1/6/2024 0 Comments Yamaha montage complaints![]() One final feature worth mentioning is the Montage’s Envelope Follower, which utilises the analogue inputs to measure the tempo of any analogue signal – drums or vocals, for example – which it can then sync to the internal arpeggiator. It’s new to Montage and will earn it many fans. ![]() This is the sound design part of Montage that was emphasised in the demo at NAMM – basically think about huge sounds with a lot of motion and emotion, morphing and movement, all of which is programmable and something you can define over time. This is ‘control sequencing’, as opposed to song sequencing (Montage does have a basic sketchpad song sequencer, by the way), so is used for building and changing sound parameters as opposed to complete tunes – although hearing MCS in action, you soon realise that it adds enough elements to create such diversity within single sounds that complete tunes can be created with just a few note plays. Think of it like the automation tracks in your DAW, so in a Montage Performance you can have eight parts with four lanes of automation each, which can be sequenced together with 16 steps. Motion Control Sequencing – a ‘completely customisable control sequencer’, as Yamaha describes it – is another big Montage draw. ![]() You can, for example, turn the Super Knob and it will increase all of the parameters assigned to all eight knobs, or you could turn it and decrease half and increase half – you choose. This can change multiple parameters at once, and a foot pedal will also mimic it – so pro players needn’t worry about using one hand for all of this extra control. It is one of the main new features of the keyboard, and is essentially a macro control, where you assign multiple parameters to it – assigned by those eight knobs to the left. The Super Knob This is that glowing dial sat in the centre of Montage. For example, switch between a Scene on a basic level to increase the attack time on a Wurli sound, or add reverb and depth to a piano as you step through the Scenes. In Scene mode, you can save the parameters as snapshots. They are most often used within Performances to control parameters in real time, and are fantastically easy to use – you simply select a parameter by way of a matrix menu system and then adjust via the eight dials. ![]() These will be familiar to MOTIF users who have used a similar system to get hands-on with their sound parameters. There are eight Scenes available per Performance, and these allow you to store all sorts of settings – not just the levels and parts but many parameters of each part, all controlled by the knobs and dials above the Scene area. So Scene 1 within a Performance might have certain parts within a Performance switched on and Scene 2 might have others, perhaps with different effects. The Scenes Area To the left of the keyboard is the Scenes area, where you can take a snapshot of the keyboard settings for however you are using it at any time. ![]() One thing worth pointing out here is that the keyboard works best in Performance mode, when just eight of the possible 16 parts are selected, as you can take advantage of the Seamless Sound Switching feature, which stops dropouts between Performances – effectively it keeps notes in one Performance going while you dial up another. Want to use the Montage as a big electric piano? Select one part within a Performance and play, although even the individual parts are huge – the Concert Grand Piano sound is just one example and contains 10 dynamic layers and 300MB of samples. Playing a single sound, such as a piano, on the Montage is a matter of just having a single part within a Performance selected and playing it as normal. Adding a part is simply a case of hitting the + key, and then you get taken to the main sound selection menu. You enter Performance mode and the screen shows you up to 16 parts over two screens (eight per screen), and here you can choose the sound on each part, plus levels, effects and so on. Think of this as a massive multi set-up, limited only by that polyphony (ie, not much). The main one of these is Performance mode, in which the keyboard stays pretty much the whole of the time. Touch the Layers At the keyboard’s centre is a large touchscreen that is very usable, with tabs running down both sides and the ability to switch easily between the keyboard’s primary modes. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |