OMG! watch this instrument in action

[BONES]

Out of curiosity, did you watch & listen to the Jordon Rudess video demonstration?

Not at the time but I have since. it didn't change my impression of it. That's the kind of thing I figured it would be good for.

I honestly don't see how this instrument can be so easily dismissed, given the multitude of parameters that can be controlled from the one surface using two hands. Not to mention the extended techniques such as gliss, legato, and vibrato all right there for the hands (where they usually find their deepest expression).

What was he doing that the rest of us couldn't with good technique, a mod wheel and pitch bend?

The fact that you can control parameters in 3 dimensions (left and right is pitch, pressure is velocity and back and forth towards/away from you is any thing from timbre, attack, sound morphing) makes this one of the ultimate performance instruments.

Again, how is that different to a mod wheel? And its nowhere near as funky as the mod wheel with built-in ribbon controller on the Prophecy.

I for one have a pet hate of having to lift off a whole hand and waste 5 perfectly good fingers and thumb just to get some vibrato going on with what you are playing with the other hand.

Ever heard of after-touch? Seriously, this thing doesn't do anything that you can't do right now and is not as expressive as something like a Prophecy.

[pd]

I think it is like having a mod wheel on every key.

The hardest thing I see is that the black keys are integrated so if you know how to play keyboard, this is a whole new relearning.

I kind of see it like a big long poyphonic mouse/drum pad with touch sensitivity and aftertouch.

Too expensive anyway but nice to see new innovation on its way.

[hitman8081]

i think ill do a custom order

[spuddle]

Sorry Bones but none of those points are really satisfactory conclusive.

Aftertouch, mod and pitch bend wheels are an abstraction and in my view 'compromise' on being able to play expressively.

The ability to physically alter and shape a note is imperative in this matter.

Being from a guitaring background I pay attention to all the nuances physical control over your instrument makes. If you are applying force to bend a string and thus alter the pitch, you participate in a direct connection between the physical tensing of the string and the vibration frequency variation that you experience.
Again, vibrato is physically wobbling that finger up and down (or left and right). Just hitting a key with varying pressure will not emulate this.
There is a physical as well as aural feedback that goes on at that level. You need to feel the changes that are happening.
Being able to create vibrato by sliding your finger on the surface of this fingerboard gives you this sensation.

Another major negative de facto about mod and pitch bend wheels I didn't touch upon before is that these controllers are 'universal', by that I mean they alter ALL the notes that you are playing. If you play a chord then all those notes will shift in pitch or be affected by the same modulation parameter.
With the Continuum Fingerboard, you have the opportunity to individually shape each note that you play, independant of the other. That is quite an impressive feature by my reckoning.

So, yes you may be able to get close to this level of expressiveness with other cheaper means but there is too much sacrifice. I simply must have the most control over the limitless sonic potential that the digital realm provides.

Innovative controllers such as these will be the part of the answer to the critisms that plague electronic music and sounds such as 'unsoulful, too robotic & not human enough'.

I see infinate sound creation potential before me but no way to properly control them as an organic human of flesh and blood.
It breaks my heart for I have a burning desire to inject humanity and soulful performance into this digital domain and show its full scope and ability to carry the emotive human condition as have the acoustic instruments of past done so well and in abundance.

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

Some keyboards have polyphonic aftertouch. That's the same as having a modwheel on every key and it won't set you back $5,300 either.

[spuddle]

Some keyboards have polyphonic aftertouch. That's the same as having a modwheel on every key and it won't set you back $5,300 either.

You are sacrificing your precious aftertouch to be a modulation effect then? What happens to poor ol' vibrato?

I agree the price is obviously prohibitive but that's what happens when you have a lone developer with a good idea and a niche to fill. We can only hope that a bigger company spots the potential here and offers Haken Audio a nice fat contract so that they can be mass produced and thus sold at a price that the humble majority can afford.

[contrast]

Ever heard of after-touch? Seriously, this thing doesn't do anything that you can't do right now and is not as expressive as something like a Prophecy.

How many keyboards out there have poly aftertouch and poly pitchbend? A very few old ones have the former, nothing is currently manufactured with it as far as I know, and none have the latter (unless you use the poly at for it).

