Montage update v2.5 - Sand, software and sound

Just when the summer seemed truly boring, Yamaha drops the Montage v2.5 update.

I think Yamaha engineers have heard many user comments and requests. They have continued to beef up legacy (Motif XF) Performance support in Montage, providing all of the original Motif XF Performances as presets. The legacy Performances have Super Knob assignments. Good to see and hear! The release video mentions “512 new Motif XF Performances.” Too soon to know how this breaks down — spiffed up old versus brand new. [Kind of like “new” vs. “new old stock.” 🙂 ]

The Motif XF Performances are a lot of first rate content. Coupled with the new Arpeggiator recording modes, one can use a Montage as a songwriting tool much like the earlier Motif XS/XF and MOX/MOXF.

Another gap between the old and new was the lack of integrated control between Montage and DAW. Montage has a new REMOTE mode, “DAW Remote Control:”

Mix your DAW tracks using the MONTAGE faders and knobs
Use the MONTAGE transport to start, stop, record, rewind, fast forward and return to zero
Select, arm, mute and solo DAW tracks with the MONTAGE right-hand buttons
Edit and control virtual instruments
Use the MONTAGE Data Wheel as a jog/shuttle wheel
Customize the [SCENE] buttons to perform various DAW functions

[Above list quoted from the Yamaha Synth web site.] This is more like the old “AI integration” in Motif. Cubase, ProTools, Logic, and Live are supported.

The Yamaha Synth site reminds everyoe to “BACKUP and SAVE YOUR DATA before updating to OS v2.5!” This is good advice in general. Are you ready for a media failure? A worn out back-up battery?

The update is available today, 31 July 2018. Looks like the team met their quarterly milestone. 🙂

Genos™ people on the PSR Forum want to feel the love, too. Genos and Montage updates are on separate schedules. However, I do hope that Yamaha engineers have been listening as carefully to Genos users. A fair number of us would like to see similar DAW support/integration for Genos along with bug fixes. We are using Genos in our studios and need the same kind of DAW control and VST integration.

Yamaha had to restructure the old Tyros/PSR OS to run on Linux and to interact through the new user interface (UI). I occasionally run into an issue where a setting gets lost when switching “modes,” e.g., going into and out of MIDI song multi record. Or, most recently, the rotary speed control (both front panel and pedal) is lost and becomes unresponsive. This tells me that more “integration level” software testing is needed. Software may be passing its unit tests, but errors are lurking when modules/subsystems interact with each other.

The Yamaha Synth folks have created a “Yamaha Synth” group on IdeaScale.com. The purpose is to collect product ideas and suggestions for the synthesizer product line. Members also cast votes in favor of suggestions made by other people. This has got to be better than the mish-mash of proposals, flames and tirades posted in the forums — and much easier for Yamaha marketing to cull. I’ll be making a suggestions or two myself… One lucky member already won the lottery with the new DAW support in v2.5!

Hope your summer is going well! I’ve been busy with tracks and charts, so there hasn’t been as much new content here. Soon, soon.