I always did find it odd when this product was first being demo'd all over "geartube" that the reviews and previews were seemingly hyper-focused on the keybed while basically all ignoring the sound engine even though the demonstration of the key action still showed some nice tones. My thought was that people were going to completely miss that this is more than just a midi controller, and clearly the sound engine is more than just a "look what we can do" tech demo but rather a properly musical engine.
Played this at NAMM. I can't wait for mine. Just like every producer needs a computer, this will become a staple in every studio dealing with composition and production work. What an incredible piece. Great playing, Jack!
The more I play with mine, the more I push the sensitivity. Curves at 25, Note On at 4, Stabilisation 80. Being able to bend the lightest notes really brings out the difference of the Osmose with any other synth. I am at 78 user presets and haven't finished exploring the factory ones yet. I am so glad I stuck to practicing with it. Also don't forget to tweak the Global FX, they are different for every patch.
For me, the best feature isn’t the side-to-side movement but sending a CC based on how much the key is depressed. Velocity is great for emulating traditional keyboard instruments. Poly aftertouch is great for applying modulation per key. But directly controlling envelopes based on how far the key is pressed seems like such a natural (and poly) alternative to expression pedals and breath controllers for wind and string instrument type sounds. Does any other relatively conventional keyboard controller do that?
Maybe. It seems more like clarinetists getting to have an Eflat clarinet too. I don’t want to stop playing piano over this is what I mean, but I’m happy I have one
I tried one of these out recently. It would take some time to learn not to play out of tune - I was constantly hearing awful chords because my fingers were inadvertently pushing individual keys sideways, pushing the pitch of those notes wrong. I'm sure it would just take some time and practice to get used to. That said, it did start feeling really natural and expressive, and the presets in this synth are otherworldly. I want one!!!
yep as geerhoar mentions you have a great deal of refinement available for how sensitive that is.. so your concern really isn't an issue practically.. plus you can also ramp it up all the way to being able to zap up and down multiple octaves of pitch on a single key at the other extreme
The expressive capabilities are fascinating. Would love to hear something more contemporary cinematic out of this thing. Most of these sounds remind me of the early 90s, which isn't my favorite era of synth sounds.
I've had this for a couple months now and it is endlessly inspiring to play, and very much a songwriting muse... playing some of the solo instruments and string patches, being able to emulate the articulations of an erhu or other non western instruments... Having been playing synths and samplers, piano and modular, and recycling gear regularly, this is one piece I will NEVER get rid of
I own one since last december. Like it so much! I've watched plenty of video about Osmose Expressive E and yours is quite fun to watch! I will probably share it to show to friend what this new synth is! Thank you!
I've had mine for over a year now and you can tweak the presets but you can't create fresh sounds from scratch with it. For that you need to use editor separately which you install on your computer,but it's very very hard to use . Its very complex and not user friendly but it is amazing what you can do it's truly unique. I think most users will stick to the onboard presets same as dx7 users did back in the day. The onboard sounds are excellent and what many still don't know or get showcased is it's mpe compatibly. It's by far the best mpe controller available,don't buy roli products this is much better
Thanks for your comment. I’m excited to get one of these as I really like to play in addition to creating my own sounds (All synth methods basically). When making my own sounds I will usually start with a preset and just keep evolving that until it’s “mine”…Are Osmose patches deep enough that you have a wide enough range of possibilities within each preset to make them with tweaking “your own”….? [without resorting to the computer software, macros only]
@@asynchronicity I think the patches are deep enough so you can make them 'your own' on the Osmose. Each patch/preset has its own macros to play with. The global FX are also fun to play around with, even though you (for now) only can use one at a time. I haven't tried the Haken Editor yet.
@@uffeskammed2674 Thanks for chiming in. I finally had a chance to play one and loved it. I can see how I would be fairly satisfied with tweaking patches without resorting to the software. A really brilliant instrument though... MUST have it😺
We need a video that does justice to the title of this video!! The Haken Audio Eagan Matrix editor deserves a proper video that makes musicians see the beauty of this truly matured version of the matrix approach to editing sound... and all of its different Oscillator types... This video IS a good demo of some of its preset sound however! Thanks!
Yes, the keyboard opens up new ways to play this... but I'm pretty blown away by the sounds. It's like a super modern DX7 on steroids. This is what the DX7 must have sounded like to musicians back in the early 80s!
That’s a very interesting comparison, and I think you’re right! I’m not crazy about the sound of these physical models, but the Osmose really shows them off well. I’ve had mine for about 7 weeks, and I’m still discovering new details in the presets and how they react to my playing - just as I’m sure someone coming from a non-velocity sensitive subtractive synth must’ve felt when getting their hands on a DX7.
The EaganMatrix is truly a synth engine to behold. As he says in the video, it's made by a company called Haken Audio for their own products. What he didn't get across so well is that Haken Audio has been making products with the EaganMatrix since 2008, long before lending it to Expressive E for the Osmose. You can even get a tiny little EaganMatrix in a eurorack module!
This beautiful instrument is like no other , I've been waiting for years to do this , & the sounds are wonderful. There are plenty of synthisizers that sound good , but this sounds & feels almost acoustic. I use mine with a Boss RC 505 loop station & how the sounds blend is quite incredible, it's like mixing paints they compliment each other so well. The fact that these sounds are produced synthetically & not sampled is a big bonus. The playing experience is superb, each preset does something different , I am still discovering sounds , some are just wierd , but once you try them & listen ! they are worth the time to figure out what's going on & what they can do. I'm 6 months in & still amazed .
If I remember correctly from a video expressive e put out you can also generate cool sounds by playing the black parts of the key up top. I’ve never seen an in depth explanation of that but would love to.
I did a video in which I do play the upper parts of the keys, but sadly it's only a quick moment and doesn't really demonstrate it well. I can say that it isn't a separate "feature", but the Osmose keys can be so sensitive that striking, or simply running a finger--like a glissando--along the rearmost portion of the keys will trigger the initial part of the sound. I particularly like this for the nuanced, percussive timbres.
I think because of the pitch bends under the fingers its causing phasing and fattening the sound, making it a way better synth sound than a lot of synths just from that alone
An amazing instrument, almost double the $ here so not worth it imo. The importer is $ gouging as other companies offer $ on parity or sometimes less. Shame, because it truly is a beautiful instrument.
I don’t know… Can we really dig in the menu to make our own sounds? Or we have to connect the instrument to the computer? This is what retains me from buying it. What’s the point to play always the same sounds? How does it compare to a Korg Z1 or a Yamaha vl1? Ok for the keys and the controls they’re amazing but the engine???
Hooray, I thought with Jack all over Europe with James Arthur (and Bingerz) that we would have no content for a while. Thank goodness he has recorded a few extras…
Nice, but a bit too much and wrong sounding pitch bend. That's the problem with playing the Osmose. Almost no keyboard player can do good manual vibrato, including me 😉 .
I find it interesting that Yamaha had this sideways key modulation on their organs back in the 80s. Strange that it took all this time to make it to a synth. I feel this is the start of a journey, I'm just not sure where that journey is going.
Maybe its cool for preset surfers but for anyone who designs their own sounds that egan matrix software editor is rediculous. Give me just the keybed as an mpe controller I can use with my Hydrasynth.
You can create your own with the Haken Editor on a computer, but it seems rather difficult. Check out the video Loopop did on the Osmose and/or the youtube channel 'EaganMatrix Programming'. On the Osmose, you can save your own versions of the built-in presets, if you have made some cool changes and want to use them again later.