Osmose by Expressive E..... Poly AT content!

[Dan LB]

This thing looks amazing!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZ6SuWxBFg

more here...... https://www.expressivee.com/discover-osmose

This is the first synth I've got genuinely excited about in over 18 months!!

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yes, it looks very interesting indeed...

H

[Wonks]

Has The Elf bought the company yet?

[Dan LB]

Has The Elf bought the company yet?

This won't interest him.......... it's only 4 octaves and has an external power supply.....

[Wonks]

He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight. There's only so much an Elf can take.

[Drew Stephenson]

Has The Elf bought the company yet?

This won't interest him.......... it's only 4 octaves and has an external power supply.....

Shouldn't laugh.

Laughed.

[The Elf]

Has The Elf bought the company yet?

This won't interest him.......... it's only 4 octaves and has an external power supply.....

Just got me a Roli 49 - 4 octaves, but NO power supply!

If it needs a PSU? Fail! Tcha! Who needs a PSU?!

[ManFromGlass]

4 octaves. Good choice!

[The Elf]

4 octaves. Good choice!

5 would be better, but it seems manufacturers have decided I don't need that 'extra' octave I consider the bare minimum for a poly. Sigh...

[Wonks]

It's also got a synth engine in it, as well as all those extra key sensors, which is why it needs an external PSU. Maybe ask them if they'll do a 5-octave version without the synth engine that's just USB powered?

[ManFromGlass]

So Mr Elf - why 5 octaves? Do you find you need to play bottom end and high end at the same time? Or is hitting an octave transpose button an irritation?
Just curious.

[Eddy Deegan]

So Mr Elf - why 5 octaves? Do you find you need to play bottom end and high end at the same time? Or is hitting an octave transpose button an irritation?
Just curious.

Can't speak for Mr. Elf but I find a keyboard with 5 octaves to be twice as practical to play as one with 4. Bass drones/left hand stuff under a right hand lead/chords is much easier than having to repy on sustain pedal or contorted fingering to hold keys down while scrumbling for an octave up/down button as well.

Add in some widdly-widdly wakeman-esque lead parts and you'll need more than 4 octaves too. Most (decent) synths have patches offering different characteristics at the extremes of the keyboard and 4/5 octave keyboards simply hide a lot of that from you unless you go looking for it.

Then there're splits of course. The more octaves the better!

[ManFromGlass]

Right. Didn’t consider needing to hold down the bass while doing brilliant leads. The stuff of good players! Not 2 finger players like me.

[The Elf]

Yes, you don't have enough range on a 4-octave keyboard for big left-hand bass and right-hand leads at the same time.

And why would anyone want to muck about with a transpose switch while performing?

[The Elf]

I have to say that the more I see of the Osmose, the more convinced I'm becoming. The initial sensitivity to touch is a winner in my book.

It will all be about trying it out in the flesh.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yes, hugely impressive and tempting... but I want five octaves! Anything less is too much of a performance compromise for two-handed playing!

And if the idea is to restrict it to one hand, three octaves would be more practical and more affordable...

[Eddy Deegan]

Same here. I was a whisker away from pre-ordering to get the discount but then realised that although it looks amazing, it's likely the forerunner of more of the same and I too want more keys on something like that.

In this case I'd rather wait and get something ideal (and likely more expensive) than be an early adopter and compromise. I am glad to see they are doing well in interest at this point; their generous 'early bird' discounts have sold out, although there is still a 33% discount until the end of December.

[The Elf]

I completely agree about the number of octaves, but I'm being worn down.

At this point 4 octaves is almost generous.

[ManFromGlass]

Yes, hugely impressive and tempting... but I want five octaves! Anything less is too much of a performance compromise for two-handed playing!

And if the idea is to restrict it to one hand, three octaves would be more practical and more affordable...

Interesting you say this Hugh. I have a small Roland keytar (3 octaves?) in my studio. I justify it by telling myself on an 88 keybed it is too easy to bang out big block chords and boom your cue or composition is done. With this restriction I am forced to think more about low, mid and high instruments. This has been useful particularly for orchestral or denser writing. Not having training in those areas I have found this a good compromise for me.
But every now and then one just wants to instantly be bathed in the glory of a monster chord!

[Martin Walker]

I have a small Roland keytar (3 octaves?) in my studio. I justify it by telling myself on an 88 keybed it is too easy to bang out big block chords and boom your cue or composition is done. With this restriction I am forced to think more about low, mid and high instruments. This has been useful particularly for orchestral or denser writing. Not having training in those areas I have found this a good compromise for me.

Interesting!

On various occasions I've used my tiny 2-octave Novation 25SL MkII keyboard (normally for editing/correction purposes only) to play in individual monophonic parts to build up orchestral string arrangements, and it's worked really well.

Meanwhile, on polyphonic synths I can only really enjoy 5-octave keyboards (preferably with a selection of real-time performance controls), while for playing piano only my 88-key controller gets used.

Horses for courses!

Martin

[Arpangel]

I must admit, this looks very tempting, I'm trying to imagine it turning any synth into my Animoog in real life, but is it? could it? can it? will it? should it?

[ManFromGlass]

As the hypnotist said .....
You will spend zee money
You will spend zee money


(Probably very affordable compared to anything Buchla)