values. Although several settings will result in the same mathematical result, the musical result will differ depending on the Shape of the Pulse... in the example, I’m using a Standard Pulse Reversed... so the Pulse feels like a Note-On that is loudest at the attack and then decays (fades).

Tempo = x, where ‘x’ is a number between 5 and 300
Cycle = 16 Steps
Unit Multiply = 100%
If I have a Motion Sequence is a single Pulse that occurs in Step 1 (say it is used to create an abrupt burst of Volume on a bass sound)

That Pulse will occur once per measure, on the downbeat, at the settings above.
If I want that Pulse to occur twice per measure (Beat 1 and Beat 3) I can either leave the Unit Multiply at 100% and set the number of Cycle Steps to 8 or leave the Cycle at 16 and Set Unit Multiply to 50%. Same result... 2 pulses per measure.

If I want that Pulse to occur every beat (Beat 1, Beat 2, Beat 3 and Beat 4) I could set the Unit Multiply = 50% and set the Cycle = 8
Or set Unit Multiply = 100% and set the Cycle = 4... again same result. Or Unit Multiply = 200% and Cycle = 2... again same result.
Or 400% and 1... the difference will be your ability to detect the length of that pulse as it goes by. If I’m using this to create a pulsing synth bass note groove, the difference would be critical to the duration of the pulsed note.

If I want to create a surge in Volume every eighth note, just lower the Cycle to 4
If I want to create a surge in Volume every sixteenth note, just lower the Cycle to 2
32nd notes lower the Cycle to 1

While you can’t set Unit Multiply to the values you listed, but you can accomplish the same result using simple mathematics... length of phrase, and tempo reference.

Unit Multiply = 133% and Cycle Steps = 12 equals once per measure.
Unit Multiply = 266% and Cycle Steps = 6 equals once per measure.
Unit Multiply = 66% and Cycle Steps = 6 equals once per beat
Unit Multiply = 66% and Cycle Steps = 1 equals eighth note triplet pulses

Work with the Unit Multiply (how the Motion Sequence references current tempo) and the number of Steps in the Cycle.

Your mileage will vary, as there are an unlimited number of ways to approach the Motion Sequencer. Hope that gets you started.

Change the length of the Motion Sequence. This is accomplished by changing the number of Steps in the “Cycle”

It’s basic musical mathematics.

Yes, I get how it works.

This is what I tried first, long ago, well before yesterdays attempts to run a faster motion sequence.

I want to run it faster!

The rate of the mod sequence is determined based on the full length of the sequence, even if only one cycle is used, or 16 (the maximum). I get it.

This previously hadn't been much more than an annoyance, that I couldn't get the motion sequence to run faster.

Now, I have a few things I'd like to do with a much faster Motion Sequence that I can't quite wrangle out of using LFOs

This is the limitation... I want to go faster than this.

Is there a way to run the Motion Sequence quicker?

... your tempo?

At any "rate" - the fastest you can runMotion Sequence is by setting the BPM up to 300 and use 50% unit multiply (tempo sync'd). If you have ARPs running at the same time as the motion sequence, you could slow down the ARPs from 300bpm down to your target tempo. Say you wanted to target 113bpm. Set your ARPs' unit multiply to 266% and this will end up running them at 112.78 bpm while your motion sequence is at the maximum rate.

Use a user curve so you can get more control over how many modulation inflection points you get per single cycle. Your fastest rate would deal with only a single cycle.

What are you trying to achieve? I get it - fast - but what's your final destination for the lane and what's the goal?

BTW: if I use a Part LFO and use the user waveform - then pick the "clock" looking shape on all 16 steps - this will create an LFO that (I believe) is faster than motion sequence. But I don't really know the end shape you're going for.

@Jason

As in the Original Question...

My goal is to get the Motion Sequencer to run faster. For various reasons!

That's the goal.

I appreciate you think there's work arounds and ways to fudge it. And I've thought of most of these, and tried many of them.

However... after having done that... I want the Motion Sequencer to run faster. For various reasons!

Just, sometimes, read what people write at face value, please.

Given that the Motion Sequencer can go to 64x slower than the underlying tempo/beat, I think it should be made to run at all ratios between 1/4 and 1/64th of the underlying beat/tempo, too.

Why this wasn't done... is another peculiarity of Yamaha's software 'design'.

No, I will not be signing up to a contrived "feature request forum" in order to make a claim for this.

The fastest you can make run through an MS cycle repeat is 600 times/sec.

However, you can split that cycle up into sections using pulses (modulating the lane output) if you want - or pulses plus curves (curves = modulation of the destination reacting to pulse output). So you could further divide up a cycle using those methods.

Here's what I mean - say your cycle is a standard pulse of a single ramp. You can use user curves to create many ramps which will act as frequency multipliers (time dividers)

As I mentioned - I understand what you're asking and have given the limits of the system and techniques. However, this is only part of a tool to realize a goal. With a nebulous, unstated end result - I can't help you any further.

If you have many things you're trying to pull off with a "faster motion sequence" - then pick one relatively simple case that would benefit you if you had a solution and present the end goal more fully.

A faster motion sequence is always modulating some parameter. What parameter? And what shape/rate are you targeting? I never got your fundamental tempo if there are other tempo-synced requirements in this or not. It matters because if you have no tempo dependence (like no ARPs running) - then cranking up to 300 is no big deal. If you have a tempo dependence then you need to crank up to something divisible down to your target tempo (by unit multiply the time) and setup your tempo possibly to something less than 300.

And that LFOs are absolutely not going to work is -- well -- absolutely not known. You see, without a target application - there's limits to the help you can receive. Which is fine - because enough tinkering you can figure this out on your own.

How do you get to cycles of the Motion Sequencer repeating at a rate of 600 times per second?

At any "rate" - the fastest you can runMotion Sequence is by setting the BPM up to 300 and use 50% unit multiply (tempo sync'd).

300 Hz - changing time base to 50% translates to 600 Hz.

This isn't how it works.

Motion Sequences run at a rate percentage of the measures, not the beats per minute.

How many beats in a measure?

Change to 60bpm, tempo sync, single cycle. Use a square pulse so half of the pulse is 127 and half 0. The on my control assign I set the destination to level bipolar so half the time the volume is offset to silence and half the time the offset is max volume. This gives something easy to characterize the frequency of change per cycle. Add more cycles with the same pulse (square) and see what does or does not happen.

I think you mean steps when you say cycles.

Cycles.

Ignore any other information in this image - it was just lifted off of public sources (Yamaha motion sequence tutorial) just for the sake of showing where the terminology "cycles" comes from.