Build Analogue Sounds On Yamaha Montage (Intro to AWM2 Engine) 

Dom this is explained in such a clear and easy to understand manner. I had no idea the montage was capable of emulating analog filters like this, it actually sounds pretty good!

It was taking me a while to warm up to my MODX, but between getting it ready for an 80's gig and seeing this straight-forward workflow for getting instantly recallable analog sounds, I'm pretty excited about it. The touch screen makes such a big difference in the user experience that I'm not nearly as hot to drop money on an old school analog synth as I was. Combine that capability with the light weight (MODX, not Montage) and this instrument becomes exceptionally powerful AND practical.

I’ve owned my MODX for a year and have really enjoyed it so far but your videos have really helped me dig into it more and didn’t realize quite how powerful this thing was

I used to be a Korg guy, the M3 was great and I made a lot of sounds on it! But now, I have the MODX 'cause Dom has made it look so dope!

Man, thank you for your videos! I just got my MODX6 yesterday and you're really helping me out and inspiring me with these videos. Thank's a lot!

After been user of Ableton live, Reason and Cubase for a long time. Now I can see how much powerful is the Yamaha Montage that is my upgrade for my studio. Thank you very much Dom I just learning the keyboard now.

wow! that is just mind blowing...I was actually disappointed with my MODX for having only the Fm synthesis engine but this really opens a whole new world of possibilities. Very well done! I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO A VIDEO ABOUT THE MODX AS REMOTE CONTROLLER OVER CUBASE

Great video Dom! Keep 'em coming.

Phenomenal video Dom. This is one of the key reasons I got a Montage- to play some killer analog type sounds. Thanks Brother!!

Super video Dom, thank you :)

Thank you Dom! Yery clear and impressive explanations, it helps me a lot to create my own sounds.

Absolutely great video! I’ve been trying to decide on a Montage vs a Kronos, and I believe this video pushed me over to the Montage. Thanks again, and please keep the videos coming!

Dom, I have been following along with my MODX8. Very helpful instructions, thank you.

Great video! Thanks!

Great video Dom!

Thank you so much! The Montage is a huge machine, so this tutorial really helps!

Very cool video. I hope a lot of people see it and hear the sound design capabilities on Montage.

That was amazing bro,u made it so simple n easy to understand...God bless u...!!!

You are amazing. I just happened to find you very late on RU-vid!

Great video thks a lot !! So much clearer now

Still works pretty much the same as my 20 year old Yamaha CS6X. My CS6X only has 4 elements though, not eight but I can still use it like you did in this vid :)

Man, Dom really knows how to explain this stuff: charisma, speed, hand movements, great sounds and music.. Also, the best part of this video is that it may apply to many other workstations! I think it is even possible say on the Korg Wavestation app :p the quality of the sounds shouldn't be this good, but still!

Thanks a lot for this video! Until now I didn't find to many videos creating AWM2 sounds from scratch. I just followed your explanations and now I have a really expressive and playable bass sound as a starting point! Really great! If you could do a vid about creating pads on the Montage this would be super interesting for me!

Awesome tutorial man

Greetings Dom very informative!!!! thank you

perfect video!

great infomation dom

These videos should be linked from Yamaha as instructions how to actually use the instrument, the manual explains nothing. Thanks so much DOM!

Thank you very much for your very informative video. 🙏🍀

Keep up the good videos Dom :-)

I can't wait to see when you make the Pads video, also please some vocal dub step sounds. So there is not need to analog gear, just sample their waveforms, lol. I was in my local music store working on the analog engines of the Kronos, I really wanted to take a hammer to my head, it was so confusing. Montage has a more elegant interface, plus it is easier; however the physical modeling of the acoustic pianos, ep, and cx-3 organd are really cool. Just for those 3 out of the 9 engines on the Kronos, I thinking of getting it, to add to it as a second tier to my Montage 88.

damnn you build a cool sound Dom

Very nice lesson Dom. The way you explain makes it even more easier. In future, could you help out on the synth sounds of "I want to break free"

Sei un grande!

Easy AWM2 by Dom, brillant video Dom, i know what i will put on Moessieurs Facebook page tomorrow ;)

Thank you very much!!!

Thank you 👍

Thanks from the future. 👍

Greetings from Pakistan Awesome video really helpful

Very informative. The user manual have room for improvements👍

Thank u . Im trying to find a shofar sound for my MODX8 so far no luck. Now i can try to make it . Thank u again God bless.

