SWAY - a synth modeled after the Yamaha SY77

[Teksonik]

If you're playing say, sampled libraries with a lot of keyswitches, Sonokinetic for example, 88 keys can sometimes feel quite restricting.../JHS

Good point but key switches are different than notes triggering sounds.

My comment of "sonically useful" referred to the triggering of sounds. Keyswitches would be more controllers than notes.

For example I've never needed MIDI note 0 which corresponds to a frequency of approximately 8.18 Hz which is below of the range of normal human hearing.

I've just never heard the question asked before "Will it be limited to 61 (5 octaves) sounding keys or 88?". I just assumed all plugins respond to the full range of the MIDI spec whether those sounds at the extremes would be useful or not. Perhaps there are some that don't.....

[Chris-S]

The SY77/99 was having 3 wheels.

So, is there any Midi Controller with 3 wheels?

[EvilDragon]

LOL

[BBFG#]

The SY77/99 was having 3 wheels.

So, is there any Midi Controller with 3 wheels?

Kind of. Although they're joysticks and not wheels.
StudioLogic. And once you get use to them, are more immediate and superior to mod wheels.
And the Korg Kronos Joystick is programmable to allow three controlls also.

[Uncle E]

Kind of. Although they're joysticks and not wheels.
StudioLogic. And once you get use to them, are more immediate and superior to mod wheels.

That's cool! Can the springs be disabled so they stay in place? That was a nice feature of the Novation Remote SL (which had both joystick and X-Y pad).

[audiojunkie]

I've always loved the StudioLogic keybeds. They have a really good feel about them.

[BBFG#]

Kind of. Although they're joysticks and not wheels.
StudioLogic. And once you get use to them, are more immediate and superior to mod wheels.

That's cool! Can the springs be disabled so they stay in place? That was a nice feature of the Novation Remote SL (which had both joystick and X-Y pad).

On the previous SL version, there are three sticks. The first being pitch horizontally and whatever modulation vertically. But the vertical is one dimensional and the same up or down. The second Stick is spring loaded one way but not the other. And the third stick is free floating (like a vectoring stick). The problem with that version and the newest is where they decided to position it so far to the left it becomes a pain to reach for. My VMK Plus has the equivalent of the first stick only and it's positioned near center, which makes it a true joy to use.
And like a guitar, I can use the pitch for vibrato also along with bends. leaving the vertical axis for other modulations.
On the Kronos, there are quite a few patches that utilize having two modulation routes on the vertical with pitch being always on the horizontal, but always on a return to center. It of course has the vector stick also.

It seems every version has a short sighted trade off. And to date, I find that shory-sightedness in every current MPE keyboard.
It's like they're purposely trying to kill things as they're promoting them.

Oh, and the previous Novation joy sticks were an upside down T only allowing two, the same as Roland.

[EvilDragon]

I played the SL88GT mk2 last year at Superbooth and location of sticks is not a problem at all. The tradeoff is simply about where the PCB could be located, and how they wanted the board to not be physically too tall and too deep, so wheels were out of question due to them requiring more depth, in order not to clash with the keybed itself.

So, rather than shortsightedness, it was actually pretty well though-out.

The board otherwise feels and plays fantastically well. The only better keybed I played was on Montage M8X, but that's a mammoth of a board.

[wagtunes]

So much for this being an SY 77 thread.

[BBFG#]

Well, not from a player stand point.
Like a guitarist, the "whammy" bar should be relative to the hands reach and not the arm. And never secondary to the board. Because I've also played with left-hand thinking keyboardists, I also know the left side is always a problem since that's the hand they prefer for playing. The only logical position is as close to center for these.
If you use them like a keyboardist, then it's okay where they are. If you use them as part of the instrument and have a left/right locus different from the majority of right/left locus. Then it is short-sighted.

[audiojunkie]

So much for this being an SY 77 thread.

Discussing playability and the best hardware for the three wheels/joysticks of the SY77 is on topic.

[wagtunes]

So much for this being an SY 77 thread.

Discussing playability and the best hardware for the three wheels/joysticks of the SY77 is on topic.

Right. Like everybody is going to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a keyboard that will best be able to make the most use of this plugin. Hey, if you got money to burn, power to you. But I'll stay with the keyboard I have even if it can't make the most use of this plugin.

[BBFG#]

I wonder sometimes if people ever read and think about their own comments...

[EvilDragon]

Well, not from a player stand point.
Like a guitarist, the "whammy" bar should be relative to the hands reach and not the arm. And never secondary to the board. Because I've also played with left-hand thinking keyboardists, I also know the left side is always a problem since that's the hand they prefer for playing. The only logical position is as close to center for these.
If you use them like a keyboardist, then it's okay where they are. If you use them as part of the instrument and have a left/right locus different from the majority of right/left locus. Then it is short-sighted.

Yeah I play like a keyboardist and have played many a widdly-wee-woo lead parts when I was in a metal band years ago, so when playing a lead it's always the right hand doing the things and left hand is anchored to the top right of the keyboard, regardless if it's a 61, 76, or 88. So it's fine for me. I never really felt comfy with VMK boards (and I did play a few).

[audiojunkie]

So much for this being an SY 77 thread.

Discussing playability and the best hardware for the three wheels/joysticks of the SY77 is on topic.

Right. Like everybody is going to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a keyboard that will best be able to make the most use of this plugin. Hey, if you got money to burn, power to you. But I'll stay with the keyboard I have even if it can't make the most use of this plugin.

It doesn't have to be for JUST this plugin. But if a person is looking to get a new master midi controller, he/she might as well get one that supports everything in Sway.