Tips for developing expressive gestures on LinnStrument

[@intheblink]

Roger, you’re such a treasure and a model of how humans should be. Thank you for doing all you do and making all you make.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@intheblink Thanks!

[@catoninetails789]

I've had my Linnstrument for about 1.5 years and I'm a little disillusioned with it and I'm thinking about selling it. My main two gripes with it are that (1) it doesn't feel very rhythmically satisfying to me to play Linnstrument. Playing a normal piano does feel rhythmically satisfying, because WHAM i slam a key and it instantly makes a sound, even a percussive one. But on Linnstrument I have to press gently, and there's no physical response of any kind. My primary instrument I play is a harmonica - a breath instrument. It, too, feels to me less rhythmical than a piano, but still satisfying because as soon as I start breathing in or out through it, something happens - some kind of physical feedback - I feel the air noving through me, my muscles contracting - something is happening even if attack (e g on the low notes) is pretty long. And Linnstrument doesn't feel as alive as my harmonica to me :( And I always second guess myself, like maybe my computer sucks and the latency sucks, or the patch sucks, or something. Probably my set up is ok because I have an approximately zero latency speaker and a good audio interface and I use a small buffer size. And my second (2) gripe is that no matter what I do with SurgeXT, I can't get good enough sound. I'm not an audio engineer, I use standard patches, sometimes I try minor modifications of them. I always get some tiny artifacts, e.g. some tiny click when I attack three notes at the same time, or the piano patch sounds really artificial, or the patch sounds great but has a long attack and is not optimized for Linnstrument, or it sounds bad on low notes, etc. I really want to like Linnstrument, because in theory I really like that it's isomorphic and that it's more expressive than a piano, but in reality it doesn't feel as good to me. Getting to the topic of the videos. I would like to watch some videos where such expressive play as you showcase here is used with an actual rhythm. Like, idk, a cool solo to a backing track or something. I would like to watch this because I want to know if it's actually possible to use all these wonderful 3d expressions in actual rhythmic and fast playing.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@catoninetails789 I’m sorry about your experience with LinnStrument. Please contact me at the normal support email and I’ll be happy to solve the problems. A few thoughts: 1) You said that playing 3 notes causes audible clicks. This suggests that your computer may be too slow for the software you’re running, or if on Windows the settings may be incorrect. This would account for the latency you’re experiencing. I can help solve this for you. 2) You mentioned that the piano sound in Surge XT doesn’t sound good to you. Surge XT is not a sample player but rather a synth only, so that piano sound is merely a pretty good one for Surge’s synthesis capabilities. If you want a quality piano sound, I suggest piano samples or PianoTeq would be a better choice. 3) You mentioned that there’s no physical response. This unfortunately is the nature of playing pads instead of a moving key. But the advantage of pads is sliding in pitch from pad to pad, plus Y-axis control, plus full range pressure, all polyphonic, which a piano keyboard can’t do. So it’s a tradeoff. If you prefer a moving piano keyboard, the Expressive-E Osmose is an excellent instrument, that keeps the traditional piano key interface while adding some expressive control. 4) You mentioned that you like to play hard and LinnStrument is too sensitive. If the sensitivity settings don’t do what you want, there’s a hidden setting in Global Settings called Touch Sensor Prescale that I can help you with when you email me. 5) Regarding videos with rhythmic play, there are a variety of these in the 3 “LinnStrumentalists” videos. Thank you for owning a LinnStrument, and I look forward to personally helping you, including doing a video call if you wish.

[@DaKaiserSoze]

How Beautiful. Sounds so different, yet similar to the chosen simulation also

[@hakeemadam955]

Thanks for sharing! Great for the ableton push 3 as well.

[@Steve-mp7by]

Genius 🔥

[@spikerzombie]

Keep going!!!🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

[@junglsmor]

4:13 would there ever be possibilities for a version with slightly bigger pads to help with accuracy while playing without looking?

