Hi Miles,
Welcome to YamahaSynth.

Based on your description, you likely are doing something fundamentally wrong that, once corrected, will clear away most of your issues.

Not only should you be able to play VSTi’s, but you should be able to play both the MONTAGE and the VSTi’s together. Not as a workaround, mind you, but as a sign you have your system setup properly! This is why I say there is a fundamental being overlooked here.

Let’s begin with an inventory of items in your basic system...
Here’s what we need to know:
_Computer type (Mac or Win) - helps with descriptions of the setup routines
_Cubase Version (example, Cubase AI 10, Cubase Pro 10.5, etc)...
_Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver (appropriate for your computer type and operating system). Must be installed.
_MONTAGE connected to the laptop via USB cable
_MONTAGE connected to a pair of studio monitors (or you can use a pair of quality headphones connected to the MONTAGE’s Phones jack) curious: what are you playing your MONTAGE through?

The MONTAGE has a built-in Audio and MIDI interface; all audio going to and coming from your computer will pass through the MONTAGE. You will NOT be using the soundcard that comes with the computer, at all. It will not be used — when configured all audio passes through the MONTAGE (nothing should sound like a toy unless it is emulating a toy! And then it should sound spectacularly as a TOY!) As a soundcard, no offense to any computer’s built-in soundcard, but the MONTAGE completely blows it away. It functions as a 32-in/6-out audio interface for the computer. 24-bit/44.1kHz. And can do up to 192kHz with lesser number of channels.

We’ll stop here... use the above as a basic checklist for configuring a setup where you want to use the MONTAGE and Cubase together with VST capability.

Let us know your details. We’ll get you to where you need to be...

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm a little confused as to what version of Cubase I'm using. It says Cubase AI 10 when it's loading, but on my desktop it says Cubase LE AI Elements 10. So, no idea there unfortunately, however I am probably going to upgrade at least to Artist, maybe even Pro if I discover it to be worth it.

I have headphones which I've started to use more because my monitors are over a decade old, they're Fostex and came with a 16-track digital recorder unit I bought long ago. They're okay but they buzz a bit on the low end.

So are you saying that the VSTi's should be utilizing the Montage as a sound card, or do they even need to use one beyond what my computer has? If I purchase some Spitfire software, does that mean it will use the Montage as a sound card, or again do I even need a good sound card to use it?

Sorry, I'm very new to all of this and have been working on things hectically for the past few weeks trying to get up to speed. Hard to focus on technical details when I'm so busy writing the music.

I have one more question if you have the time. Some performances take up a lot of parts, and I like to hear all of my instruments going at once while I'm writing. Seattle Sections is a good instance of this. Anyway, since it's taking up so many parts, I end up using a single part performance instead so I don't go over my 16 part limit. Is there some way around this? I thought maybe I could convert the MIDI to an audio part and that would free up some slots for me, but I have no idea how to do that yet (again, not asking for instructions, just wondering if it's possible). Sort of suffering the same issue with the Imperial Grand Piano, which is kind of irreplaceable to me. I am able to stuff them into a single slot but that apparently causes some other problems.

Thanks again!

Sorry, forgot to reply that I'm on PC and that I'm pretty sure I have the Steinberg USB driver installed. Cubase does currently work with my Montage, I just can't use the VSTi's at the same time.

I'm a little confused as to what version of Cubase I'm using. It says Cubase AI 10 when it's loading, but on my desktop it says Cubase LE AI Elements 10. So, no idea there unfortunately, however I am probably going to upgrade at least to Artist, maybe even Pro if I discover it to be worth it.

The installation installs all of these. “AI” (Advanced Integration) is available only to those who have purchased a Yamaha or Steinberg product. It allows them to include some special features specific to Yamaha and Steinberg hardware. When you go to launch the program you should select AI 10.

So are you saying that the VSTi's should be utilizing the Montage as a sound card

Yes, absolutely!

If I purchase some Spitfire software, does that mean it will use the Montage as a sound card

Yes, absolutely!

You’d need to spend a lot of money to get a better soundcard than the MONTAGE. True, it does not have everything — but as far as recording the MONTAGE and enhancing the sound of all computer based audio, you cannot beat the MONTAGE. You’ll see (hear).

Sorry, I'm very new to all of this and have been working on things hectically for the past few weeks trying to get up to speed. Hard to focus on technical details when I'm so busy writing the music.

