Product Observation Blog Post (Yamaha Motif XS6)
What is the 'thing' you are observing?
Yamaha Motif XS6
What is the purpose of it?
This is a keyboard workstation arranger—translating to a portable studio that assumes the shape of a piano J
How is it a part of one's everyday life?
Musicians (like me) and more specifically performing pianists are usually so picky about the timbre of their instruments (read: pianos) and would much rather bring theirs around than be made to play random ones at concerts. To get authentic piano sounds that don't sacrifice on portability, one needs an electronic keyboard.
At the same time, composers mostly have to work with computer software that attempts to simulate keyboards, assigning various functions to many keys, [functions] that can only be controlled by the mouse, keyboard and other basic peripheral devices. For them the Yamaha Motif XS provides easy remote controlled interfacing with computers as well as enabling them to leverage their piano skills to make faster recordings by simulating any musical instrument or effect.
How is it designed well?
The Yamaha Motif XS series is the pinnacle of sassy and elegant styling. It features a top aluminum panel painted a cool hue of blue-metallic with the corresponding bottom panel painted black. It also boasts the slimmest design of all the workstations keyboard in its range and capability (high range, that is J) as well as having handy grooves for easy carrying.
It has a large full-color screen with control buttons staggered intuitively for easier, painless control. Its control buttons feature a wide range of textures depending on their use: Volume Controls are sliders, pitch bend and modulation controls are notched wheels, track settings are made of rubberized metal while recording controls (the most abused) are made of light plastic with long travel distance.
On the software side, every element perceivable has been upgraded. Sound sampling has been increased to a massive 1GB of ROM for every instrument rendering it even more piano-like than the grand piano next to you. Controls for particular functions are arranged in designated areas making it the easiest complicated thing you may be able to use—if you have had prior working knowledge of other keyboard workstations. Finally the operating system utilizes a Linux kernel that is famed for its efficiency in resource management, stability, security as well runtime—which comes in handy in a device that operates on gigabytes of data per second.
How is it designed not so well?
I live with it and am therefore too heavily prejudiced in its favor to give a delta comment J
What improvements would you make?
I would throw in optional detachable Yamaha Motif XS6 designer speakers. At the moment the manufacturer assumes that as a studio-owner the last thing you need is an extra pair of speakers so it a feature has been intentionally left out of high-end workstations as an industry standard. This move is said to cut down on both hardware and software requirements hence favors the manufacturer. Even so it would be cool to play the Yamaha Motif XS6 in a stand-alone set-up without using headphones e.g. for your friends.
Anything else?
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Dennis Odhiambo
