The Score Magazine - Archive July 2016 issue! | Page 26

Welcome to the new era from the company that brought you the DX and the Motif . Montage sets the next milestone with sophisticated dynamic control , massive sound creation and streamlined workflow .
Yamaha has taken the wraps off the Montage , its new flagship synth , which is very much an all-rounder , and a serious studio / stage instrument that comes in 61 , 76 and 88 note flavours .

MONTAGE

MUSIC IN MOTION

Welcome to the new era from the company that brought you the DX and the Motif . Montage sets the next milestone with sophisticated dynamic control , massive sound creation and streamlined workflow .

Yamaha has taken the wraps off the Montage , its new flagship synth , which is very much an all-rounder , and a serious studio / stage instrument that comes in 61 , 76 and 88 note flavours .

For more than 40 years now , Yamaha has created synthesizer milestones - from the revolutionary DX7 in the 1980s to the legendary MOTIF series , Yamaha has set the standard with its FM and AWM synthesis . Now it ' s time for a meeting of generations : With MONTAGE Yamaha presents a unique flagship synthesizer and re-defines the criteria for stage and studio . Its Motion Control Synthesis Engine , combining FM-X and AWM2 Tone Generators with controllers , allow completely new interaction with sounds and sound shaping , making MONTAGE one of the most flexible synthesizers of all time . At the same time the instrument is a dream machine for all songwriters and keyboardists and comes with 61 or 76 keys with synth action and with 88 keys with weighted hammer action .
At the heart of the Montage is the Motion Synthesis Engine , which combines Yamaha ' s AWM2 waveform-based subtractive synthesis engine with a new " modern version of synthesis " known as FM-X . This offers eight Operators , 32 algorithms and seven Spectral Forms .
Other features include Spectral Skirt and Spectral Resonance - which are said to enable widening of the harmonic curve and the shifting of harmonic peaks - plus filters , EQ , an additional Common LFO and effects .
You ' ll probably be familiar with the AWM2 technology , but in the Montage it delivers 128 notes of stereo polyphony , with the synth having ten times the waveform capacity of the existing Motif XF ( in fact , it looks like Montage is the direct successor to Motif ). This can be used at the same time as the FM-X engine - the engines can be played in up to 16 keyboard zones and also layered .
Montage also promises a new method of manipulating sounds known as Motion Control . The Super Knob can control multiple parameters simultaneously , Motion Sequences enable you to sync parameter tweaks to tempo , and there ' s also an envelope follower .
As you ' d expect , the Montage comes packed with presets , including a high-quality grand piano and synth sounds from Yamaha ' s DX and TX synths . It also offers direct connection to a computer over USB - audio channels for all 16 parts are sent to your DAW , as is MIDI data - and it can even be hooked up to an iOS device .
All three Montage models feature a 7-inch touchscreen ; the smaller two keyboards have semi-weighted synth action keyboards , while the 88-note model has a hammer action .
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