I too, have been harsh with Phil, and I admit to being rude and disrespectful- a huge mistake on my part, especially given the fact that I should have known better....I hope to mend that bridge I burnt, but in the meantime I would like to come to Phil's defense on this one-

I really don't think he was trying to be rude. It just wasn't the answer you were looking for- it was truly the best answer he could give- at least he gave us a time frame.

I once was a beta tester for a synthesizer company and had the opportunity to help develop one completely new synth, along with subsequent workstations based off of that synth as well as beta testing a sampler.

Answering a question such as when the manual will be ready is extremely difficult, especially when working with a global company as large as Yamaha. The company I beta tested for had engineers in the USA, that spoke English as their first language, so the only translating needed was an occasional computer code that we didn't understand 🙂

So, that being said, imagine trying to communicate with engineers and software code programmers that speak Japanese, accounting for differences in the time between New York, California, and Japan, not to mention folks in the UK all collaborating on ideas/suggestions/reporting bugs (which may not be bugs, but simply a misunderstanding of the way a function was intended to operate), adding those new features and working up until the very last minute to implement those suggestions and features you quickly get the picture that the manual will still be added or changed even after units have been shipped to the world.

I'm not trying to be an ass, but I believe Phil truly gave us the best answer he could- it is being written now, and I wouldn't be surprised if Yamaha Japan Fed Ex's an "addendum" for every keyboard to be put in the box after units have already been shipped.

🙂

Again, I'm not trying to attack anyone here- you asked a valid question, and I hope you can accept the answer given. Also I agree with others, that Phil doesn't have time to go into a long lengthy discussion for every question asked here.

I hope that helps 🙂

Steve

Hi Bad Mister,

with reference at your words

"If you think we show a finished product at NAMM... that is not always the case. And certainly was not the case here. There is still work to do. And as is usually the case - there are already planned updates."

Can you please give us a very quick outlook about in which direction Yamaha wants to move and complete the Montage before sale it?

Just for curiosity, is the Pro Keyboard Survey something that will be consider?

Sorry, no I cannot give you info on which direction, yet - for many reasons - things like future directions are held secret. There are good reasons for this, I'm sure you understand. What I can say is that, like in the Motif series, planned updates will add new features and functions throughout the lifecycle of the product. Those of you who kept up with firmware versions saw their Motif add new features, new functions, added routines, new Effects, new color schemes, etc., etc. This is apart of the product release methodology these days. We don't always announce them ahead of time because they will be ready when they are ready... Setting a projected date can only add to frustration unnecessarily. Besides decisions on announcements are best handled centrally and at the appropriate time.

Info Gathering
The Surveys that you perhaps participated in three and five years ago, had impact on what Montage became (thanks to all our Yamaha users who participated), and Pro Keyboard Survey is likely gathering information on some far distant project. (Actually four and six years ago, forgot it's now 2016, yikes!) Typically, the day a new product hits, work begins on the replacement product. If you watch the video with the development team (w/subtitles) you get an idea of just how long a process it is developing one of these beasts. They are literally years in the making.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, each individual gets just one vote. So if a product moves away from what you thought it should be, don't be saddened, and don't get mad. It may just be your workflow is not mainstream (any longer) or is simply unique enough that you will need to adjust. These are musical instruments - first and foremost, attempting to be an all-in-one device is secondary - because a product doesn't eliminate the need for something else is a secondary thing. For example, if you were using it as your primary sequencing-editing-recording device, hey, the computer has been gaining steadily in popularity since 1980 (just saying). It cannot be news.

The MOXF has consistently topped the best seller list for so-called "workstations" and has done so since its release . That price point is the volume-zone for these "all-in-one" standalone synth production models. At the higher price points, where Motif-series lived, you find a dramatic increase in high-end computer use, high-end professional recording software use. Some of the "all-in-one" features start to be redundant in this user's setup.

Coffee is for closers
We anticipate Montage for power users, power users tend to use the best tool for the job. If organizing is done best using a specific tool why wouldn't you use that tool?

Those who are thinking they are going to miss Pattern mode, probably will, but they probably have not seen this kind of workflow as it developed inside of Cubase. Not only could you always record in cycling regions, the linear structure can be divided into PLAY ORDER regions that can "chain" the results. The Play Order track came around in the XS/XF era.

We'll take that portion of the chip muscle and concentrate it on sounding better than any other synth... and, you be the judge, Montage is going to do that. IMHO.

And we don't just count on surveys, Yamaha is out there, in stores, talking with customers, talking with potential customers, so while surveys help, they are not the only way we gather info, obviously. And yes, sales numbers are important... While surveys tell you a lot about what people think/dream about, the sales numbers are like the proof-of-the-pudding, because they tell you what people will actually buy!

We are always interested in what people are doing. When it comes to feature requests: A lot of times these "wish list" things are so pie-in-the-sky impossible that you don't know how to nicely just chuckle without hurting some one's feelings. And Please, ranting on a website about how passionate you are about this or that, is probably the least likely way to have any real serious attention being paid to what you think is a "no-brainer" reason to buy or you know a feature "everyone" wants. Surveys are of much more interest to those who matter in making the decisions. Make sense? And if you truly have an innovative idea, do yourself a favor, patent it (don't give it away on the Internet!) 🙂

New synth, new concepts, new workflows... Means new music, new era.

Robin wrote:

I was only providing feedback. It's a good thing to do. 🙂

you should let it go. you were being snarky and petulant and you've no right to either. There was nothing wrong with BM's reply at all. BM can often be, lets call it direct, when dispensing his knowledge, advice and cures. this example was a nothingburger, he was quite pleasant in his information. more generally, he's awesome but he's not a psychiatrist so don't place on him responsibility to attend to all of your emotional needs. he provides technical advice and instructions - and you will never find anyone more capable or helpful regarding a Yammy synth product on this earth. if you don't like his advice or information, go try to find it somewhere else. he gives, i have no idea what you do.

some of us have grown to understand his communication methods, we defend him to the ends of this forum and back. he's awesome!