Regarding the problem of playing 16 parts/tracks live (not recording).

Jason, Andrew, Michel, Stefan:

Just found this on the yamahasynth/ideascale community:

This is a wish for the next update. Exactly what I miss:

"Expand KBD CTRL to 16 parts on the Montage/MODX
Please expand KBD CTRL so that it is no longer bound to parts 1-8 on the Montage/MODX. Change it so that we can have parts 1-16 available to layer/split/etc. at the same time all via KBD CTRL, so that we could potentially have 16 parts playable at the same time!"
https://yamahasynth.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Expand-KBD-CTRL-to-16-parts-on-the-Montage-MODX/223218-45978?comment=true#idea-tab-comments

So I guess I'll have to wait!

Maybe Bad Mister can help to make this wish come true 🙂

Hi Bo,

I guess the confusion came from the fact that this is a thread about the pattern sequencer. And the comment that you do not want to record did not necessarily mean that you do not want to play back something which was pre recorded... and play live over it.

From the local keyboard you can only play up to 8 parts with up to 8 elements at the same time without additional hardware. With a second keyboard or an additional iPad or phone and some software you can potentially play all 16 parts. If you really need all 16 and don’t want to add extra hardware, then yes, you will have to wait...

This confusion might stem from the fact that, on the Motif, "Pattern Mode" (as well as Song Mode) was largely synonymous with the potential for keyboard control over 16 parts. You had to use one of these Mixing Modes to get access to 16 parts, otherwise you were restricted to either 4 or 1. The Montage moved to a paradigm where 16-part Mixing Mode is now the only mode, but also brought the restrictions in regards to keyboard and MIDI control and removed much of the sequencing tool-set.

I think that someone coming from the Motif could be forgiven for seeing that the Montage has gained a pattern sequencer and thinking that this included Motif features that were related to the Pattern Mode but technically not directly related to actual sequencing.

Put another way, on the Motif you went to sequencing mode to get access to unrestricted control over 16 part mult-timbrality. On the Montage, "sequencing mode" brings nothing but exactly what its name describes: sequencing.

Interesting and good to know!

@Bo Bjerre

When you say use live - I assumed you were going to use the pattern sequencer for live performance. That's MIDI recording AND playback. So I assumed you were going to use the pattern sequencer's playback feature live.

I think the revision (to my understanding of your question) is that you're not talking about the pattern sequencer at all - you're just wondering about why the local keyboard cannot play all 16 PARTs at once.

I wish there was not this limitation either - but it's there. Parts 9-16 cannot have keyboard control turned on because that's how this box is wired. PARTs 9-16 can only be locally controlled by the on-board piano keys one at a time (and only if selected).

If you want to use the local piano keys to control all 16 PARTs at the same time - you can do that - but it requires external "something". That something can be a MIDI controller. It can be an external MIDI controller OR Montage/MODX itself as the MIDI controller - sending MIDI out the MIDI OUT port and then loop back to the MIDI IN port. You would setup PARTs 1-8 MIDI transmit channel to channels 9-16 respectively. It's worth noting that this configuration is not recommended - but you can make it work, within its limitations, if that's your goal.

Back in 2017 - this request to have keyboard control active for all 16 PARTs was already a frequently requested item: https://yamahasynth.com/ask-a-question/parts-9-to-16

@Andrew

Where is the click mode off button? I haven't seen this.

If you follow my steps up to that point on your own keyboard - you'll see the screen where this is. The click options are in the upper-right of the touchscreen. It's a "wormhole" shortcut to the click setup which can also be gotten to by pressing the tempo icon on the top of the screen among other ways.

Press [PERFORMANCE] (HOME), then press the record button in the transport controls area. This brings up the menu with the click options wormhole as I described in the steps.

The screen looks like this:

See "Click Settings" in upper-right.

Press [PERFORMANCE] (HOME), then press the record button in the transport controls area. This brings up the menu with the click options wormhole as I described in the steps.

The screen looks like this:

See "Click Settings" in upper-right.

Thanks @Jason

I know where it is. I have a little screed I've been meaning to post about its foibles. But I haven't seen a button that turns off the click. I've been adjusting its volume to 0 to "turn it off".

Also, slightly related, the click distorts and does other funky things when used during play and record. That distortion is often sticky, staying around after whatever has caused it to become (what sounds to me) like it's getting a bit bit crushed.

When you are In the screen you reach using the button Jason mentioned you can then decide to have the click on/off, on during record and play it only record, etc.

I have never heard any distortion when using the click unless other sounds were also distorted already.

I couldn't find just a screenshot alone of this screen. From the reference manual:

See "Click Mode". The "Mode" parameter (connected to the parameter category "Click" through a common dark grey bar) is shown as "Rec" in the picture above. This means the click will only occur while recording. You can change this to:

Off (Click will not sound)
Rec (The click will sound during Song/and now pattern recording only)
Rec/Play (The click will sound during recording and playback)
Always (The click will always sound).

Change to "Off" to replicate what I did in the instructions.

So far I’ve been using the pattern sequencer for recording a left hand chord progression with Arps and letting it play over while I fly away playing soaring right hand melodies while my left hand works the pitch bend, mod wheel, ribbon, and AF switches. Loving it. 🙂

I agree with others that it would be better if the pattern sequencer did not record the start position of the super knob. It doesn’t do it with the mod wheel or filter cut off.
What I want to do is use the super knob to change the sound over time, exactly as I do when not using the pattern sequencer. In the performance I’m playing at the moment the super knob controls the mix of instruments and shifts between a pad like and a more rhythmic accompaniment, and I’d like to retain manual control over that as I play.
I have set the super knob memory switch for the scene to OFF, but the pattern overrides it, which is a bit counterintuitive to me, I expected the switch to mean “super knob position is not recalled by this scene”, and I think it does mean that until you record a pattern. (If super knob memory switch is ON for the scene, it jumps to the memory position when the scene is selected but is immediately jumped back by the pattern.)

I think Yamaha have got the super knob recording in patterns wrong in v3.0.1 because Montage is primarily a performance instrument, and that’s why we all bought it. I want to perform live music, but the pattern sequencer recording and replaying the position of the super knob when I’ve not touched it is a song editing approach, and to my mind, not Montage-like. If I don’t move the super knob, then super knob position was not part of my performance and according to everything Yamaha have been saying up until now, shouldn’t have been recorded.

I think a good way for it to work is that the super knob is recorded in the pattern only if you move it. The super knob memory switch value for the scene takes care of it when you want the super knob value to be something when you select that scene, which is also when the patten will kick in if the sequencer is playing.

Actually, I suspect that the programmers working on the pattern sequencer began before the super knob scene memory switch was added, and simply overlooked it. 😉
(And I think they are busy on 3.1 after having worked overtime to get 3.0 out on time... 😉 Well done them! )

I like sequencers and thought long and hard before investing in a synthesiser that had a sequencer as limited as the Montage did then. But playing is what I wanted it for, so I bought a Novation Launchpad Pro to go with it and decided to learn to use Ableton Live.

The new pattern sequencer is a pretty good addition as a tool for live performance. I think we can look forward to a refinements soon. Another addition is perhaps to combine the scene/track matrix with the pattern chain so you can chain e.g. scene 1 part 1, then scene 1, parts 1& 2, then scene 1, parts 2,3&4, then scene 2, parts 1,2&3, etc.

And of course a step sequencer... Im sure it’s coming, but I’m going to start a new wish list thread for that so we can talk about how we might like it to work. 🙂