At Knobcon 2016, we talked with Yamaha Music Production Product Specialist Blake Angelos and got an update on their Montage keyboard.
Yamaha has updated the Montage firmware with new features, and has also introduced a new DAW plugin that’s designed to streamline your music production workflow.
- Yamaha has released Montage firmware 1.2, which adds new control features, user arpeggios and more.
- They’ve also introduced Montage Connect, which is designed to let you easily transfer music between your computer and the Montage. This lets you work completely in hardware on the Montage and then move your track into your DAW.
The update is a free download for Montage owners at the Yamaha site.
super lame update imo. they allowed loop playback, but not loop recording… how odd is that? the following petition from change.org aimed at takuya nakata, president and representative director of the yamaha corporation, addresses all of the problems regarding the onboard recorder mess…
Help make an update for the Montage synth a priority for the Yamaha Corporation
With the release of Yamaha’s current flagship synthesizer Montage, fans of the now-abandoned Motif series were hopeful that the new instrument would live up to the legacy that the predecessors established. It turned out that it was not what they had wished for. Yes, the Montage has its own proprietary built-in MIDI sequencer, called ‘Direct Performance Recorder’, but unfortunately, upon release, some important features were missing. Basic functions like copying or erasing MIDI data have not been implemented. So far only simultaneous recording of all 16 tracks is allowed – an impossible task with only one pair of hands. One can not fix mistakes made during a recording. There is no point in all of that, due to the fact that we are talking about a couple of kilobytes of simple MIDI data, not memory-intensive WAV files.
With signing to this petition you ask the Yamaha Corporation to prioritize making an update to the operating system of the Montage synthesizer. These are the recommended improvements:
Implement CONSECUTIVE RECORD: It allows tracks to be recorded one after the other, instead of simultaneously.
Implement LOOP RECORD: Recording takes place repeatedly over a specified area, according to loop point settings.
Implement COPY: This function copies a specified area of recorder data. It is convenient for repeating the same phrase several times.
Implement DELETE: This function deletes a specified area of recorder data, and moves the subsequent data to fill the gap. As a result, the measure length will be shortened by the number of deleted measures.
Implement ERASE: This function erases all the recorder data inside a specified area. As the erased data is replaced by rests, the original measures will remain.
Implement INSERT: This function inserts blank measures into a specified song position.
Implement TRANSPOSE: This function transposes the pitch of notes within a specified area, over a +/- 127 semitone range.
Implement COPY ARP TO TRACK: It allows to place arpeggios in destination tracks. In a ‘Measure’ field, one would be able to specify the beginning bar of the copy-destination.
Sign this petition
https://www.change.org/p/takuya-nakata-president-and-representative-director-of-the-yamaha-corporation-help-make-an-update-for-the-montage-synth-a-priority-for-the-yamaha-corporation
to help make the built-in MIDI recorder of Yamaha’s Montage synthesizer useable. Thank you for participating.
Links to the petition have been posted at Yamaha’s official synthesizer forum. Phil Clendeninn a.k.a. ‘Bad Mister’, senior technical sales specialist for Yamaha, has been informed.
yamaha should be ashamed of themselves ,no delete ????
and they make a lame excuse ,that everyone has a daw,this is nefarious what if i wanted to go my friends for a jam and no laptop???
the list above is terrible you would have to be a superknob to buy one!
The update is awesome. THANK YOU YAMAHA.
We needed the ability to create user arpeggios and the Connect software 🙂
And Rachel…there’s a reason why the Montage is the way it is, and why the Motif is no longer in production.
The majority use a DAW system on a pc to make complete productions and create samples.
Simple as that. If you still need a Motif…then keep the one/ones you have. They will last a lifetime, if you take good care of them.
+Ronni James Yes there are always reasons, and this the least significant one. It may be true that the mayority uses a DAW (is Yamaha hoping that’s Cubase ?) but a DAW is often not your first choice when it comes to creativity. Many DAW users like me want to have an alternative workflow, independent from PC handling obstructions. Owning a monster like Montage (doesn’t mean the word ‘montage’ building something, i.e. composing, assembling ?) should set you free, not restrict. It’s funny, that the name of the instrument doesn’t quite catch up with it’s functionality…
Curious…was this the state of affairs when this thing was originally released? Why would anyone buy it then?
Because it’s designed to be a synth with sequencing capabilities instead of a workstation.
They figured out that Everybody already has a DAW, so it would be crazy for them to act as if that wasn’t the case.
message to all synth designers ,,,computers crash synths must be able to do most of the above functions without a daw. Also we do not want to be tied to a pc all the time.
Even my moX6 has the most of these Functions. I love PC’s but bought the moX as a Workstation. And the Workflow is so much better than with a DAW. I worked intense 4 Years with the moX, then I try serious to work with Cubase, no Chance, klick..klick..klick..scroll…drag…drop…WÜRG. On the moX the whole Project is so much better to control (MUTE/SOLO..EQ..insert CC’s one by one or automated even with Curves). MONTAGE without a powerful Sequencer = NoGo !! And I think there is no WORKSTATION in the MONTAGE’s Name 🙁
I hope there comes a little Brother of the MONTAGE, but YAMAHA, please, direct with the Power (in Comparison to the MOTIF XF) of a moXF. Overjump a moX Version with much to low Polyphony (64) and Insert Fx (only 3 Fx – moXF 8 Fx !!).
And YES YAMAHA even the moX could need an Firmware Update. LOOP Recording would be fine, and my moX has often extreme Slowdowns when a Project slightly goes complex.
Personally, I do not care for workstation midi capabilities as I would much rather use a DAW for that.
BUT the update that would make me buy a Montage would be if they put in more sound modules. If they had the revered AN synth engine, it would be great. They have developed several great engines over the years, it would be truly amazing to see them all under one hood (AN, VL, CP, etc.)