Bear in mind you can adjust or turn off the Y axis pitch bend, or change it to control something else, at the patch level.
My own fav is the Japanese flute, Yokobue.
Or at least, it’s the one that made me understand that what I had under the fingers was a new kind of instrument. Or several, as every patch asks for a particular playing style, somehow.
That might be the main problem with unsatisfied users: it’s way easier wher your mindset is to adapt rather than bending the tool to you liking, I guess.
As for the sound in itself, some I hate as much as I love others. EganMatrix doesn’t have one character, it seems very weird to me that one doesn’t like the sound of it.
I must admit that im still on the fence for my last payment since i cant find any sound demos that i like. I will probably get it but the EaganMatrix … i dont know. Im not looking for something analog sounding of course and i like digital. I guess i gotta try to make my own presets.
huh, I missed that preset. I’ll look for it next time I turn on the Osmose.
But I don’t want to turn it off! Like @GovernorSilver, I learned arm vibrato from a stringed instrument (cello in my case) and would like to use it. The question is whether it can be effectively controlled. That may not be a question I can answer for me personally without some experience.
The default pitch bend range for individual keys is a conservatively small number. That’s why you see Osmose players reaching for the pitch bend slider when they want to bend a note up a half step or more.
If you want a wild, bluesy major 3rd bend a la Albert King with just one finger you’ll have to change the pitch bend setting… or do it with 2 fingers (Pressure Glide). I don’t think it will much time to learn how to use this technique musically. Granted it didn’t sound great when I tried it for the first time, but that’s because of lack of practice.
Sorry, I misunderstood. Yeah, i think only you can answer that one by trying it. If you can spare the cash, you wouldn’t have any trouble reselling it if it doesn’t work out.
Probably not what you need to hear though haha.
Banjoy was a really cool preset for me. Besides the fact that I can now live out my banjo hero fantasies, one of the things I’m trying with every sound is just brushing my hands over the keys without really trying to actuate any of them and see how the preset sounds at the lightest activation. Banjoy is interesting in that it sounds like I set the banjo down, or I’m moving my hands on the bridge but I haven’t plucked any notes (I’m assuming a banjo acts a bit like an acoustic guitar in these regards, going by the 2 weeks I spent with acoustic guitar in middle school). It really feels like there’s a banjo string under each key. Seriously impressive, whether I’ll ever use the sound in a recording or not. If nothing else, it could function as a foley of studio prep, with a little work.
With Osmose or Continuum, it is difficult, as a listener, to dissociate the performer’s skill level of wielding pitch from the actual sound of the synth engine. Let a beginner play a single note on a real violin and this note is almost guaranteed to sound like a whining cat. On the Osmose, try a violin patch for a similar experience.
Luckily, we can adjust the sensitivity to something less feline, unlike the violin player, so that one can gradually learn how to correct pitch by ear.
You think you know how a Hydrasynth sounds? Connect a Hydrasynth to an MPE controller à la Linnstrument or Osmose and play it. You may find that it sounds sometimes weird and displeasing.
Find here below Rob Schwimmer’s tip du jour on vibrato for the Haken Continuum, imo also relevant for the Osmose:
Check out more recent videos on his channel to hear how the EM sounds when performed.
no instrument is for everyone…
I’m not surprised at all that people are buying it, and then returning/selling it… this happens with every bit of kit released, its normal, and to be expected.
of course, if you had/have doubts, don’t preorder, wait till its in retailers or trade shows…
(and if you ordered 3 years ago, its pretty simple to sell now at a profit, so nothing lost there)
for sure, I think some got a bit over excited, and created a bit of fomo.
sure, its something that is (possibly) an important development in this area. but that still doesn’t make it suitable for everything/everybody, and we know there is always hype around ‘new’.
so over next few months, we will see the honeymoon phase fade for many… and thats ok, as the rest of us can continue to enjoy and explore the Osmose.
as for me, Ive been happy, it does exactly as I expected… like many expressive controllers/instruments, I do find it excels at the sparkle, the lead lines, and on its own… and I often pair it up with my Virus to do things ‘less in your face’. I particularly like the more natural acoustic sounds, which is what I wanted for my music.
all thats said,I knew what to expect of the EM as Id played the Continuum quite a bit… and I loved it, so no surprises for me on the Osmose on that front.
I will also say that with the EM it’s quite easy to edit presets to ‘dial them back’ a bit, to help move the Osmose into a more general role, or even create your own simpler sounds.
of course, the downside is having to use a computer for editing sounds, but that was always known from the beginning., as was the ‘complexity’ of the EM (which has been available for years to look at) .
so frankly, no one should be surprised in this area, if they didn’t listen that’s on them, it is what it is 
as for Rob, he has been demo-ing Osmose at superbooth for a few years now (on behalf of Haken) , and when I talked to him, he seems to enjoy it for what it is. (he like many, are also continuum players.)
Im going to continuucon, though I think I’ll be the exception only having an Osmose… most I know going, have a Continuum (and an Osmose)
this is probably partly timing, Continuucon was announced when few had their Osmose for any length of time.
( I was different, as Ive known the organiser for years, and also I got my Osmose very early.)
