I just saw this, is Unique....from the UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8294355.stm

Check it out.

The flagship Eigenharp Alpha comes with a price tag not far short of £4,000


Manuel

P.S. Do you think arrangers can be fit in this format?


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mdorantes

Shame that none of the players could do anything with it that couldn't be done with a conventional keyboard (or three!). If it is SO expressive, how come all they could play was that robot rubbish? T3's clarinet blew that demo away for realism and expression...

Every few years, someone comes out with something like this - just plain weird. And, like the article says, most if not all are gathering dust in the back of a studio somewhere by now. I see nothing to convince me this one won't end up in the same place..!

Manuel, That is very cool!!! Inovative things are coming out all the time in the music world.

Thanks for the heads up.

Different for sure; kind of cool too. Thanks.

Geez, Diki. If that's the way of the music world, we'd still be banging rocks together (not that rocks aren't a valuable form of musical expression). The saxophone was radical and goofy when Adolph Sax invented it. I'm glad the players back then stuck with it.
Sometimes it's not the new instrument, but where it may lead. Where do you think arrangers originated from? Some off the wall synthesizer concept, I expect.
Take care,
Dan

Personally I thought that was pretty cool.
I also love the fact that they played the song “Strange Ways”. Thought that was quite fitting.

Regards
James

Musicians use something that they can HEAR is clearly different to anything else out there (and that difference is a good thing ).

Close your eyes and listen to that video. Hear anything different? I didn't. Sounded like a bunch of blokes wanking around on some synthesizers..!

If the inventors themselves can't get it to sound unique, what makes you think anyone else can..? There's a LONG history of things like this popping up at NAMM's and the like, a bit of a buzz for a while, then it's bye-bye... http://www.buchla.com/historical/thunder/ and our own SZ has more: http://www.synthzone.com/ctrlr.htm

If the saxophone had SOUNDED like a clarinet, no amount of weirdness would have kept players playing it... but it didn't. These guys are just too into Star Wars (wish they DID play the Cantina scene music, that might have been cool!)

BTW, I thought the arranger evolved out of home organ accompaniment concepts, not some off the wall synthesizer concept. . A natural progression, not some giant leap forward...

Ever hang around a university electronic music department? Yours is a subjective observation based on gigging players. Not all of us have to play to eat.


That's what they are... They're just not using a keyboard to 'wank' on, as you put it.


I never heard any claims of sounding unique. Just a claim of offering a new method to play a synthesizer.


Again, some form of claim to sounding unique, I guess(?) I'm not sure I get your point on this one...


Hmmm, let's think about that. My old Bontempi had synthesized everything - a concept dating back to when some guy put two vacuum tubes and a transistor together with a patch cable. Many keyboards with a electrical cord (with some exceptions), can trace their roots back this far.

Look, I'm not saying these guys are great, or I gotta buy one of those. I'm just trying to keep an open mind and applaud their courage and innovative spirit.

Take care,
Dan
Edited for formatting

[This message has been edited by big741.1 (edited 10-10-2009).]