I recently purchased a MOTIF XF with the intention to upgrade the piano patches using the 1gb and 512 mb flash cards that came with it. I know that most piano sample libraries for the unit are "old" they were released some 7-10 years ago, still I believe it should be possible to make the MOTIF sound fairly up to date as far as pianos are concerned. Is there a sample library that you would recommend for live performances? I typically play with smaller jazz ensembles and a good Yamaha or Steinway D grand piano sample set is probably what I am looking for.
okvinge
Synthogy American Grand
https://www.yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/synthogy-american-grand-for-motif-xf-moxf
Note: negative review for reference. Not sure what your experience would be with this.
A few pianos including Steinway D
https://ksounds.com/yamaha-motif-xf-format-sound-libraries/
Less "official" source of another option:
https://www.synthonia.com/marketplace/yamaha/motif-xs-xf-rack/yamaha-motif-xf-studio-grand-d-detail
It's fairly subjective which would be best for you.
Current Yamaha Synthesizers: Montage Classic 7, Motif XF6, S90XS, MO6, EX5R
You are ridiculous. How can a 10 year old piano sound old ? A Steinway is 150 years old and is still an unmatched model of sound. What kind of nonsense are you writing? ๐ฎ
Thank you for your replies. To be precise, i wrote "old", to suggest that the samples are 7-10 years old, meaning that sampling technology may have evolved a lot since then. So my question is really if it is worthwhile spending money on 3rd party libraries today. Perhaps the libraries that Yamaha issued with the MOTIF 40th Premium Contents Pack are unmatched?
okvinge
I don't know really. Each piano is going to have a slightly different character no matter what the vintage. The XF can even dig back deeper since the Motif's original "Power Grand" and "Jazz Grand" pianos can be installed into the XF as this data is still compatible with the XF generation. And perhaps doses of this free promotional content can be mixed with the preset pianos to come up with a hybrid that has the character you're after.
Even EQ or velocity curve adjustments can bring out some differences that may get you closer to what you're after.
... but wait, there's more (piano choices).
https://shop.usa.yamaha.com/en/catalogsearch/result/?q=piano+xf
The official store for sound libraries is the "shop". There's also:
Pop Upright Piano (MONTAGE and MOTIF XF) - Not a grand, but ...
Alan Parsons Imperial Grand Piano for Motif XS/XF
(Easysounds) Live Instruments - Not a steinway but a couple of pianos sampled along with other content
Current Yamaha Synthesizers: Montage Classic 7, Motif XF6, S90XS, MO6, EX5R
[quotePost id=113973]Synthogy American Grand
https://www.yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/synthogy-american-grand-for-motif-xf-moxf
Note: negative review for reference. Not sure what your experience would be with this.
A few pianos including Steinway D
https://ksounds.com/yamaha-motif-xf-format-sound-libraries/
Less "official" source of another option:
https://www.synthonia.com/marketplace/yamaha/motif-xs-xf-rack/yamaha-motif-xf-studio-grand-d-detail
It's fairly subjective which would be best for you.
[/quotePost]
I found the Epic Grand from ksounds.com to work well for live gigs. I did set up some patches to use the monaural piano samples, since often times I can't count on the P.A. being stereo for the stereo piano samples, which sound terrible when summed to mono. I also tweaked the velocity curves and switching ranges to work better on my MOXF, which has a lighter action and needs a gentler curve than a weighted action to make the dynamic transitions smoother.