New Montage M Teaser Info and Sounds!

[@jimmyblimmy]

I would argue that octave buttons are actually quicker to access when they’re closer to the center of the keyboard where your hands are normally playing.

[@X22GJP]

I would argue that it makes no difference where they are if you have to reach you have to reach.

[@ashfaqazad8132]

Thx again Scott for ghe update. The demo sounds are incredibly powerful, making it a must-have ugrade. It is far from an ordinary synth. It's a game changer.

[@JoseVGavila]

I guess I will get one in three years or so, at half the introducing price, as I did with my two Montage 6. For sure I won't beta-test these units, as it happens by early-adopters. But, yes, it seems like a desirable synth! 🤩

[@X22GJP]

Or you could wait six years and get a used one. Fact is, if you have two Montage 6 synths, and therefore assume plenty of other kit, cash isn’t an issue but your priorities are different to somebody like me who is in the market for their first and to be only synth/workstation.

[@TheInterGalacticFederation]

great over-view video of potential new features from Yamaha!

[@samson8884]

Regarding the ribbon controller: It seems to be having a back light which could indicate the position (of the finger)/level of modulation applied. Notice the markings above the ribbon seem to be lit up. I think the HOLD button will be used to HOLD the position/level of modulation even after the finger has been released. This function is used in other yamaha keyboards as well (eg: PSR SX909 has a joystick controller with a modulation hold button). Note the line from the HOLD button points to the ribbon controller.

[@douglas519]

I hope the signal flow is the AN-X engine, and if that's the case, I hope it's a good VA (hopefully with wavetable features). It would be awesome (but I don't believe it will be the case...) if they put the YC, AN-X, FM-X, CP, and AMW2 together 😁 This way, they would be on par on synth features with Korg Nautilus/Kronos.

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

I was hoping the same, but from what I could make out, it's just a representation of the existing Montage signal flow.

[@douglas519]

@@ScottsSynthStuff ☹️

[@lylemuskat8625]

great stuff!

[@BlueJavaTN]

Always appreciate your updates Scott! Been gigging with the MODX7, but would consider upgrading to the M7 if the features are worth the weight : )

[@moogy77]

Hey Scott, first I love your channel, and thank you for taking the time doing it. Can you please give me some advice on a synth purchase? If money is not a problem, and you want a synth that, for the most part, has all the functions on the front panel and is a KiLLER live keyboard, and the workstation aspect, is not that important of an ingredient, what would you suggest? A friend suggested the Nord Stage 4. What do ya think, and do have another suggestion as well? Thank you.

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

People do love the Nord Stage just for that purpose, but I can't give a recommendation not having used it myself.

[@moogy77]

I'm surprised you don't have a Nord, considering the amazing collection of synths you own.

[@YotamPiano]

Don't worry Scott I clicked like button and am already a sub. I wonder if the new Montage has an easier workflow, and whether they improved the behaviour of the screen compared to the vanilla (multi touch? more fuild?)

[@lassel1644]

Its pretty hard to create an even better string sound that we currently have on MoDx / Montage

[@thicksaui]

Already preorder one

[@docteurgreene]

if I understand correctly they moved the "part select" buttons from right to left? if yes, it's a good idea because when playing live with both hands it's easier to use left hand (while chords are still playing) to use this kind of buttons. What is worrying me is the price. I have a MOXF6 and I was thinking about bying the Montage but the price increased so much that I waited a little and now the Montage is over. if I compare with my PA4x that I paid """""only""""" 2600 euros 6 years ago, the PA5x was 5000 euros when it was released, way to much expensive when you play music for fun and get no money from that. So if the Montage M6 is also 4 or 5 K€ a lot of people may not afford it... Let's see.

[@andywharam59]

Hi Scott, as an Synthesiser enthusiast since 1977, my question regarding Yamahas new upcoming Montage synth is, do you think Yamaha will be making it more aking to a workstation synth like the Korg Nautilus/Kronos or the Roland Phantom to include a sampler and allow the sound engines to layer upto 32 individual parts/sounds like Kurzweil’s amazing Forte for example? I guess we will just have to wait 😊

[@deadmanwalking6342]

Dont "wack" the switches, you will cause the membrane to flatten out, TACT switches are gentle push not wack switches.

