Might this be damper resonance? See https://yamahasynth.com/learn/2010s/half-damper-function-resonance-effect-and-key-off-sample

Even for Motif - it explains the general terms well enough to apply.

If that's it, you can turn off the damper resonance insertion effect. Or even turn off insertion effects entirely if you want a quick sanity check.

Not it.... try it on yours and see if you get the same effect. Let me know if yours does it also. Problem is when you play a chord, there is still sound left from the prior chord which makes a dissonant sound until the prior chord decays... Thanks.

I just tried my pedal and the same happens Joe. Although i have never heard it when playing under normal circumstances for 3 years on my montage. I guess I don’t play quick fire sustain pedal changes on 16th notes.
It appears most notable on piano sounds with the damper resonance effect. With that effect turned off it can just about be heard on an piano element with half damper on.
I didn’t manage to get any other sound to do it

I don’t get why this happens, but at least you’re not going mad!

Alright - to reproduce it would be best to get on exactly the same page without me fishing around.

What preset Performance best demonstrates the issue? That's the one I'll start trying.

Also, what's your sustain pedal? Is it a half-damper (aka "continuous" ) type like the Yamaha FC-3A, or a more simple on/off switch type like the Yamaha FC-4A (or even less fancy Yamaha FC5)?

And then finally - how do you have the sustain pedal configured

Press [UTILITY]
Touch “Settings” > “Sound”

... looking for the "Sustain Pedal" setting/configuration.

If I play a chord (especially noticeable with the lower keys) while holding down the sustain pedal, it will sustain the notes properly. When I let off the pedal, the notes stop... again, normal.... but now if I press the sustain pedal again, without hitting any further notes, the chord sound is still audible but in its period of decay. If I pump the sustain pedal, I'll get a gated chord sound (Piano) until it fades out. Is this normal? Very irritating. Is there a fix?

The fix is understanding and setting the proper Amplitude EG for the response you are looking for.

The AEG describes what happens to an oscillator from KeyOn through to KeyOff and beyond until the Release Time finishes and resets the oscillator Level to 0.

If you setup an AEG you will notice it contains both Time and Level parameters.... if you hit and hold a note it will reach the Attack Level at the Attack Time setting. An Attack Time setting of 0 is fast, am Attack Time setting of 127 is extremely slow.

The Level then travel to “Decay1 Level” at “Decay1 Time” - this is used to describe what is referred to as the “transient peak” or loud snap at the beginning of percussive sounds.

The Level then travels to “Decay2 Level” at “Decay2 Time” - this describes what is referred to as the “sustain” portion... if Decay2 Level is 0 the sound will die out, even if you continue to hold a key or sustain pedal (all percussive sounds will have “Decay2 Level” of 0. The “Decay2 Time” is how long it takes to get there.

“Release Level” (sic) does not exist because it will always be 0 on a normal AEG.
“Release Time” is what happens when you execute KeyOff (or sustain pedal off, same thing)... this determines how much sound is left after you disengage the note.
_ If you have an AEG that describes a percussion family instrument such as a piano (hammered), Drum or Vibraphone (struck) or Guitar/Bass string (plucked) the “Decay2 Level” is 0. It may take several seconds for the Note to complete the entire AEG if you hit and hold down a key.
_ If you have an AEG that describes a self-oscillating family instrument such as bowed violins or a blown horn, typically the AEG will have “Decay2 Levell set to a significant value, such that you can hold the sound for as long as you hold a key (organs of course, also follow this behavior). This determines the sustain level.

If, however, you play a note for shorter duration, as soon as you execute KeyOff, the AEG jumps to the “Release Time”... in other words, it skips all the intermediate Time and Level steps and goes directly to the Release Time which describes how quickly it disappears.

When you release a key, the envelope may still have the ability to sound... for example, depending on how crazy you have set the Release Time parameter, re-engaging the sustain pedal will capture the sound at whatever Level and Time remain.

If you play acoustic piano, it works the same way. If you play a staccato chord and then engage the sustain, you will capture the string vibrations at whatever level of disappearing they have advanced to... the strings of your chord do not end immediately, even on a staccato stab... the sound (energy) takes time to disappear — re-engaging the sustain pedal will capture the remain string vibration (sound) at the level it has decayed (advanced) to... thus delaying slightly its return to silence.

If you do this on a bowed or blown instrument, you will capture the sound at the Level to which it has decayed... and it will hold there, indefinitely.

