Music and the Music Industry: Career or passionate hobby?

[BobDog]

I think technique is also something that theory can’t teach you but practise can.

When I was younger had time to practise for maybe four hours every day I decided I wanted to play like Roger Waters, Joe Satriani and Al Di Meola. All have pretty different technique.

To do this took a huge amount of practise to learn the varying techniques that these guys use and training my mind/fingers/ears. The flash Santriani stuff was a particular pain to be able to play proficiently in front of an audience, it was stressful stuff!

The only way for an unnatural guitarist like myself to be able to do it was to practice the stuff over, and over and over again.

[John the Savage]

Well, the good news there is, Satch's slippery left hand work is way easier to pull off on the LinnStrument... No pun intended.

[Tj Shredder]

Though to get it smooth is as difficult as with the piano (and needs to be practiced...). The good news, you don't need so much muscles to develop...

[BobDog]

@John the Savage

I bet that pun was intended

The linnstrument is pretty good for his sort of thing (channel per row), but does fall down with the two handed finger/four finger tapping type of stuff that he does, not handling 4 notes in a rectangle is the killer. The fingering limitations are the one thing on the linnstrument that I would like changed, maybe for Linnstrument II.

I don't play that sort of stuff anymore, being older and slower, not having the practice time to keep it up and having given up the idea I could be a guitar god

The thing I find really difficult on the Linnstrument is fast chord stuff, I don't know how much practise I am going to need to get anywhere near the guitar for that but I guess a huge amount. For Melody/lead stuff though the Linnstrument is gradually getting there, two hands are better than one

[BobDog]

Though to get it smooth is as difficult as with the piano (and needs to be practiced...). The good news, you don't need so much muscles to develop...

Easier on the finger tips as well.

[Tj Shredder]

But you have to cut your fingernails more often...

[BobDog]

I haven't had issues with the linnstrument on that.

Fingernails are definitely an issue with the ContinuuMini as you have to roll the tip of the finger for the Y axis to rotate the playing surface, also rough skin to the pads of the fingers is a real problem with the ContinuuMini due to the cloth surface "catching".

[Tj Shredder]

I am rolling my fingers for the x-axis. Much better than sliding...

[BobDog]

Don't you find if you roll it also effects the Z axis?

Ah you are talking about X not Y?

[Roger_Linn]

not handling 4 notes in a rectangle is the killer. The fingering limitations are the one thing on the linnstrument that I would like changed, maybe for Linnstrument II.

Hi bobdog,
I'm sorry to report that the rectangle limitation can't be changed. It is a fundamental electrical problem of matrix keyboards. It is solved in matrix switch keyboards by inserting a diode in series with each switch, a solution that is inherently impossible in LinnStrument's custom poly 3D-sensor.

The only solution would be a completely different sensor design based on a very high number of pressure-only sensing points, and determining center of touch by computing the "centroid" of many pressure points. However, this method doesn't scale well to large playing surfaces, increasing latency (and decreasing velocity accuracy) as size increases, and wouldn't let LED light shine through. Plus it would be much more expensive.

Fortunately the overlapping nature of the stringed instrument note layout permits many alternate fingerings for any given chord, making the limitation less limiting. I like to think of it in the same way that I think of a guitar's limitation of only one note per string, though I realize that it is perhaps an unfair comparison in the age of technology.

[Tj Shredder]

Don't you find if you roll it also effects the Z axis?

Ah you are talking about X not Y?

much less as with sliding. More difficult is to do a vibrato without affecting the x-axis. A matter of practise as always... That is why Equator is the synth which has one of the best MPE implementations. You can curve the sensitivity to avoid too much modulation in the mid range for example... On the other hand all the presets are adapted to a Seaboard, but to adjust the curves for the LinnStrument is quick and easy...

[John the Savage]

Though to get it smooth is as difficult as with the piano (and needs to be practiced...). The good news, you don't need so much muscles to develop...

Just a little tip: if you use a mono/legato synth sound in conjunction with a sustain pedal, "tapping" techniques become way easier to perform on the LinnStrument.

We've skewed way off topic here, as usual (smirk).

Cheers!

[c0nsilience]

The OP doesn't mind! I prefer discussions that aren't like pancakes...all good at first, but by the end you're sick of 'em! (kudos to the late Mitch Hedberg).

[tapper mike]

Though to get it smooth is as difficult as with the piano (and needs to be practiced...). The good news, you don't need so much muscles to develop...

Just a little tip: if you use a mono/legato synth sound in conjunction with a sustain pedal, "tapping" techniques become way easier to perform on the LinnStrument.

We've skewed way off topic here, as usual (smirk).

Cheers!

Actually I'm quite the opposite with my attraction to the linnstrument. I did that all with the ztar.
I'd set up zones (splits) had one zone set for per string hammer ons / pull offs (not quite the same as mono but more similar to guitar) and another set to poly. So I could achieve piano type harmony that one couldn't perform on a guitar. It was fun but I liked the idea of harmony clusters more than single note line guitar type playing. Simply because I've done that all before on guitar Tapping on the ztar took almost all of my tapping on guitar away from me . I thought it was funny as my moniker was given to me for my constant tapping on guitar and then for a long time after I kept my two hand touch method solely for the ztar.

I love the harmony possibilities of the linnstrument. Many of them completely out of reach of guitar playing regardless of tuning and some near impossible for keyboard functionality. Yes it does require practice and there are challenges. But if everything was easy then anyone could do it. I'd rather face the challenges than deny the possibilities.

[BobDog]

My Grandad used to say "Nothing worth doing is easy".