Omnisphere 3 Hardware Guide

Setting Up the Montage

The Yamaha Montage is an extremely powerful workstation that can be used for a wide variety of musical applications, from composition and recording to live performance, including the ability to control external devices. When using the Montage to control Omnisphere, the eight ASSIGN knobs on the Montage will be assigned to the following Omnisphere parameters:

  • Knob 1 (CC#17) – Global Controls Cutoff
  • Knob 2 (CC#18) – Global Controls Resonance
  • Knob 3 (CC#19) – Global Controls Filter Envelope Amount
  • Knob 4 (CC#20) – Global Controls Vibrato Depth
  • Knob 5 CC#21) – Global Controls Ambience Amount
  • Knob 6 (CC#22) – Global Controls Ambience Length
  • Knob 7 (CC#23) – Global Controls Unison
  • Knob 8 (CC#24) – Global Controls Glide

Although Omnisphere relies on certain default factory settings of the Montage, it is necessary to go through a short setup process to ensure the best experience. There are many ways for the Montage to control external gear, but we recommend following the steps below to get you started controlling Omnisphere.

Setup

To control Omnisphere using the Montage, you’ll need to do the following:

  1. Connect the Montage to your computer via USB.
  2. Set up the Montage to control Omnisphere.
  3. Download and install the Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver for your computer.
  4. Enable the Montage as a MIDI input device in the host software you’re using (DAW, Standalone, etc.).
  5. Activate the Montage Hardware Profile in Omnisphere 3 or later.

MONTAGE SETUP

The Montage is primarily designed to control its internal sounds, so we’ll guide you through the process to create a simple Performance on the Montage with a Part dedicated to only triggering and controling sounds from Omnisphere.

First, you’ll need to make sure “Zone Master” is ON. This will allow you to configure any of the 16 Parts within a Performance to control external hardware or software such as Omnisphere:

  • Select [UTILITY], then go to “Settings” > “Advanced” > and set “Zone Master” to ON.

Next, let’s create an initialized Part that we’ll use for Omnisphere within a Performance:

  1. In a Performance of your choice, select the [PERFORMANCE] button.
  2. Select a Part that you’d like to use for Omnisphere (you’ll need to remember which Part you’ve selected later on).
  3. Select [CATEGORY]
  4. Choose “Init” in the Main Categories, then select “Init Normal (AWM2).”

Now that the initiallized Part is loaded in your Performance, we’ll begin to configure the settings of this Part to only send MIDI to external hardware or software:

  1. Press the [PERFORMANCE/ Home] button.
  2. Press the [EDIT] button.
  3. Select “COMMON” found in the lower left side of the screen.
  4. Select the Part that you’ve chosen to use for Omnisphere. A pop-up menu should appear with an “EDIT” option.
  5. Select “EDIT”, then select “Part Settings”, and finally select “Zone Settings.”
  6. Change “ZONE” to ON.
  7. Change “INT SW” to OFF.
  8. Set the “TRANSMIT CHANNEL” to Channel 1.
  9. Next, select “Zone Transmit” and make sure “CC” is ON, and that all ASSIGN Knobs (A. Knob1, A. Knob2, A. Knob3, etc) are all set to ON.

Now let’s make sure the Assign Knobs on the Montage are enabled and sending the correct MIDI CC# messages used to control Omnisphere:

  1. Press the [ASSIGN] button near the knobs on the Montage.
  2. Press the [PERFORMANCE] button.
  3. Select “EDIT” then “Control” < “Control Number.”
  4. Make sure each of the Assign knobs are set to the MIDI CC#s listed at the top of the page.

After going through these steps, you should have a Part within your Performance on the Yamaha Montage M that does not trigger any internal sounds and only sends MIDI. You can save this Performance to recall at a later time or import it into your Live Sets by pressing the [STORE button and giving this Performance a unique name.

MIDI OUTPUT SETUP

Follow these steps to configure the Montage to send MIDI through USB:

  1. Press the [UTILITY] button.
  2. Select the “Settings” tab.
  3. Select the “MIDI I/O” tab at the left side of the display.
  4. Set “MIDI IN/OUT” to “USB.”

USB DRIVER

  • Check to see if the necessary Yamaha Steinberg USB driver has already been installed by opening up the Omnisphere Standalone (or your preferred DAW) and verifying the Montage is on your list of MIDI inputs.
  • If the Montage is not listed as a MIDI input, download and install the driver that is compatible with your computer’s operating system from the Montage Downloads page. Restart the host and you should see the Montage in the list of MIDI Inputs in your Host.

HOST CONNECTION

  • Open your host (DAW, Standalone, etc.) and make sure the Montage is enabled as a MIDI input device.

OMNISPHERE SETUP

  • Open Omnisphere and from the header, select the HW menu button.
  • From the drop-down menu, select “Yamaha > Yamaha Montage”, and activate the Montage hardware profile that matches your keyboard.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Not working? Here are some things to try:

  • Is your DAW receiving MIDI from the Montage?
  • Make sure your DAW is configured to correctly route the MIDI output of the Montage to the MIDI channel assigned to the desired part in Omnisphere.
  • If you are using the Omnisphere standalone host, make sure the MIDI output channel of the “Init” Part on the Montage matches the MIDI channel of the Omnisphere Part you want to control.

SUPPORT

Still not working? More questions?

Feel free to contact us directly and we can work with you:

Tech Support
888-870-4223 toll free
818-955-8444
Monday – Friday 10AM – 5PM Pacific Time

email: info@spectrasonics.net