Great Job!!! ty very much!. By any chance, do you know how to color the knobs on the screen? So they're not all white, which is the default color?. And/or is it possible to change the default shapes associated with the knobs? ty very much in advance!

thanks, it's absolutely useful!!!

Very very helpful! Thank you. It’s challenging to put all these pieces together…

Thanks for the video. Here's the problem I'm having. I also have an Arturia mk3 essential 88. Midi control centre I set CC commands to control an external synth (DSI Tetra multitembral) in Logic. Maybe I need to change something in Logic itself? The problem is that the fader or knob, if it has a CC number of 20, 24 or whatever, is simultaneously changing the parameters of the external synth and controlling Logic Pro at the same moment. I start turning a knob on the midi keyboard and at the same time I'm triggering some parameter on the synthesiser and the same knob is changing the parameters of the DAW - Logic Pro. That is, I turn the parameter knob on the midi keyboard, changing the sound parameters on the external synth, and at the same time the playback slider in Logic starts rotating back and forth. It looks like there are duplicate CC commands or numbers. Thanks and all the best.

LOL what a brilliant solution! so in order to get the PAT (which is there almost in all MOTIF series sound engines as well) we spend couple thousand more to get it working! That said, I haven't seen a single PAT included performance that doesn't look and sound stupid. Show me an impressive performance and task that can be done with PAT and I'll all the credits to you. Not just its is almost impossible to use, it isn't really needed. PAT was nothing more than a gimmick for Yamaha to jack up the prices.

thank you so much bro you're the man!

Really helpful, thank you for this! 😄

Great :)

How to do it With the MONTAGE ESP VSTi for PC Windows 10 /11 ?

Thanks for doing this! I've had my Montage M8x for about a year now and had some challenges early on. I feel so much more comfortable navigating now than 6-9 months ago. I've owned a wide ranges of synths, workstations, controllers and software. The Montage M8x is incredible. The sound engines, quality, updated UI, sub-display and poly aftertouch has me playing more and menu diving/screwing around less and isn't that the point of any instrument/tool? Using: Yamaha: Montage M8x| Spectrasonics: Omnisphere, Keyscape | uhe: Diva, Hive2, Zebra2| Roland: Cloud Pro | Arturia: V Collection | NI: Komplete 14 | VPS: Avenger | Cherry: GX80 | G-Force: OB-E | Korg: Triton, MS-20 | Mac Studio | Studio Display | Logic Pro Sold/Traded: Yamaha: Motif XS8, Motif ES8, Motif8, KX-88, TX7 | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe| Roland: RD-2000, D50, MKS-20| Korg: Kronos 88, T3, MS-20 | Oberheim: OB8, OBXa, Modular 8 Voice | Rhodes: Dyno-My-Piano| Crumar: T2

Thank you much

The music thanks you for all your hard work!!! I’m in the market for a keyboard and I’ve been comparing the montage m8x and the fantom 8ex. If you could only purchase one, which would it be?

Thanks for doing this video but 1, is the methods you covered the same in cubase and 2, can the midi ports and USB to host be used simultaneously in a live settings. Thanks in advance

Havent watched it yet but big thanks in advance for putting this together!!

Thanks for the vid. Super nostaligic for me, as we had the same keyboard in the 80s. Then, a few years later, Dad swapped it for the PSS-780, with the colour drum pads, and different demo song. There was something very unique about cheaper synths back then. Newer stuff just isn't the same.

One more thing I'd like to add about the 8x4 button grid... In 'Live Set' mode on the original Montage, the 4x4 grid on the left would select any of the 16 Performances within a Live Set Page, while the 4x4 grid on the right allowed you to jump to any of the 16 Live Set Pages within a User Bank. This proved to be invaluable to live musicians like myself who could call out any patch within that bank with seamless sound switching. If anyone knows a solution/workaround other than spamming the page up and down buttons, do let me know! Cheers.

....I just want to be able to use it as a controller in Maschine, MPC, and Studio One. Simple.I have installed the MODX midi software etc. Nothing is "seeing" the MODX as a controller.

