Yamaha CS80

> > 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