Yamaha Mo 8 Manual

Power supply
21Owner’s Manual
Setting up 
and Playing
Turning the power on
Make sure the volume settings of the MO and external devices are turned down to the minimum.
Turn the power on by pressing the [STANDBY/ON] switch on the MO rear panel, then turn the power on the 
amplifiers.
Adjusting the sound and the display contrast
Adjust the volume levels of the MO and the connected amplifier/speaker system. If the display is not easily 
visible, use the Contrast control to adjust for optimum visibility....

Setting up 
and Playing
Playing the keyboard
22Owner’s Manual
Playing the keyboard
Playing the sounds
Try playing some of the realistic and dynamic MO sounds from the keyboard now.
When you turn the power on following the directions in “Power supply connections” (page 20), the display 
below appears.
nIn the default settings, the Master mode is selected. For details about the modes, refer to the section “Modes” on page 24. 
In this condition you can play the keyboard and hear the sounds of the selected...

Playing the keyboard
23Owner’s Manual
Setting up 
and Playing
Selecting and playing the sounds
The MO provides three different types of programs for playing the sounds: Voices, Performances, Songs, 
and Patterns. The basic difference among these programs is in their use—for playing the keyboard, or for 
creating music with multiple parts. 
You can choose from 128 different Voices, Performances, Songs, and Patterns in the Master mode. To 
change the desired Master number, use the [INC/ YES] button,...

Setting up 
and Playing
Modes
24Owner’s Manual
Modes
There are several operation modes in the MO, and 
they can be selected by using the 12 mode buttons.
VOICEPERFORMMASTER
SONGPATTERN M I X I N G
DAW
REMOTE
EDIT
COMPARE SCENE STORE
SET LOCATE FILE
JOBUTILITY
DEMO
STORE
MODE
123
456
789
)!@
4 Creating original songs
Song mode
[SONG] buttonThe Song mode lets you create your own original 
songs by recording your performance using Voices 
created in the Voice mode or by combining preset 
rhythmic Patterns....

Basic instructions
25Owner’s Manual
Setting up 
and Playing
Basic instructions
Voices—the basic building blocks of the MO
Voices—created in the Voice mode—are the basic sonic building blocks for the other modes of the MO. The 
Performance, Song, and Pattern programs are made up of different Voices, used together for specific 
performance or song recording. The MO features an exceptionally wide variety of preset Voices for playing in 
virtually any musical style. Try searching through the Voices to find...

Setting up 
and Playing
Resetting the User Memory to the Initial Factory Settings
26Owner’s Manual
Resetting the User Memory to the Initial 
Factory Settings
The original factory setting of this synthesizer’s User Memory can be restored as follows.
When the factory settings are restored, all the Voice, Performance, Song, Pattern, and system setting in the Utility mode you 
created will be erased. Be sure to save all important data to USB storage device before executing this procedure (pages 60, 66 
and...

Basic Operation
Modes
27Owner’s Manual
Basic Operation
In this section, we’ll take a look at the fundamental operating conventions of the MO. Here, you’ll learn the basics—how to 
select modes, call up the various functions, change settings, and edit parameter values. Before reading further, familiarize 
yourself with the basic terms used with the MO in the chart below.
Modes
Mode Structure
This synthesizer is organized into various modes, each covering a different set of operations and functions. Keep...

Basic Operation
Modes
28Owner’s Manual
Mode table
The functions of each mode and how to enter each mode are as follows:
■ How to leave the current display
For most operations or displays (except for the File mode, Song/Pattern Record mode, and Remote Control mode), pressing 
the [EXIT] button will let you leave the current display and return you to the previous one. You can return back to any of the 
modes—Voice Play, Performance Play, Song Play, Pattern Play, and Master Play—by pressing the [EXIT]...

Basic Operation
Modes
29Owner’s Manual
Keyboard octave setting (MO6)
Sometimes when playing a voice, you may wish to play in a lower or higher pitch range. For example, you may want to shift 
the pitch down lower to get extra bass notes, or shift up to get higher notes for leads and solos. The Octave Up/Down 
controls let you do this quickly and easily. Each time you press the [OCTAVE UP] button on the panel, the overall pitch of the 
voice goes up by one octave. Likewise, each press of the [OCTAVE DOWN]...

Basic Operation
About data storage to USB storage devices
30Owner’s Manual
About data storage to USB storage devices
As you make music with this instrument, you’ll create a wide variety of data—such as custom Voice data (including Voices, 
Performances, etc.), and MIDI sequence data (Songs, Patterns, Arpeggios).
Naturally, you’ll want to store this data for safekeeping and future use, and for this reason the instrument is equipped with a 
USB TO DEVICE connector—letting you save your data to a convenient...