Whats your favorite/'desert island' MPE sound generator?

[tiantong]

P.S. I just want to reiterate for anyone who cares, that the modular remains an experiment. Most of the synth work I'm doing with the LinnStrument (in a professional context anyway) is still being handled by the iPad... Bleck!

You may have mentioned this already but which apps are you using most?

[pdxindy]

Thanks for sussing that out for me, Andy, I really appreciate it.

In conclusion though, sadly, I don't think I'll be going the Elektron route. I would rather not shoehorn a non-MPE synth into my workflow and setup anyway. As previously stated, I'm just getting frustrated and somewhat impatient waiting for the hardware industry to get to grips with the MPE protocol. I mean, is MPE new? Sure (well, sort of, I guess), but controllerism has been ubiquitous for well over a decade-and-a-half now, yet all we see are DIN MIDI ports (being relegated to dongles no less) and the same 'ol same 'ol...

Sorry, I've never been one to spin my wheels for any length of time, yet I find myself holding my breath on this stuff. At this rate, I'll be practicing voodoo if this drags on much longer (smirk).

Cheers!

If you are staying with software, Hive is a sweet MPE synth. Decent on CPU, good sound, flexible synth engine, easy to work with and solid MPE support.

As soon as it is available for pre-order, I'm gonna order the Xerxes. It will support MPE. I doubt I'll have it until around the end of this year

[SteveElbows]

Much as I am loving Bitwig Grid, its reminded me of several missions I have that the bitwig modules cannot currently achieve (modifying MPE Midi or generating it from scratch and then outputting it as MPE Midi, and some things related to 3D graphics visualisation of synths using other apps). So I've been trying the development version of VCV rack which is gaining MPE and polyphonic cables/modules in v1. Not the right time to recommend others try that just yet really since its still in development, but its another promising and flexible option.

[John the Savage]

P.S. I just want to reiterate for anyone who cares, that the modular remains an experiment. Most of the synth work I'm doing with the LinnStrument (in a professional context anyway) is still being handled by the iPad... Bleck!

You may have mentioned this already but which apps are you using most?

Pardon the crude diagram, but here's my typical Audiobus setup:

Audio:

Moog Model D----------\
iLectric------------------- AUFX Dub -----------------> System Out 1&2
SampleTank------------/

MIDI:

ICO4 HST1 ------------> MIDIFLOW Channels -----> Moog Model D

That's about it really, at least in so far as what I use on stage is concerned. I will swap Model D for Animoog or LayR on occasion, depending on the application, and I have a handful of other synths on the iPad that get used even more seldomly. I'm not one to collect apps. I think I only have about 25 apps on the iPad total, most of which are utilities for MIDI and external connectivity. Now, of course, there are dozens of fun and creative apps out there, many supporting MPE, but stability is the number one priority for me. It simply has to work. The above setup rarely crashes... Touch wood (nervous grin).

If you are staying with software, Hive is a sweet MPE synth. Decent on CPU, good sound, flexible synth engine, easy to work with and solid MPE support.

Well, the short answer is, I am decidedly not staying with software. The iPad was always intended to be a temporary solution. I needed a quick and dirty way to road-test the LinnStrument and familiarize myself with MPE, so I could make an informed decision when it came time to put a hardware rig together. And in that respect, the iPad has served me well. Now, don't get me wrong, there's no denying the flexibility and boundless facility of software; however, in a live context, I need knobs to turn, a roadworthy design, operational stability, etc. And the aesthetic matters too.

Laptops are for email and gaming, not rock'n'roll (wink).

Cheers!

[tiantong]

Thanks. I’ve used the iPad as a learning device. I wasn’t even interested in electronic music before I purchased Animoog, to which I return again and again. I have tried almost every synth with MPE (and without) but as you say, it has to work - and I have to like the sound.

So Animoog first, Model 15 then , which I am still learning (patching cables is boring, sorry) and that’s about it. Neither Volt nor Model D convince me but I’d like NFM, Zeeon or DRC to support MPE.

Is Layr MPE compatible?

[John the Savage]

Is Layr MPE compatible?

No, but it is multitimbral, and its MIDI spec is extensive. When I want MPE control over a sound in LayR, I simply duplicate the "instrument" within the "performance" and assign separate MIDI channels to each incident.

