KVR Audio

Karbon L. Forms · Post by **Karbon L. Forms** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:42 am

Was just reading the "just buy instrument" thread. Aftertouch was mentioned.
What is it? I see it bandied about here and in magazines but I've never seen an explanation.

M'Snah · Post by **M'Snah** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:46 am

... redundant ...

Dave Blakely · Post by **Dave Blakely** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:54 am

Karbon L. Forms wrote:Was just reading the "just buy instrument" thread. Aftertouch was mentioned.
What is it? I see it bandied about here and in magazines but I've never seen an explanation.

Aftertouch is a control signal generated by your keyboard "after" the initial keystrike, it falls into two categories, mono aftertouch (the most common) and poly aftertouch.

Its generated when you press down on the keys after striking them and its strength is regulated by the pressure you exert on the keys, common uses are to open up filters, introduce modulation for vibrato, wow etc even pitchbend, most good vsti's will let you route aftertouch in a modulation matrix of some sort so the application is quite open ended. The difference between the two kinds comes down to the polyphony of the control signal, mono aftertouch is a general aftertouch control signal that is routed to each voice simultaneously giving the same amount of modulation to all voices, poly aftertouch is more expressive and each key is responsible for the amount it generates for itself and which is applied to itself, the classic poly aftertouch synth is probably the Yamaha Cs80 and Arturias Cs80V mimics this behaviour.

Karbon L. Forms · Post by **Karbon L. Forms** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:00 am

I see. Thanks. Sounds like fun if used with an interesting effect. I imagine such keyboards are expensive though.
So can you assign it to pitch bend, play a note then waggle your finger a la guitar?

Dave Blakely · Post by **Dave Blakely** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:22 am

Karbon L. Forms wrote:I see. Thanks. Sounds like fun if used with an interesting effect. I imagine such keyboards are expensive though.
So can you assign it to pitch bend, play a note then waggle your finger a la guitar?

Poly aftertouch keyboards/controllers can be quite pricey, but if you pick up a cheap old ensoniq synth they have poly aftertouch built in as well as a decent semi weighted keyboard, for that reason i'm never gonna part with my old Ensoniq Vfx (even though the battery died about 7 years ago)

Yeah you can do the pitchbend thing on the keys but you have to waggle yer finger up and down, not side to side

nice tagline by ra wey

Modeler · Post by **Modeler** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:28 am

I have a Korg Prophecy, which supports aftertouch and is very good at wind instruments. For instance, you play a note using a flute sound, then press the key down harder and more 'breath' is added to the preset.

It's pretty damn cool.

Dave Blakely · Post by **Dave Blakely** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:36 pm

Cheat Mode wrote:I have a Korg Prophecy, which supports aftertouch and is very good at wind instruments. For instance, you play a note using a flute sound, then press the key down harder and more 'breath' is added to the preset.

It's pretty damn cool.

and the "dip" when you press is good as well, first time i used my Prophecy i thought the keys were gonna snap till i got used to it

ew · Post by ew » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:42 pm

Dave Blakely wrote:Poly aftertouch keyboards/controllers can be quite pricey, but if you pick up a cheap old ensoniq synth they have poly aftertouch built in as well as a decent semi weighted keyboard, for that reason i'm never gonna part with my old Ensoniq Vfx (even though the battery died about 7 years ago)

Yep, that's the reason I bought my VFX-SD in the first place. Their prices can be all over the map; I've seen them for as much as $500, but I bought mine for $199 from a Music Go Round around here

ew

DuX · Post by **DuX** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:47 pm

First you touch a boob, than you caress it and touch some more, it could be called an "aftertouch"

.

Cheers.

Sensational · Post by **Sensational** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:54 pm

While we are on keyboard definetions, can anyone tell me what "Breath" is and used for on a keyboard? I see this feature on the Pentagon I, but have no idea what it is or what it's used for. Could some one please explain?

verstaerker · Post by **verstaerker** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:54 pm

the CME UF has aftertouch too

Sensational · Post by **Sensational** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:58 pm

First you touch a boob, than you caress it and touch some more

Then when the chick slaps me or grabs my nuts, I believe that would be "aftertouch"!

cptgone · Post by **cptgone** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:02 pm

Sensational wrote:While we are on keyboard definetions, can anyone tell me what "Breath" is and used for on a keyboard?

Maybe a MIDI controller message? In which case you could use a controller knob (or fader, whatever...) to er, control it. Try and Google MIDI continuous message, it's a standard list.

If you had a breath controller (a MIDI generator, a tube to blow in to control the velocity of the note you generated with the keyboard keys) you could use that oc...

useruseruser · Post by **useruseruser** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:32 pm

Karbon L. Forms wrote:Was just reading the "just buy instrument" thread. Aftertouch was mentioned.
What is it? I see it bandied about here and in magazines but I've never seen an explanation.

You are kidding, aren't you?

useruseruser · Post by **useruseruser** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:33 pm

Karbon L. Forms wrote:I see. Thanks. Sounds like fun if used with an interesting effect. I imagine such keyboards are expensive though.
So can you assign it to pitch bend, play a note then waggle your finger a la guitar?

You are kidding again, aren't you?

What is aftertouch?