I'm wondering if you have Montage Connected loaded and if you have the automatic sync feature turned on. Otherwise, there "shouldn't" be a command to do any bulk MIDI in your setup unless you put it there or somehow inherited it from a save-file that someone stuck the SysEx into.

Usually debugging this would involve paring down your setup to something basic/simple and then building up (from a basic made-from-scratch setup) from there. Say you add Montage connect and the problem starts happening (having Montage Connect in the mix, IMO, would not be the starting basic config) - then boom - that's a problem so setup that correctly or ditch it. Either is valid. Just an example. Could be something else as mentioned or something not mentioned of course.

Thanks Jason,
Yes, I do have Montage Connect loaded and automatic sync turned on. Should I turn automatic sync off? After my post I created a new project and did not experience this issue.

The thing about autosync is that "behind your back" these bulk transfers can happen - and I'm not a big fan of automatic stuff unless I know everything about what it does, why it does it, and that I'm OK living with it or know when to turn it off. If I'm caught by surprise, I turn automation off until I learn more about what's going on.

That's just a general statement I apply to most anything. Here's some reading material:

https://yamahasynth.com/blog/montage-connect

Auto Sync: If Auto Sync is active, as soon as the Project is opened, the Performance previously captured by MONTAGE Connect will be recalled automatically.

Seems like this should only be happening when the project is opened on your Mac - but you were seeing bulk activity past open. Maybe this isn't Montage Connect at all, or maybe the trigger Montage Connect "keys" off of to think a project is open is induced by something other than opening a project.

Since it's all "just MIDI" - and I take it Montage connect doesn't use a backdoor MIDI channel - any messages that are going back/forth to Montage Connect could also be captured by a MIDI record into your project and I guess confuse Montage Connect. I'm not solid on this one since I haven't done any Montage Connecting and snooped the MIDI bus to see what's going on - which is how I generally relate to how things work.

So presumably just starting fresh (building from the ground up) can clean house and sweep out the issues. Personally, I wouldn't turn on Montage Connect unless it was doing something specific for you. If it is - then leave it on, keep learning, and hope you're in the clear.

Someone with more experience in this area can paint less of a watercolor picture.

Lynn wrote:

Really getting frustrated here trying to integrate Montage7 into my Logic Pro X system. When recording or playing back a MIDI track from / to the Montage the playback in interrupted by the system prompt "Now transmitting bulk MIDI data". When this occurs playback freezes. When inputting notes the keyboard ceases to play. What is going on with this??? Many thanks for any assistance on this topic.

Fear of automation should not be allowed to go overboard. I'm a big fan of automated windows in cars, don't be afraid of them, at least until you fully understand how they work. When you push the button with the picture of a window they will automatically raise or lower the windows. 🙂

Fear not the Auto Sync button on your Montage Connect program, simply learn when it does its thing. You are likely to never have it interrupt your play in normal operations; and never at all, once you realize how (and when it works). Misunderstanding of Montage Connect, its role and function is the probable cause of your untimely bulk. If you own one Montage you should only use one instance of Montage Connect. There can be but one set of global commands for a Montage.

The reason you want the Montage Connect's "Auto Sync" active on your Project, is to ensure that when you next open the DAW Project file, Montage Connect will automatically negotiate with your hardware and restore all your initial settings for the stored composition. The act of "Opening the Project" restores your Montage. This means your multi-timbal Performance setup does not have to occupy a USER Bank location in your hardware. All Song setups can be kept together with the MIDI Data together in the DAW's Project file.

It is an elegant workflow that does not require much on your part but consistency. One Montage Connect per Montage per Project.

Thanks for your input Jason and Bad Mister. I'm going to work with this more today. I am thinking there was something wrong in that particular project since the problem did not reoccur in a new project. The Montage was repeating the bulk data transfer after about 15 sec of live play input or midi track playback. . . just freezing up the data flow. After the bulk transfer all the midi note info held during that prompt then played all at once and the playback caught up. It was really weird. I've been dabbling in electronic music since the early eighties. . . owned a new DX7 back in the day. . . .so I've seen a lot of issues, but this one was weird. Just added to my overall frustration trying to get the Montage integrated into my system.

Jason, I understand your thinking about automatic things. I'm a musician hobbyist, but I do pro video production / post production for a living. I always make sure I totally understand the any automatic functions before turning them on. But as Bad Mister said, they are not all bad for sure. Love my radar cruise control on my Toyota!

I'm just encouraging how to use features before making them automatic. Otherwise, you run into unpredictability and confusion.

So by all means use them - but learn or be confused.

I happen to think something binary like a car window (up and down) is easier to intuitively understand than the interaction between a computer, a keyboard, and software. Eventually, learning leads to bringing the unknown into the realm of being as easy as a car window. But then there's the beginning - when things are less clear.