Eigenharp Pico - anyone??

[Martin Naef]

Hi Peter

Peter Korsten wrote:
> That may well be, but would those new interfaces allow us to make better 
> music? How is 'better' defined in the first place?

I see two major issues, one of them is addressed by the Eigenharp:

- Be able to control the individual notes after the initial trigger 
(e.g. like you can bend notes on a guitar and control the sound of a 
wind instrument)

- Move away from the note trigger-modulate-off sequence towards a more 
"continuous" control of several notes.

Polyphonic aftertouch was a solution to the first issue, but the 
Eigenharp takes it a step further with two dimensions. In my book, the 
holy grail of instrument design would be to build something as 
expressive as a woodwind instrument but polyphonic and with a wider 
range of sounds. If anybody can ever master such a monster, I don't know.

> I get that with most new and supposedly exciting interfaces, that the 
> demos all suck. Which makes you wonder...

Given that the instrument only existed for a maybe a year or two, what 
do you expect? It takes other people a lifetime to master an instrument 
- and that's after the instrument has gone through generations of 
evolution... Everybody who plays the Eigenharp today is pretty much by 
definition a beginner on an immature instrument.

Martin