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@junglsmor LinnStrument’s pads are spaced the same distance as the average spacing of human fingers, which makes them a perfect ergonomic fit. If the pads were larger, it would be difficult to play common 4-note chords in one hand, which is important for a music keyboard. I suspect you haven’t played a LinnStrument. I invite you to play one, so you can learn whether larger pads would give the benefit that you perceive.

[@junglsmor]

@rogerlinndesign i actually owned one for about a year and ended up selling because i think my hands are a bit larger than the average hand. it just became very difficult to not hit extra notes unintentionally and gaining that natural sense for where notes are like on a keyboard or guitar because of the flat surface. even though some things like the little bumps in note c does help. as much as i tried and practiced i just couldn’t get it down. i’ve always thought if there were a version with just slightly larger pads it would make accuracy less of a problem for my bigger hands. i tried the erae with larger squares and it felt almost perfect but was missing the tactile aspect of the linnstruments grooves and bumps.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@junglsmor I’m sure some people have said the same about the guitar, piano, or violin. But as a tiny company, I’m not in a financial position to make a variety of models for different finger sizes, which would require alternatives for all internal components, and making each model substantially more expensive and therefore have a higher customer price. Plus, like guitar, piano or violin, people who have a strong enough interest learn to adapt to the instrument, even if it isn’t a perfect match for their specific finger size. Also, I don’t know your level of musical skill, but often an amateur musician doesn’t yet have the skill to determine if the problem is the instrument or merely his lack of practice or learned skill. In our era of highly customized software, it is sometimes easy to think that everything- even the hardware of a complex musical instrument-should be customized to each of us, which is not possible, as proven by the standard sizes of guitar, pianos and violins, and the people of various hand sizes who adapt to the standard size. Like any instrument, the problem may be simply the lack of interest in practicing sufficiently so that you are able to hit the notes more accurately.

[@swonic]

Great video! Thanks for sharing. Let’s spread the word about MPE! ❤ I totally agree-subtle control of effects is the best way to make sounds feel more natural and alive. Exaggerated gestures should be reserved for moments where they fit the music. Also I think these gestures don’t necessarily highlight the strengths of MPE sounds or controllers, as they can often be achieved with wheels, expression pedals, and others.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@swonic I think you may have misunderstood. In my video, I am never controlling effects, but rather am controlling the fundamental elements of the musical instrument’s loudness, pitch and timbre, just as a skilled wind or bowed-string players does. Also, the entire reason for the existence of the 3 dimensions of touch control that MPE provides is because a MIDI piano keyboard can’t get anywhere close with its on/off switches and 2 sideways knobs (pitch and mod wheels). If you listen carefully to the video, this should be self-evident.

[@swonic]

@@rogerlinndesign I'm sorry. I think you may have misunderstood me as well, or perhaps my comment was overly simplified. You're absolutely right - the term "effects" in this context was incorrect. I should have used the term "parameters" instead, as I was referring to controlling software instruments, which can, of course, use effects to simulate the various elements of traditional sounds. For example, the loudness of a traditional instrument is perceived not only through the volume of its sound but also through its changing timbre. Extending this idea to modern synthesis, each of the three dimensions of touch could control multiple sound parameters. MPE controllers, compared to traditional MIDI keyboards, provide a much more natural and expressive way to play these sounds. They also enable the simultaneous control of multiple parameters through natural finger movements. Polyphony is especially important here because, without MPE, polyphonic control wouldn’t be possible. Anyway, again: I'm sorry, I just wanted to underline and support your points with my initial comment.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@swonic Thanks for the clarification, swonic.

