Fav synths and VIs for playing with MPE instruments

#26

Another alternative for people used to playing on traditional keyboards would be TouchKeys or something similar to just tape on the keyboard keys. Pretty expensive and not sure if it works so well, but if you have a weighted keyboard you like to play, this might be the way to go.

#27

I’m definitely a keyboardist at heart. I like to play ideas out and then go back in and do programming based off the ideas/keys played. So maybe I’ll do some research when I’m ready to grab something and finally get something.

I quickly saw the hot hand, it looks neat as well. Might be a great alternative.

#28

Maybe try to find a store where they have that stuff and try it out? All that stuff is still not that common, though, we asked around where I live and didn’t find much a while ago. Also, let me know if I can check or try something out with the Hot Hand for you, I actually bought one of those things before I went full MPE.

#29

Yea. Will do. We have a guitar center and then a few synth shops in Austin. Might be able to. I know I’d love learning the Touché and seaboard stuffs. Just have to see how how I’d get them into the stuff I already use or what they offer for instruments. That type of thing. I get the idea of the hot hand too. It’s similar to why Synaecide ( i think that was the guy, or anondyne was doing with kinect) or like that one antenna intrument thing I’ve seen someone use live. Was an instrument itself.

#30

Make sure they have software that works well with MPE and the guy showing it knows a bit about it when you try it or you might get a very wrong impression!

Something like Bitwig + SWAM VSTis, Equator, Cypher or Falcon MPE patches would be perfect. If they show it in Ableton it will not work polyphonically as is.

Have fun testing out some expressive controllers! Imho this is the point were electronic music is melting back into traditional music ^^

#31

I like the idea of playing in automation. I hate programming automation. So if these things were cheaper, people would definitely get them(as they’re cheaper now).

#32

Just in case: If the available MPE instruments are not enough for your creative ideas regarding expressiveness, maybe you want to build your own instrument instead? The LinnStrument inventor and MPE guru Roger Linn will soon have a workshop on that:

#33

Here’s a new one coming next month. No idea on pricing yet, but I’ll try and keep an eye out. The power here could be modulating the effects per-note with MPE.

#34

Sounds interesting for sure! UA effects have nice modulation systems, even though it starts feeling like the Reason rack when the patches get more complex. Looking forward to the synth, but after watching them putting out BYOME and then TRIAD (basically the same with a frequency splitter) for high prices shortly after SpecOps (instead of upgrading that one to the ultimate effect), I am somewhat less big a fan of UA and expect the pricing to probably be on the higher end.

Also, I think it hasn’t been noted here that the free Surge supports MPE:
https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/

#35

https://synthandsoftware.com/2019/08/roger-linn-digs-into-mpe-controllers/

What type of gear do I need if I want to perform electronic music live?
#36

Quote of the day (taken from Roger Linns newsletter):
" Over 2100 LinnStruments (both sizes total) have now been sold. I think people are slowing catching on the limitations of playing music with on/off switches (MIDI keyboards)."

Also interesting - or funny - how Linn divides musical history into “The era of expressive acoustic instruments (violin, saxophone, guitar, cellos, etc.)”, “The era of on/off switches (MIDI keyboards)”, with the tipping point around 1975, and “The era of expressive electronic instruments (LinnStrument, Roli Seaboard, Haken Continuum, +?)”, with the tipping point around 2025… ^^
http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/why-expression.html

#37
#38

Nice one! A bit on the expensive side if you just want an MPE controller, but maybe it’s a good hook to bring some oldschool analog hardware-type guys to the future :smiley:

#39

Tbh, I’m considering it at the introductory price because I wouldn’t have to depend so heavily on software to play it, which is a nice bonus for me as there’s no great way to run my PC near my hardware right now (at least not for extended periods). Plus, I still need to watch demos, but it sounds like this reacts to how I’m trying to play keyboards right now anyways, so there’d be less of a learning curve than with a Seaboard.

#40

That makes sense and it really looks and sounds good. I personally like the Seaboard surface, but I heard and read a lot of bad comments about it. And Osmose has the EaganMatrix thing from Haken.
Personally I still prefer the Linnstrument for the layout and the flexibility, but this new Osmose thing looks really good.

#41

The Seaborad sounds great to me in principle. I like the idea of being able to pitch bend continuous notes along the top or bottom in particular as compared to the Osmose. But I know a lot of people have problems with at least some of the 5 dimensions of control the Seaboard offers. Liftoff is one I know people struggle with, and a lot just disable it. So then you’re left with 4. The one kick-ass thing a Seaboard has that the Osmose doesn’t is basically a per-note modwheel with the sensitivity to where on the key you’re pressing and the ability to move that to do filters and such. But at introductory price, the Osmose is $100 cheaper than a similarly sized Seaboard (and that is the size range I want to be in, no blocks or 25 keys for something like this).

And I like the way both look in different ways. The Seaboard is so slick and futuristic it almost hurts, but the Osmose is almost the opposite, it presents the keyboard floating on top of the instrument, which sits underneath it out of the way, trying really hard to make you think its just a fancy keyboard.

#42

I thought the Osmose has Y-sensitivity, too? That’s pretty standard for anything calling itself MPE controller.

Also, maybe check out the KMI k-board 4 (no integrated synth but classical keyboard layout and cheaper IIRC).

#43

I was curious as to what MPE+ is, seems to be all about highest precision attack stages evar. Very detailed info about how Seaboard handles this versus the Continuum.

#44

Clear.

#45

Pigments 2 now has MPE support.