Even in mono it would be quite the chore to work the average pitch wheel to do some vibratos that would be easy on this thing, due to the dead area that most of them have in the middle and just the ergonomics of the pitchwheel itself...

It is very expensive, though that's not very surprising as it's a boutique item sold to a limited audience that's made largely by hand in the US, basically everything that makes something like this expensive. Is it worth the price... I don't really think so, but it is pretty cool.

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

It's cool, but so's violin. Violin is also an instrument that I gave up on because it was too difficult to play in tune without frets. The idea of something like this isn't new, it's something that is kind of interesting once in a while, but I think it's more of a gimmick than anything.

It would take years of training to play with the speed and accuracy that you can play with on a regular keyboard.

Is it interesting? Yes. Is it a revolution in the way synthesizers are used? Not even close, especially at over $5,000.

By the way, I play guitar, bass and a bit of violin. I'm familiar with how vibrato works on a stringed instrument. It's nothing mind-blowing and I don't miss it when playing a synth.

[BONES]

Sorry Bones but none of those points are really satisfactory conclusive.
Aftertouch, mod and pitch bend wheels are an abstraction and in my view 'compromise' on being able to play expressively.
The ability to physically alter and shape a note is imperative in this matter.
Being from a guitaring background

A-HA! So to you it is an abstraction but to me it is the exact way to achieve those results. Its simply a matter of perception, is all, not of any physical limit.

I pay attention to all the nuances physical control over your instrument makes.

Wanker!

If you are applying force to bend a string and thus alter the pitch, you participate in a direct connection between the physical tensing of the string and the vibration frequency variation that you experience.

So f**king what!?! The exact same thing applies to using a pitch-bend wheel - you apply a force to move the wheel which alters the pitch. Its the most natural thing in the world.

Again, vibrato is physically wobbling that finger up and down (or left and right). Just hitting a key with varying pressure will not emulate this.

Of course it f**king won't, you idiot, you're talking about velocity. Polyphonic after-touch, which the continuum doesn't have, is the most natural expressive feature imaginable.

There is a physical as well as aural feedback that goes on at that level. You need to feel the changes that are happening.

No I don't. I need to hear them and tie that in with a physical action.

Being able to create vibrato by sliding your finger on the surface of this fingerboard gives you this sensation.

As does sliding your finger along the touch-pad on the Prophecy's mod wheel, or on an AN1x or a Z-1 or any other synth with a touch-strip. But as a synth player I find that a very unsatisfactory way to do it compared to mod-wheel and after-touch.

Another major negative de facto about mod and pitch bend wheels I didn't touch upon before is that these controllers are 'universal'

Polyphonic after-touch.

With the Continuum Fingerboard, you have the opportunity to individually shape each note that you play, independant of the other. That is quite an impressive feature by my reckoning.

For some things maybe but not others.

So, yes you may be able to get close to this level of expressiveness with other cheaper means but there is too much sacrifice.

Actually, I can do significantly more with the Prophecy's mod controller and after-touch.

I simply must have the most control over the limitless sonic potential that the digital realm provides.

So go and buy a Prophecy.

Innovative controllers such as these will be the part of the answer to the critisms that plague electronic music and sounds such as 'unsoulful, too robotic & not human enough'.

No they won't. If Billy Currie couldn't dispel those myths in the '80's with his solos, it won't ever happen. This thing is a gimmick with limited application that will be seen as such by luddites everywhere.

I see infinate sound creation potential before me but no way to properly control them as an organic human of flesh and blood. It breaks my heart for I have a burning desire to inject humanity and soulful performance into this digital domain and show its full scope and ability to carry the emotive human condition as have the acoustic instruments of past done so well and in abundance.

This is a wind-up, right? If not then you must be a freak of nature because no-one could be that big a tosser and only have one dick.

We can only hope that a bigger company spots the potential here and offers Haken Audio a nice fat contract so that they can be mass produced and thus sold at a price that the humble majority can afford.

Why? KORG didn't bother propagating the controler from the Prophecy so I can't see any of the big hardware companies seeing this as any kind of innovation, just a curiousity.

