Yeah, and even if I only had one finger the Osmose would still feel deeply rewarding to play.
1 Like
Thanks, all, for the informative responses. Though you were supposed to say “Yeah, don’t bother unless you’re Liszt.”
Osmose would not survive Liszt
1 Like
I just got mine last week. For reference in probably over 100 released songs at this point, I’ve kept my actual keyboard playing in one expressive ambient piece (not done on osmose though it would be great for that sort of thing). I can figure out what I want a part to be through trial and error, but playing a part I’ve written is more like 50/50, so I just sequence most stuff, add a little swing and randomize velocity a bit, and move on with my life.
I would say Osmose makes me sound like I’m a better keyboard player than I actually am. Depending on the instrument loaded, I can use the poly AT to emphasize certain notes and that can either sound like I’m playing a melody on top of my chords or it can sound a bit like I’m fingering different chord inversions, all with out having to move my hands beyond squeezing various fingers more or less. It makes a lot of sense to me, and this is the kind of stuff I normally would have to sequence or do over multiple takes because I can only rarely play two separate parts in my two hands and/or find the right notes fast enough to get to the inversion I want in time.
3 Likes
Yes, a whole bunch of playing styles that dont involve having to move your fingers all over the keybed at a million miles an hour can still unlock very rewarding results. So I think a lot of diverse playing techniques for all levels of ability are unlocked by this instrument (and some other MPE controllers too).
1 Like
There’s a player on the AB forum who just posted a thread on why he’s returning his Osmose.
This is a pro level jazz pianist who has been playing for 50 years or whatever. Because of his keyboard skills and numerous tracks posted to the forum, a lot of peeps there respect his opinions on keyboard playing, musicianship, etc.
Having spent most of those decades of experience on piano rather than synth action keyboards, the Osmose has been a struggle for him - he’s not comfortable with wiggling his fingers for pitch vibrato. He doesn’t like the factory presets and doesn’t want to deal with EaganMatrix to tweak the sounds more to his liking. He’s decided that he’d rather get a refund on the Osmose and apply it towards a Kawai Novus whose expense is unimaginable to those of us who cry over the price of an OB-X8, UDO, TE stuff, etc.
So I guess the lesson here is being a virtuoso pianist does not guarantee happiness with the Osmose.
1 Like
It is intriguing that this Jazz pianist strongly considers the (soundless) Roli Rise 2 to be a more adequate alternative, in particular for X sliding. Maybe the Linnstrument would be a much better match for him given its design and built quality, and also because of his AB forum user name 
Happily, there are many great MPE controllers on the market.
I am interested in how Rob Schwimmer, a virtuoso pianist and Theremin&Continuum player, will eventually react to the Osmose. After ContinuuCon, there might be more information on how the Osmose is received in practice in the Haken Audio community.
Naw, the Linnstrument wouldn’t work for him because he can’t even deal with GeoShred which is also has a grid layout. All his GeoShred tracks were done with a keyboard MIDI controller. He wants to stick to a piano layout for notes.
I suspect he would be just as disappointed with the Rise given his comment that he’s uncomfortable moving his fingers sideways for vibrato or subtle pitch bending. Also he might not be fully aware of how much extra mental processing is required to control Y axis placement of his fingers, in addition to velocity and pressure, unless he uses the Y axis only for slower passages like most people. He has no experience on guitar or other string instrument.
I’d love to see this kid play an Osmose. He does have the guitar experience. Talent like his fun to watch, especially with the joy on his face
1 Like
I can get there on public transit! But I have no reason to go. Also I know how to sneak into conferences in my research area, but this might be harder to pull off.
There’s at least one buyer’s remorse post on MW also. I take these with a grain of salt (I can poke holes in the reasoning) but I think these have convinced me to wait for more user experience reports and amateur demos.
you should just buy a ticket 
What I see in common between the buyer’s remorse posts on Keyboard Corner and the AB forum is the customer was not satisfied with factory presets and is either reluctant to learn to use EaganMatrix to tweak presets or has concluded that it can’t deliver the sound that they want because of something inherent to EaganMatrix.
“Two handed playing easily becomes a muddled mess with the presets” is a telling comment.
Costs as much as my research conferences, and I can’t claim it as a professional expense…!
I agree that some of these comments are shallow. But I take seriously Loopop’s observation that chords can be difficult to maintain with pitchbend, and you yourself have pointed out that certain chords may trigger unwanted pressure glide. One can tweak the presets, and while Eagen Matrix looks a perfect horror (I am a computer scientist, I can deal with it, but that’s different from wanting to), it’s not that bad to program a split. But that restricts the four-octave keyboard.
None of these are dealbreakers. They are tradeoffs to be taken into account.
2 Likes
I’m excited to get my hands on an Osmose, and had pre-ordered from Perfect Circuit. But the indeterminate pre-order wait plus the desire to let the firmware mature and manufacturing issues sort themselves out convinced me to cancel my pre-order and wait another 9 months to a year.
That guy is old enough to be my dad. Having dealt with aging parents I get where he’s coming from as far as not wanting to deal with tech more than he has to.
Pressure Glide can be deactivated on the front panel for any preset. There’s a Playing Freeze function which forces current settings on all presets.
1 Like
I get that, but I also can see where I might want pressure glide for certain phrases and not in general. I suppose something can be worked out with an expression pedal.
(I might be old enough to be your dad! But I’m not so much afraid of tech as disillusioned by it.)
Realistically, I would probably just record pressure glide-enabled sounds and sounds without it to separate tracks.
If I ever ended up playing keys live again, I’d bring the double-tier keyboard stand, and use Osmose for Osmose specialty parts and another keyboard for conventional keyboard parts. More stuff to put into the car and carry, but less load on my brain.
1 Like
There seems to me to be a surprisingly large number of negative comments about the EaganMatrix sounds that come with the Osmose. I really like the presets, especially the integration with the keyboard. I don’t own an Osmose (yet), but based on what I’ve heard and seen on various reviews, a rather large selling point for me will be the access to the EaganMatrix sound palette. Anyone who owns the Osmose find the sounds it comes with as appealing as I do?
2 Likes
Bansuri is my favorite lead preset so far. I like the majority of them.
The guys that don’t like the presets are looking more for the sounds they can use with a classic rock/80s pop cover band. 
1 Like