https://www.tankdrum.com/ I enjoy mine!
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I would suggest trying a Prophet 5. When you mentioned sitting at a piano, that is what came to mind, with the nice wood, great keys, and beautiful sound with a large sweet spot.
II see you mentioned a Sub 37. I used to own a Sub 37, never really got lost in it. Not that that is a bad thing, it is a very nice synth, but that was my experience.
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Thatās exactly what I wanted to suggestā¦if I had money from selling Eurorack, this is what I would go for.
A Viola?
Grab an old Yamaha electric. If you donāt know how to bow, get an Ebow 
Iāve been wondering if those would work with an E Viola for a while. Let us know, please.
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Of the orchestral instruments, flute is by far the most air-inefficient, with 50% of the air blowing over the top of the endpiece, and 50% going into the air column. A tuba takes less breath.
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A tuba will not fit in the 90 x 30 space on the OPās desk.
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Nothing like the feeling of bass guitar for me. 
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wtf?! How come Iād never heard of the Harpeji before? Itās a horizontal Chapman Stick.
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Despite this not really being what OP seems to have meant, this still feels like the right discussion to suggest OSC messages as a means of expanding control capabilities.
Products like the Mi.mu glove are fascinating (though expensive)
https://www.mimugloves.com/gloves/
At the end of the day those gloves are just a super fancy osc controller thoughā¦ and most of us already own very capable osc controllers (our phones).
ZigSimPro + any relatively modern iOS device (maybe android) = an absolute bonkers amount of new control capabilities, especially if said device has a capable camera (thinkā¦smiling to sweep a filter, physically moving from left to right to control panning, blinking to que drum samples, moving your phone around to add reverb, whatever else you can think up).
Also, nintendo joycons and wii controllers (nunchucks?) can be repurposed as OSC controllers.
Ok, sorry for the brief possible derailment from the topic.
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Last time I visited the Moog store in Asheville, my family and I played everything they had, as per usual. The Sub 37 did nothing for me. We were all transported by the Grandmother.
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Brilliant addition to the thread 
EDIT: not necessarily sure itās an answer to the OPs question though 
Every synth should come with a whammy bar.
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What a relatable thread.
I got into synths in the past few years as a means to play keys amplified, with an expanded sound palette. Iāve spent a good portion of that journey chasing an expressiveness from a synth, often thinking that a new piece of gear would solve that for me. What Iāve found:
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I donāt enjoy really deep synths as I get lost in the logical side of my brain and twist knobs for hours, without getting lost in the piano way
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My preferences are leaning towards synths with no patch memory. I think this encourages me to be in the moment.
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Instead of trying to recreate the piano experience, I am sampling the piano and opening myself to the experience that synths can curate. For this, Iāve found the Matriarch to be quite a compelling companion.
Piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussion/shakers. Iāve taken to sampling all of these as opposed to finding a synth which provides this. Iām still searching for this in the electronic music world but am relatively happy with the Matriarch + Deluge pairing plus some simple FX and mixing abilities. Also, echo the comments about the Nord Drum 3
Good luck with the search and following this thread for recommendations
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I get what you are saying as regards no patch memory. I also think that it forces you to learn the synth more, and any instrument you spend time getting to know will be one you have an emotional attachment to.
Iād love to recommend the Nord Lead 4 in this regard. It does have presets, but only a numeric led display. This encourages exploration, as the preset number gives you no preconceived idea of what the patch is. It has randomise and mutate functions that encourage directions I wouldnāt otherwise take. It also has modulation shortcut buttons for the mod wheel and velocity, making it really easy to add expressiveness to your patches in seconds. The only thing that prevents me recommending it wholeheartedly is the lack of aftertouch, and an incredibly poor keybed, which does detract from an otherwise very expressive instrument.
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For synths: I love my ARP Odyssey (I have the Karp rev 1 module). It is so wonderful and musical. It took me a while to get used to its bonkers layout, but once I did, I was hooked. Also, It has such a great core sound and really feels like a proper instruments. My OB6 is lush and lovely and will never leave the studio, but as an instrument to connect with, for me, itās the odyssey.
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I think really any instrument is possible to have that sort of connection with, it is just that some it is much easier to have the connection. To me atleast it is all about embracing the nature of the instrument. I think I actually connect much more with tactile feel than with expressiveness. Part of the reason I built a OMX-27 is just to have a bit more chromatic range on some really nice feeling switches. It feels great and really helps me feel more connection to devices that I dont necessarily need velocity/aftertouch expression with. Syntrx as a sound creation tool definitely can give me that, especially if you turn on the internal speakers and feel itās whole body vibrate as you play.
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What Iām really enjoying to play is the korg wave drum.
Iām not a drummer but i get lost on playing it with hand. Because it has a proper skin and can simulate accoustic instrument really good (and more), it feels like one.
I also love to play it through my guitar amp. Fender Mastqng GTX. It sounds fantastic !
+
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Yes, I totally agree with that. My Grandmother feels more alive than many other synths I currently have around. Still eyeing the Matriarch for that reason as well. Moog really nailed it by revisiting some of their modular circuitry and utilizing those circuits, or some similar circuits, in the Grandmother and Matriarch.
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No, E-Bow does not work. While synthetic strings with steel core are commonplace on electric violins and viola, there isnāt enough steel in the string to respond to the E-Bow.
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