@Derek: Thumbs up. Like.
And to all others: buy a looping station and you can sequence anything. Polyphonic, stacked, the sky is the limit.

Or even cheaper: I am using my iPad with Cubasis at times. Works really nicely. The only thing you need is a USB to Lightning cable which is pretty cheap nowadays. Then you can sequence and even play virtual instruments from the iPad over the Montage 's/ MODX's outputs.

For many other things I also found that Camelot both on the Mac and the iPad is really useful. You can for example use it to play all 16 parts from the Montage's keyboard...

P.S.: Instead of the mentioned cable the getting an apple adapter for the iPad allows also to power it while you are using it.

So, yes, I am one of those who don't want Yamaha to waste time on sequencing. I appreciate that others will have a different view on that, and are free to lobby Yamaha as they see fit, but please don't assume we all want the same as you. 🙂

+1

+1
"I am one of those who don't want Yamaha to waste time on sequencing."
No ned for it.

I can make a long list of necessary updates on this "synth" in general.

But I have lost all hope that something new and good will happen to this synth, anymore.

+1 Derek, Jan, Stéphan and Thomas !!
I too am tired of reading these requests for a sequencer. Montage is a live instrument! It sounds wonderful, that's the main thing.

What happened to the sequencer? This is not a full sequencer. We need a full sequencer in a software update!!!!!

Yamaha by now realize they've failed the users by not carrying over the Motif XS/XF sequencing feature-set. Thing is, they don't care, which is why this is my last Yamaha product. You don't support me, I sure as hell won't support you. Luckily I have the best keyboard ever made by Yamaha- the Motif XF, so when I sell the Montage I won't miss it. I still don't understand the name either...'Montage'? Considering they left out the most important feature for any modern keyboard/workstation, not sure how 'Montage' was the final name given. No matter how you look at it, this keyboard is much more like a workstation than it is a synth...a workstation that's missing it's most important feature. Epic fail.

With all due respect, if you wanted a synth with a sequencer, you should have purchased a synth that had one to begin with. It's that simple. We all knew going in that the Montage did not come with a sequencer. It was our "choice" to purchase the synth or not. That's like buying a car advertised as a two door and then complaining that it's not a 4 door because the last car you had was a 4 door. It just doesn't make sense.

Why blame Yamaha when they did not advertise the Montage as having a sequencer? Additionally, you could have returned the synth during the return grace period when you realized it did not have a sequencer. Most places have a 14 - 30 day return policy. That is plenty of time to decide if a particular synth will suit your needs or not.

I agree with those that say the Montage does not need a sequencer. IMHO, all of that can be done easier on a PC. Create on the PC, and then dump your files on the Montage for playback. It also make things much easier in the studio. Working out sequences on a PC is a huge time saver. Plus it is so much easier to actually see what you are doing.

Fully agree with that sentiment. I knew it did not have a sequencer when purchasing, neither do I want or need one. My Kronos has a sequencer that I only ever used in 2014 for a short lived synth duo where it was playing the backing tracks (and I only wanted to take the Kronos out). But the backing tracks were created in Cubase. I'd be mad to try and do serious recording on a teensly synth LCD when I have a DAW with two 1080p monitors! 🙂

Fixing the MIDI receive channel limitation and being able to select a Live Set via MIDI are what I would like to see Yamaha focus their efforts on as well as expanding the sonic capability of this amazing synth.

Feel like, I should add something here, though I do not own a Montage (which allegedly doesn’t have a full-fledged sequencer!), but I do own another beast - a Korg Kronos 2.

Since days back, when DAW wasn’t in the scene (or just started coming into picture), an on-board full featured sequencer inside an workstation synth was much needed component (otherwise depending on a hardware sequencer). Recently our DAWs offer much more flexibility and most importantly EASE OF OPERATION; so even if you have an on-board sequencer on your synth, most likely you will transport back your recordings to a DAW for final touch. Then what’s the point of having a full featured sequencer on a synth workstation occupying valuable memory space and h/w design complexity.

My Korg Kronos 2 has a full lavish sequencer, not just 16 track MIDI, it also has 16 tracks for audio recordings as well, certainly satisfying, right? But just to have a simple visual Piano-Roll editor, I need to transfer my MIDI data to a DAW, isn’t it just sad? There are MIDI event editor in Kronos, but that is not good enough. More importantly, a 6 or 7 inch screen is not cozy enough to accommodate and display all necessary information for a finished song to mix & master, where a DAW has those perks and the simple reason is - it has a bigger monitor from the computer/laptop, DAW in that sense is not a programming marvel, rather featuring more options and visual arrangement just because it has a bigger display screen. Again, if I recall the old days (no DAW era), my on-board Kronos sequencer would be a hot cake. But in present days, it’s pointless.

Honestly, just having a quick MIDI recording feature in my synth - to capture any momentary inspiration or rough song sketch is good enough because anyway I will ship all data to my DAW where I can have more visual feedback of my arrangement, but I do not want to rely on my VST or sampled sounds of DAW, here my synthesizer's sound engine should rule. So to me, a Montage + Cubase (or any DAW of your choice) should be a perfect marriage.