The weakness I find is that in typical subtractive synthesis, multiple oscillators are mixed into a single complex wave then sculpted using the filter and amp envelopes. Montage is essentially a “single oscillator synth” in this regard. In simple synthesis such as this demo, it works. But placing a saw, square and sine on three elements respectively then attempting to filter and amp envelope them together is clunky. Your options are: constantly change between the same parameters on all elements and change them by hand - tedious and monotonous, or map some of the envelope parameters to knobs. The latter suggestion “would” have been reasonable and maybe even powerful but then you discover not all the envelope parameters can be mapped to knobs. Montage likes to do this by the way - provide you “some” parameters you can map to knob and some you can’t - often the most useful ones are the ones you can’t so you keep getting checkmated trying to figure out how to accomplish something that is pretty basic in other synths (see also: just changing incoming midi channels of parts)

Very useful information Dom! I always test a new synth by seeing if I can recreate the classic Lyle Mays lead from his Pat Metheny days using pitch envelopes. It's easy with the Montage.

I rebuild your performance and afterwards I compared some performances made with Yamaha Montage and the Moog model D app. I really think the lead and basses performances on the Montage sound better (Phat Analog library 1 installed too). The Montage can replace an analog synths quite good :)

Thank you so much, Dom. You really saved my a**, for I couldn’t figure out how to create basic analog parts on my new MODX7. The manuals aren’t very helpful in this regard. However, I couldn’t find an OB Saw waveform on my machine. Is this an add-pack?

Thank you! I learned a ton. How does this technique compare to just using the 1000s of preset performances available? What is the advantage of starting from scratch vs. modifying a preset in your opinion?

This seems like an incredibly powerful synth having watched this and your FM and sample videos. As much as I like its potential programming it really doesn't work like i expected or seem much fun. I'm not sure if you just prefer to use the touch screen and programming wheel or the encoders aren't of much use when programming. What are they used for? I kind of think that i'd be really no better off programming with this than just using kontakt or omnisphere on an surface pro 6 touch screen. I came across the Montage as I was looking for alternatives to something like the Prophet X (cheaper) but there doesn't really seem to be anything out there that fuses the hands on control of traditional analog subtractive synths with a sample engine. Any ideas?

I have a question Dom, I noticed the AWM2 oscillators look very much like those listed on my Yamaha MOXF, are they exactly the same? or are there extra oscillators in there? I'm just disappointed that they are all totally the same as the MOXF by the looks of it when Yamaha do this they are in fact just recycling all the exact sample based synth. even before the MOXF was released for example the Mo synths also, they are all more or less the same elements/oscillators?just seems they are copying and pasting these into new synths. what's your thoughts on this? YES they are giving the extra FM capabilities so this is all that's been added onto the montage? also are the effects the same?

Cool. If you can do the montage sequencer video tutorials covering also the velocity, note played wrong edits etc. I mean in depth tutorial

Interesting fact, my cs1x from 1996 has this same technology: awm2. Every aspect in therm of editing is there, but with much less intuitive editing, only seeing the values as numbers, and much less waves forms to be used as oscillator.

Again and again I am excited how you are explaining. A galaxy better than Yamaha. Btw. I want to construct the main sound of Alan Walker's Faded; with this exciting raise (cutoff?decay?). If someone has tips...?

Excellent tutorial ... 👏🏼👏🏼 Can you please tell me if the montage has oriental sounds...like ouds bouzoukis kanoun etc... 🙏🏽

Amazing video , I have yet to do any sound design on my Montage because I don't now how until this video . Please do some evolving motion dark warm pad sounds which I fell is lacking from the presets .

Very informative thanks. So to say the kronos has many more engines than the montage and hence must be better is not entirely accurate, given the AWM can be used as a trad synth. Would you agree? Is there any way to do something akin to pulse width modulation on the montage? Also does it have a ring modulator or would this be achieved in fm? Last question - is each osc you add using another note of the 128 poly notes? Thanks again.

Ho Dom - Thanks for providing these awesome tutorials. As a new owner of a Montage 6, this helped me justify spending the money on it. That being said, I was wondering if you have any advice on how to re-create the sound at the beginning of Fox on the Run by Sweet. I figure if they were able to do it in 1974 (ish), we should certainly be able to do it easier now. Thanks in advance - Stevie

Cheers Dom, a really helpful video. Could you please do one on creating motion sequences, i've seen a few but they're not in English so are difficult to follow.

Thanks for sharing. What’s best way to sample a piano sound i like in a wave form and have it play correctly on montage? The length of the recording ?

thats it.... im pawning some equipment to get this thang.

hey very nice video. Could youshow how to make those classic e pianos of the dx7 iifd ?

Very good tutorial ! Now can you please show how to create mystic pads with this keyboard ?

This is a great tutorial. But how can I add another oscillator sample without making a whole new element, so that 2 or more waveforms go classic analog styled through the same filter? Coping an element is not the exact same thing, as it doubles everything and makes the sounds running parallel. Also you have to edit every single element if you just want to change a parameter, for example, the filter envelope setting.