So your solution to getting polyphonic aftertouch is to buy a keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch? 😅

Nice work here! Looking for this so long, and now found it. Would you mind sharing your version of the Garage Band Project with me please? :)

To be musician is not enough to understand all features about these two maschines. You must also be technical engineer, IT and musician. You have made excellent video mate covering all details and covering all audience. Thanks for hard work. BIG, BIG, LIKE to this video

Thanks for this excellent video! (Being an IT guy myself) I never thought that there is anyone else in the world who analizes user interface at this level and with such perfection! As an ex-Fantom owner, I can confirm all the facts of this video. I wonder why the manufacturers do not use feedbacks and resources like this in the UI development. It wouldn't be so hard to get rid of the weaknesses and get closer to a perfect UI. I am not sure if you mentioned that the black and red boxes diplayed on the Fantom screen block/freeze the rest of the touchscreen, so if you are about to set anything on the screen and move a real-time synth controller, all you can do is to wait until that boxes disappear. Working with seq - which intended to be a fast real-time tool to build-up patterns and songs, these boxes also interrupt the process. It was so annoying, these boxes played a big part in the decision for me to sell my Fantom.

An excellent video, one of the best in terms of explanation. Although it was still not clear to me how the Montage synthesis is, in the Fantom each zone or tone consists of 3 to 4 partials, which can be modified in the same tone occupying only 1 zone of the 16 available in a scene. So in the Montage M, how many AWM2 or FM or ANx elements can be modified in a single part of a performance or can that be done?

so, should you revert the policy back after the installation had finished.

Thank you for the video. It's very helpful. I've got 4 hardware analogue synths (Prophet 10, OB-X8, Polybrute and Subsequent 37) a computer and a ton of software. I do most with my software, but try to implement the analogue synths as much as I can. I thought about getting a digital synth with 88 fully weighted keys, so the Montage (M)8(x) and Fantom EX were on my radar. I don't feel like spending too much on digital synths, because I feel like they will get outdated sooner than analogue synths and you can't do much with it that you can't do more conveniently with software. I already own a MODX, because I thought I needed an additional synth for live performance that can play sampled instruments. It turned out I never perform live, so I hardly touched the MODX. Since I already have all of the Montage sounds in the MODX, I thought about getting the Fantom EX instead. It's also much cheaper and the ACB synths in there sound much better than the ZEN-core you can find on the old Fantom and Roland Cloud. Your video changed my mind. The Montage M8x is very expensive and difficult to come by where I live though. The old Montage 8 costs less than halve the price (I've seen them go for as little as €2100,-, second hand) but it's already outdated. Maybe I don't need either. I'll hold off for now.

So I'm taking it you could still have one part as an internal sound and one part as and external part layered across the same key zone? Surely this is better as you can then set different volume levels etc for the different parts? By this I mean that if you tweaked the volume of the internal part then MIDI would send the volume level for that internal part out to the external bit of gear which may not be right for the external sound?

I'm glad that I bought the Montage after you pointed out all the Fantom's workarounds and conditions... Unbelievable that Roland deliberately duped everyone with the Fantom having 256 voice polyphony while leaving out that they weren't stereo... Bottom line, you proved to me that I made the right choice... Thank you... 🙂

got one, the volume slider and output crusty . needs replacing , loads of fun . baby dx nd rx synth drum combo. it has midi in and sequence joy

Mx is much better than the old version

Is it just me or the OG montage sounds fuller in many of the presets. The Montage M is more sterile, but the original has some organic-ness to it. I've heard they've upsampled the existing samples, this could be the reason for the sterilized sound, as I don't think it's possible to get HD sounds out of standard definition sounds.

Is the aftertouch on the Fantom 6 or 7 so hard to activate as the 8? Interestingly I’ve a venerable Fantom G8, and its aftertouch is also a high pressure experience and a disappointment.

Is the aftertouch on the Fantom 6 or 7 so hard to activate as the 8? Interestingly I’ve a venerable Fantom G8, and its aftertouch is also a high pressure experience and a disappointment.