[@anand.b6883]

Montage or Roland Fantom which one is the best🤔.

[@AnanyaGoyal7]

Are those knobs below the screen and some extra buttons on the right hand side? Is there any speculation to what those are?

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

Yes, there are knobs below the screen (talked about those in the previous video), and there are actually LESS buttons on the right hand side (also talked about that in the previous video).

[@wilcandou]

Wonder about sequencer capabilities and if they ditched the one patch that needed several midi channels to control it in the slots? Would have been nice to group those slots under one midi channel...having the option at least.

[@angelparedes9967]

I want to see your new video today's Monday rosh Hashanah day 🎉

[@JJMedusa]

-- Cool video, as always! 😊👍🎹

[@bio-metric-1016]

The question is Scott will you buy a new one and keep your og montage 🤔

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

I wouldn't have both. If the new one has an overwhelming amount or particularly desirable new feature (sound engine?), then I would upgrade. If it's just some new UI tweaks and some new controls...probably not.

[@bluemichimusic9507]

I am of the same mind as Scott on this one.

[@ayosh6856]

But Scott, the new one has multi-colored buttons! 😅@@ScottsSynthStuff

[@666JGNotts]

As I already have a MOXF, a MODX and a Montage, this will have to have a lot more on offer for me to buy one. Mind you, sometimes I just can’t resist! 😂

[@X22GJP]

@@666JGNottswe all know that based on your gear list, as soon as this releases, you’ll change your tune and need to get it regardless. Besides, there’s no way Yamaha would wait this long for a hardware refresh and not give it some special sauce. I’m hoping for a Poly AT keybed.

[@thomjohn98]

If Yamaha would cut the weight out, which I'm hoping they would do, I would buy one to gig with.. 20 years ago I could do the weight of an 88, but at my age I have to use the MODX8 or 7 instead.. That's why I own a MODX now and not a Montage, the same as the Fantom 08 is due to the weight difference..

[@DG-ss1gc]

I haven’t bought a new workstation since I picked up my Motif es8 , I want a new one, but I kinda need to know how Yamaha releases stuff. Will they announce a date ? Do they keep it secret and it will just suddenly be in stock at retailers? Anyone know how it’s been done in the past ? If it’s going to be closer to Christmas then I’ll pick up other gear now If it’s gonna be October I’ll probably save my Pennies and get the larger workstation. Though I’m still considering not getting it because it doesn’t actually do what my motif does anyway, and I’ve got other samplers I prefer.

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

They just announce it, no warning. I expect we'll see that announcement inside of two weeks, probably sooner rather than later.

[@stefanpotiau7867]

October 10th

[@johnathanshuey7776]

Plus, we can only hope they add a sequencer but I fear not because they want to keep the Montage a Music Synthesizer and not a Workstation. I too still use a Motif ES. 20 years old but the workflow for creating backing tracks is fantastic! I would want newer, updated sounds but workflow of a sequencer is the best feature I’m looking for.

[@josh78752]

Ooof, the picture in the dark of the button lights. I know the sound is the most important thing, but between the random light colors and the color scheme of the screen, there is like...zero harmony in the color happening on this thing, which feels kinda bad for what's surely going to be an expensive instrument. What's it going to take to get manufacturers to give owners the ability to customize their button colors? I mean, if you're going to be processor-based anyway, might as well not hard-wire the button colors.

[@danielbelik]

I'm a bit sceptical about this update. Instead of updating the outdated and very unintuitive architecture, improving ergonomic and the keybed, what would be appreciated by every keyboard player, they just moved buttons around and added some minor features, remained the same "dig into the manual" philosophy.

[@tenderklang]

The resolution of the knobs seems up to 1024 instead of 128

[@stefanpotiau7867]

Nice! But you missed an obvious one. The value of 512 of the reverb time ;-) That tells me that it has a resolution of 1024? My guess...

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

Yeah, I thought of that - the original reverb return is standard 7-bit MIDI (0-127) and the screen shows "512 -/+" which would indicate 1024 - or 10 bit resolution. Is that an offset? Part of the patch? Does that break compatibility? No idea.

[@stefanpotiau7867]

I can’t imagine they would break compatibility. That’s their guarantee to lots of loyal buyers. But maybe the patches will need some sort of conversion?

