I will give that a try. I have also been playing around with the setting “no overlap” because one of the wierd thing for me about the default “4ths” layout is the overlap. So, even if I use the “octave” setting, with each row having 16 pads, on a chromatic 12 tone scale, then there is overlap too.
If anyone has a relatively simple solution for changing the scales/notes layout beyond the limited settings available on the panel on the Linnstrument, that would be great.
LS entered my life before OT. One thought was that the OT would be perfect for capturing the audio from the pseudo-MPE LS performances I’m getting out of my various MIDI gear. (It’s written in various places that LS is designed with performance in mind, and that recording LS output into a MIDI sequencer is not its intended use case. This seemed like a perfect place for the OT’s audio features to step in, in my mind.)
Any 80s/90s MIDI gear that has a “MIDI Guitar” mode is a prime candidate for LinnStrument exploration, in my opinion/experience. Turning “MIDI MONO” on and adjusting pitch bend range on the Oberheim Matrix-6/R is way fun, for example. And my experience setting up “multi” patches on Roland, Ensoniq, and Yamaha gear has also brought about some really wild, fun performances. (The only downside to setting old gear up this way is that it is often only palatable to edit multis by keeping the old editor software alive on old computers. This sometimes feels not-so-different from the fiddly on-screen knobs of VSTs , except more complex, less flexible, and more space-consuming…) I’ve wanted to create a kind of “knowledge base” about what I’ve learned using LS with this old gear, but haven’t done so yet. (That requires a level of organization and self-reflection that has eluded me lately. 
)
I’d like to dive further into modulating FX simultaneously with pitch/patch/timbre modulation via the same X/Y/Z movements and/or lower-row mod wheel/CC.
This reminds me of a trip to the Vintage Synthesizer Museum… 
Fantastic photo!!
This makes sense to me. I read somewhere (up above in this thread or over at KVR) that Roger Linn added sequencer capabilities to the Linnstrument mostly at the request and as a favor to the software developer (Geert–can’t remember his last name) who wanted this added.
For me, my favorite thing to do with an MPE player is to set up immersive experiences with it–configure a complex sound with lots of modulations controlled by x-y-z expression, hit record, and then choose different chords and close my eyes and “feel the force” (sorry, couldn’t resist). I get lost in the joy of having all that control at my fingertips without having to look at anything, not a screen, not a knob or slider, not take my hands off the pads or keys to grab a mod wheel, nothing at all, just my fingers, the sounds and my ears. Not much comes out of it worth keeping, or that I know what to with it, but that’s okay, I guess it is the sonic version of “dancing with myself.” I feel like I almost literally swimming in the sounds I can create this way. Okay, I’ve gone off the grid here. Please forgive.
Maybe I will learn to do this with the Linnstrument connected to the Hydrasynth or a VST like Equator, and then run it into the OT, then chop it up into various bits. Should be fun!
I asked Roger a few months ago about an alternate firmware that would swap the sequencer with a midi looper, which Geert thought was an interesting idea, but Roger wasn’t interested. In my mind, a looper is more interesting than a sequencer here, because you’re not going to be meaningfully editing MPE data, especially in hardware. On the other hand, recording midi instead of audio for the loop means that you can tweak the synth patch while the performance loops. I think midi looping is actually the perfect complement to a performance-oriented instrument.
Sadly, only the MIDIRex supports MPE looping in hardware right now, although the Midiphy folks have expressed potential interest in implementing it in the Loopa v2 once they’ve finished Matrix support. Both devices are pretty memory-limited, though, so the eventual answer might have to be a small Android device running a dedicated software looper.
Replying here as there is new midi mpe looper both hardware and software.
Squarp Hapax hardware sequencer can record MPE and soon to be edited on the machine itself.
See here (doc) and here (forum)
And there is an iOS app to loop mpe as well.
Midi tape recorder
Here
Good to know! I’ve got an rk008 coming to try that for MPE looping, because it should do MPE looping and it’s a convenient form factor — I’m actually thinking of just velcroing it to my (battery-powered, widi-connected) linnstrument and partially controlling it with a one-column split of CC buttons and/or a wireless foot switch.
I asked a friend to buy a used Linnstrument in the US, as another friend was coming there for a vacation. Of course, he didn’t ship it in time, so now my $1200 controller is stuck in the US with no hope for getting it anytime soon. Maybe in an year or two someone flies there again and has some space in the bag on the way back. It sucks.
In the meanwhile, a couple of Launchpads is a poor man’s Linnstrument.
Forgot bastl midi looper ?
I’ve got one, but it explicitly doesn’t support MPE. I haven’t checked in again recently, so maybe that’s changed, but when I last asked, they said they weren’t interested in implementing it.
I haven’t had the chance to play the Linnstrument too much but it pairs very well with Bitwig. It’s super easy to set up MPE on any device or FX with it. You can always use the modulator as source.
And Bitwig 4 tracks is offered with the Linnstrument. @Dymaxion one more MPE looper.
Ah, yeah, I know there are a ton of options in software; I’m mostly interested in hardware options. If I had to set something up just controlled by a pedal or something so I didn’t have to see a monitor I would, but I’ve got high hopes for the rk008 bring the thing.
When it was first announced I emailed Retrokits and asked about MPE. He said that it technically could but that MPE might fill up the memory. So…good luck and please report back!
Yeah, same. I’m planning on only using it dedicated to the linnstrument, so at least there won’t be competition. Is it doesn’t work, I guess it’ll be fine to look at tablet options
I can confirm that MIDI tape recorder works perfectly,
Man this thing looks fun as hell. Haven’t really paid it much attention till the past two days! I want to try one, as a guitarist this would really open up some fun for me!
How’re users enjoying it these days?
This seems kind of cool — someone working toward making new touch surfaces for the linnstrument, aiming for the same quality (and indeed factory) as the originals, but with more surface contour:
I was just thinking the other day that it’d be cool if, instead of raised “keys” with gaps between them, if there were recessed areas with raised “frets” between them. I wonder if something like that is possible?
It’s my midi controller of choice. I love the layout much more than a keyboard. And it is also, in my book, the best way to do poly aftertouch. So I use it for anything I’m not sequencing, really.
