Many people told us we should announce here our new product, a MPE + CV controller and a dedicated and autonomous app.
It’s live on Kickstarter until November the 13th of 2022, from only 159€.
Specifications:
I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
Have you considered the Exquis ?
Thank you, very interesting! I’ll try to find out if it supports the import of microtonal scales … 
Jeanne – I know you have a Hydrasynth, and have ordered an Anyma Omega, both of which do microtonal scales.
If you set the voice on the HS to a microtonal scale, let’s say 31-ET, successive MIDI note values received by the HS, gives successive notes along the 31-ET scale, breaking the standard MIDI note value map.
A controller emitting successive regular MIDI Note Ons, will output the successive microtonal 31-ET pitches from the HS. You could then choose if you wanted to assign the MPE Press or Bend on the Exquis, or any controller, to bend those notes from their 31-ET base.
In this case the relationship on the Exquis of the lit notes, as to scales and chord shapes etc, will not be correct, but other shapes and note connections would occur.
One way this could be adjusted is by changing the arrangement of MIDI Notes output by the Exquis, and changing the keys lighting. So someone decides on a different arrangement of notes on the keyboard, to make an arrangement more friendly to the player.
Is this what you are wondering about for the Exquis ?
Another way that microtonal scales can be done is keeping the HS for instance in standard 12-ET tuning, and using MIDI Note On combined with Pitch Bend, to map successive keys to a different scale let’s say 31-ET.
Jukka - this is very interesting. It’s been a long time I know we have to dig deeper in microtonal scale compatibility in Exquis. We are working hard to ship Exquis asap, but we are definitively adding microtonal compatibility in our todo list.
As far as I understand, there is one thing we will provide that can help: Exquis will have custom layout embed in its internal memory, which means you will be able to create them with our app, and then store them in Exquis to be use without the app, with the MIDI or CV outputs.
I hope this can help to improve compatibility, and I’ll be happy to improve Exquis capabilities to support wider or more user-friendly usage.
Hi, it is a long time since I dabbled into microtonal possibilies towards Midi. Because I‘m using microtonality through just notating it for ensembles of acoustic instruments, and in synthesizer music by manually detuning sequencer steps.
I wonder if Exquis makes it possible to microtonally play an instrument that does not have the possibility to import a scala file (like the Hydra can). @bruno.intuitive
And, is pitch bend really the only option still in 2023? 
Best wishes!
As you note the Hydrasynth does load Scala files, so you can have your choice of microtonal scales. Note On with Pitch Bend can get messy in MIDI.
This is 2023, so if the synth doesn’t have microtonal scales, well get with it synth maker.
For me if Intuitive, does a good job with what is described here, that should pretty much cover it. Implementing control surfaces for microtonal scales with more than 12 notes per octave is a set of trade offs regardless, even with a hexagonal layout.
It’s nice that CV is included. Thinking modularly, there can be other applications, for a controller that can output predefined voltages.
Gilding the lily – The one thing i might consider adding to the per key data, might be MIDI channel. Another way to do 24-ET microtonal with older synths is to have two synths on separate MIDI channels, each tuned a quarter tone apart. A perhaps more useful side benefit to this feature is it let’s you put an arbitrary split into your keyboard. ADDED : Bass and chord. Chord and melody.
EDITED : To reflect edit above.
Thank you for your feedback. I apologise we currently have no time to dig deeper into this subject, but as far as I understand, we should look at adding an “import scala file” which would create a kind of custom layout, such as what we plan to have for other purposes.
Do you confirm it’s relevant to import scala file, to the controller side, compare to load it into the synthesizer side? Which means it will affect midi notes send by the controller (Exquis), whatever the how synth understands how to interpret them?
It still a bit confused for me, but I know I should study the subject to have relevant answers.
By the way, I understood why it’s relevant to have a seperated MIDI channel per key
The way the Lumatone handles custom microtonal key layouts is they allow you to specify :
See this video for a very brief description ( video queued ). This is old so they may be doing other things in addition now too, which i don’t know.
That last option, the independent response curves per key, well i’m not sure how often that would get used. I suppose that if you specify a split for the keys with a separate MIDI channel, you could set up different response curves. Or maybe you want the bass notes to feel different than the trebles ones like on a grand piano or something. Not sure. It’s something i probably would not use.
