I can only really say I’ve had one revelatory experience like the OP describes and that’s when I got the A198 ribbon controller almost on a whim. It totally transformed how I approach synths. It doesn’t feel any different from an acoustic instrument, with the pitch being fully connected to your touch.
I started making music on the computer without any midi controllers or anything like that. I got inspired to play an instrument aling with my music when I saw Squarepusher play bass, but I chose lapsteel because I liked melodies with slides in them (and probably because I was in my early 20’s and wanted to be different).
Since I’ve deliberately sought instruments out as an adult with the expectation of them being expressive (rather than as a kid being told to pick something up), I’ve never really had as many “wow” moments. Every time I pick up a new instrument and try playing it, it’s awkward and difficult. I can hear potential sometimes but it’s only once I’ve built up skill that I can control the sound to my liking, by the time of which I’m too used to it to be impressed.
Every time you remove a limitation to an instrument you add one more muscle your body isn’t used to being precise with.
I think this is part of why the ribbon works for me, most of the skills I use for it are already from steel guitar or somewhere else.
My current favorite instrument is the pedal steel guitar, which I’ve been playing for almost exactly a year now.
There’s such a difference between sliding between two notes with the bar and moving the same distance with a knee lever. Both are valid but feel so different.
It’s pretty interesting how it’s almost the opposite to a lot of other instruments in what parts of it are difficult. Many instruments make you stretch your hands in awkward ways to make chords, whereas your hands are pretty comfortable for the most part on steel guitar. Your resting position is the same as sitting at a desk, which of course has its drawbacks but you’re not actively supporting the instrument. You are however using your entire body, your legs and feet included, which is pretty uncommon I think.
Sliding the bar around is very smooth and slippery, unlike even other fretless instruments where you still have to get past the pain and probably develop calluses to get good at.
The juxtaposition of this with the “rug burn” comments in this thread is one of several things that still seem immature to me about the current crop of MPE controllers/expressive interfaces. Most of them seem to pick features of common instruments and mash them up in ways that don’t make a ton of sense to me. Why do the ones with continuous so often mark the edges between notes but not the center? It’s the center that’s interesting, not exactly one quartertone off!
Hopefully these opinions aren’t too controversial… I’m not saying these devices don’t sound great or that they don’t help people make great music, I just think this genre of instrument is in its infancy and there’s better to come.
I am generally curious of what the solution would be for a finger touch interface to be as slick as possible, as even my ribbon controller has this problem with friction to an extent. Some kind of coating?
I’ve tried researching this and it’s been hard to find anything that isn’t toxic to the touch or may ruin the device.