Setting up musical AEG should be done with care. Mostly you can get in trouble when you don’t understand the Time and Level parameters.
Do not just set the Release Time frivolously — it is a critical setting. Too fast is as wrong as too slow!

Setting a TIME parameter improperly can cause your custom envelope to behave in a manner that can cause you issues when you attempt to play.

Highly Recommended:
Study the factory Presets (they have been programmed by some of the best synth programmers on the planet)... particularly the bread and butter instrument sounds. Use them as a guide line. The behavior of any program is a result of the careful setting of both the TIME and LEVEL parameters within the EGs.

So, yes, it can be completely normal for there to still be EG values available when you re-engage the sustain pedal... if this is not what you want, adjust your AEG, accordingly.

Hope that helps.

Mr Bad... thx... I'll mess around with the settings a bit. Appreciate it. Jason... it' s any of the stock CFX pianos... let's say the CFX Concert. I have an 88 key, 3.50 firmware. Tried all sustain choices with no difference. I tried a couple pedals. They are 0-128/on-off only like the FC4. The frequency I press the pedal is twice a second. Does yours do it like mine and Graham?

I see what you mean now. Seems normal.

If you let go of a key the sound doesn't immediately go to zero. You can watch the Part meters on the [PERFORMANCE] (HOME) screen. If you don't use your sustain, strike a note , then let go of the key - you'll notice the level meter falls down fairly slowly.

If you press sustain before it falls all the way to 0 - you'll interrupt the release decay and "freeze" it there where it sits. It doesn't jump up in level - which is good. Makes sense to me if the piano is still making some racket that if you press the sustain pedal - it'll sustain that racket - even if it's softer.

My old beater acoustic upright makes a lot of racket when I press the sustain pedal. Even if I haven't played any note in 24hrs before pressing the sustain pedal. This isn't a defense of how Montage works - but there are ways I can make a lot of noise with just the sustain pedal on my own "actual" piano.

Now if your (virtual) felts are doing their job or not is a tuning parameter. If you want instant silence - you can dial that in. You do have to turn off damper resonance or that insertion effect will add some tapering to the sound even if you set the release to 0. I just did a cheat and dialed in the [TONE] knob #8 (release) full counter clockwise while Part 1 was selected using "CFX Stage". It's the easiest to deal with since it's a single Part. And I turned off the key-off element since the no-release piano is already in not-so-realistic-land. And turned off the Damper Resonance insertion effect with the switch in the Part 1 effects routing menu.

Ahh... yes... just did what you did. I can work with that to get what I want. Thank you for your efforts. New to Yamaha. Familiar with Korg. Peace.

I understand the whole resonance idea.... but now that I got the problem solved, why would anyone want to carry over the sound from the prior chord causing dissonance in the next chord? Sure it will fade in a second but it's still there... guess it's what your ear is used to... I don't have an acoustic piano. Does your real piano gate the chord like the montage? T hanks.

My acoustic piano has been in storage - so I can't really answer by playing notes right now.

But to answer "like the Montage" - I'll treat this more literally than you asked. No, my real piano is mechanical and Montage is digital. So they do things differently. Yamaha makes acoustic instruments, digital instruments, and even hybrid instruments that include both mechanical traditional piano mechanisms/etc. and digital "synth" engines combined. This doesn't mean that the digital approximation of the acoustic/mechanical instrument is perfect - there are plenty of things that were simulated "wrongly" - and some of those things have been fixed through firmware updates. What I'm getting at is even with the rich heritage of acoustic piano craftsmanship - Yamaha still manages to mangle up parts of the digital simulation of a piano. Until now, I haven't heard of wide-spread issues with the sustain pedal's basic function and how it causes "too much" carry-over from previously struck chords. This may be partly technique related. We all interpret use of a sustain pedal slightly differently. Some of this is guided by the genre we primarily play. Some is personal preference. Some training. Some ...

I don't use the sustain pedal nearly enough to comment on dissonance. I do know that those who demo use the sustain pedal for their piano work and I do not hear anything wrong. Maybe your dynamic range is not set properly. If you "sit" in the low end of the range - then that could be a problem. Adjusting the velocity curve can help. If you're too high in the range generally (always pounding - regardless of how it feels to you - more about the range of note on velocity numbers as generally close to 127, the max) - then that could be a problem as well. Again, the global velocity curve may help this. There aren't a ton of options here - so it won't take long to run through the easy changes.

Thanks... appreciate the input.