The Motif era (2001-2016) featured the Integrated Sampling Sequencer (ISS) which utilized the many tools you referred to... the Motif XF was the mature evolution of this concept. You can still use those tools in your Motif XF, then import the finished data into the MONTAGE/MODX which focus on synthesis. The AWM2 engine of these new products feature the Motion Control Synthesis Engine — you can import the Waveforms that you created in your XF. But these newer engines do not feature a Sampler, period. But the MONTAGE comes with 1.8GB of memory for your selection of custom Wave data. You can certainly load up any of the data that you created on your Motif XF.

You may not be aware that sampling, time stretching and loop creation IS a “walk in the park“ when you open your computer and launch Cubase. During this time of global quarantine, what a great opportunity to at least explore what has changed and what is on offer ... find the Steinberg YouTube Channel, look up Cubase and use key search words like “Sampler Track”, “Musical Mode”, “Groove Agent”, “Loops”, “audio warping“ w/quantize, etc.

You might be surprised just how many tools you have available that you are NOT using (we know you haven’t used them because of your question) - You’ll be amazed at how quick and easy they are to use - and you can export your work and put it in your MONTAGE. Some times I miss the past, and want to return to do things I used to do but only when it comes to thinking about a time I didn’t need a face mask to actually take walk in the park!

Check it out!

... find the Steinberg YouTube Channel, look up Cubase and use key search words like “Sampler Track”, “Musical Mode”, “Groove Agent”, “Loops”, “audio warping“ w/quantize, etc.

You might be surprised just how many tools you have available that you are NOT using (we know you haven’t used them because of your question) - You’ll be amazed at how quick and easy they are to use - and you can export your work and put it in your MONTAGE....
Check it out!

Dear Mr. Clendeninn, would you be so kind to point us the proper tutorial on how to do this task exactley, please.
I did some experiments on slicing samples , then imported WAV into MODX , no reaction on tempo changes whatsoever.

(I know i missed some important steps, but cannot track which ones, still using Motif XS for that reason).

It would be even great thing for Yamaha to make an official tutorial on this subject.

Thanks in advance!

Ivan

Slicing samples as in the Motif-series was a way in which you could time stretch audio clips. Using a method that works like cartoon animation where still frames are flipped in front of a camera to simulate continuous movement... the time slices are reassembled at various tempos, each slice was assigned a MIDI Note #, and a chromatic scale was generated to precisely trigger each slice; These MIDI events could be used to speed up or slow down the Audio... works best on percussive hits.

On sustaining sounds additional data must be extrapolated by the Slice function. If you are slowing down the tempo, additional data is generated by cloning Sliced data and reversing some of the sliced data to fill in the space, and if you are speeding up the Tempo slices must be strategically removed ... this is why you may hear audio artifacts on sustaining sounds...

A percussive sound can easily be contained, in its entirety, in a single sliced segment - making tempo adjustment incredibly fluid across a ridiculously wide range of tempos. The Motif XS/XF Slice function could divide percussion stuff into 128 slices ...8 measures of 16 note subdivisions

The MONTAGE/MODX do not have a sampler but a Sliced Waveform created in the Motif XS/XF-series will load to the new system and it will tempo adjust as it did in the Motif... if you keep the chromatic MIDI sequence that is the key to when each segment gets flipped in front of the camera. Without that MIDI data your Motif-generated Sliced Waveform will not work.

Here is an explanation of Cubase “Musical Mode”

This video demonstrates it with his guitar and vocals — and within the range of 120-140 like he is showing it works almost flawlessly on the most difficult type of audio. Later he drops in an Audio Drum Loop. For things like Audio Drum Loops - these become available at any tempo when Musical Mode is activated.

If you were a fan of Slicing, you will appreciate how easily, perfectly, and quickly audio is tempo adjusted... with Musical Mode On, all your audio drum loops automatically match the Project tempo.

How it’s done in Cubase:

The Musical Mode allows you to tempo-match audio loops to the project tempo.
If you activate Musical Mode for an audio clip, realtime time stretching is applied to the clip so that it matches the project tempo. The audio events adapt to any tempo changes in Cubase, just like MIDI events.
In the Sample Editor, you can activate Musical Mode in the AudioWarp section, the Definition section, and the toolbar.

NOTE
● You can also activate/deactivate Musical Mode from within the Pool by clicking the corresponding checkbox in the Musical Mode column.
● Cubase supports ACID® loops. These loops are standard audio files but with embedded tempo/length information. When ACID® files are imported into Cubase, Musical Mode is automatically activated and the loops will adapt to the project tempo.