Welcome to the article four in the ESP Series, a deep dive into DAW Remote and ESP Control. If you missed any of the previous articles in the series find them linked below:

• Exploring ESP Part I
• Exploring ESP Part II
• Exploring ESP Part III

DAW Remote and ESP Control

DAW Remote turns your MONTAGE M/MODX M into a hands-on controller for Cubase, Logic Pro, Pro Tools and Live. I’ll be working with Cubase in this article, but the functionality is similar between different DAWs. When paired with ESP you can control the full synth engine from the MONTAGE M/MODX M, automate parameters, and move fluidly between MONTAGE M/MODX M and ESP versions of the same sound. Let’s break down each DAW Remote section—including where to configure Remote settings in Cubase—then explore ESP Control and how to customize it with MIDI Learn.

DAW Remote Setup in Cubase

First, set up MONTAGE M/MODX M as a remote device in Cubase. Here’s how:

DAW Remote Overview

DAW Remote is accessed directly from the MONTAGE M/MODX M front panel using the [DAW REMOTE] button. Here’s an overview of the four primary control modes:

• Track Control: This setting turns MONTAGE M/MODX M into a DAW mixing control surface and track navigation manager:

You can use the Part Buttons on MONTAGE M and MODX M to select DAW tracks, the faders to adjust track volume and the knobs to adjust pan position. Additionally, you can:

1. Select previous/next track
2. Arm/disarm tracks
3. Mute/Solo tracks
4. Customize operations in the User Command section in Cubase Studio Setup

• Plugin Control: This setting allows you to map MONTAGE M/MODX M knobs and faders for DAW plugins apart from ESP:

You can completely customize control for your favorite virtual instruments with Plugin control. Set specific CC numbers for faders and knobs, and configure buttons for latch or momentary behavior. See the screenshots below:

• Transport Control: Uses the MONTAGE M/MODX M transport controls for DAW operation, leaving the faders, knobs, and buttons free for hardware sound editing—ideal when you want full front‑panel editing while still controlling DAW transport.

• ESP Control: Introduced in OS v3.0, this mode lets you control ESP using MONTAGE M/MODX M.

ESP Control turns the entire front panel of MONTAGE M and MODX M into a special control layer whenever ESP is the focused plugin in Cubase. Here’s how the MONTAGE M front panel interacts with the plugin when ESP Control engaged:

MODX M works in a similar fashion:

ESP Control is set to work like the hardware in many ways and adds specific workflow operations between ESP and MONTAGE M/MODX M.

• Direct ESP Control via MONTAGE M/MODX M knobs, sliders and buttons.
• Performance Common, Part Select and Part Element/Operator/Oscillator select for detailed editing.
• Super Knob macro control operates just like the hardware.
• Bidirectional syncing using a simple button combination.

Customizing ESP Control with MIDI Learn

Cubase and ESP both support MIDI Learn, letting you customize assignable controls to specific ESP Parameters. Open assignable controls include:

• Six Display Knobs
• Foot Controllers 1&2
• Modulation Wheel
• Assign Switch 1&2
• Assignable Footswitch
• Channel Aftertouch (MONTAGE M6/7M8x)
• Polyphonic Aftertouch (MONTAGE M8x)
• Ribbon Controller (MONTAGE M)

ESP MIDI Learn is easy to set up. In the example below I chose the Preset Performance Vari Pad 1, a single Part FM Performance. Check out the image below:

Vari Pad 1 uses Algorithm 67. Operators 1,3,5 and 7 are modulators and Operators 2,4,5 and 8 are carriers. Assigning Operator level control to the modulators will give me cool real time control over the timbre of the sound. Here’s how I set up level control using MIDI Learn:

1. Right-Click (or Control-Click) on the OP1 Level slider and the “Learn” dialog box appears
2. Click on the Learn dialog box to open the MIDI LEARN list
3. Move Display Knob 1 to assign to OP1 Level
4. Repeat the same process for OP3, OP5 and OP7 and assign to Display Knob 2, 3 & 4.

Now I want to assign the three FM Color parameters—FM Depth, FM Harmonics and FM Texture—to Display Knobs 5 & 6 and, since I’m using MONTAGE M, Aftertouch. I just repeat the same process listed above and that’s it. Here’s my completed MIDI Learn assignment:

The last step is to save this as a custom Performance in ESP. Note that if I synchronize this Performance with MONTAGE M the Display Knobs assignments will not transfer because they are used for hardware navigation. It’s not an issue as all the parameters above are accessed in Quick Edit with the physical knobs and sliders.

New Creative Workflows

The full DAW Remote environment supports multiple workflows within a single session. Here’s a streamlined overview of each control mode:

• Track Control: Ideal for mixing MIDI, audio, or instrument tracks. Faders and knobs provide quick access to transport, level, and pan, while Part buttons let you select tracks and switch banks for larger projects.
• Plugin Control: Customize front‑panel controls for your third‑party plugins.
• Transport Control: Use when working with the MONTAGE M/MODX M internal tone generator while keeping full DAW transport capabilities.
• ESP Control: Offers dedicated control for ESP, as detailed earlier.

In the next article, I’ll show you how to move ideas from the MONTAGE M/MODX M Performance Sequencer into Cubase using ESP Song/Pattern Import.