So why a Korg Kronos owner is writing here and vouching for Montage? Well I’m selling my Kronos and the Montage has already been ordered. Sending MIDI events from Kronos plus using Kronos as a sound engine in return while playing back and recording audio from DAW is a bit complicated setup / routing, where, seems the Montage can do the magic just by one USB cable. Also looking forward to an FM experience.
Cheers.

I’ve heard it said that if someone wants more of a workstation sequencer, they should look to the Genos.

I was informed by a Yamaha employee that the Genos sequencer doesn’t have the extensive editing features of the motif series. It seems quite basic.
It seems only Korg and Kurzweil see the value of a full sequencer now ?

The Kurzweil Forte has really evolved

I tried to convince myself that i could live without a onboard sequencer and just use my ipad with cubase and i did for a while but in the end i came to the conclusion that if i had to rely on a computer to complete the package i might as well be totally ITB. Not what i wanted to do so i sold my Montage and went back to my original Motif for a while but ultimately ended up with a Kurzweil PC3. I do miss the FM engine If Yamaha releases another full workstation again i will certainly take a serious look at it. ive always been a Yamaha fan.
I still have my Yamaha CS-50 its 40 years old and still going strong.

The Synth+Workstation integrated concept isn't completely dead. Recent release of the new Roland Fantom shows many ideas shared with Montage (a more flat interface without many "modes" of operation), touchscreen, etc. This instrument has an on-board sequencer. The sampler seems dumbed down - but that's in-line with what players here seem to have fed back (losing onboard sampling isn't as much of an impact as losing the onboard sequencer). XLR outs. Modular/analog integration with CV/gate. Looks like direct integration with external USB-only MIDI devices (3 ports worth of interfacing to those). Sampling plus modeled (pianos - similar to RD2000).

Wonder if this means a return of a Yamaha more complete workstation that's in the "MO" series - or a new branch.

Montage's lack of sequencer appears to be a competitive disadvantage. I'm sure Yamaha is watching the market - there's at least something new to follow.

Waaait a min...did Yamaha secretly partner with Roland for the upcoming Fantom??? The Montage and the Fantom are suspiciously similar in design and function...The Fantom will be a MASSIVE success.

Waaait a min...did Yamaha secretly partner with Roland for the upcoming Fantom??? The Montage and the Fantom are suspiciously similar in design and function...The Fantom will be MASSIVE success.

I like how the new Fantoms step LFO lets you select from many different waverorms for each step not just a total of 2 (A/B) like on the Montage motion sequence. Maybe all the people who want a step sequencer should just trade out for the Fantom. Problem solved.

128 LFOs per voice! WTF?!:D 😀 😀

Somehow I like this thread 😛
This is similar to my previous response in this thread, just saying differently..
Just a point to ponder for those who are still sad seeing Yamaha stripped away the sequencer from Montage.

Why do you think guys that every class synth manufacturer bragged about their DAW control function in their flag-ship synths; don't they have full Sequencer + Sampler on board? - and for a happy synth user that should suffice, right? Because the manufacturer knows pretty well that you will connect your DAW to some point anyway. But why would you do that?
Well, it's not that your choice of DAW is more capable (at least from fundamental functionality point of view) than the one in your Kronos, Phantom or Motif.

One of the main reason is the "bigger screen" of you laptop gives more convenience to lay out your sequencer elements/tools in front of your eyes and gives a lot better and comfortable visual aid to sum up your all track set up in a single glance, to enter into a piano-roll edit for midi events, just a single mouse click away. I think no one will argue against a DAW over an on-board one (only from sequencer side, not bringing the sound engine/VSTs of DAW in this discussion). Well, if you talk about few decades ago (pre-DAW age), even a single or double line tiny LCD of M1 Korg was a blessing; but not in 2019, not even a 6 inch high-res touch screen of Montage for a sequencer. There is no point fighting on that - in fact, it is a simple truth.

So I think it is much wiser and approach to take down the sequencer + Sampler from Montage, and to acknowledge the necessity of DAW they are giving at least a light version of Cubase for free. It also lighten the complexity of hardware programming for Montage and allows the freed resource to vest in sound engineering part instead - the main heart and soul of a synth.

In other words, montage is not without a full fledged sequencer and sampler, they are pretty much there in the package and presented in a more convenient and practical way. It's just about the perspective.

I may sound like an avid Yamaha user and fan, actually not; I just received my Montage yesterday, and kicked out my Kronos 2 after using for a year (that had a sequencer + sampler) for some obvious reasons (not sound quality related).

The result - just loving it.
Cheers.

I really dislike people who, with condescending words and candid and pseudo empathetic tone, talk to us, the professional musicians who have spent decades working with Yamaha technological equipment, like stupid beginners who need advice.

Do me the favor, if your opinion is that you do not need a complete sequencer, present it as your own particular whim, but at least do not treat the rest of us as mentally disabled.

A sequencer that tries to reproduce what a DAW does is only one type of hardware sequencer. But there are other types - and we see 3 types of sequencers available in the new competitive offering. For beat making, the drum-machine type sequencer is one without any competition from DAWs with OS load time, software packages, mice, and other things that are less efficient in usage for this type of task.