Do you need Aftertouch?

[Kriminal]

Never use it myself.

Why do you say its in decline?

lol

???

[electro]

Novation controllers have Monophonic aftertouch.

The new Alesis QX series also has Monophonic Aftertouch.

Nobody is producing Polphonic Aftertouch controllers anymore.

[EvilDragon]

Nobody is producing Polyphonic Aftertouch controllers anymore.

Infinite Response does. Haken Continuum is also polyphonic aftertouch, technically.

[3ee]

aftertouch? yes please!

very important, at least as important as the MW imo!

[electro]

man are those prices steep. The fingerboard is something totally different. The 1st guy to pull off a low priced no-frills polyphonic AT keyboard is going to come out on top.

The ideal poly-AT controller would have 88 semi-weighted waterfall keys so it could double as a B3 / Synth contoller.

[arachnaut]

I use it and check most presets to see if it is in use. Typically, I use it for a pitch modulation(tremolo/vibrato/bend) or filter modulation (cutoff/resonance).

I prefer the types of keyboards that send individual aftertouch data per MIDI note, not the channel type that applies to everything pressed.

[EvilDragon]

man are those prices steep. The fingerboard is something totally different. The 1st guy to pull off a low priced no-frills polyphonic AT keyboard is going to come out on top.

The ideal poly-AT controller would have 88 semi-weighted waterfall keys so it could double as a B3 / Synth contoller.

Well poly AT indeed IS expensive to make. I said it in a previous post, if you want good poly AT in a cheap board, look for second-hand Ensoniqs which have it. They double as excellent synths as well.

[lumcas]

Although I have owned some keyboards with aftertouch (mono) I have never used it much, probably because I am a pianist, so this feels kinda unnatural to me. And rather than a continuous controller it always behaved like an unpredictable on/off switch which turned me off. Nowadays I don't find it of much importance. You can map any CC to a fader or a knob on your controller or iPad and I am used to work this way, Well, polyphonic aftertouch is a whole different story but I have never owned one. Are they still so expensive?

A good controller is not like an unreliable on/off switch... but a lot of controllers are crap...

I agree, unfortunately one of them was Fantom X 88, which had really horrible keybed - such a slow key action you couldn't play a trill.. - I remember I couldn't believe how Roland could put such an awful keybed in their "flagship" workstation. On the other hand I loved Fatar 880 - 9 times cheaper than Fantom, I know - just a controller, but it was sinply joy to play.

And I have to admit that aftertouch caught my attention again, thanks to this thread...

[marzzz]

Not only do we need aftertouch, but freaking POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH.

I have a brand new VAX77 from InfiniteResponse, and it replaced my Kurzweil MIDIBoard. Absolutely the best thing on earth and worth it for me. Whoever said polyAT chokes MIDI bandwidth, I would love to come over to your studio and play with all your vintage analog gear, you must have quite a collection. As far as modern implementations, there is no problem. Zebra2 and DIVA sound absolutely awesome with PolyAT.

Frankly, if you want to remove it from presets, I actually don't care. First tweak I make will be putting it back in....

[marzzz]

Well poly AT indeed IS expensive to make. I said it in a previous post, if you want good poly AT in a cheap board, look for second-hand Ensoniqs which have it. They double as excellent synths as well.

Aside from the Ensoniqs, you can find a decent Kurz MIDIBoard for a reasonable price (just don't move it too often), and the GeneralMusic S2 and S3 has a very nice PolyAT-capable keyboard.

[EvilDragon]

Oh yes, GEM S2/S3, I forgot about those. Magnificent boards.

[trance_lucent]

A little offtopic. Please advice controllers with good aftertouch. As I understood, Novation ones are good, and Roland are bad. So Fatar are bad too (Roland uses Fatar keys? Or no?)?

[EvilDragon]

Fatar is good (Kurzweil uses Fatar), Korg is good. Roland uses their own designs (that's why they suck).

[Axis1~SL61]

I believe the new Novations use Fatar too, so I suppose they are good.

[...] Roland uses their own designs (that's why they suck).

Yes. this is true, I've seen the AT strips inside my Roland Axis1 and it's an awful system. OK, it's a very old keyboard, but there were much better ones from other brands around the same time. Not even Roland themselves trust their own AT technology, as in later models they tried to substitute the key pressure system by the stupid and clumsy system of the after touch bar (AX-7, etc..)

[Lotuzia]

MIDI aftertouch appears to be on the decline. Most of my presets to date make use of aftertouch... but maybe I should rethink?

No.

Aftertouch is a must for all synth players. Polyphonic aftertouch is the ultimate.

But if you want to cut the apple in two, and, for some patches, really want that no one miss a particular expression, you can always duplicate the AFT action similar to what does the MW.

Some people will think its stupid at first sight, but those who really play will eventually find its not that stupid. When you play uptempo, or fast licks/chorus etc or soloing, aftertouch is sometimes delicate to trigger and simply not an option, and mod wheel will be the best option. If you take the example of a simple vibrato, its very common to use only the right hand to play, while you're only wheeling with the other one. No aftertouch techniques will ever replace this, and some patches can be played in different contexts, you cant know in advance how they will be played, at what tempo, but you cetainly know what expression techniques is important for this patch, so I use that sometimes.

Also the semi vector controllers now commonly found on keyboards ( inherited from M1 or similar devices ) allow for some PB/MW combined modulations for spectacular effects/expression. ( especially when you can assign interesting things tho the PB)

my 0.2