You are sacrificing your precious aftertouch to be a modulation effect then? What happens to poor ol' vibrato?

And what is vibrato but a modulation effect? You guys clearly have absolutely no idea about this stuff.

How many keyboards out there have poly aftertouch and poly pitchbend? A very few old ones have the former, nothing is currently manufactured with it as far as I know, and none have the latter (unless you use the poly at for it).

Which kind of shows how important it is to most customers, doesn't it? And as for polyphonic pitch-bend, you'd be flat-out getting your fingers to do it on a Continuum. Maybe you could do it for two notes or two chords [one with each hand] but that's about it.

Even in mono it would be quite the chore to work the average pitch wheel to do some vibratos that would be easy on this thing, due to the dead area that most of them have in the middle and just the ergonomics of the pitchwheel itself...

So use after-touch or a mod wheel. You'd never use a pitch-bend wheel for vibrato. Have you even played a synth?

[shamann]

A more impressive video for this can be found on Sonic State in its NAMM videos:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2001#

Less Jordan Rudess, more info about what the thing actually does. LOTD, you're right that it doesn't look revolutionary, but it does offer a synth player a lot more control than is available in most cases now. The thing looks like essentially the log from the Prophecy on every key, which is kind of impressive.

The trouble with these kinds of devices is that more control isn't necessarily better control, since the complexity of all the googaws might get tedious/self-defeating. That and it might really only lend itself to musical wank, as on display in the Jordan Rudess video.

[AndrewSimon]

Would love to hear some fretless bass played on this thing.
It's out of my price range but if it was $399 I would buy it.

[spuddle]

It's cool, but so's violin. Violin is also an instrument that I gave up on because it was too difficult to play in tune without frets. The idea of something like this isn't new, it's something that is kind of interesting once in a while, but I think it's more of a gimmick than anything.

It would take years of training to play with the speed and accuracy that you can play with on a regular keyboard.

Sorry to hear that you couldn't dedicate yourself to an instrument because it was too hard to play.
This controller will be viewed as a gimmick by those who close their minds to its possibilities. Those who will dedicate some time and effort into learning how to play proficiently on it (just as it is with any other instrument) will be rewarded with a very expressive tool and sound that a regular keyboard could not even hold a light to.

Is it interesting? Yes. Is it a revolution in the way synthesizers are used? Not even close, especially at over $5,000.

It isn't a revolution indeed but it is a small step in the right direction and one can hope that a competitive market will expand around the concept of the expressive (and accurate) synth controllers.

By the way, I play guitar, bass and a bit of violin. I'm familiar with how vibrato works on a stringed instrument. It's nothing mind-blowing and I don't miss it when playing a synth.

It's also a shame that you don't miss the element of vibrato from your playing because I feel it is one of the more major attributes (of many) that seperates one performer from another. Everyones vibrato is different.

[BONES]

This controller will be viewed as a gimmick by those who close their minds to its possibilities.

What, in the same way that you have clearly closed your mind to the possibilities o fa standard MIDI controller?

Those who will dedicate some time and effort into learning how to play proficiently on it (just as it is with any other instrument) will be rewarded with a very expressive tool and sound that a regular keyboard could not even hold a light to.

Bullshit! It might be able to do one or two things that a normal controller cannot but there are also some things that a normal controller can do that it cannot.

Everyones vibrato is different.

And yet all just as annoying.

[spuddle]

Bones, your response is pretty insulting and quite immature, please consider replying with a level of respect and decency should you wish to be treated the same.

Would love to hear some fretless bass played on this thing.
It's out of my price range but if it was $399 I would buy it.

You may hear a demonstration of the fretless bass performance as well as many other excellent examples at Mark Smarts page:

http://www.marksmart.net/instruments/co ... etless.mp3

http://www.marksmart.net/instruments/co ... inuum.html

[Warmonger]

Spuddle, you should just quit right now. I, for one, think it's a very cool concept, and I would love to try one out. Being a violin player myself, I'm interested in the possibilities. But trying to convince someone else that your opinion is correct is futile, and no matter how eloquently you phrase your argument, Bones isn't going to change his mind, nor should he.