

The left top of the synth contains eight endless rotary knobs, which mark the assigned parameter level on the external circular light ring – and follows the change of position, of course. This synth just begs to have knobs twisted, faders pulled, buttons pushed and assigned, etc.
Yamaha montage review full#
Though FM synthesis may be a difficult to get your programming head around, it can be great for making percussive sound (dreams and nightmares from the 1980s are full of DX-7 clavs and plucked sounds), ringing bells like living downstairs at Notre Dame, or long evolving soundscapes that have escaped from a feedback zoo (still one of my favorites).īut the Montage is much more than just another pretty synth with stacked stats: it's made for live performance. If you don't understand the basics of FM, there are presets to help you get up to speed. The FM synth uses another 128 stereo oscillators, available in 88 different algorithms arranged in up to eight operator configurations. Although you can probably find a 6 GB triangle sample library for your computer, Yamaha has been refining their AMW2 library for a long time, and the acoustic instruments sound fantastic when soloed and are eminently usable in a multitimbral composition. The Montage has a lot more "there" there, however, that's anchored by a superior AMW2 playback engine, firing 128 stereo polyphonic "voices" while using almost 6 GB of the onboard samples for playback – including drums. It is a descendent of last century's Yamaha SY77 synth, which also employed an AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) engine for sample-based playback with a separate, Frequency Modulation (FM) engine for, well, FM synthesis. This is a happy thought, since the Montage is a fantastic synth. Now, I can't promise your Montage will still be touring in 40 years, but it's possible. I still use those Yamaha NS-500s and matching amp in my home studio.

Yamaha montage review mod#
Besides Pitch Bend and Mod Wheels, there are also a small programmable Ribbon Controller, two assignable buttons, Motion Sequencer trigger on/off, plus Arpeggio on/off buttons.About 40 years ago I purchased monitors for a home studio before such things were common. We especially liked the piano and string sounds and the many built-in controller features. My keyboard player and I found the sounds fantastic and the way they are arranged and organized into Sub Categories made them easy to find. The Montage6 sent for review has a large color touch screen, endless rotary encoders and the Super Knob for controlling multiple parameters simultaneously. Previous Motif libraries are compatible with Montage.įM-X is a sophisticated FM synthesizer engine capable of producing classic ‘80s or EDM sounds with incredible dynamic range, power and fidelity. The AWM2 engine is much more powerful than the previous Motif XF flagship with nearly 10 times more wave memory at 5.67GB and 1.75GB of integrated user flash memory, double the effects and twice the polyphony. The Motion Control Synthesizer Engine uses two sound engines: Advanced Wave Memory 2 (AWM2) and FM-X. Montage is available as the Montage6 (61-keys), the Montage7 (76) and the Montage8 with 88 piano-weighted keys. Yamaha offers the Montage with its Motion Control Synthesizer Engine-a powerful and intuitive way to interact and control sound.