So for me with the Exquis if it did the first three and CV voltage, that would be ideal. Maybe a choice of a specific CV voltage, or a “No CV voltage change”. That way you could zone the CV output section on the keyboard and give it a separate color. I suppose a no MIDI output option might be a part of that as well.
I’ve been popping off a series of new alternative ideas, for other uses for the CV output on the Exquis !
For me – i’d skip the Scala import on the controller side, and do that only on the synth side. At least for MIDI, i’ll leave it to you about anything for CV. I would also be fine myself with a raw voltage control for the CV pitch outputs.
Winter is coming !
I got quite excited by this one, price is great and the functionalities seems about right, but the vertical scale layout doesn’t attract me comparing to the Linnstrument horizontal one that feels natural for me (from guitar playing but also how the hands are naturaly landing on the board).
90° clockwise or anti clockwise could do the trick ? 
Innovation sometimes breaks habits! This is why it’s innovation 
I can only say we had a talk with Roger Linn, who tolds us he wanted to use an hexagonal layout for the Linnstrument at a time, but didn’t find the perfect layout. Now he has discovered and understood our layout he has validated it as the one he would have brought on the Linnstrument.
If the price is great and functionalities seems about right, why don’t you just give it a try? It might surprise you (as 90% of the people who tried it).
Also, we will let you change the layout yourself, so you will be able to tilt it and remap the keys if you feel so.
One last thing: if you want to give it a try, hurry up, as the 1st of October the pre-order price will raise by 40€.
(Teaser: can I add something? Shhh… Within the two weeks, we will make a big announcement, and you will then thank me to have advised you to get Exquis now. You’ll feel Exquis’ price a bargain! Shh…)
Pretty hyped to get mine ! November is so far away…
Hey !
I have forgotten to say here Exquis has won the MIDI Innovation Awards 2023, bringing it to the “best MIDI hardware commercial product of the year” position!
Exquis has been chosen in front of Roland Aerophone Pro AE30 and InstaChord IC-31 by an impressively famous jury composed by Roger Linn, Nina Richards, Bian Liunian, Pedro Eustache, Jean-Michel Jarre and Michele Darlin.
As you are a very active supporter of the project, I want to thank you! We are sooooo impatient to see and listen what you will do with your Exquis. After working 15 years on the project, I really feel like it’s a new page of the Musical Instruments history we are writing, and it can go without three things :
Part of Exquis history won’t be written by the Intuitive Instruments team!
Did Sergueï complain about my ( tons of ) questions on Discord ? I was supposed to be undercover with another alias…Betrayed by my avatar picture I suppose…
@bruno.intuitive - is this project or company in any way related to the French startup Dualo that went bankrupt a couple of years ago? (I lost about 700 EUR paid in advance for an instrument that did not materialize before the company disappeared…)
Edit: the precise amount I lost was actually 893 EUR… (see my detailed message below) 
This controller has come across my radar a couple of times in the last 6 months and looks really interesting, but there’s a number of things that give me pause. And @ccr’s query above just adds to that:
It seems that the Kickstarter has failed to hit it’s estimated delivery target – that’s true of a lot of kickstarter projects but is still a concern
There seems to be an ongoing discussion in the Kickstarter comments that suggests that the maker’s have downgraded what they promised to deliver. I can’t follow all the discussion as a significant portion is in French, but the root of the issue seems to be people now asking to switch their orders from “Deluxe” to “Standard” because some key software features will not be delivered. See: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dualointuitiveinstru/exquis-the-smartest-way-to-create-expressive-music/comments
@ccr Yes, as part of the Intuitive Instruments team comes from the previous Dualo team. Everything that was possible for us has been done when the Intuitive Instruments company has been created, to provide the greatest compensation to the people who have lost money. You should had you have receive (or offer to receive, even if you might have decline) a dualo du-touch S which is still worth 500€ and a lifetime subscription to the du-game (worth 100€/year). Also all new updates of the firmware have always been free. Lastly it’s important to say, there was no duty on the Intuitive Instruments to give compensation. It was even something that could have been considered as illegal by the major debts owners, like the banks.
We understand it’s something rude to lost that much money (we are not wealthy people), but we have done far more that many other would have.
There is also something important to consider. As part of the team decided to relaunch the project it also ensure to the dualo players they will have updates and after-sales support. Don’t kick a man when he is down, it could have been worst.
