my original idea that I had asked for on IdeaScale was for PARTs 9-16 to be KBD CTRL capable; however even if Yamaha's engineers were to make only PARTs 9 & 10 to be KBD CTRL capable, would that be extremely difficult/time consuming for them to engineer this functionality into a future OS update? Would the committee that makes decision on what new ideas/features to develop in future OS updates, say that this is very possible, easy to add & recommend it be developed, or is this level of engineering too difficult a task and thereby not likely to happen in a future update?

I suspect that they might not want to do this, because of other ramifications. For example, it would partially break SSS, in that you would then be able to create keyboard-based Performances of more than 8 Parts (which would not seamlessly switch), creating a MODX-style compromise where none currently exists, where users need to be aware of another way they could potentially mess things up. 😉 Similarly, the current 8 Parts nicely align with 8 faders, In short, I think what you're asking for kind of works against some of the "elegance" and coherence of the original Montage design, since enabling those two additional Parts for keybord control will make operation more kludgey compared to how the first 8 Parts are handled.

Hi! I made this tutorial, I hope you find it useful. Thank you.

helpful contributions on this discussion, thanks everyone!
Of the several ways discussed here I can't rely on the part-select as I'm a modx owner and the touch screen is not good enough on stage.
My go-to solution for the time being has been the packing/optimizing, thus staying in the 8-parts.
Sometimes I spend several hours on a performance knowing it would have been a breeze had I got the kbd-ctrl on the 9-16.
While this is acceptable, doesn't mean it feels good.

I didn't know of the cable loop possibility, it works for me and I may use it occasionally.
Still feels dumb, like calling my wife on the phone while being in the same room. 😀
cheers

I didn't know of the cable loop possibility, it works for me and I may use it occasionally.
Still feels dumb, like calling my wife on the phone while being in the same room. 😀
cheers

It is kind of like that, in that it simply layers the sounds. Doesn’t take any extra brain wrinkles to accomplish that. The smart move would be, as I explained above, learning to program with efficiency — maximize each Performance to your needs.

Learning to program properly is its own reward. Yes. Tricking the system (to get by) is one way to approach life, but mastering the architecture is more rewarding in the long run (imho).

I have two opinions about this. My advice for the here-and-now is the same. It's what I do (and you're doing it too). Optimize and fit. Take a vision that maybe can be more elaborate and squeeze it down to the resources available (Parts 1-8 for local control). Much of the time I take one sound and make it work for what I would have preferred to be two. In the live situation - it hardly makes any difference to the audience, my personal enjoyment in playing the gig, or anything else. It feels like it takes more time to optimize - but it also takes it's own kind of time to manage more Parts (more things to tweak). So maybe it's a wash.

My other opinion is that the lack of flexibility would be "great" (as a wish, not a command) to get rid of so I can utilize the other 8 Parts for local control. There are cases where I would take two Performances and combine them into one for a medley situation which would ease transition between songs for me. Hitting a scene button is easier than the touchscreen or right-side buttons. That's only one example of how I'd use it. There are other cases where I duplicate lots of Parts here and there for various reasons and this would keep me from tossing so much overboard from my live performances due to running out of Parts. I do know how to optimize and I don't mind doing it - but I would also enjoy the enhancement if it was made available. I think I would still generally optimize even if 9-16 were made available. The rare time when I want more and feel I am "tossing out" something (as in: now I'm not going to play those notes anymore because I don't have the split to do it) or in the case where I can compress two Performances in a medley together into a single Performance -- that's when I'd use it.