Yamaha Montage M Review // What's new // Poly AT keybed & AN-X explored // M6/M7/M8x Tutorial

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TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
1:20 Keybed
3:10 AN-X
3:35 More knobs
4:20 Sub-display
6:30 Navigation
7:05 Super Knob
9:15 Polyphony
11:10 Misc new
12:05 I/O
13:00 Live sets
13:50 Perf
15:25 Parts
16:10 Elements
16:20 You are here!
17:40 Splits, layers
18:10 10,000 arps
19:55 Rhythms
21:25 Scenes
21:20 Effects
24:15 Mixer
24:50 AN-X details
31:00 AWM2
33:00 FM-X
36:00 FM morph
37:30 Motion ctrl
40:40 Motion seq
42:30 Env follower
43:25 Songs
44:15 Patterns
45:15 DAW remote
45:40 Multisamples
46:00 Pros & cons
50:35 Outro/presets

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[davlippo]

Most M videos are "look how good I can play" or only sounds w/no talking or random comments or comparisons etc. but few are this professional and actually help you learn how to do stuff. Thanks Loopop!

[kaisabushahin]

this was simply one of the tutorials that got me watching carefully for the whole hour. thank you

[JimDaneker]

FINALLY... been waiting for your review. Amazing there aren't any other pro-level reviews out there! I've had some time on an M8X and it's a stunning machine in so many ways. Can't wait to do a proper review as well. Great to see yours!

[fouldeathrat]

At this price, polyphonic aftertouch is a pretty weird place to skimp on the 6 and 7, considering the Hydrasynth Explorer, Atom SQ, and Microfreak are all throw-away cheap in comparison and all have that feature. The lack of step sequencing (super easy on the much cheaper KeyStep Pro), and 16 voice limit on the VA engine also seem strange at this price point.

That said...everything else seems pretty awesome and I kind of want one. XD

[MichaelRohaly]

"The closer shift button would work too." Bless your pickiness. Excellent work as usual.

[maurodonnini]

La migliore analisi tecnica del montage M8x che ho visto in rete. Bravo e competente..

[von_Apa]

Thank you so much! I just got mine and as a musician with a small tech knowledge it’s fantastic to get your knowledge on youtube!
I love the keybed and the presets are great for basic songwriting. I believe this instrument will be in my studio for a long time!

[cornerliston]

Good thing: the touch screen reacts to touch very fast (compare to e.g. the Neumann MT48 interface touch screen which is really slow.)
Although Yamaha would really benefit from increasing their UX/GUI team's skills*. There's plenty to do in this to make it much more intuitive and user friendly.

* Or having the chief product officer let the UX/GUI team have enough time/budget to use their skills.

[CaidicusProductions]

It looks like Yamaha learned a few things from the Hydrasynth, in regards to user interface.

Thanks for a fantastic presenation, Loopop.

[trstack]

As always, incredible, in depth yet simple overview of a very complex instrument. FYI - there are two (2) shift buttons so you don’t have to reach across (2:51) there’s one right under the superknob that would have been faster…

[cpmusic]

Honestly shout out to ASM for bringing poly aftertouch back into the mainstream, without the Hydrasynth I'm not sure if we would have all these poly AT synths and keyboards coming out nowadays!

[uryic]

Thank you, thank you, thank you 1000 times more. this is the 1st video I've seen that thoroughly explains performance layer, part layer, and elements level and the organization and set up of the construction of performances. I get it now. Thanks new subscriber here too.

[NicoVlemmings]

Wow this whas a great demo of the Montage M I ordered mine before this review but this helps a lot thanks !

[renmad]

An amazing musical production machine it's a dream engine. Thank you a lot for this deep video 🙏👍😉

[drakey]

My friend is a super Knob!😊

Ordered mine, 3 more days. Can't wait.

[iblackfeathers]

what these companies should do is make a tablet-based touch display dock that runs off apps and controllable/programmable instead of having to reinvent the wheel on every model iteration. focus more on the piano keyboard, the physical knobs, sliders, pads and switches, connections, and the strengths of what can do while interfacing what most already use in the form of a common tablet.

[dreamstaticsounds]

$3500 for the 61 key model, obviously the cheapest one, and they couldn't even bother to give it poly aftertouch...

[johnmax]

YAMAHA IS THE KING AT OPERATING SYSTEMS ALWAYS

[_c_y_p_]

You could for the sake of standardization of a description compare the aftertouch to the feeling of Novation aftertouch because they use Fatar keybeds which are used on quite a few brands. There is a list online.

[davlippo]

I noticed another big item that's very important, not sure you covered it or sorry I might have missed it. The improved PAC coupled with the improved AMW2 bit depth combined for noticeable upgraded voicing. I don't happen to have both versions side by side but some have said it's a considerable improvement over the original. I've also heard some say they had to push really hard to activate PAT and so they returned their M8x. If you pull up the PAT page and play with the ratio it really jumps out. The stock PAT voices have it extremely subtle but that's just the way it was programmed. It's actually very customizable including sensitivity curve options as well.