Very true. You want to get to the point where your gear is properly setup and you are not fighting it to accomplish stuff. Trust that this is a reachable goal, and then operating the gear will be second nature. As you go you will experience the separation of musical decisions and technical decisions—and you’ll begin to appreciate how they work together.

I have one more question if you have the time. Some performances take up a lot of parts, and I like to hear all of my instruments going at once while I'm writing. Seattle Sections is a good instance of this. Anyway, since it's taking up so many parts, I end up using a single part performance instead so I don't go over my 16 part limit. Is there some way around this? I thought maybe I could convert the MIDI to an audio part and that would free up some slots for me, but I have no idea how to do that yet (again, not asking for instructions, just wondering if it's possible). Sort of suffering the same issue with the Imperial Grand Piano, which is kind of irreplaceable to me. I am able to stuff them into a single slot but that apparently causes some other problems.

The MONTAGE was designed for those folks who want to breakdown those limits, in favor of a synth sound you can “play”, as in really “play”.

The “Seattle Sections” is a perfect example, as a keyboardist playing Strings you can really begin to express yourself with this type of multi Part sound. If you set your limit to the General Midi 16-Part paradigm, you windup (sometimes) compromising and limiting yourself to just a single Part Strings. Nothing wrong with this workflow but, the MONTAGE was built out of the concept of ... what if we took the power of the Motif XF and instead of just playing one at a time, allowed the player to link as many as eight Motif XF’s to build a basic playable sound.

The XF represented the pinnacle of the sampled based sound... with its 8 oscillators, 8 filters, 8 AEGs, per Voice...
Yamaha had been experimenting with engines where creating sounds involved adding as many AWM2 oscillators as you need to create the sound. That’s like having a modular system where when you need a new articulation, you add another oscillator module. These additional AWM2 Elements each could be responsible for something different in the recreation of performing a sound.

Case in point, doing a brass swell... the timbre of brass horns changes, quite dramatically, from soft to loud. Simply, sampling a loud fff brass horn and then trying to swell it by playing soft and just increasing the volume — doesn’t compare with cross fading between like four or five different samples of the brass horn section. You can fully control the swell. It is not a recording of a section swelling, you, as the performer, get to create the swell in real time, at the speed you require, musically. (This is done with multiple Elements; the ability to play multiple engines simultaneously means more creative nuance in the performing.

The MONTAGE/MODX are user programmable versions of this concept... so for those who play live, you have an experience playing each of these mega sounds, they can be compelling to perform. The 16 channel Multi/GM limit paradigm has been around a long time (and it dies hard for many)... but the MONTAGE feature 32-bus audio output specifically to support the performer’s workflow where committing to audio is a part of the natural process. Extremely configurable.

Recording as MIDI has its real life advantages.. say you record “Seattle Sections” to Cubase (setup to use MIDI I/O = Hybrid) this allows a single stream of MIDI data to travel from the MONTAGE to Cubase. You can edit that MIDI track. Get it as you require... render it as audio. Put that MIDI Track in a Folder, mute the Folder. You now have freed the most powerful synth engine on the market to do your next task.

You playback the rendered audio. You have to decide if this is good enough for the finished product, or just for monitoring purposes. The point is — all options are still open. You still have the original MIDI recording. Later you can go back, make changes, and re-render the audio. This time instead of just a stereo rendering, you can take advantage of the multiple USB Audio outputs, etc., etc.

You want to get to the point where *rendering audio* is as second nature as a couple of clicks and hitting play...
The most common workflow is to assemble all your music tracks as MIDI and then in one operation render audio. 16 Part limit.
Now you no longer have to limit yourself to 16 - break that mold - work on the process of transferring your MIDI tracks to audio... it’s liberating.

I recently introduced some one to this method of working, to their surprise they couldn’t tell the MIDI playback from the audio playback. I hadn’t realized that he had expected to hear a difference... getting comfortable with working MIDI and Audio together will really free your creativity. You no longer have to count the number of Parts, you can choose the sound/Performance you want *perform*.

But obviously it all is contingent on your final goal.

We highly recommend during the learning process you concentrate on the process (not the composition). In other words, separate learning the tool from working out a composition. The *why* of that will be a subject of my book. But learning the gear is best done when you are not distracted “being musically creative”. So in other words, expect to toss the results of these experiments. This way you can concentrate on the technical steps.

Getting comfortable with Cubase is important. Like any mature program, it does most everything you need. Respect its learning curve. (There are tons of Cubase videos... refer to them like you would a reference manual: don’t sit and watch 4 hours on Cubase. Dig in on your own, when you determine a specific function you want to master, look up that specific subject.