Yamaha MODX Sound Design & Performance With Richard Devine

At a special event on Sept 14th, Yamaha introduced their new MODX line of synth keyboards – a more affordable version of their Montage synthesizer.

The MODX line features three models, differentiated by their size and number of keys. They include: the MODX6, tailored to synthesists; the MODX7, tailored to live performers; and the full-size MODX8, which offers a graded piano-action keyboard.

In this video from the event, sound designer & composer Richard Devine shows how he’s using the Yamaha MODX6. Devine talks about how he integrates the MODX6 into his Eurorack performance rig, and sequences the setup using a Polyend SEQ step sequencer.

Devine also talks about how FM synthesis plays a key role in his sound design work, and how the Yamaha Montage – and now the MODX – offer a streamlined way of working with FM.

For more on the MODX line, see our coverage of the Yamaha MODX introduction and the Yamaha site.

16 thoughts on “Yamaha MODX Sound Design & Performance With Richard Devine

  1. so much reverb in there, it can drown the building. Why though? it doesn’t help highlight the instrument and it doesn’t make the piece sound more interesting than it is..

  2. Great vid – love how Devine turns all the gear into a complete ‘organism’ and love the Eno-style sounds he coaxed out of the MODX.

  3. wrong approach. yamaha should have insisted devine demo solely the modx. as a listener how can i tell which sound belong to which instrument? confusing as hell. he should have only used the 16-part multitimbral modx and the polyend sequencer. no other gear.

    1. If you watch the livestream playback, it’s VERY obvious that Yamaha is letting its featured artists demo the instruments as they actually use them.

      They all let their freak flag fly, instead of trying to demo a bulleted list of features.

      No marketing team would have come up with the crazy stuff that Nicholas Semrad does with the MODX, and Devine’s performance demonstrated why the heck a modular synthesist might want something like this in their rig.

      Kudos to Yamaha for having the cajones to do this – seeing how artists actually use gear is much more interesting than hearing a company tell you how you’ll use something.

      1. By the way, it’s cOjones, not cAjones. A cajón is a dresser drawer, or a percussion instrument, or a big box. “Cajones” sounds silly, like you are saying that somebody has bells instead of balls, for example. 🙂

  4. “Modular mostly doing the drums.. it wasn’t a complicated patch..”. And this accounts for 700 patch cords. Yes, I know Devine is good, but this so clearly demonstrates that there is more fetishness than necessity when it comes to Eurocrack.

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