If it’s not too late to return it, I would. The keyboard’s aftertouch is very well done.
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Are you meaning poly-aftertouch ? I assume you are, in which case buying a poly-aftertouch conventional layout keyboard will be a bit of challenge.
I believe the HSK is the only currently made poly-aftertouch keyboard. There are keyboards that you can get used. Or you can wait for the Osmose end of the year, early next.
Someone please correct me if i’m wrong.
ADDED: I will doubly underline what vegeta897 says – the HSK poly-aftertouch / MPE keyboard is very well done.
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There was this odd thing, “The Sixty-One” but I haven’t heard anything about it since it popped up last year and it seems like they changed “polyphonic aftertouch” to just “aftertouch” in the description?
I forgot there is the CME USB Keyboard with poly-aftertouch:
It’s $100 USD.
I’ve never used it so i can’t vouche for it.
ADDED: There are three other CME keyboards all with polyphonic-aftertouch. There is a 37 key version and a wireless version of both the 25 and 37 key.
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hmmmmm…try that CME or return and buy the KB version…I just bought a Matrix Brute which takes up so much space…I’ll have to mull this one over…thanks!
Note the CME Xkey keys are full size but have limitied movement.
There’s a video here.
It’s also USB only so you need to connect it through a computer or an adapter device to get to the HSD.
ADDED: It looks like the thing to get is the CME X-Cable adapter ($30 extra, i think) which has the sustain pedal, expression pedal connections, and a DIN MIDI OUT.
ADDED:
Can you return that too – it sounds like Arturia’s got a new big synth in their “Brute” series. They have announced an announcement on that. Decisions, decisions.
I use it and really like it. The action is very fast and the aftertouch sweet. Lately, I’ve been programming patches that suit the CME response rather than the pads on the Hydra module (patches I’d already made needed me to dig in rather hard on the CME, which as someone else mentioned has only a limited travel).
If they ever make another with more octaves and less flimsy connectors, I’m all over it. It does have proper MIDI out BTW.
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Interesting – that’s good information. You mean digging in hard for the poly-aftertouch ? So there’s no adjustment for that with the CME. There’s an AT Curve adjustment, in addition to the Velocity Curve, for both Hydraynths that i think would adjust for that for internals. (Aside: I set my HSK to Sigmoid for that.)
BTW: Are you two, Smoky and The Rock, related ?
There’s no AT adjustment that I’m aware of for the Hydra module, if you mean the response of the pads anyway.
I’ve no idea if you can tweak it for the CME keyboard; all I’ve ever done is connect it to an input of Cirklon to route wherever I want. Before the Hydra that was my Blofeld (and Emu Morpheus until it died). There may be software, not looked sorry.
My wife says I have the emotional range of a rock, if that helps.
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Aftertouch Curve Adjustments:
System Settings Page 3, #6 Aftertouch Curve “AT Crv”.
I love the choices with it:
- Very Soft
- Soft
- Natural
- Sigmoid (which stands for Sigmond Freud
) - Hard
- Very Hard
Plus there is also adjustments for four other aftertouch factors on that same page:
- Delay
- Fade
- Offset
- Release
I played with them all along the way to decide how i thought they should best be set. I should visit this again now that my aftertouch playing has improved.
ADDED: I expect the Osmose to be adjustable something like this too.
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I am absolutely in love with the Hydrasynth. It’s sounds great, is very intuitive to program, and is incredibly deep.
Correct me if I’m wrong and there is some way around this, but the only thing I don’t like is that when I turn it on, it doesn’t go back to the last state I used it in. Maybe, I’m just spoiled by Elektron and Mutable gear, but that’s a feature I would love to have.
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No we’re not going to correct you. Up thread is some discussion of this. The reason given has to do with the time it takes to store permanent values. (Notice the pause whenever you do a store, like after a System Settings change.) If there was a store done every time you went to a new patch things would really be slowed down.
(I think the storage speed has to do with the technology used for non-volatile storage.)
What i have done as a kind of alternative option, is using the patch manager to keep my active patches in the low numbers of bank A. Given the change in the latest firmware release that allows you to jump between the base of the banks quickly with the Shift – Patch Change Knob, you can increase the places you store your active patches to the low numbers (and the high numbers) of all banks. So Five places.
There are also ways to quickly navigate patch storage using the browser, which was discussed up thread.
The advantage to the predictable way the Hydrasynths works when powered up, is you will always know where you are and can predictably navigate from there.
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Thanks for clarifying, Jukka. I’ll scroll on up and see what was discussed.
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Sorry, I was thinking about the responsiveness of the Hydra pads - in other words the sensitivity to being hit. Was confusing myself by linking this to the CME’s aftertouch - will go and try one of the hard settings, see if it will handle the CME’s output range better (good idea, thanks for suggesting!)
Edit: OK I took a sober look at this and my issue boils down to a mismatch between the response I’ve set to suit the Hydra’s pad aftertouch and the usual output of the CME. Trying the extreme options of the Hydra’s settings don’t make a massive difference to the way the CME drives the synth but do seriously change the way the onboard pads interact. Fortunately, there’s an app for the CME that can supposedly change its own output curve - so that’s my next port of call. Thanks for the pointers. 
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Does anyone know if there’s a fitting decksaver for the desktop version out already?
there isnt one out yet,
they havent showed one is in production either…
anxiously waiting for one though
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Hi!
I noticed that you can alter the curves of the envelopes.
Do you think it’s possible to make really snappy percussion sounds with it?