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Yamaha has announced that they are discontinuing the Montage, their flagship workstation synthesizer, but says that a new synth workstation is coming in October

Released in 2016, Yamaha Montage synthesizer workstation has been hugely successful, finding a berth in studios and on stages around the world.

The successor to the Motif, the Montage was powered by the Motion Synthesis Engine, which combined Yamaha’s AWM2 waveform-based subtractive synthesis engine with a “modern version of synthesis” known as FM-X. It was released in 61-, 76- and 88-note formats. Explaining its decision, Yamaha has indicated that it has taken the Montage as far as it can. “As much as we would have liked to, we cannot develop the current Montage any further,” it explains in a statement.

But Yamaha also had good news to share about the Montage line, though, as Yamaha is saying sayonara with one final set of free content for Montage owners. This contains three acoustic pianos: a Yamaha U1 upright piano, a Yamaha C3 grand piano (AKA “Nashville Grand”) and a Felt Yamaha U1 upright piano.

In addition, the company is teasing that a next-generation Montage is arriving in October. Whether this will be an evolution of the existing model or a completely new design remains to be seen, but more information is set to be confirmed on the Yamaha Synth website in due course.

Here’s what the company says:

“Today we are discontinuing the MONTAGE music synthesizer.

Since its launch in 2016, MONTAGE has provided musicians with new ways to express themselves. As much as we would have liked to, we cannot develop the current MONTAGE any further.

As a thank you we are providing a final set of content free of charge for all MONTAGE owners. This pack contains three acoustic pianos: a Yamaha U1 upright piano, a Yamaha C3 grand piano (AKA “Nashville Grand”) and a Felt Yamaha U1 upright piano. MONTAGE owners can download this content free of charge right here.

We appreciate the music you made as well as the passion you show for Yamaha Synthesizers. Thank you for your support!

And one more thing…the next generation MONTAGE synthesizer is coming in October.”

What features would you want to see in an updated Yamaha Montage? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Yamaha EZ-300 arriving just in time for the holiday season.

The Yamaha EZ-300 is an electronic keyboard with a difference. The instrument is a light-up electronic keyboard that helps beginners learn to play. It has the usual built-in accompaniments and lets you trigger chords with a single finger, but its big USP is a light-up keyboard that promises to make it easy to learn to play, just by following the lights.

Choose from 140 built-in songs and add more as MIDI files:

You select one of 140 songs and you can then play along just by following the lights on the 61 touch-sensitive keys. Further assistance is at hand with the Keys To Success feature, which divides songs up into shorter phrases known as Steps, which enable you can literally practise sections a Step at a time, with the option to slow down the tempo to make learning even easier.

Built-in sounds include pianos, organs, synths, strings, brass, percussion and guitars, and there are also SuperArticulation Light Voices that add gestures – pizzicato plucks on a violin.

If you want more songs, you can download MIDI files from the Yamaha online shop and then import them via USB from a Mac or PC.

The Yamaha EZ-300 &  Yamaha EZ-300 Kit available now.

The Yamaha PSR-SX series is the new generation digital arranger workstation keyboards replacing the popular Yamaha PSR-S range. The two new models in the PSR-SX range are the SX700 and SX900, both equipped with more Voices, more Styles and a new Design.

Besides getting a completely redesigned user interface with an integrated 7” touch screen, new assignable buttons, joystick expression and live controllers, all taking their cues from the flagship Genos range.

In addition, the new SXs are packed with a vast range of expressive sounds and voices than ever before, makes the PSR-SXs your ultimate musical partner.

The PSR-SX900 features:

• • 1337 Voices, including 252 Super Articulation Voices, 24 Organ Flutes! Voices. 56 Drum/SFX kits
  • 525 Styles, including 463 Pro Styles, 46 Session Styles, 10 DJ Styles and 6 Freeplay Styles
  • Pre-installed Expansion content
  • Real Distortion and Real Reverb, with an intuitive effects interface
  • 1GB on-board memory for expansion data
  • 4GB internal memory
  • MIDI song file capacity: 3MB per file
  • Joystick, FSB keyboard, Sub output, and Expansive Soundfield Speakers for powerful live performance
  • Intuitive and fast control with 7″ colour touch screen and Assignable function
  • Chord Looper function
  • Mic/Guitar input for use when singing or collaborating with other performers
  • Playlist and Registration for quick and easy setup
  • Vocal Harmony and Synth Vocoder functions
  • Audio Recording (WAV/MP3)
  • Voice and Style expandability with the Yamaha Expansion Manager
  • 2 USB TO DEVICE terminals
  • External display capability
  • Bluetooth Audio *may not have this functionality depending on the country.