if I find an Arp Drum Beat that I want to use in the background instead of the click track, and play piano to that beat while using the Performance Recorder to capture it, will it also capture the Arp Drum Beat?

Yes, the Performance Recorder captures all MIDI parts of your Performance.

Regarding the Pro Tools/Montage Connect (MIDI tracks) method, once I have all the tracks recorded (one by one), and edited the way I want them, can I save them all to 1 MIDI file so I can import into the Montage via USB stick?

Yes. File should be a standard .MID file.

If I can save all 16 tracks to a single MIDI file on USB, how would I do that?

See your Pro Tools documentation.. All professional DAWs allow you to export your MIDI recording as a .MID file. It is a standard throughout the industry from more than 30 years now...

Also, when I import into the Montage, do I import them into the Performance as a Song or as an Audition?

You LOAD them into the MONTAGE as a .MID File...
Press [UTILITY] > "Contents" > "Load" > Set the "Content Type" = .mid File
This will place the data as the current SONG and place it in the MONTAGE's SONG Folder ("Contents" > "Data Utility" > SONG where it becomes apart of your MONTAGE until you either DELETE it or Initialize All Data.

Any data in your SONG Folder can be made accessible to the AUDITION function as USER AUDITIONS
Auditions can be used to play songs, if you recall the PERFORMANCE, an Audition is always with the Performance.
But you can have it setup so that as soon as you recall the SONG, it automatically recalls the PERFORMANCE... it is your choice which way you want to work.

Also, if I decide to take the Song/Audition and record the USB audio for each part to Audio tracks in Pro Tools, what is the highest bit rate/sample size that the Montage will send & allow to record?

The MONTAGE is 24-bit/44.1KHz

What you set your DAW to do will depend on your DAW - and its capabilities. What you choose to record at is up to you.

Any data in your SONG Folder can be made accessible to the AUDITION function as USER AUDITIONS
Auditions can be used to play songs, if you recall the PERFORMANCE, an Audition is always with the Performance.
But you can have it setup so that as soon as you recall the SONG, it automatically recalls the PERFORMANCE... it is your choice which way you want to work.

Since my plan is to have a 'Performance' contain all the instruments (PARTs), sequencing, and KBD CTRL playability for a particular song that I will play at live gigs (including all the various Scenes, ARPs, motion controls, etc.), would it make more sense to use the 'Live set' buttons on the top right to choose the Performance and press the Audition button?

As I am just learning the Performance Recorder/Songs/etc., i am curious as to what is the easiest way to 'recall' a Song? Do I just press the Play button and select one, or do I need to select a Performance, then hit play? Not sure how a Song gets attached to a particular Performance..!?

The MONTAGE is 24-bit/44.1KHz
What you set your DAW to do will depend on your DAW - and its capabilities. What you choose to record at is up to you.

Does this mean that even though the Montage does 24-bit/44.1kHz, if I set Pro Tools to 48kHz or 96kHz, it will convert & record the Montage 44.1kHz audio data? Or will I need to set Pro Tools to 24bit/44.1kHz in order to record audio data from the Montage to Audio Tracks?

Since my plan is to have a 'Performance' contain all the instruments (PARTs), sequencing, and KBD CTRL playability for a particular song that I will play at live gigs (including all the various Scenes, ARPs, motion controls, etc.), would it make more sense to use the 'Live set' buttons on the top right to choose the Performance and press the Audition button?

It’s your choice. Me? I would learn to use both. Why? Because then there is no panicky moments where I don’t know what to do or how to do it.

As I am just learning the Performance Recorder/Songs/etc., i am curious as to what is the easiest way to 'recall' a Song? Do I just press the Play button and select one, or do I need to select a Performance, then hit play? Not sure how a Song gets attached to a particular Performance..!?

When you first setup the Performance touch “Play/Rec” from the HOME screen to recall the Performance Recorder. Once you load or record data to the Recorder, you can make Tempo Setting, Set the Loop playback On/Off, etc.
Tap the box “Store Song & Performance Settings”. This creates a link between the Song and the Performance so when you recall the Song, the Performance is automatically recalled.

One of the [UTILITY] > “Contents” > “Load” options is “Song&Perf”

Extra Credit
Store Song & Perf Settings
Changes the Song tempo, Loop settings, and the Performance called back along with the Song to the current settings.
This parameter is not available during:
• New recording (No previously recorded Song data.)
• Playback
• Recording Standby
• Recording

Does this mean that even though the Montage does 24-bit/44.1kHz, if I set Pro Tools to 48kHz or 96kHz, it will convert & record the Montage 44.1kHz audio data? Or will I need to set Pro Tools to 24bit/44.1kHz in order to record audio data from the Montage to Audio Tracks?

Again, check the documentation of your DAW. Each handles this a bit differently.

It’s your choice. Me? I would learn to use both.

One of the [UTILITY] > “Contents” > “Load” options is “Song&Perf”

Ok, thanks. Good to know how to recall Songs. I even found another way...just press the play button, press the Song Name and Load the 'Song&Perf';
However when playing live I want to avoid touching the touch screen and have everything set to only use the buttons. Therefore, Audition would be my most likely choice for me.

