Using the Yamaha PLG Series Plug-in Boards with a Motif-Rack

When using a PLG board in the Motif-Rack the user needs to understand how MIDI works with the internal PARTS and the PLG PARTS. Several new screens will display on the Motif-Rack. The Motif-Rack 'knows' when a PLG board has been installed, because each time the power is turned on, it does a self diagnostic to see if anything new has been added. If it finds a PLG150 series board (single part boards) for example, it will automatically load in 64 Preset Plug-in Voices and 64 blank User Plug-in Voice locations. These are in addition to the sounds that come resident on the board (called Board Voices). The newly loaded Plug-in Voices are integrated with the Motif-Rack effects and parameters. The Board Voices are raw data that can be edited by the user (each PLG150 board can be tweaked) and new Voices can be stored to one of the 64 Plug-in User locations. The PLG150 Series Plug-in Boards and their associated Voice data are available in both VOICE and MULTI modes. The PLG150-DR and the PLG150-PC boards are accessed along with the DRUM KITS.



When PLG150 Series boards are installed, they will automatically occupy the PARTS reserved for the PLG boards P1 and P2. These PARTS default as follows: PLG1 will be assigned to MIDI channel 1, and PLG2 will be assigned to MIDI channel 2.


The PLG100XG board, which must be placed in slot 2, will automatically occupy the PARTS reserved for the multi-part plug-in board, Parts 17-32. These PARTS default as follows: PART 17 to MIDI channel 1, PART 18 to MIDI channel 10, PART 19 to MIDI channel 3, etc. The PLG100XG board follows the rules and protocol of the GM/XG system. The user cannot store the MULTI setup parameters for the PLG100XG in the Motif-Rack. Setup data for all GM and XG products is stored as part of the sequence data. This can be done using the software application, 'XGedit', and the data can be saved with the sequence data. This can then be transmitted from the sequencer back to the PLG100-XG before song data begins to play.

The PLG100XG Plug-in Board is a multi-part board. It only operates in MULTI mode - there is no VOICE mode communication with the PLG100-XG. It has 16 PARTS that can be used as an additional sixteen PARTS, 17-32, if and only if the Motif-Rack is being triggered via the multi-port USB MIDI connection on the back panel.

Unless the USB connection is used (which, as mentioned above, is Multi-Port), the user cannot take advantage of the additional Parts that the PLGs make available. In other words, if the MIDI input jack on the back panel of the Motif-Rack is being used, the user will be limited to just 16 multi-timbral PARTS. This will mean that the PLG PARTS will either layer with, or replace, the internal PARTS. However, if you the USB connector is being used to connect to a sequencer, for example, the Motif-Rack internal Voices can be accessed on one MIDI PORT and the PLG board Voices on another discreet PORT.

A Port is an entire set of 16 MIDI channels (a basic MIDI system is 16 channels). Each channel can carry discreet information from a sequencer to a particular PART of a MULTI setup. Voices can be assigned to PARTS in a MULTI, and each PART can be assigned a different MIDI channel. When PLG board is added, it either shares a MIDI channel with an internal Voice, or it can be accessed via a separate MIDI PORT (16 MIDI channels each). The USB connector is a MULTI-PORT system. The maximum ports that the Motif-Rack can receive on simultaneously is three discreet PORTS, while passing a 4th through to the MIDI OUT jack.