Eigenharp Google+ Community Archive

Surge Synth went Open Source. This looks really promising! This synth was developed by one of the Bitwig founders and is available as open source since a few days. https://github.com/kurasu/surge https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/vember-audio-surge-22113 : It even provides MPE support in the latest (unreleased) version! Sounds like a candidate to put into the EigenD resource package, so any layout can just assume it's there? https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/vember-audio-surge-22113

This launched today on kickstarter... might make sense for a couple of reasons. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smashmouseusa/smashmouse-universal-pedal-for-hands-free-computer# https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smashmouseusa/smashmouse-universal-pedal-for-hands-free-computer#

Looks interesting - a ring that measures your hand position and thus adds 3d expression capabilities to any keyboard. (Might also be interesting to experiment with that, an Eigenharp and a violin bow :) ) Has anybody played with this at one of the previous music gear exhibitions? Haven't found a homepage, they run a Kickstarter atm though: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1618180096/neova-a-unique-connected-ring-for-musicians https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1618180096/neova-a-unique-connected-ring-for-musicians?lang=de

Physical Audio - Derailer (AU/Mac only) In beta at the moment, but worth checking out, Physical Modelling with MPE support (they call it X mode) , what more could we want? :) A quick play it seems to deliver, the UI is pretty complex (ok, Ive not read the manual), I particularly like the bowing presets... some of the others I find a bit hit n miss on strike, might be I need to fine tune my MPE setup. if they can sort this out, then it could become a favourite. (hmm, perhaps the final release, can lets us reduce the reverb level a bit ;)) https://physicalaudio.co.uk/PA3.html https://physicalaudio.co.uk/PA3.html

Ordered my (first) ’harp (a Black Pico). After discussing it with someone close to me, that person decided to support my musicking activities. Perfect gift to myself. It’s also the ideal “mid-life crisis” purchase for someone who doesn’t drive, chase women, or go for much conspicuous consumption. Which means that you might have to endure my questions and such. Will try to keep everything reasonable, but it’s a bit too exciting, already. Thanks all for your help, already! Can’t wait to explore new musicking horizons. For instance, do you think it’s possible to do some automatic harmonization within EigenD for Windows or macOS? Was able to create some neat harmony tricks in Sonic Pi. It’d be fun to do it within EigenD even if (or, because) it requires some learning. Wow. Major thing in my life, honestly. Wouldn’t be surprised if Eigenlabs were to get a spike in Canadian sales… ;-)

Axoloti MPE - using new MI modules I thought Id share this, as its a lovely video by a contributor on the axoloti forum - although its on a Linnstrument, it obviously works on the Eigenharp too. its a couple of nice patches that are now in the community library. the heart of one of the patches is based on the new 'brds' object, which is a port of mutable instrument braids. the great thing is, we also ported other MI objects, including rings, elements and clouds, warps. after seeing this I dug into braids a bit more, and found just a couple of objects, and you can get some really nice stuff e.g. braids into rings/reverb. (I'll do some videos too soon) ... and of course its all 'standalone' no computer needed ... a perfect match for stuff I'm doing on the rPI :) https://youtu.be/XNx5zb3PuAw https://youtu.be/XNx5zb3PuAw

a good illustration of Strobe 2's new MPE features. its a really good approach, allowing you to adjust response rates on all dimensions for individual patches, useful for all controllers. its interesting playing the roli patches on the Eigenharp (and Soundplane) as you can really feel the patches need to be adjusted to take into account their unique nature. this is not surprising, but its just so evident how much difference this really makes... and I can now understand why Roli and Haken are reluctant to release their synths for other MPE controllers... the presets just wont translate that well. anyway, great free update if you already have strobe 2 :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqIsTY_EFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YqIsTY_EFw

Polyphonic expression pedaling :) Impressive setup! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zzkalHmY10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zzkalHmY10

Just listened to the demos of a new physical modelling+sample based hybrid approach for violin simulation. Absurdly realistic. Wondering how well this would work with Eigenharp&Co when played in realtime... http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/demos_violin.php http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/demos_violin.php

In the quest to play more with physical models I revived a dinosaur from the past: Tassman 4. It still sounds great and there isn't much else like it out there when it comes to modular synths with focus on physical modelling, even in late 2016 (well, Kaivo and Chromaphone, but these are not fully modular). And I am glad to report that it works in VpC mode with Eigenharp! You can define the midi channel for each (mono) keyboard or modulation source (as well as for midi learning of the knobs that strangely are not available as inputs in the builder view but only can be automated in the context menu of the knobs in the player view). For some reason I don't fully understand yet you then have to set the global MIDI channel to 1 instead of Omni - then VpC works. For Omni all events are copied to all channels (as expected), for 1 strangely all events stay on their channels as they come from EigenD. (Which might be a bug originally, but it's great in this case!) Very positive surpr...

