[sdiy] Release Velocity & Poly Aftertouch -- Too Much?

[Robert Shanks]

The Chroma has release velocity.  It's very handy.  I had a string patch
that velocity controlled both the attack and release.  I loved bringing my
hands off the keyboard very slowly and letting the sound slowly taper to
nothing over 45 seconds.  Having immediate control over attack and release
was very expressive.

I need to fix my Chroma.  I really miss it.  I've had it since it was new.

p.s. The Chroma had an optional poly-pressure mod, but most people didn't
get it.  I do have an Ensoniq SQ-80 that has poly-aftertouch.  The pressure
touch does not have a very musical, playable feel to it.  If it had
aftertouch like my Kurzweil PC-88, that would be great.  The PC-88
aftertouch has a wonderful feel, probably becuase the pressure curve is
user selectable.

Anyway, I'm with ya.  I wish someone would make a decent controller.

Robert

>I can understand why many MIDI keyboard makers didn't implement poly
>aftertouch. It could add to the complexity and cost of a keyboard
>considerably. However, release velocity should be fairly cheap to
>implement. The same sensors and circuitry which detect attack velocity can
>be used to also detect release velocity.
>
>It was only recently that I realized that most manufacturers were not
>implementing release velocity. Why is this? Is it really because most
>people seem to want a piano style action and find release velocity an alien
>concept? Does it really somehow add to the cost of a keyboard? (I wouldn't
>expect it to be a big factor.)
>
>Most importantly:   I want to know if it's simply expecting too much to
>have a MIDI keyboard with both poly aftertouch AND release velocity. Is
>that amount of data simply too much for a MIDI stream to handle? I
>eventually want to find a keyboard with both features. I might even have to
>build something myself one day. Before I get my hopes too high, I thought I
>would ask this group if combining both features was asking for a big MIDI
>congestion problem? Is there some technical reason why this combination
>simply isn't practical?
>
>I just don't understand why these features aren't much more popular than
>they seem to be--especially on synth keyboards. I could understand them not
>being highly sought-after items on a digital piano or digital organ I was
>working as a synth tech when MIDI was first developed and it promised great
>things back then. Sadly, I never saw any manufacturers really embrace all
>the possible features of MIDI.
>
>Where is my bright and shiny new world, full of fantastic new
>possibilities?   :)
>
>
>simply baffled,
>Glen
>
>"What a beautiful world this will be
>What a glorious time to be free"