Does this mean that even though the Montage does 24-bit/44.1kHz, if I set Pro Tools to 48kHz or 96kHz, it will convert & record the Montage 44.1kHz audio data? Or will I need to set Pro Tools to 24bit/44.1kHz in order to record audio data from the Montage to Audio Tracks?

Again, check the documentation of your DAW. Each handles this a bit differently.

Can Cubase allow recording of Montage's 24bit/44.1kHz audio to 48kHz or 96kHz Audio tracks (converting the USB stream)?
If so, how is it done in Cubase?

You can convert - but what is your goal here? Real-time transcoding or mixing down the tracks to a different sample rate/bits than the source? In the production environment - where one is manipulating tracks for a recording - "real time" is not really a goal. So if there is a delay in conversion of tracks - that's fine. Get some coffee and come back when it's done. If you're using Cubase differently - as a live VSTi host and are using it that way - maybe you, for some reason, want a stream to be "live" and a different sample rate/bits than the original source.

I guess it's also worth mentioning that "Cubase" doesn't mean much as there are different version numbers (8, 9, ... ) and levels (AI vs. Elements vs. Pro vs.... ) that it's difficult to give a quick one-size-fits-all answer in many cases.

... that said, if you need non-"live" mixdown: https://steinberg.help/cubase_elements_le_ai/v9.5/en/cubase_nuendo/topics/export_audio_mixdown/the_audio_engine_output_section_about_r.html

I believe these audio engine settings are what affect the audio save file generation - where you can set different rates/bits than your source recordings. Someone will hopefully chime in if this is bogus. I have less confidence overall in my DAW driving than other areas.

... your keyword "recording" made me assume that your goal wasn't real-time. So I'm pretty sure you did cover that in your question.

Basically, I watched BM's video(s) the other night on using Montage Connect to connect the Montage to Cubase, whereby he recorded the Montage MIDI from 4 PARTs to 4 MIDI tracks in Cubase. Then later he ran the MIDI that triggered the sounds from the Montage and recorded the 4 instruments' USB digital audio output to 4 separate Audio tracks in Cubase. I can't remember if it showed whether Cubase was setup for 24bit/44.1kHz or not, or whether it was at 24bit/48kHz, but it got me thinking ... at some point when I actually do some serious recording (as opposed to my current focus on the Montage for live gigs), I want to capture the Montage sounds at the highest quality possible, but with the smoothest workflow possible too.

If I am doing all my recording of Vocals, mixing, and everything else in 24bit/48kHz or 24bit/96kHz, I will need a way for the sounds from the Montage to the Audio tracks to be converted to that same sample rate.
Maybe the best solution would be to capture/record all the Montage USB digital audio to 24bit/44.1kHz tracks, and just have a separate Project in Pro Tools for the song I'm recording, and just convert the 24bit/44.1kHz wave files 'manually' from the Montage audio capture 'Project' of that song (24bit/44.1kHz) to the main Project/recording for the song(24bit/48kHz or 24bit/96kHz) where all the mixing/editing will happen. Maybe I should keep the two as separate recording workflows..!? One for just Montage audio capture and the main one for the song recording itself (vocals/mixing/editing, etc)..!?

Using the “Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver, the MONTAGE can Output 32 channels of 24-bit audio at 44.1kHz (These are USB MainL&R, plus 30 assignable USB buses... which can be configured as odd/even Stereo pairs, USB1/2, USB3/4, USB5/6... etc, or as individual Mono buses, USB1, USB2, USB3... etc, as you may require.

If you wish to set it to 48kHz, 96kHz or 192kHz, the maximum number is simultaneous Outputs is reduced to 4 Stereo Outputs. These are USB MainL&R, plus 6 USB buses... which can be configured as odd/even Stereo pairs... or as individual Mono buses.

[UTILITY] > “Settings” > “Audio I/O” > select the Audio I/O Mode
This parameter determines the Output mode of the Audio signal from the USB TO HOST terminal. When you change this setting, the instrument will need to be rebooted for the change to be implemented.

Audio I/O Mode Settings: 16 Stereo/44.1kHz, 4 Stereo/44.1-192kHz*
_ 16 Stereo/44.1kHz: Audio data sending capability for the instrument is a maximum 32 channels (16 stereo channels) at a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz.
_ 4 Stereo/44.1-192kHz: Audio data sending capability for the instrument is a maximum 8 channels (4 stereo channels) for a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz.
*When “4 Stereo/44.1-192kHz” is selected, available frequencies are 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz, and 192kHz.

Using the “Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver, the MONTAGE can Output 32 channels of 24-bit audio at 44.1kHz
If you wish to set it to 48kHz, 96kHz or 192kHz, the maximum number is simultaneous Outputs is reduced to 4 Stereo Outputs.

[UTILITY] > “Settings” > “Audio I/O” > select the Audio I/O Mode

Audio I/O Mode Settings: 16 Stereo/44.1kHz, 4 Stereo/44.1-192kHz*

Thank you Bad Mister! This is awesome to know... Yamaha are really thinking of the future and serious professional level recording!! And with the super awesome quality AD converter that is in the Montage, it would maintain all the quality in the digital realm without losing anything 🙂