New MPE synths...

[mrspiral]

<personal-opinion>
There are people who seem to get good use out of ROLI products, but in the years since I first started reviewing them for the magazine, they've been one disappointment after another. I bailed on the LUMI Kickstarter and never looked back, after a Seaboard Block did nothing for me creatively and software and hardware failures on three Lightpads in a row (including one M) made my life a misery. If they work for you, that's fabulous, but if I had to choose between using ROLI products exclusively and giving up MPE forever, I'd go play my Hydrasynth and never look back...
</personal-opinion>

[John the Savage]

^This.

What makes for a professional instrument goes way beyond theoretical potential. The LinnStrument meets the needs of touring musicians: i.e. it can handle the rigors of the road, interface directly with all manner of peripheral equipment (and be configured accordingly), and can be played with the level of proficiency that seasoned musicians expect and otherwise require of a real instrument.

Not to be confused with the fun factor of tinkering with consumer-grade products, like Roli Blocks. It’s simply a different league.

Cheers!

[WasteLand]

My wife just asked me what I was reading. I told her I’m reading a conversation between WasteLand, John the Savage and Killmaster.

WasteLand, John the Savage and Killmaster walked into a bar...

^This.

What makes for a professional instrument goes way beyond theoretical potential. The LinnStrument meets the needs of touring musicians: i.e. it can handle the rigors of the road, interface directly with all manner of peripheral equipment (and be configured accordingly), and can be played with the level of proficiency that seasoned musicians expect and otherwise require of a real instrument.

Not to be confused with the fun factor of tinkering with consumer-grade products, like Roli Blocks. It’s simply a different league.

Cheers!

i shall not argue that they are in a different league. and this is the linnstrument forum, but this subthread i also follow, to know what is out there. and others, who have more MPE controllers, or from one brand...

the fun factor of tinkering. ok. than i have fun with the factor of tinkering..
never failed on me, yet.. the blocks.. and with the apps.. for the lightpad M blocks.. o well...

of course i knew of the bad units. why did i decided for roli? i could only answer that after that i owned 3 of them, seaboard + 2 lightpad M blocks.
they give me the control, the expression that i need.

they aren't for the road, indeed. and i am not a seasoned musician.

and i see the quality and the capabilities of the linnstrument. if budget allowed..., but i also need other stuf...

i patch from scratch (or make presets from scratch, i saw a purist discussion once..), i work from sounds. with sounds (of course)..
so, i also make my own MPE patches. is my music consumer-grade, a fun factor of tinkering. or are the patches, repeat the sentence.
i am not the judge (although my thesis was about; judgment..).

a pity that physical music stores, don't have a lot of MPE 'boards', or nothing, and that a physical store, o well, there aren't many, anymore.

i can understand why you call the linnstrument a professional instrument, it is. i did only see vid's, and they are impressive. i like it.

but my experience with the blokjes (dutch word...), let's say, i discovered undiscovered terrotiry of expression, with the right synths; like LION, Crusher-X, Kaivo, Aalto, Generate, Voltage Modular, Vast Dynamics Vaporizer 2, Pigments 3, Delta-V audio Spacecraft, Biotek 2, Vital Pro, Blade 2, Softube Modular, Cypher 2, Quanta, etc. o yes, MSoundFactory (what an implementation of MPE, by the way). and ableton live 11 suite also is a experimental playground, if you use it that way, and third party experimental M4L instruments, with MPE. and of course bitwig studio (have them both, amongst others..).

the way you play a linnstrument can not be compared, a bit perhaps with the lightpad M blocks, perhaps. i use them also for playing MPE, of course. and it depends on what i want, and the sound needs, which i choose seabord or blocks or both. but the seaboard is also quite expressive, it isn't that smaller than a seabord rise. strangely...

so for me, they extended the possibilities, richness in sounds/patches, one patch that can change radically of timbre, that one patch can fill a whole track...

and if i had a linnstrument, or could work with it for some weeks, i will think, roli? what's that, but in the mean time, the setup i have now, gives so much, and i have mastered it in my own way.

me thinks, that is the goal.

like the linnstrument. a layout that for me, a non-musician, also tempts me.

but in the end it is all, how do use the stuff you have.

