I'm working on my first song. I have 3 versions of it saved at about 4 minutes and 100 measures each. I have two patterns I've been using to craft my song with get and put phrase. I tried to record another track in one of the scenes and got the message "Memory Full". Should that be happening already? Thanks!

The limits of the Sequencer memory is neither measured in minutes nor is it measured in measures. The memory is measured in number of events.

When you reach the maximum number of “Note”, the sequencer will report “Memory Full”. Should that be happening already? is the question.

Apparently. Song and Pattern can each hold approx. 520,000 Notes. That is an approximation because MIDI also includes events like Controller movements... so depending on how much controller movement you are using... Yes you could use up memory in 4 minutes and 100 measues x three plus two Patterns. Yeah, I guess you could. Is it typical? Well, no. But who is to say?

What you can do about it follows...

You have several versions of the composition in memory... which is fine. Before we recommend off-loading them to an external storage device, we’d try a few things. I suggest you work with the data while in the Pattern mode, this way you can use the “Edit/Job” functions to work on your data.

Because your data may contain unnecessary MIDI messages you might want to try this:
Since you have a MONTAGE, you may be sending and therefore recording Aftertouch messages, unnecessarily. You may want to review your tracks — if you have not programmed any of your Parts to specifically use Aftertouch... I’d recommend going into the Edit area and use the new ERASE EVENT Job to remove any Aftertouch messages from your Tracks.

Extra Credit: it is a long known issue in MIDI, heavy-handed players generate Aftertouch messages which, when not being used specifically, just serve to clog the arteries of the MIDI signal flow (like bad cholesterol)!

From the PATTERN SEQUENCER
Touch “Edit/Job” > “Song/Event” > “Erase Event”
Here you can Edit “All” Tracks, in a SCENE.
Set the Measure Length to include all measures
Set “Auto Select” active
Apply Aftertouch to the Keyboard to select it as the Event you wish to Erase... and Execute

Rinse and repeat for each Scene.

It may make no difference and it may make a huge difference in the amount of memory you have used up. Aftertouch, as you know, is pressure applied to the keys after it has reached the bottom of its travel. And is a controller that can be applied like any other 0-127 control. If it is not being used, it just fills up space in your sequencer memory for no reason. Aftertouch is available to be sent by a keyboard at all times, you only want to keep it when it is meaningful.

Some people have no issue with this... for others it is a huge issue. Back in the Motif XF we’d have some customers be able to get 15-17 Songs in the Sequencer and others would max out at 3-6... and mostly due to (unnecessarily) recorded Aftertouch... They are creating it without really knowing it... if you tend to lean into the keys — you are likely generating Aftertouch.

Saving your Duplicate Versions
When you record to the MONTAGE Performance Recorder you generate two sets of data. One is the Performance itself (the instruments you place in Parts). The other is the MIDI Data that get recorded to the tracks of the MIDI Song or Pattern.

Your MID Song is immediately stored in the [UTILITY] > “Contents” > “Data Utility” > Song Folder
Your Pattern is immediately stored in the [UTILITY] > “Contents” > “Data Utility” > Pattern Folder

Additional backups of MIDI data can be made by saving to a USB stick. You will see “Save as .mid” appear when working in the sequencer.

Your Performance is stored by pressing [STORE] which stores it in the [UTILITY] > “Contents” > “Data Utility” > Performance Folder
Additional backup of this Pattern can be captured with MONTAGE CONNECT, or Soundmondo

Keeping these very portable (Individual) versions of your Sounds and your MIDI data means you can quickly restore them whenever you need.

Not after-the-fact, but next time a recording is done - can Aftertouch receive be turned off to prevent recording aftertouch in the first place?

[PERFORMANCE] -> [EDIT] -> Part selection -> ELEMENT/OPERATOR [COMMON] -> [Mod/Control] -> [Receive SW]
Then turn "After Touch" OFF.

Not after-the-fact, but next time a recording is done - can Aftertouch receive be turned off to prevent recording aftertouch in the first place?

[PERFORMANCE] -> [EDIT] -> Part selection -> ELEMENT/OPERATOR [COMMON] -> [Mod/Control] -> [Receive SW]
Then turn "After Touch" OFF.