[@Starthief]

I have a habit of patching synth voices without envelopes, just pressure control of the VCA and one or two timbral parameters together. (I'm sure that came from previously playing the Lyra-8 and Make Noise 0-Ctrl before getting into MPE.) I feel like this really encourages making use of pressure expressively -- especially after practicing different kinds of articulation. Slow fades, tremolo, brassy attacks that quickly drop to a lower sustain level (and can crescendo back up), double or triple attacks without ever releasing the note, pulsing with the beat, and so on. (On some synths, like Vital, Dawesome Kult and Myth, and the Noise Engineering Vereor synths, you can assign pressure to oscillator level, and just leave the built-in envelope at fastest attack, full sustain. But my favorite for this is Madrona Labs Aalto, where you can just assign pressure to the gate directly.)

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@Starthief Speaking of Aalto, here’s a video I made of playing it from LinnStrument: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKCul4Gcp7SLfNUsi=j3xKL-PfG07wo0Pr

[@nevedofficial466]

Hi Roger, I would like to reach out to you regarding accessibility in the newer MPCs. Is there an email that I would be able to write you at? Thanks and hope you are doing well.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@nevedofficial466 I’m afraid I don’t work for Akai, but you’re welcome to contact them about their products. Regarding accessibility, I offer a 20% discount for my company’s LinnStrument musical instrument, for musicians with a physical disability that significantly impedes their ability to play a conventional instrument. You can learn more at rogerlinndesign.com.

[@nevedofficial466]

@@rogerlinndesignMy apologies, I am aware you don't actually work for Akai. I just wanted to bring up a point regarding a lack of accessibility in a lot of products really, specifically the lack of tts feedback/screen reading functionality in a lot of these music making devices, which leaves a totally blind person like me completely left out. Given the much more complex structure of the user interfaces on these more modern machines there's really no way to memorize the layout of things like you may be able to with older machines. I am definitely far from a programmer but given the processors that power these new machines it should definitely be possible to at least have the core functions of the newer MPCs working with some kind of screen reading/tts feedback accessibility, although I realize some of the plugins may be a different beast entirely. Sorry again for hijacking the comments section in this video with a question not relevant to the topic. From what I studied and know about you, accessibility was something you took into consideration when launching your early products, and that is why I reached out here first before writing anyone else.

[@rogerlinndesign]

@@nevedofficial466 Thanks for letting me know about your blindness. I do value accessibility in products and as someone with hearing loss, I’ve found that accessibility features in mac and windows often have a lower priority, and those that exist are often buggy. I suspect that many blind musicians use music software on computer because if I understand correctly, screen reader apps can be used to read any other app’s screens, including those of music software. That said, the current MPCs are based on the Linux operating system, which would make it easier to implement a screen reader for blind users that is similar to screen readers for mac and windows. I’ll suggest this to Akai and thank you for bringing this to my attention.

[@nevedofficial466]

@@rogerlinndesign I have hearing loss as well, from the genetic disease that also gave me my blindness. Its a bit rare so not as much funding goes to studying/treatments unfortunately, but there are some breakthroughs happening as far as the hearing loss goes. I can definitely attest to the fact that blind musicians gravitate to computer software using JAWS/NVDA on windows or voiceover on mac, although in the production realm there's still a lack of accessibility. FL Studio is not accessible, last time I checked neither was ableton. I will say that Native Instruments has shown a real dedication to accessibility. Komplete Kontrol has been accessible for years, and just under two years ago Maschine became accessible. I used to make beats in Reaper with some extensions and scripting to stretch the limits of some of the stock plugins, I now use an MPC 2500, with some help from a couple friends to get the interface memorized, which while certainly not being perfect has worked out way better than I expected. Thanks again for your time and replies, I really appreciate it.

[@nevedofficial466]

@@rogerlinndesignI posted a reply a few hours after you wrote your last comment, but YT seemed to have auto-deleted it, maybe because it was kinda long? But thanks a lot for your reply, I really appreciate it. I have hearing loss as well, from the same genetic disease that gave me my blindness. And yes you are on the mark regarding screen reader usage and blind musicians, although I will say most mainstream and popular produdtion software is still inaccessible, with only one notable exception being Native Instruments Maschine and Komplete.