#26

I believe this boils down to technique. You can achieve very slow and control pitch bends and parameter mods on the Linnstrument. Aftertouch gives almost as much control as some of the very good keyboards controllers. But, to achieve the precision you seem to be after will take practice and control - but is doable.

You might also want to look into the Continuum.

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#27

Doable with some study is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Thanks and happy new year!

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#28

The last couple of firmware updates have been pretty stellar. The velocity response has improved dramatically since I received by device at the end of the summer. It’s still not like playing a piano, and I suspect it never will be, and probably shouldn’t be, but it’s a lot more playable nowadays.

The most recent update also allows you to greatly increase the dynamic range of the sensor; before the update I was able to reach the maximum pressure output very easily (too easily in my opinion), but the update allows you to set the device so that a much greater force is needed to max out the output. While this may be slightly less ergonomic, I feel it greatly increases the expressive range of the instrument.

In this regard, I think the pressure response of the linnstrument is very well suited for slow modulations (especially since the last update), and you could definitely accomplish this with the x axis response. The y axis is a little bit tricky, in my opinion. I find this modality to be the most difficult to play with meaningfully, but I expect this will improve with practice.

The pressure can be easily set on the linnstrument to output 7 or 14 bit CCs, which is what Roger is referring to in the quote posted earlier. I have found 7 bits to be adequate, but it’s definitely nice to have the 14 bit option.

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#29

Oh! I’m happy to be corrected on this point! :slight_smile:

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#30

It was in a pretty recent update. The excellent support and continued development are definitely among my favorite things about the linnstrument.

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#31

I probably shouldn’t have, but I played a Haken Continuum at NAMM yesterday… daaaaaamn. I know what I am getting next…

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#32

I realise it was probably a relatively brief experience playing the Continuum at NAMM, but how would you compare it to the Linnstrument? What makes you want to buy one?

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#33

It’s just incredibly responsive in every dimension and feed great to play. The onboard DSP synthesizer sounds great too.

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#34

Trying color coded notes in a fourths layout because why not?

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#35

Thanks to advice from this community and then a trade, I now have a linnstrument. It’s a real joy to play, especially with MPE synths (A Modor and Deckard’s Dream). I’m wondering if anyone here has encountered good exercises for practicing with it? Could be sheet music, tab, whatever, just curious if anyone here has encountered or invented a disciplined way to improve their playing. If so, let me know!

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#36

I get great mileage out of practicing the Linnstrument as if it were a guitar. Same scales/exercises, etc.

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#37

Thanks! that’s helpful, do you use all the same chord voicings? This is the part of the linnstrument that I feel is trickiest.

My hand has a hard time making the same chord shapes, rotated 90 degrees, as I would use to play chords on the guitar. Obviously, it’s easy enough if I use two hands. But then I feel like I’m kind of not taking advantage of the spacious layout of the keys and when attempting something like a left hand bass/chords and right hand melody kind of thing, It feels a little tricky/cramped to play one-hand chords. I’m trying to figure out other, more vertically splayed forms of familiar chords but haven’t gotten there yet.

#38

@rstn you are likely a better guitar player than I am! :wink:

These are the chord shapes I use.

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#39

Apologies if this doesn’t fit into the “what are you doing with…” prompt of the thread, but as this seems to be one of the Linnstrument hubs in the forum — does anyone have experience using both a Linnstrument and a Sensel Morph? I’m curious about the differences in physical sensitivity / configurability between these two.

I currently have a Morph, and while it’s really responsive in some ways, I feel like the lighter-pressure-responsiveness needs tuning that Sensel’s apps don’t provide. For example, the “sensitivity” seems to control a pressure threshold after which a note on or off is sent, rather than defining a curve or something like a velocity delta. The result for me is that it takes more pressure than I expect to trigger a note-on, and a note-off comes sooner than I’d like. Does the Linnstrument exhibit problems like this when playing with light pressure?

#40

I have been using 16 of the pads for cc-control. This works really well!

I am still only scratching the surface of my Linnstrument, but my favorite things are:

The layout: As a guitar player I never got comfortable with the piano layout of midi kayboards.

Pitch bend: Even in monophonic mode being able to slide and use vribrato is SO nice!

After touch/expression: Like mentioned before, using 16 pads to mirror 16 knobs is great.

I am demonstrating it 40 minutes into this interview: https://youtu.be/iZut6Ksv5I0?t=2440

#41

The linnstrument is a very sensitive instrument. Velocity and pressure sensitivity are also adjustable on the unit, using the global settings area.

I haven’t tried a Haken Continuum yet, and I get the impression that its Hall effect sensors may be even more sensitive than the Linnstrument’s FSR array, but compared to the Roli Seaboard Grand (which cost multiples of the Linnstrument price) I found the Linnstrument to be responsive, consistent, and reliable.

#42

Having owned a roli, linnstrument and continuum (in that order) I’ve found the Continuum to be the most sensitive and interesting to play. I didn’t like the lack of movement on the linnstrument at all tbh. The continuum allows you to tap, push, scrape etc. I’m so many different ways (with tactile feedback) which invoke different sounds so beautifully from the Eaganmatrix synth.

1 Like
#43

A scrape is a very subtle gesture! Impressive. Usually requires mics to pick up something so subtle.

#44

It’s partly down to the sound design of course but it’s certainly a surface which allows multiple ways of playing.

#45

What’s your go-to sound when you want to practice or play right away? I love sound design but not when I want to get right to playing. And sound choice can be the difference between feeling like you’re playing an expressive instrument or like you’re tapping on a table since Linnstrument has very little physical feedback.