No, the problem is not the Part Receiving the Aftertouch... The problem for heavy-handed players is they generate (Transmit) Aftertouch because the Keys send it... Even when nothing is set to respond to it. Telling the Part not to Receive it fixes nothing, in this case.

Right - I wasn't sure how Performance recorder treated what it documented and if there was a way to tell it to ignore Aftertouch by turning off AT elsewhere. I thought Zone Transmit (AT=OFF) wasn't it because my thought was that'd only apply to external messages (and my thinking was pattern seq = internal).

Guess cleaning up after the fact isn't a huge deal - but controller filtering that would apply to pattern seq. and perf recorder would be useful.

The Aftertouch information is very interesting and probably my problem. I am partially paralyzed and record everything one note at a time using a typing stick. I'm sure I usually hit the keys very hard when I play. I am following your instructions on how to fix that and will see how much more that allows me to record. Thanks!

Ok, I deleted all but 3 Patterns and 1 song. I even went through and deleted the Aftertouch for all tracks in all Scenes of my first Pattern. I recorded just a couple of bars in Pattern 2 before getting the message "Data Memory Full" again. Interestingly, I decided I'd erase the Aftertouch from my other Patterns to see if that helped. When I tried to do this in my 2nd Pattern by your instructions just like before, it gave me the message "Data Memory Full" and would not even allow me to perform this function. So I tried it in Pattern 3 and it worked. Then I tried recording something in Pattern 3. That worked. As well as Pattern 1 and overdubbing in my song worked as well. It is only Pattern 2, where I have most of my work, that will not allow me to do anything without giving me the message, "Data Memory Full".

Not sure but perhaps the mystery lies in some information we don’t have yet. What is the size of Pattern 2 compared to Pattern 1 and 3. Perhaps, it is so large you can no longer edit it because it is larger than half of the Undo Buffer.

What you can do is open MONTAGE CONNECT on your computer, drag the Scenes of Pattern 2 into a DAW, like Cubase.
Open the Key Editor and look for Aftertouch as the Controller.

This will give you a better idea of how much data you are dealing with...

You’ll want to request a SEQ SETUP > MIDI Filter (those who are heavy handed need this) — place you’re request on IdeaScale
The first step was getting an EVENT EDIT job to remove specific events, it would be very hip to have a MIDI Filter to prevent AT from being recorded (unless you want it).

I submitted the idea of filtering out AT today on IdeaScale.

https://yamahasynth.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Turn-Off-Recording-Of-AfterTouch-In-Onboard-Recorder/254195-45978

I faced a similar issue as reported by @Jonathan with my MODX8: during pattern/MIDI recording (just at the beginning once pressed the "Play" button or during the recording itself) I get "Data memory full".

I checked the used memory status (UTILITY > “Contents” > “Data Utility”) and it looked as there was still a lot of free memory, e.g. : for "Waveform" = "Sample Memory:220MB/1.0GB", for "Song" = 40/128, "Performance" = 85/640, "Pattern" = 44/128, "Arp" = 20/256, Library: 5/8 = 229MB).
In order to summarize the size of all my Songs and Patterns stored in MODX, I exported them all (via MODX Connect) and they are as follows: Songs:~5MB and Patterns: 1.5MB only.

Additionally the "Data memory full." appears unexpectedly also during recording - which leads to losing your work (recording).

I can record another pattern/midi only if I delete any other one before - but still - if I record something longer (~100 bars) I got "Data memory full" during recording which is very, very confusing...

I've read Bad Mister's hints above ( + here: https://www.yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/converting-pattern-to-a-song-data-memory-full ) however I still can't find justification why I see "Data memory full" having so much free memory as I mentioned above... I'm pretty sure I haven't recorded 520,000 notes/events by any means so far.

The MODX should somehow indicate the free memory status so one could easily get information about how long recordings are possible: e.g. "Your MODX Free memory: 123 MB which corresponds ~ to XYZ of notes/midi events during recording". I believe such functionality would be invaluable for many people to prevent stopping (and actually losing) their recordings.

What are your controllers doing - superknob, assignable knobs, mod wheel, pitch, etc? Is your sustain a continuous sustain pedal? That may be a problem event-wise.

I totally agree that when a message tells you something's full - it should do a better job of identifying more specifically what caused the cup to run over. It would help keep you from checking places that are not part of the issue like the sample memory.