Thx a lot!

My man, these tutorials are top notch. You are a pro.

Music industry is as one organism! They will never make a perfect instrument. Because they think how to continuously make their bisnes runing. You can not name one single instrument that has enough polyphony, analog, digital, polyaftertoch , effects, filters, and so on…! For good live performance you always need at least two keyboards and effects producing units! Yea, and drum machine too!

An update here. Further digging into the MONTAGE M data list has revealed that [Arp MIDI Out] is not completely lost - but the flexibility to enable it at will has been. Any parts set as external will output the notes generated by arpeggios over MIDI, but there is no way to do so for internal parts. See recent comments in yamahasynth.ideascale.com/c/yamahasynth/idea/175518

Hello, does the new Montage M have a full-size sequencer to make an entire song? And is it possible to upload vocals to Montage M and combine them with a ready-made arrangement to create a ready-made song without using a computer?

Hello, does the new Montage M have a full-size sequencer to make an entire song? And is it possible to upload vocals to Montage M and combine them with a ready-made arrangement to create a ready-made song without using a computer?

It is the worst synth workstation ever, sound-wise. It sounds like a PSR 550😲. You'd better buy a TYROS, an old FANTOM, or even TRITON or KRONOS. Superknob is a good concept, but it has an obsolete sound engine combination and poor implementation. ZEN CORE and KORG ENGINE COMPILATION are great. YAMAHA no, down with it. ;)_

I’ve added my MONTAGE M MIDI Template to the template sharing thread over at the Native Instruments forums community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/191781/#Comment_191781

Hi, I just purchased an S88 MK3. I see you've got a template for the original Montage as well (which I also have). Would you mind sharing it? Or leaving a link where I could download one?

Hi Kier, It is with great joy that I thank you for doing this. This is the first and VERY CONCISE video on the MK3 template artwork that I've seen and believe me when I say that I've been looking. Worked exactly a you showed and narrated. I have subscribed to your channel. Very interested in seeing what else you come up with. Thank You!!!

Great tip/hack!! Thank you so much!!!

I wish someone could figure this out for Maschine plus standalone lol

This is the best video on both synths I've seen so far. Well structured, no filler, all the important information in clear and concise words, plus excellent and helpful screenshots. Thank you very much for doing this. Subscribed.

1 of 12 men are color blind worldwide, my own brother included. However, it wouldn't be very difficult providing a color blind profile for 8% of men. It is an interesting sales argument actually.

You have produced the perfect video for me. I watched it from A to Z without skipping. So good and interesting. Thanks man!

Thank you very much for this great tip ! 🎶🎶👌👌

I hate to rain on your parade, but the solution you present is a costly one. Most musicians, including keyboardists, want an all-in-one solution for their playing needs. The reason I suspect Yamaha didn't include poly aftertouch on Montage M6/M7 was a time constraint to release the new Montage M series at the time they did, probably because other keyboard manufacturers were releasing new synthesizer/keyboard products, some with poly aftertouch. Yamaha didn't want to be too far behind the curve, or they may have lost much valued market share. After releasing the Montage M series, Yamaha mostly focused on the M8x with poly aftertouch in their demos of the Montage M. Another possible reason is perhaps Yamaha had submitted a patent for implementing poly aftertouch in a semi-weighted form factor (without GEX technology) but hadn't received approval from the Patent Office at the time they released the Montage M series. ASM Ashun Sound Machines released the Hydrosynth Deluxe keyboard with poly aftertouch and patented the process they use for poly AT. I suspect Yamaha is trying to do the same thing. I found one patent submitted by Yamaha that was just approved on July 16, 2024. Of course, the Montage M series was released on October 10, 2023. It's patent number: 12039994. From what I can decipher, it might refer to a method of triggering poly aftertouch on semi-weighted keybeds like the FSX keybed on the current Montage M6/M7. But it's just speculation on my part. I think Yamaha will eventually release poly-AT in a semi-weighted form factor, but we might have to wait until a successor to the Montage M is released, perhaps by 2028.