Its going to be interesting though, as there’s quite a lot of discussion there about the difference between the osmose and continuum, and what that ‘means’.
I fear main danger, is that I’ll want to add a continuum… and I already pretty much know an Eagan Matrix Module is part of my destiny !
This is a good suggestion. However, where I live (Minneapolis), I doubt there will be any retailers ever carrying the Osmose. I’d probably have to drive to Chicago to demo one.
I currently have several instruments for which it is possible, and often easier, to edit sounds on the computer than in the hardware (Wavestate, Cobalt8M, and A4, and previously Korg Kronos when the editor still worked on a Mac), but for some reason, I do it for a bit to get the hang of it, and then, after a while, I just don’t.
I am glad to hear some current users sharing their likes about the sounds coming out of EaganMatrix on the Osmose. For me, the sounds seem so well-designed for what the Osmose is designed to do, and for that reason the EM seems like a great fit for creating the presets (and there are so many to begin with), even if I don’t ever end up diving into the EM. With my own history as my fortune-teller, I probably will poke around in the EM, watch some videos, sort of get my head around it, and then after a while, stop turning the computer on when I go into my studio (again) and just play what’s there on the Osmose. This would likely be true even if, as some have suggested or hoped, a third-party or Expressive E comes up with some kind of easier-to-use layer over the EM to make it more accessible. I’d be okay with that, though.
I also wonder if there will be a sufficient market for third-parties to step in and design preset libraries for the Osmose.
then order from someone who has a good return policy 
(as you would anything else?!)
particularly with this instrument, other peoples views are going to be of limited use… since feel and touch is very personal.
the less subjective things … the sounds / presets have been demo’d countless times, and the Eagan Matrix has been demo’d too… so none of this should be a surprise.
BUT slight difference between the option to edit on a computer, and having too., for even basic ‘parameters’
I think some YouTubers have oversold the 8 parameters that you can access on the Osmose itself. yes they change the sound significantly (on some presets) but not necessarily in the way you want… and then you have to go to the EM, and thats daunting at first.
some will be happy with this, others not… but it is, what it is…
Ive pointed out previously, reality is simple… the continuum has had the EM for decades, and only a small percentage of musicians go beyond small tweaks - that percentage I suspect will be no different for the Osmose…
so I guess, we have to be realistic and ‘know yourself’ , and if you are likely to dig into it… be under no illusion, whilst not difficult, it is an investment in time/energy, and not for everyone.
(even though the results can be fantastic)
yes, continuum owners have been asking for this (for a long time !) and also to remove max.
so, it be welcome, but personally, given the small dev team at Haken, I’d not bank on it happening…
and so far, we have heard no noises that EE are considering it.
so Id certainly not buy an Osmose in hope of a new editor, given no commitment, let alone timeframe or scope.
I know Howard Scarr has been playing with it… he was at superbooth in the Haken Hut
but no idea if he has plans to release anything.
I could see EE, perhaps, releasing additional packs… as they have built up the knowledge with EM - and they do something similar already.
(I can also imagine their ‘updater’ app being used to manage preset libraries, so avoiding the necessity for users to get familiar/install the EM editor and Max(
is there the market? difficult to say,
we know they have sold quite a few Osmose, and its likely many won’t create their own presets (with EM) , so seems like there might be market.
but the EM requires a different sound design skillset, so theres an investment, for what is a relatively small market (compared to say a VST) … I guess next 6 months will answer that question.
This is definitely a thing. I’ll quite often be playing a patch and think I’d like to eg. open up the VCA attack and find it’s not an option. Having said that, you do then sometimes stumble across parameters that change the sound in a different way, that you neither intended, nor necessarily understand, and that can be cool.
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yeah, they are designed to be ‘performance macros’ rather than (general) sound design parameters - a subtle, but important difference (given the requirement to use an external editor)
perhaps another important ‘user experience’ is…
imo, I would also say the MPE and general midi implementation on the Osmose still has room for improvement, and I’ve had ‘mixed’ experiences using it as an MPE controller.
whilst, Im pretty confident this will improve over time by EE - I could see this being an issue for some, if using as a controller is an important requirement.
fortunately, for me, Ive little interest in using the Osmose as a controller, so its not really an issue.
I’ll also say, I have found that the Osmose responds well to me feeding it with mpe from my other controllers, but of course, depending on contollers etc, ymmv.
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That’s my biggest interest with it - I’d love to try the playing surface for it’s thing, but really at the minute it’s the cheapest way for me to tap into a 6x processor and EM with an external controller. I’m doing that with a 2x now via continuumini.
And yes, macros - I assume the osmose has them assigned to what used to be called barrels. It’s not too terrible to wrestle with that in the EM and save your variations in a user slot. The EM itself takes some learning, but working from previously created patches seems the simplest way in.
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I’m also in Minneapolis, and I pre-ordered an Osmose from Perfect Circuit back in January. Others have reporting getting shipping notifications, but I’ve not seen anything from them yet. If it ever does arrive, there would be at least one in the area to check out!
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Friends don’t let friends pre-order from Perfect Circuit.
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That would be really great!
What sort of issues are you seeing?