Anyone knows a bit about the sound engine ? I mean not a link to the description but actully used it a bit ?
Any words on multitimbrality ?
Is it fully standalone ? I suppose we can’t program anything from the device itself but how many parameters can be controlled per patch on the front panel ?
Midi processing ? At least filtering ?
Could it take the space of my G2 ?
Seems only one stereo out…
Tons of questions !!
Asked directly to them on facebook. I will report answers if anyone interested !
Thanksa lot.
Seems nice and powerfull.
Nothing on possible key splits/multitimbrality though.
And I need to understand its routing options “from device”.
Anyway, I start to hear some bells in the background…
This was my experience with Touche and my Roli Rise 25. When staying within their comfort zones (ie. their standalone apps) then life was simple and fun - though Touche had a really annoying bug where every time I changed a preset it asked me if I wanted to save despite making no changes. But when trying to use both with other synths (soft and hard) it all just got a little too much and a pain in the arse for me.
Some are right into making templates and things in their DAW and that might have circumvented some pain but I couldn’t quite fit into the necessary workflow. It’s as much a “me” issue as it is a hardware one.
For me, I suspect Osmose will make a fantastic standalone device but trying to use it ITB will be a let down. Stressing the “for me” part there. No big deal, it’s cooled the GAS for now!
As far as I can assume from what I have seen in Cuckoos great video (maybe he is so kind to give us more information here, @cuckoomusic ?):
At the Osmose there is no z axis at all. (moving your finger from front to back, no touch sensor) Edit: y axis is meant here. It is named this way in the Eagan Matrix and in the Haken Continuum
At the Osmose there is a “x-axis” (moving the key left-right) per key which allows to pitch bend each key (or map it to other parameters). I.e., the free sliding which is possible on the Continuum is not possible on the Osmose.
The y-axis (pressing the key down) is far more sensitive and has a very much wider range than “standard” after touch keyboards. Edit: this is the z axis
So, yes, it seems technically the control dimensions on the Osmose are fewer compared to the Continuum. On the Continuum I was a bit lost when I tried it so I am looking forward to trying out the keyboard on the Osmose. At the moment it seems that you cannot have everything.
exactly! that’s actually why I’m still hesitant here, the velocity issues that come up with strike with eg the Roli Seaboard when using non-tailored synths has me a little concerned that this will be no different. otherwise for that pre-order price, it’s a steal!
continuums (and eigenharps) excel on strike, imho.
I don’t think you can really compare a continuum and osmose.
the continuum is continuous in x/y/z - and very dynamic - but is more expensive, and needs an adjustment in playing style.
looks like the osmose will be easier to initially adapt to for a keyboard player, but of course, will still need practice to use the new expressive features.
I think @cuckoomusic demonstrated this excellently… he is the only one that showed clearly how you would approach it differently to conventional keyboard.
(how it strikes/caresses the keys … perhaps due to his experience with the continuum?!)
that you be y-axis … z-axis is pressure.
for sure, this is literally true… but its not quite true
the osmose has 2 stages on the key press, the first is very light and is what would be thought of as Z, but after that there is a second stage (which you can feel come in) this in MPE terms is timbre (often referred to as Y axis)
what this means is there are still 3 dimensions to the sound, that are polyphonic.
BUT is not independent of Z, ie. Z will be 100% before Y starts taking effect.
what this means is it will play differently, but that’s not a bad thing,
none of the current crop of expressive controllers feel the same, they all have a different feel - its their ‘character’.
I used to believe that ONE expressive controller, would be ultimately be flexible, and do everything well… I now no longer believe this, I think they all have their own characters and offer something slightly different - so which is ‘best’ depends upon what you are looking for
its is standalone, and has stereo output (plus headphone) ,
you can do you can layer, create processing chain, splits.
I think they said 8 (?) encoders, which will control patch parameters.
but EaganMatrix has a huge number of parameters (like a modular), so id assume this will feel more like performance parameters?
there are details about the Eagan matrix on the Haken website, its a complex beast - the key is how closely tied the sound is to the user interface, really you need to read up about it - you cannot think about it like a conventional synth
perhaps the most impressive thing (at least on a continuum, and I expect no less on osmose) is how well crafted the presets are… they are not just ‘synth’ presets, they are very closely tied to how the playing surface works - this means each ‘preset’ feels like an instrument and has to be ‘learnt’
this is a definite case where Quality is much more important than Quantity.
The encoders do seem like they will be performance parameters. I don’t expect setting up a patch to be quick or simple, necessarily. The gestural domain and parameter scaling sensitivity of these instruments is more complex than the note on, off and velocity sensitive options readily available.
I hope that the controller itself is of high quality and that interfacing it with other bits of gear and software will be relatively simple in terms of getting things going and rapidly achieving playable results.
whilst it can be a controller (like most synths) , I think its better to think of it first and foremost as an instrument … as I think when we first get it, that’s where most of us will spend most of our time with it… and being standalone it will be immediate.
that’s at least how I look at it.
as for the rest… if you want to use it with a computer, just look for MPE compatible VSTs and DAWs… but expect to tweak MPE patches that are not explicitly designed for Osmose - this is normal.
if when you get it you need any more help in this area, we have a dedicated community for these expressive controllers where you’ll find lots of experience.
With the piano like familiarity factor I anticipate a lot of adopters to be excited in equal measures about its standalone capabilities and ability to control other MPE designs. I’m hoping it is a strong contender in the latter and from what we’ve seen seems like it’s going to be incredible standalone.
Not sure If mentioned above already but Expressive E confirmed that you could ramp up the sensitivity and play play the x axis for slides across the parts of instrument attached to the keys. Not designed for this but they said it works. Thought I’d chuck that out there as someone asked above.
I’ve tried both the Continuum and the Roli Seaboard. Both are very responsive controllers. Continuum just feels a wee bit more like an instrument.
Y-axis control on Continuum makes sense. On a piano style keyboard like the Osmose however, it would be more difficult to learn how utilize the Y-axis for real-world playing because the black keys are raised relative to the white ones, and your finger generally has to reach further “up” your hypothetical Y-axis to play a black key as opposed to a white one. A lot of fingerings for scales, arpeggios, chords, etc. incorporate both thumb and fingers, and the thumb generally touches a lower region of the Y-axis than the fingers, and middle finger touches a higher region - in short the varying lengths of thumb/fingers adds an additional complication.
Anyone who has played music like the Bach Inventions or bebop lines on the piano will understand what I’m talking about.
Just as much to have that Eaganmatrix synth (seems sort of Madrona-like?) as to have a very nice looking piece of keyboard hardware for my guitarist fingers.
