Hi Paul,
Welcome to Yamaha Synth. We will look in depth into your situation. The Montage is different in many ways from the Motif XF.

You should go to the official Yamaha download site and download the Reference Manual, the Data List booklet, and while there get the latest firmware version 1.10.x
http://download.yamaha.com

There is a method to (apparently) link Song&Performances. There is an option to recall the data with such an option "Song&Perf". What we have observed thus far:
Songs are kept in a SONG folder in the internal memory
Performances are kept in a separate folder in the internal memory
As many as 64 SONGS can be in memory
SONGs can be loaded independent of the Performances
There is an option to load both Song&Perf.

There is but one Play/Rec player, you can independently recall a SONG, or you can recall a SONG + a PERFORMANCE.

These folders are found in UTILITY > "Contents" > "Data Utility" > select the folder

We will look into the exact steps to create the link, and the ways to best manage SONG/PERFORMANCES and report back. Currently, I'm able to use the function "Song&Perf" to instantly recall the appropriate combinations. But I have not had time yet to stretch it in all directions.

Okay, I setup my Montage, upgraded to 1.10. I found where I can select a Song + Perf, and it indeed is linked to the Performance it was created under. This is not very convenient for live performance; three or four touch screen options to go through. So yes, it would be be much more convenient if I could select a Performance and have it remember which Song is attached to it. If you can find some way please let me know. Also, I would think one should be able to change the link.

Then the other major feature I need to figure out. On my Motif I use zones to give me control over various channels. For instance, Bass in channel 1, Piano in channel 2, and Drums in channel 8, performed by the MIDI sequencer, not the keyboard. The 8 sliders control the level of each channel. You taught me how to set this up when I bought the Motif.
I found how to turn on Zones, and set their MIDI channel. I see that by default the sliders correspond to each Part. But once I set a Part to a Zone, I loose all of the sliders. How do I assign the sliders to each MIDI channel?

Thanks again so much.

Paul

Okay, it all kind of came together for me last night. I loaded one of my sequences into the Montage, with drum tracks on channel 8. I added drums on track 8, turned off Kybd Ctrl on track 8, and all is well. I did finally realize that you have to get out of Part mode, back up into Performance mode for the sliders to again control each track. So apparently, (although I haven't actually seen documentation yet), each track is set to its respective MIDI channel. I was making it too difficult.
I do find selecting a Song+Perf to be a bit tedious, especially when onstage, between songs; but I think it is livable. I understand that a Song can be saved to point to a Performance. So I assume (I will have to test this) that I can have multiple Songs pointing to the same Performance. If this is true, then it will make setup a bit easier, where I use the same instruments for multiple songs.