Yamaha S08 - splitting the keyboard

I have a yamaha s08 and I am having problems splitting the keyboard, so that i can have half piano and half organ or strings. I can get half the keyboard to play but the other half makes no sound. Can anyone help. THE manual is not very user friendly.

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Nov 30, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		The split: It works great
by: Roger Silverberg

Still tweaking things a bit but I will be playing a split keyboard on several songs tonight (several different splits) at the gig. Took some time to get it right but your explanation was right on the money, Brian. Overwrote 3 multis that I'll never used. Indeed, I've rarely used any of them before. Big props!!!
Nov 30, 2012
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starstarstarstar 		Thanks Brian
by: Roger Silverberg

I've had my S08 since 2004 but a recent request by members of one of my bands to add strings to a part (with piano on the left hand) emboldened me to try to create my own split. Spent about 5 hours tonight struggling in Voice mode to get it to happen and all I could get is a single limited key range to operate. So, the secret IS to go and create a new Multi after all. That's something the manual did not make at all clear.

Probably won't mess with it for tomorrow night's gig but will give it a longer look over the weekend.
Feb 26, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		split keys
by: Gwen

Thank you Brian!!! You rock.
Feb 26, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		split keys
by: Gwen

Thank you Brian!!! You rock.
Oct 20, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		SPLIT THE S08
by: DAVID V

HELLO BUDDY THANK YOU TO THE GUY
THAT LEFT THE INSTRUCTIONS TO SPLIT THE YAMAHA SO8
YOU ARE THE BEST YOU SHOULD WRITE THE MANUALS FOR YAMAHA

THANKS AGAIN !
Aug 22, 2010
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starstarstar 		Part 2 (How to split the Yamaha SO8)
by: Brian

Press UP ARROW to get back to the top of the menu list and press + to move to Part 2. Follow the same steps as Part 1 to select a voice, check that the volume is turned up. This time set NtLmt-L to C3 (Middle C) so you'll only hear Part 2 on the top half of the keyboard. You can leave the NtLmt-H at G8. For the record, the highest note on the physical keyboard is C7.

Now that you have the voices you want, there is another step. There are most likely voices set on all 16 parts of your "Multi" voice, from the preset. Press UP ARROW until your screen says Volume. Press + to move to part 3 and use the scroll wheel to set the Volume to 0. Do this for each successive Part by pressing + and scrolling to 0, all the way through Part 16. This will ensure that only the two voices you selected for Parts 1 and 2 will be heard. This seems to be a tedious but necessary step the first time you write over a factory preset Multi voice. The scrollwheel helps to run through it quickly.

At this point you are ready to store.... Almost!
First press +/- AT THE SAME TIME so your screen says P C. This is where you edit all settings global to your entire "Multi" voice such as overall volume, transposing, reverb, etc. UP ARROW to scroll to the top of the list where it says Name. Use the scroll wheel and the left/right arrow buttons to name your Multi voice something you will remember.
Now you can store! You should have been in Edit mode this whole time, with the red light lit. Once you're done naming, hit the Store button. Then hit the Enter button. Are you sure? Press the INC/YES button if you are sure. It will flash executing and now your new voice is stored. Finally you can rock your split keyboard.

**JUST REMEMBER: If you want to edit your sound later but adding another layer or split, put that voice on Part 3 and be sure to turn up the Volume specific to Part 3, since it will have been turned down.

Hope this helps. Cheers.
Aug 22, 2010
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starstarstar 		better late than never? (How to split the Yamaha SO8)
by: Brian

Wow, I'm sorry to come across these questions so long after they were posted, but I figure I'll try to answer them anyways if I anyone out there is still using this beast and has the same questions. Now, I'm no S08 expert, but I do own one and I agree the manual is pretty unhelpful and there is virtually zero online support or forum (at least there wasn't when I got mine.) So I'll try to just lay out the steps for some simple operations as I understand them, if you already know most of this stuff, forgive me. Really it's just a lot of button pushing and menu scrolling, but when you're done programming a sound, you can hopefully leave it and enjoy it after that. So..

To do any multi-voicing (layering or splitting or both), you need to create and store a voice in "Multi" mode. "Voice" mode voices have editable parameters but can not be layered or split in Voice mode. It is possible to change the low and high note limits for a single voice in Voice mode, but you'll just have keys that don't make sound, with no way to add a different sound to those keys.

So, hit the "Multi" button under Mode. There are 32 pre-programmed "multi" voices that you can edit to suit your needs. Unfortunately there are no extra blanks user slots (fas as I can tell), so scrollwheel to a pre-set Multi you don't particularly care for, since you will be saving over it when you store your new settings.

Creating a split:
Each Multi mode voice has up to 16 parts, that is up to 16 layers. Hit the EDIT button to enter Edit mode, the red light should light. You can scroll through the 16 Parts with the +/- buttons and the screen will reflect P 1,2,3 etc. If you want to do a simple split with 2 different voices split at Middle C (C3), you need to put each voice on it's own Part, Parts 1 and 2 to make it simple. Hit +/- until the screen says P 1. Press the UP ARROW button to make sure you're at the very top of the list, which should be where you select your voice. Use the scrollwheel to find the voice you want to use for the lower section, maybe a bass. Just scroll to the instrument and leave it there. Press the DOWN ARROW once and the screen should say Volume. Make sure it is not 0, usually around 100 is ok, 127 is the max. You can also adjust this later to get the balance just right between your two instruments. Now press DOWN ARROW twice until the screen says NtLmt-L. For your lower split voice, leave NtLmt-L at C-2. This is C negative 2, not to be confused with C2 which is an octave below middle C. A-1 (A negative 1) is the lowest note on the the physical keyboard. Press RIGHT ARROW so the screen says NtLmt-H and use the scroll wheel to bring the value from G8 down to C3 (middle C). (Or B2 if you don't want the voices to overlap at all.)
You're done with Part 1.

See next post.
Jun 29, 2008
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starstarstarstarstar 		Yamaha S08 not working with Garageband!!! Help
by: Anonymous

I have an S08 and I can't even get it to work with my garageband on my Mac. Anyone know if I have to download something?
Mar 15, 2008
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starstarstarstarstar 		S O 8 questions
by: Anonymous

I totally agree with you in regard to the manual!!
I'm working on the similar issues and would like to know the same thing as you do here. Here's hoping someone around this site will have mercy on us....and help! ;-)

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