[@johnathanshuey7776]

Maybe the resolution is selectable? Switch between the 0 to 127 to keep compatibility… and be able to produce the 0 to 1024 for a higher resolution.

[@Steven-zg5bq]

can I get it in white?

[@BrJD-ii4iv]

Hopefully they’ll replace them awfully thin pianos & ep’s.

[@gabrielegelfofx]

I think all illuminated buttons are rgb

[@djfilippo1]

AN-X ?

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

No evidence of it thus far.

[@jsmacks11]

On their page they have AN1X as a tag to the new photos which means they are definitely aware this (or a VA Engine) is highly desired. I'm thinking there will be either a separate AN1x Engine or the FMX gets expanded to reduce the need for one. I'm guessing more of the former for compatibility reasons and the AN1x needs to go somewhere, but they might even update existing FMX Engine still as the Modx+ is still a new instrument. I have my money on a new Engine as just new samples will be a sleeper unless there is a drastic increase in sample size. I'm guessing the hard drive will be much bigger as SSDs now are so common and cheap. So expanded bread and butter gigging sounds (Pianos, EPs, Strings, Brass, Organs, Clavs) are pretty much a given. There is also a question on will either onboard sampling and audio tracks and loops and track recording come back as stem tracks are important for some gigging musicians. With new hardware I'm guessing this will mean alot of software improvements (eg engines, effects, samples, maybe sequencer). With so many standalone groove boxes, some of which are cheap, a top quality synth will probably need certain gigging functions like stems, step sequencing and such.

[@Aetila]

@@jsmacks11 I still have the AN1X, with fading screen and decaying plastic...but this is one of the best sounding synth I've ever heard (owning 30+ synths), they call it VA-synth, but it sounds very nice since, it uses discrete circuits and stacks of IC:s, not some Strawberry PI processors, lol, the separate IC:s create a sonic "magic dust". It's a pity that it's getting old, I wish they could take the EXACT engine and copy it and then put it into a Korg ModWav-like keyboard, with touch-pad. Strangely, the PG-AN card didn't sound like the AN1X at all, I put the card into the ES Motif rack and then into the CS-R, but no magic there, it needed ALL the AN1X circuitry.

[@mrdali67]

I'm still waiting for some of the big brands to pick up the idea of the more exotic brands like Wersi and actually equip their gear with a 13,5" Ipad like Screen. I know that will definetly mean a min. 500$ added to the cost, but when they like Korg did with the Nautilus drops most other buttons from the instrument It becomes more vital than ever that the screen is 100% reactive. Yamaha actually did a good job with the Genos but both the Montage and Modx is still lacking behind. would propably mean a higher price, but the major issue of most capacitive Screens is still the same as when Korg introduced the first keyboard with a Touchscreen that the responsiveness and acuracy even 20 something years later, 80% of the touchscreens various brands use is kinda sucky if it's the primary way of workflow. It's still in the Montage's favour that it has so many buttons for various functions rather han being 95% menu driven like the Nautilus.

[@connor_flanigan]

I remember playing the AN1x when it was new. I remember when it was discontinued and "blown out" by dealers for $700 or something like that. I bought the AN and DX boards for a used Motif I bought in the early 2000s. I returned the boards and eventually sold the Motif. I've listened to several demos of the old AN1x recently. never was impressed by it and still am not. if that's the only thing people are getting excited about with a newer version of the Montage, I'll pass. I'm perfectly happy with the gazillion synth sounds in my Motif XS6 (and stole it for about $950 back around 2014 - with a "craptasitic x stand,) and have more than enough extra "synth" between my Nord wave 2 and A1. can we move past analog/virtual analog please??

[@lowercase3635]

Not gonna lie. Yamaha kinda fumbled the ball on this one.

[@BMRStudio]

I can't wait to spend 5000$ on a workstation which will be outdated in 2 Years... Oh wait, Roland already working on the new Fantom X...

[@johnathanshuey7776]

But it’s not a workstation, it’s a Music Synthesizer with multiple synth engines.

[@BMRStudio]

@@johnathanshuey7776 Results are same... Nice gear, I have a plan to buy as my birthday present. the new 7. No worries.