Softube modular Ok, Im a sucker for virtual modulars, but I'll admit, often they tend to sound a bit digital... but this is different, this really has fantastic sound quality. not as flexible as Reaktor Blocks, but the quality of the modules is better... not surprising as you pay for them :) I really hope other manufactures can be tempted to jump on board, and given they will (presumably) be paid, it seems like it could happen, its not a 'competition' to their hardware business. anyway, I used it via VpC, and even basic patches sound brilliant. tips for how to do this, as no official MPE support yet. - create a rig, with one voice - take midi note and pitchbend, to cv mixer, put 4x multiple on pitchbend input, which will give you 48 semis rather than 12. - use mod wheel (CC1) rather than CC74. - then duplicate this track for N voices, and change input to individual channels 1-N. perhaps not as neat as having it all in one rack BUT actually I found it made it easer to edit ...

Anyone got any suggestions on extending the Tau endpin? It's awkward for playing seated and I'd like to put another 30cm or thereabouts on it. Tons of cello endpins for sale out there, but nothing with the somewhat unusual design of the tau's endpin. I read on the wiki that Eigenlabs was selling cello endpins for about £100, but stopped making them. I might just print something (I've a 3d printer here) as a sorta adapter for classic cello endpins, but was wondering if anyone else has already done something similar or has recommendations for existing stuff.

Interesting interview with Jordan Rudess about MPE instruments in general (and of course Seaboard and Rudess playing and thinking about Seaboards and Rudess iPad apps in particular). Just click on the video. Only the first few sentences are in German, the entire rest of the interview is in English. One thing I wholeheartly agree with - a new instrument does not only require a signature way to play but a signature sound to become "a recognizable thing". That said of course different people can play the same device with completely different sounds. But then they probably kind of play different instruments really that require their own way of playing, thinking, literature etc., making it hard to establish something desirable and possible to learn from/teach as a teacher. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Interview-Jordan-Rudess-ueber-Knautsch-Keyboards-MPE-und-Musik-Apps-3129553.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Interview-Jordan-Rudess-ueber-Knautsch-Keyboards-MPE...

Mainstage 3.2.3 / Logic Pro 10.2.1 released - Alchemy expression support Apparently the new version of MainStage and Logic Pro X have an updated Alchemy with amongst other things expression support. (mono mode as apple call it) Im downloading to test now... and also to see if they have sneaked in MPE support on others, perhaps the synths that already support note per channel.

Roli Noise something for the weekend? it says its MPE compatible, so will have a play later today :) https://www.roli.com/products/noise

Axoloti - shop open I know some were interested in buying an Axoloti Core, they are now  for sale (65 euro + vat  & shipping). limited stock, its kind of a 'pilot' for webshop, so its not publicly announced yet.  http://www.axoloti.com/product/axoloti-core/

The demos of that new viola library sound very promising: http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/demos_viola.php Did anybody take the plunge and try out how the expressive capabilities work together with the Eigenharp? http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/demos_viola.php

Reaktor 6 - MPE/T3D OSC blocks :)  Ive been enjoying R6, so thought Id add to the growing number of user blocks out there... and what would l add ? MPE and T3D support of course... they are now in the user library, both support up to 8 voices. just an initial version,  I may add more features depending how much I use them. Its been a real blast playing with these with the Soundplane and Eigenharp. T3D -  http://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/8901/ MPE -  http://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/8899/ wow... just gone back to get the links, and people have already started downloading them!? http://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/8901

FXExpansion - Strobe 2 with VpC So Strobe 2 has been released with 'multi dimensional control' ... no not MPE, VpC, with  PB/ CC 1 or 4 and Channel/Poly Pressure. Pretty expensive (179 euro!) but seems a pretty comprehensive synth. But I can NOT recommend it at the moment (been using demo) a) Pitchbend and Pressure don't appear to be working in MDC mode b) Menus don't work in VEP5 (ok, in LPX) other slight limitation PB range only to +/-24 semis, and pity not MPE compatible. and i found this all in 5 minutes, so appears a little buggy. Ive reported the issues, hopefully they will get them sorted out, nice to have more choice for VpC synths. anyway free demo (works for 30 mins, no save) so try it yourself

Alchemy's back in Logic as expected. http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/08/free-apple-logic-pro-10-2-update-brings-back-famed-alchemy-synth-2/