Great vid Dom. I have a Kronos 2 73 key Roli Rise 49 and a Modx6. I had a Roland FA/06 but it sounds cheap, but there's 1 sound from Roland I must have that I miss. The Searing Cosmos guitar. Can you create it on the Modx? Please and thank you.

Thanks Dom, this was useful. I remember from the Motif series that there was also a 'common LFO' with a customisable, step curve. Could you show how it can be applied?

Wold you be so kind to tell me if I conect the dinamyc mic to the modx +,can I sing and record on the stick and do I have pitch correction possibillity?

Dom is it possible to use the left sliders to change a filter envelope on the filter page?

Would the Montage have any presets of early 70s synth sounds? Also, would it have Mellotron sounds?

Hope Yamaha will add à real VA engine in the Montage. Because some basic analog synth functions like Pulse Width Modulation or Hard Sync, for example, are missing.

Does montage/ modx have pulse wave sounds? Thank you

...and all of this is also available on the MODX, right?...... damn that's so good

Hey yo Awesome sound!! digital really overpowers analog in flexibility... but what I didn't get is what does random pan do? is it like a random variable of pan amount between a certain range like cubase modifiers? or?

Would love to learn how to make some Moog sounds, like the Soundtrack from the movie Sorcerer by Tangerine Dream.

Can you do an updated video showing how to use the extended lfo

thats all i wanted to know about this synth

Hi! Does it have unison for stacking oscilators to get a kind of supersaw style sound?

Thank you Dom ! In order to create simple analog synth sounds, I was looking for *Square and/or Pulse* waveforms into the waveforms data list but didn't find any of them. I've found Sine, Tri, Saw but not the others. It's quite weird in such a synth. Do you know where I can find them ? Thank you very much.

would love to know how to do pads with puano like hillsong sounds

As usual, a very helpful and high quality video. I definitely look forward to more. In terms of topics, I would be interested in seeing you do a video on "sonic crossfades" (mentioned briefly in a blog on Velocity Sensitivity from YamahaSynth-Learn here: www.yamahasynth.com/resources/montage-understanding-velocity-sensitivity).

Question with the new update is it possible to a usb mic?

Is it possible to filter all the 8 elements at the same time through one filter?

Hello. Can you make a tutorial on different pad synth as well as brass.

Hello, how are you? I am Moises, and I am writing to know if you can help me with some things that I would like to know about the Yamaha Montage. I want to put some rhythms of merengue, salsa and others inside the Montage but I also want to be able to vary the speed of those rhythms. I guess I can enter them in midi format, but I want you to give me more explanation if you have knowledge of that.

Could you please make a tutorial on creating a paf sound with AWM2 engine?

Deep,

How do you add velocity sensitive to sound?

Hey Dom, is it possible to use/import single cycle waveforms?

Can we buy some samples like this somethere ?

I would work like a sidewinder, search and destroy |:)

Making any sound on this thing is possible. Weather it being from a cs-80 or it being a Jupiter 8 it’s possible.

Can you do the synth bass from Michael Jackson's "black or white" plse?

Can you do this on the new modx?

can this be done on motif??as motif also got the same engine

What does it mean AWM2, FX and FM ?

Should of put in the genos as well

Ok

How to save your work?

15:05 MODX ?

Hello Dom, you have made a tutorial with steps and sound waves that apply to any synthesizer or from any VST that supports multiple waves/layers/elements like Omnisphere, Tone2 Electra2, Zebra2, etc and I can get better Moog basses than the samples from the Montage, because with your finger and navigating on a 7-inch screen it is impossible to schedule anything brother. I can do it for 15 minutes but then the Montage runs the risk of flying out the window of the living room. I think it has been a good tutorial and it applies to the creation of bass Moog using any other synth capable, but tell me, what is innovative about this synth? What does this synth really do that others can not do? to justify an investment above 1200 dollars? to my ears it sounds like the Yamaha EX5 with an improved interface. Cheers..

I pressed “like” at 0:01...

awm2 is so primitive, all kurzweil synthesizers like pc3 or forte have 32 elements per patch and every element (in kurzweil jargon layers) can play one ore two samples and up to four stages of dsp processing including oscillators (so one layer can play up to four oscillator) and shapers, resonant filters and many more....and every elements has also 2 lfo, three complex envelope generators, two asr eg and FUNs (math functions). Even roland engine is more powerful than awm2 because it allows to have ring modulation and cross mod between two samples... Montage is interesting only for fmx engine, awm2 is nice when combined with motion control but it is essentially the same as sy85 only with more oscillators.

Great video! Thanks!