I want an instrument which i can feel connected to

Have you ever sat by a piano and played and just lost yourself?

There is something about Nice heavy keys that makes me feel connected to the piano.

I havent really felt that with synthesizers although I love synthesizers, drum machines and eurorack, there is a disconnect between us. There’s a bridge which I haven’t been able to gap.

I’m starting to sell off almost all of my eurorack in order for me to finance that instrument that will make me feel connected to what I’m hearing.

I’ve had my eyes on a Nord lead 4 for a long time, but I’m leaning towards other things as well. As an example there’s a used Cocoquantus 2 up for sale round where I live. There’s also a sub 37 up for sale, but does one really get lost in a sub 37? I’ve been drawn to all these esoteric devices and had some of them. But I haven’t really connected with them like with a piano…

Basically I want something that can fit on my desk 90x30cm that I can get lost in and sample…

A bit of a long winded post for a “help me chose m” thread. But I want my fellow nauts to recommend instruments they get lost in…

Just as a side note, I already own a piano, but it’s inappropriately placed upstairs

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How about the expressive E Osmose?

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Wind instruments are more immersive than keys. A wind controller?

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I own a Studiologic Acuna 73 Master Keyboard with hammer action and it is a total different feeling playing a piano sample compared to a semi weighted keyboard. Maybe it’s that?

When I play a piano from Logic or Integra it somehow sounds different and feels
way more realistic. And connected. I only know of the Roland RD64 that might be the right size and has a hammer action keybed .

You sound like a tactile person. The caress of the wooden keys sort of gives it away. Im the same nothing electronic can do this. But how about Sampling the piano into an Analogue Rhythm? That way you can use the pads to feel a connection and create something wonderful.

Nothing much to offer, other than I think that this area is where electronic instruments have room to improve, I suppose things like the Linnstrument and similar go in a somewhat traditional direction, allowing more expressive realtime note articulation, but to be honest kind of bore me - might as well (for me) learn a traditional instrument.

I think (for me) the answer is probably a bespoke instrument, designed and made myself, if I ever get around to it is another matter.

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Madrona Labs Soundplane maybe?
https://madronalabs.com/soundplane

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If you’ve never tried a wind instrument it’s worth experimenting with! I started playing the flute and really dig it. I think horns would be awesome as well, if you can handle the volume where you live.

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That is definetly in the bucket list…

Doubt I would be able to grab one any time soon though

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Despite my list for drum machines and samplers, I am a guitarist at heart and always will feel connected to stringed instruments. The feel of the strings beneath the fingertips, the wooden fretboard beneath, the weight of the strap on the shoulders, the variation in timbre based on where the note is played, the extended articulations such as palm mutes, pinch harmonics, harp harmonics and finger tapping… The list is endless. Not to mention instruments such as the kalimba and hang drum, the latter being particularly easy to lose oneself in. The RAV Vast drum is gorgeous and makes a great piece for the studio as well as a generally attractive objet d’art. Check this one out. My mate is an old-skool hardcore DJ from Belfast and he loves his RAV Vast!

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Well yes I am… but it’s not as much exclusively enjoying pianos. I think I can get that connection with a playable synth. Or another interface as well… but I’m very picky and I don’t really know what it is I’m picky about.

As an example, I had the Hydrasynth desktop, it was great! Very easy to program, lots of modulation and so on. But I hated the pads and therefore I didn’t connect with it.

It’s hard to describe, but in my head I visualize it like it’s electricity which I’m giving with each touch and when I connect (like with a piano) the piano send electricity to me as well, feedback loop of tactility in a sense… it is in this stage that I get lost, because I feel every tone. I don’t get that sensation with a guitar.

Maybe I just have to find a synth with really nice keys and call it a day…

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Haken Continuum or such kind of (pricey I know) MPE instrument would definitely fit your quest, I guess.

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That looks interesting

Great thread! I agree electronic instruments feel less like they become part of us while playing them, they always seem to remain a machine, which has its own will…

2 things came to mind when I read your question:

  • My setup is always built around one sampler/groovebox, this is always the machine I feel most connected with. After a while of using such a machine to do everything, it can really start to feel like an extension of yourself. I’ve used the mpc 2000xl for years, and making stuff on it feels like second nature, mainly because of the muscle memory allowing me to operate it literally without thinking. The ARmk2 is now the centerpiece for me, and its getting there. My point is: it could also just take time (years) for an instrument to become so familiar to you that you feel connected with it. Having a central ‘do it all’ piece to your studio helps in this regard.
  • The one synth I feel really connected with in a different way than all other machines I’ve owned is the Moog grandmother. I think this is mainly because it feels very alive, and the patchpoints make you feel like you really control what the machine is doing, instead of telling it what to do… you did mention you’re selling the eurorack, some maybe this doesn’t apply to you…

Good luck finding your instrument!

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Thank you for the best wishes :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:.

And I’m glad you categorized “connection” in two different ways…

Like you feel with the MPC I feel with the OP-Z. I have made videos where I make a pattern on the fly without stoping the sequencer and had no problem doing so. But that sort of connection comes from using a device a lot. I’m more after the spiritual connection… I’m not entirely dropping the eurorack, I have a small skiff for my Pulsar.

I have a great connection with my OP-1, I can at times get lost in that, but it’s to static in its synth architecture. Having elements lfo set to sigma and affect pitch and volume helps… but I want MORE of that.

Haken Continuum…

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I don’t play keys that well but this has my attention:

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Lyra 8 :innocent:

Seriously I get what you mean. All electronic music equipment to me are like machines that I’m operating as opposed to an instrument that I’m playing, even keyboards. You program the sound you want to come out, then you play the notes but it’s not expressive playing, like with a stringed instrument where you can manipulate the sound in real time with your hands. Lyra 8 is probably closest I’ve gotten to that feeling with a synth. Granted it’s not super versatile as an instrument, but it has something all other synths have lacked for me.

That said I did watch a video of some youtuber playing Analog Keys, and it seemed quite expressive. He had to do a fair bit of programming, so it was a mental puzzle as well as a spatial one to get the music he wanted out of it, but once programmed it looked extremely fun and immediate to play.

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Drum kit
Lyra 8
Octatrack
Digitone
Pitsburgh SV1
Roland TR8-S
Monotribe
Korg MS20

Electribe (I dont own one of these)

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I constantly get lost in my Sub37… I have a reverb and delay perma-attached to it and it makes for a world of lost.

I guess this is really subjective, ones mans poison, etc.

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