I think I've messed up so many of my XF's generated files that I can't even keep track of the problem anymore. So I've decided to start fresh with a new modified version of the plan to manage the files. I'd personally like the plan to be similar to my last one, but perhaps with a different method of file transfer, or a different method of synchronisation with the XF editor in Cubase. I'll get to illustrating my previous plan in a moment, but first I should explain some of it's problematic symptoms.

Unnecessary but perhaps helpful context:

For example, me and my friend have been making song instrumentals for years and we've gotten extremely proficient with creating voices, sequencing MIDI, sampling, resampling, etc... Basically proficient with a lot of the built-in features of the XF. Then we got a little greedy and decided to incorporate a DAW into our workflow. Cubase was the obvious choice because it integrated extremely well with the XF and allowed for a very high level of control over MIDI, which I like. We were in my bedroom studio the other day and made about half a song instrumental when we were plagued with technical difficulties. It's a shame because we were in a complete creative flow. Layering down the tracks, making the voices at a high speed, naturally structuring the instrumental, etc... The song was progressing. We had to reschedule the day and do something else instead while I sorted out this issue later in the day. Though I found a few issues that were entirely the fault of Cubase, I realised that there was a major problem with the way I was managing the voices on my XF... To put it simply, I've been managing them in a really confusing way, but I'm not sure why Cubase and the Motif XF Editor VST respond strangely.

My previous plan:

For the lack of a better word, I think I started abusing the XF's file management system. Instead of perhaps paying a little extra for flash expansion modules, I decided to just hook up the XF ad-hoc to my PC in a 1-to-1 Ethernet fashion in order to store as many voices, samples, and drum voices as I wanted. The way I did this, was:

1. Automatically load an almost-factory-default XF All file every time the XF was powered on. The necessary data the All file contained was made up of raw mixing and MIDI sequence data in song mode, as well as global system and sequencer settings.

This way, the All file would store my arrangements of MIXV voices, PRE voices, USR voices, USRDR voices and any MIDI data I had recorded in the sequencer. Of course, there was rarely any MIDI data I would program into the song mode sequencer since I was recording MIDI straight into Cubase. The only time I would program MIDI data to the song mode sequencer was when I wanted to use the "create continuous data" feature, which is able to create nice linear and parabolic MIDI CC transitions. As for the loading of the All file, I used the "autoload" feature, which would load the default All file from a shared folder on my PC. The XF would load this file without fail provided the Ethernet cable was plugged in and the PC was running.

I would save this All file every time I created a palette of voice bank locations in song mode for use with the Motif XF Editor VST. Although this All file saved the voices themselves (plus their locations in memory) and the waveform samples (plus their locations in memory as well) along with them, it didn't need to, because I had saved the voices and their waveforms separately... That's the greedy part.

2. In my mind, I thought: "Why not just load an All Voice file for every Cubase project I make? That way, I can have 32 USRDR slots for every song, instead of perhaps limiting myself to 1 USRDR slot for 32 songs and having to switch over All files when I might still have heaps of space left over for more song mode data, USR, and MIXV data. It might sound way overboard, but I really didn't mind it for a while. Inside my PC's shared folder, I had folders named after every song, and inside that folder, I had the corresponding All Voice file.

The fact is, this plan actually works really well when using the XF stand-alone. The only downside is that when you switch songs, you have to load the corresponding All Voice file, or you'll get one song using another song's instruments. But as you can probably tell... this plan sets itself up for confusion...

3. Synchronization is where this plan fails the most. Trying to map out the flow of data from the XF VST back to the XF and vice-versa is a real headache using this method. I'm not totally sure how to set up the VST's data flow settings in order to favour this method. I try PC to Motif on some things, Motif to PC on other things. Not to mention the Cubase project file itself that happens to save the XF Editors data along with it.

If I have Cubase open with a project, (that I have placed in the same folder as the corresponding All Voice file) I usually have the editor set up to bulk transfer the global settings and the mixing settings to the Motif, but the voices aren't involved in the data transfer whatsoever. I believe this is the default setup with the XF Editor. I thought that this would be fine since I don't really care to transfer the voices from Cubase. The voices are after all, already stored in the shared folder as part of the corresponding All Voice file.

When I start loading up sample waveforms into the XF (while a Cubase project is open), throwing them together into a custom voice, I also have some difficulties. I start losing waveforms upon reloading a Cubase project file and All Voice file. I start losing waveforms when accidentally switching between songs in song mode while the Editor VST is running, etc... It's just synchronisation chaos so to speak. 😛

Conclusion:

My plan seemed simple enough on the surface. Load a Cubase project, navigate to the corresponding song in song mode (for the voice arrangement), load the corresponding All Voice file, Cubase sends the MIDI and the Motif plays it through the voices that were loaded, the Motif outputs the resulting audio back to Cubase and Cubase plays it through my speakers. But sadly, it's just not as simple as I thought when it comes to actually implementing it. No idea why.

Any way I can modify the plan so that it works consistently when synchronising and loading waveforms?