> > For a reall unique sound.... you should check the Haken Continuum
> > controller....which now comes with a string preset built in some
> > how....designed by Ed Eagan....(the first keyboardist in FIST).
> >
> > http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/html/examples/ex246.html
> > <http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/html/examples/ex246.html>
> >
> > http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/html/overview/Intro.htm
> > <http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum/html/overview/Intro.html>
Unquestionably in the unique department. It can't replace a poly AT
standard keyboard, it's a whole other thing with a good touch for
keyboardists is that the intervals default to the same distances
between fingers. It has some optional clever quantitizing that lets
you still play proper intervals if you aren't that accurate but
instantly goes unquantitized as soon as you play a vibrato or a pitch
sweep. When you rest playing a pitch it can be adjusted to correct it
smoothly and quickly. A landmark unit for alternate tuning because of
the quantitize functions.
Typically you are controlling the amplitude of each voice with
pressure, so it superficially seems to describe something like Poly
AT until you realize you typically are forming the amplitude
"envelope" by finger pressure. Now that's not your only option you
could have a gate with velocity pulled from the pressure but it's a
different sort of feel with big plusses and minuses over standard keys.
The processor inside is robust enough to synthesize and all but early
units have audio outs. It seems to me that Mr. Haken doesn't want to
play up features that are still in development so the site and
literature doesn't really detail much. The doc and OS firmware on the
website is from 2007 for what it's worth, so he's added a fair amount
to the OS since. I presume there will eventually be multiple editable
proprietary softsynths in the OS. Right now they are more or less
demos and user uneditable as far as I know.
nick