Honestly, LayR is probably my favourite iOS synth; I really should spend more time with it. I'm only using Model D for its immediacy and simplicity. I've had a busy couple of years since I got my LinnStrument, and the gigs I take come with so much tech and sound design already, I just needed to get up and running with the iPad as quickly as possible and not get lost in endless possibilities, if that makes sense. To that end, there are only so many usable sounds to be had with Model D, whereas I could build sounds with LayR for the rest of my life and never really exhaust its potential. The same is probably true of Animoog. Fully customizable, open architecture synths (especially wavetable designs) can be a bit of a rabbit hole, so I try to restrict myself to the appropriate tools when I've got work to do. When I need a really specific sound though, those deeper synths are there. I feel the same way about the soft synths I have on the computer.

I'm following the same mantra with the modular. I'm designing it to be strictly a performance machine - robust, tactile, flexible, fast (within reason), but focused - capable of the sounds I need on-stage, but not a boundless sound-design tool for the studio per se. Mind you, the two wavetable oscillators at its core do offer an impressive timbral range nevertheless.

Cheers!

[afta8]

On the hardware front Axoloti is worth a mention, some third party enclosures are now available for it here: http://shop.hohumlab.com/product-category/axoctrl/ although some soldering is required to get it up and running. The patching environment is not the most intuitive either so not something for anyone looking for quick results.. that said, it is a flexible hardware solution that can be anything you want it to if you persevere

[afta8]

I also came across this recently: https://www.imoxplus.com/site/
It sounds interesting although no demo version so I can't tell how well it will work with Linnstrument, apparently it's been tested with Roli Seaboard

[tiantong]

To answer the question of this topic, mine would be Animoog. It can be a rabbit hole but I’ve managed to clean up and reorganize my presets, then create a very simple ones, with minimal movement just to learn how to modulate with the x, y & z controls in the Linnstrument.

I’ve been using AUM as the center of it all but I’m switching to ApeMatrix gradually. Model 15 is for me an exercise in patience, keep it because of the wonderful sounds it can generate.

I also use Ruismaker Noir as percussion/metronome/toy.

I would be happy with something simpler. NFM is for example an excellent FM synth I’d love to see with MPE. Or Zeeon.

That said, I could take an affordable hardware synth (1000 € Max) to that dessert island, like the Parva if it was finished. It shouldn’t be dependent on the computer to be edited as the axoloti or the Haken ContinuuMini.

For the moment the iPad is enough though.

[John the Savage]

On the hardware front Axoloti is worth a mention, some third party enclosures are now available for it here: http://shop.hohumlab.com/product-category/axoctrl/ although some soldering is required to get it up and running. The patching environment is not the most intuitive either so not something for anyone looking for quick results.. that said, it is a flexible hardware solution that can be anything you want it to if you persevere

Ha, funny, I used to code a little when I was younger, and recently endeavoured to reacquaint myself with it. The somewhat lofty idea, born purely out of impatience, was that I would throw an Axoloti or Raspberry Pi at this problem. It took me all of a month to realize that I had no love for the process anymore, if ever I once had it, and that it was sure to prove nothing more than a distraction and a massive time-suck, so I bailed (sheepish grin). I've spent a lot of time over the years, customizing my rig, usually out of necessity (i.e. when I can't simply buy what I need), but there is a distinct tipping point for me, beyond which the proverbial juice ain't worth the squeeze, if you know what I mean. Sometimes I have to remind myself that, in my world anyway, the music comes first.

Much to Roger's credit, the LinnStrument (which is not my main bag at all) has proven such a compelling and useful device that I feel a great frustration when I see it sitting there without the ideal sound engine to exploit its potential. I've never felt that way about a piece of tech before—normally I would just shrug and walk away—but I feel as though this is a problem worth solving for me.

Cheers!

[Roger_Linn]

Thanks, John. I must agree that with musical instruments, I also have a preference for spending my time playing them.

[John the Savage]

I know, right? Seriously... (wink).

Cheers!

[tiantong]

So, when are we going to see that dedicated synth for the Linnstrument?
A little box with a few knobs and holes, completely computer free...

I could take it to a desert island

[Roger_Linn]

It’s a little tricky because I’m not really in the synth business, plus everybody has a different idea of the ideal synth.

One option is a future Linux-based LinnStrument with lots of DSP power. That would allow anyone to install any Linux LV2 synth plug-in, though there aren’t many good ones yet.

[pdxindy]

So, when are we going to see that dedicated synth for the Linnstrument?
A little box with a few knobs and holes, completely computer free...

I could take it to a desert island

Lots of hardware synths will eventually support MPE. It's already starting to happen.