Yamaha has shared a sneak preview of a new ‘next generation’ Montage synthesizer.
In July, the company announced that they were retiring the original Yamaha Montage. At the time, they said that a next generation Montage will be coming in October.
The Montage, originally introduced in 2016, has been Yamaha’s flagship synthesizer, offered with three types of keyboards. In 2018, they introduced the MODX, a mid-range keyboard synth line, based on the same technology platform as the Montage.
Yamaha has also shared some audio demos of the new synth:
More audio demos are available at the YamahaSynth site.
An official announcement on the new ‘next generation’ Montage line is expected to come next month.
The most annoying thing for all companies are teasers. I prefer the presentations to be done like Big Bang. Do you remember any CS or DX teasers? They suddenly appeared like comets, and really impressed everyone. Today they give you some features to imagine, and when the synth comes out it might not be as fancy as you thought and in rare cases it might be better. From the first photos, I can see that the montage is the same as the old one, and they just added an extra screen reminiscent of Genos, from other features, no conversation. Of the sounds, the only thing I kind of liked was the quality of the orchestra and a bit of the piano. But I already play such sounds with my Laptop from my VSL and Pianoteq. If it doesn’t have the AN-X and VL-X engines it doesn’t impress me at all. I want to be impressed with something I’ve never heard before, and little by little doesn’t tell me anything. However, so far I have not seen anything impressive from Yamaha. And one last thing, let’s finally separate sample playback instruments from pure synths. The montage could easily be included in a sub-category of the instrumental arrangers, it’s not bad, it would be just as worthy.
I feel sorry for Yamaha, when I compare their real legacy with this….
I would like to see more individual products based on Yamaha’s VCM (Virtual Circuitry Modeling).
Why… in a market saturated with V-Synths this is just what we need to balance out the sound as we work. this sounds amazing and their V-Synth engine will be in there too.
Yamaha synths are cool, but in later years it was their sequencers that really shone. Hoping they will re-enter that space.
The marketing for the Yamaha Reface line was grotesque, they were teased elaborately as if they were the second coming of the CS80 (someone in one of the videos said explicitly “…it’s like real piano keys!”), they pushed all the buttons on avid synth fans in order to generate hype and – yes, while they do have utility as modules with mini-keys, the bait-and-switch was absurd and disappointing. I do have their little CS, to me its utility over software imitations opens up exponentially when you use Logic or the like to simply route aftertouch to the filter (try it!:). But I had a dreadful interaction with Yamaha product manager ‘Bad Mister’ Phil Clendennin afterward in a Yamaha forum, where I asked for and advocated strongly for a modern CS80 and the response was ‘why would I want that on a gig?’ and was pointed towards the whatever workstation…sigh. Too bad, he’s a nice guy, great player but creative and expressive sound design is not (exclusively, if at all) for imitating pianos and organs.
The diminishing live player market is their main focus for keyboards and in spite of their ownership of Steinberg/Cubase, I don’t see any ‘killer synth app’ coming out to follow up on the CS, VL or even DX. Unless I’m missing something? Somebody, please, point it out:) It’s fair to say that Yamaha has no interest in the art of synthesis as more than a means to an end to drive keyboard sales – which is heartbreaking and sucks, frankly. They have their version of the Nord for live piano & organ applications, but I doubt we’ll ever see a gorgeous ‘AN-X’ or CS-X. I don’t know why, given Yamaha’s longtime standing in the very high end piano world, there’s no reason not to honor their legacy in synthesis as well. Spend the bucks, build a top-quality performance synthesizer like you used to, even in a limited way? Build it and we’ll buy it. This Montage mentality is fatiguing.
yamaha RM1X ruled
If someone didn’t hate whatever comes along, the Internet would just become a shopping basket with a PornHub attachment.
Personally, I’d like to hear from a looney who is driving a Montage from Reaper or Live. If you’re not going to configure it for live work, you have to make it studio-friendly with a different approach. As a Hammond replacement, it makes a great Godzilla-sized sound module, c’mon.
Whining about an AN-X surrogate is a sandpaper handy-j in a world bursting with pretty much Everything as both hardware & software. What, too many miracles for you? 😛
Bingo bango.
This is what happens when yamaha corporate musicians are replaced by accountants
Hoping for a groovebox or rackmount version I have no need for giant keyboards anymore.
+1
Can do everything but has no own identity.
Unintuitive Workstation Interface from the late 1990’s
Nothing seems “Next Generation” on it.
Yamahas latest stargepiano-organ-hybrids (CK & CP) are way cooler, more accessible, super immediate and ironically more “synthy” then this.
Plus perfecly intuitive interface.
It better be good as it will compete with Rolands Fantom series.