TL;DR, i know. i am an entusiastic student of music, i learn everyday. i am limited, but still...

[Tj Shredder]

Nothing to put on the recommended sounds as it isn't complete, but GForce's Minimonsta the gift from the Novation Sound Collective https://novationmusic.com/en/sound-collective for owners of Novation hardware does do pitch bend per voice. Most sounds are monophonic, but some are polyphonic and actually quite nice... It won't run on Big Sur and I observed this on OS X, but you might try if it works on Windows as well...
If you got an M1 Mac with Big Sur, there is still the iOS apps from Moog/Gert which could replace that better with real MPE...; - )

[Dirk Diggler]

I agree on the blocks line of Roli stuff, but the Rise line is professional grade all the way.
The Seaboard block I would argue is on the same par as Rise, the other bits are toys, I agree.

I almost went down the Lumi path, I haven't played one, but I bet they won't be as comfortable as the Seaboard's are for bending and sliding. So instead I just purchased a nice used Roli Seaboard Rise 25, at less than half retail price.

I use my Linnstrument all the time, I use my Seaboard block, and Rise 49 all the time as well.
They are just very different, and in my application they all fit a very specific role.

The key here is much like fretless stringed instruments, it requires time and practice to get the best possible expression.

Dirk

[WasteLand]

a new (or new, updated) soft MPE synth; the website isn't updated yet; but i have got it so; the release notes are from an email;

Rob Papen Vecto

Vecto version 1.0.2

VST3 support
253 new Presets (see below)
Granular resynthesis of the samples with a grain On/Off, grain size, length & randomization.
Sample Offset Dial (is sample is selected as waveform)
New Filters: 12/24dB Zero Delay Filters
New effects: Tremolo / Vibrato / Auto Pan Effects
New Play Modes: Poly MPE, Mono Hi / Lo, Legato Hi / Lo
New Mod Sources: MIDI Brightness cc 74 / cc 113 / cc 114
New Mod Destination: Sample Offset + Granular parameters
Control Menu (upper right corner of the GUI)
Date Ordering of Presets in the Bank Manager
Scroll Wheel for the Manager screens- And other small updates/fixes

and the 'header' (it is a long email..);

We have now released a FREE update which includes new features like Granular, New Filters, MPE support, VST3 support, and last but not least 231 new Presets!

[Roger_Linn]

Thanks, Wasteland. I've just added it to Recommended Sounds page's list of MPE synths.

[monch1962]

Synthmaster 2 for iOS (https://www.kv331audio.com/synthmaster.aspx https://apps.apple.com/app/id1566704584) supports MPE. You have to hunt around the docs to spot references to MPE - check page 41 of the user manual at http://www.kv331audio.com/synthmaster/d ... manual.pdf - but it's there and it works. Some really nice sounds in this synth

There's also versions for Mac and Windows

[Roger_Linn]

I've updated the Recommended Sounds page's entry for Synthmaster in the MPE synth list to now mention Synthmaster 2.

[Tj Shredder]

Tracktions new synth Abyss does support MPE out of the box. Awesome sounds coming with the demo...

[Roger_Linn]

I've added Tracktion Abyss to the Recommended Sounds page.

[hariossa]

Finally MOTU Digital Performer 11 is out and claims MPE compatibility, also the native synths inside DP11 are MPE, I haven’t upgraded yet but it looks promising!

[Roger_Linn]

Hi hariossa,
If you'll be trying out Performer 11, please report back on the MPE implementation.

[hariossa]

Hi Roger, I’m not going to upgrade yet because I’m still in Windows 7, DP 11 does not support it.

[Roger_Linn]

I've added Performer 11 to the Recommended Sounds page.