#182

I take FH2 is the way to go if I want to explore, rather than the older FH1?

#183

One thing I love about ER-301, SSP, and Serge (which I still admire from afar) are ubiquitous attenuators on every input. It’s a critique of eurorack that I find very valid: not enough built-in attenuation in most modules.

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#184

Yeah fortunately my eurorack is mainly mutable instruments - so they all have attenuators on inputs. As you say it’s a drag having to go to a separate module just for attenuation.

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#185

In my experience, the shuttle control was much easier to set up for mpe than the fh-1 (never tried the -2).

#186

The FH-2 is going to be easier to configure because of its web UI, and it’s got some other advantages over the FH-1. However, as I discussed above, I really don’t think MPE (MIDI) to CV is that great a strategy. Lower your expectations.

#187

Although I’m not a fan of opaque teasers like this, could be interesting


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#188

Interesting. Curious to see what their take on this is.

BUT

They lost me at all the “keyboard” stuff, and the pixelated “keyboard-looking-things” in the video.

Color me over the “keyboard, but more expressive” paradigm.

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#189

that’s very fair. the hyperbole around what an more expressive keyboard has launched a lot of companies and products and none of them have really shifted much of anything musically.

part of that is extra dimensions of expression don’t change a tremendous amount, but another part is that I don’t really think anyone has nailed the actual experience yet. the TouchĂ© feels so good to use that I’m at least hopeful they’ve hit upon something better.

#190

Of course for any new instrument or controller there is a balance between familiarity and novelty. I’m curious what your reservations about the keyboard paradigm is - the use of discrete pitches vs. a continuous surface, the keyboard ‘shape’ vs. a grid, or something else?

#191

I guess in my case I grew up playing piano(/keyboards) and can appreciate some of the mechanical benefits to a layout like that are, but I think the discrete/binary(ish) paradigm of it doesn’t lend itself well to (the kind of) electronic music (that I want to make).

I also think that keyboards + expression implementations that I’ve seen tend to fall in the “worst of both worlds” category just because of the nature of the instrument itself. Keyboard players, and to a certain extent the layout, doesn’t really work with this kind of pressure/expression in a way that doesn’t sound overly MIDI-y.

I’ve not played a ton of these implementations, but the Soundplane feels/sounds good, and part of that I think comes from his decision to ditch the traditional keyboard layout.

I don’t doubt that someone (maybe them) can come up with a version of this that “works”. I still don’t think it will be for me, but that’s neither here or there.

edit:
lol, in rereading a bit of the older posts in this thread (forgetting when/why I started the thread (or that I had even started it)) I inadvertently just quoted/restated myself from 3 years ago (to the month!):

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#192

Yeah I’m still waiting for Soundplane B, but it’s interesting nonetheless since I really enjoyed their take on TouchĂ©. The teaser is awfully cringey though, it makes me want to not be interested, reversed marketting style.

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#193

The most intriguing thing to me about the teaser is that the email says its a collaboration with Haken

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#194

The teaser images look like it’s a keyboard cut down to where the black keys end, with some other type of key underneath. Really strange looking.
I wouldn’t be opposed to a keyboard with an action like a bunch of tiny TouchĂ©s but a piano layout isn’t for me, personally.

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#195

Soooo Expressive E Osmose is out with all sort of awful sounding videos. What are your thoughts? I’m sure @Rodrigo is thrilled by how it doesn’t look like a Keyboard at all.

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#196

It looks like an updated CS80 keyboard!
I think it’ll probably feel better to play on than the Seaboard (which I tried in a store and it was downright unpleasant to touch), which is clearly what it’s trying to compete with. It’s quite a bit more expensive than their model with the same number of keys, though


It makes business sense that they would chase that market as Roli seems to be the most successful in this field in terms of sales (I haven’t looked at figures but you just see them around in people’s studios) but it’s less interesting to me (and probably a lot of other people in this thread). It kind of goes against what I liked about the TouchĂ© being agnostic about what you use to play beyond the expressive part. It doesn’t require MPE or even MIDI.

I do like that they didn’t go all feature-itis on it and skipped sliding surfaces and ribbons and stuff, in the very least people will stay more in tune when playing it (not that some of these demos aren’t horribly out of tune anyway).

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#197

After being fascinated by the Haken Continuum, I bought a Continuum Mini. I have to say that, though it’s limited by it’s mono-/duotactic approach (the second note will share the attack of the first), it shares the 8 note polyphony of the bigger Continuum and the really deep and complex sound engine Eagan Matrix. It is a fascinating piece of gear. The slightest touch will change the sound and it’s easy to get lost in micro-gestures.

That said, I can imagine that Osmose is a really beautiful and innovative Instrument that will likely not have much in common with the approach or feel of the seaboard. I expect Hakens Audios lifelong research in this domain to be the key to a truly new tactile experience.

Off-topic: Not to mention that they are a small company still answering emails themselves :slight_smile:

Edit: Here is a video that explains the sound engine

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#198

After getting confirmation that it has the same hi-resolution sensing and control featured in the Continuum, I pre-ordered instantly.
If it turns out to be as great as it appears, I’ll have an all-hi-res keyboard-ish stack (Continuum, this, and the Casio PX1s for a high res velocity pianoteq controller).

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#199

I thought about it some more, and after checking more about it, I wonder if this isn’t actually an offer to challenge high end midi keyboard controllers, more than it is there to challenge Continuum / Roli / Soundplane / Linnstrument. I mean when I look at this and feature set, it’s got all I could want from a midi keyboard, and the only craving I have is to replace my midi keyboard with this, but I still want a soundplane. I know some keyboardists will probably not like the “feel” of it as a pure piano emulation but that’s not what midi keyboards are for anyway, even the non-MPE ones, and to just do what you already do with a midi keyboard, except instead of turning knobs after the fact, you actually do it while playing with gesture controls on the keys, this seems way better / fun and all. (Especially since I already move my fingers on my keyboard expecting sounds to change because I make a vibrato on it like a stupid guitarist, since
 since I ever started playing keyboards)

I think if I had the money and no acceptable midi keyboard at hand I would have gotten this in a heartbeat. If the promises are kept, it will really make my keyboard feel dated somehow. But as I do not have the money for everything I want, I’ll keep waiting for Soundplane B to have something that just right away goes in a completely different direction, or buy a touchĂ© for less “keyboard oriented” endeavours.

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#200

Different market. It’s competing with the K-Board Pro. (Seaboard has continuous pitch bend between any two keys. K-Board uses X primarily for vibrato. And this one physically can’t start a note that isn’t centered in X)

But also
 I appreciate the Seaboard’s weird touch. It creates haptic feedback that feels like what I’m controlling.

I know I’m in the minority on that, but it’s true. Other MPE things don’t feel right mechanically.

I think this will, though.

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#201

Some of them are. See “anything with weighted hammer action” – those controllers have no other reason to exist, and people pay extra for it.

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