Linnstrument

The Lounge Other Gear
#22

It’s working out pretty well for me using BFD3’s stereo 64-velocity layer acoustic kits. Here’s my layout:

LinnStrument-ColorLayout
LinnStrument-ColorLayout4018×1534 1.29 MB

Blue = kick; red = snare hit, drag, and rim (plus a few isolated cymbal chokes); cyan = ride and bell; magenta = toms; green = crash and cymbal; orange and yellow = small percussion 3-4 articulations each (bongos, djembe, timbales, high pitched tympani); white and clear = various hi hat articulations. Some of the colors you can’t tell apart in the photo.

I double up on many things diagonally to play rolls because it’s difficult to trill two fingers on one of those small LinnStrument keys. I group 4 for a cymbal crash so that I can palm it. I reserved the bottom row for LinnStrument functions, so the stuff I’ve put there isn’t strictly necessary, though it’s nice to be able to lay a thumb flat against those three blues to play a loud kick without ever missing. And I’ve still got 7 empty columns (49 keys) leftover.

My layout is symmetrical to play with left and right hand at the same time. It’s one-handable, but for more intricate playing, I dedicate one hand to bass/snare and the other to hi hat and ride, then different mixes of the rest–that’s just the approach to fingerdrumming I’ve developed from years on Zendrum controllers. In fact, if I can make this substitute for the Zendrum, that would free up space and funds because the triggers-only Zendrum can only do one single thing even if it’s the best at it. I have to say at this point that I think with a few weeks’ work, I can get this LinnStrument drum controller up to the level of my Zendrumming. I think, though, that standing with the thing strapped on guitar style will be too hard to control compared to the Zendrum because it’s just plain harder to see what you’re doing, and you can’t play strictly by feel as you can with a Zendrum because the LinnStrument has so many little targets. I’m also concerned that its lighter weight will make it move around much more than a Zendrum. These things will makie it impossible to stand and still hold down drumming duties reliably. It’s amazing what you can get used to with practice, though, and I rarely play standing anyway because I don’t like the weight for ergonomic reasons. It’s very possible, then, that my beloved Zendrums will get liquidated in the next few months.

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#23

I thaught it was Lite-Brite :

Lite-Brite
Lite-Brite645×645 209 KB

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#24

Just picked up a Linnstrument and I’m already super stoked that my guitar and bass knowledge are translating to shredding on my synths with confidence…

What’s the best hardware synth out there to pair with the linnstrument?

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#25

I like how the Hydrasynth responds, at least out of the box. My Xerxes, on the other hand, is requiring more tweaking than I have time for to get the playing response I want. I mean, it sounds great and works correctly, just the playing feel is a little bit off to me.

Off the beaten track, I also use the LinnStrument as a percussion controller with a Roland TD-50, but that requires the intervention of some software to adjust the velocity curves, again for optimal playing feel.

@neet, you should join the Roger Linn Design forum at KVR.

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#26

see you there

#27

I love the idea of linnstrument with BFD and will have to give it a go.

I’ve really been enjoying it with bitwig and the grid, lots of really nice programmable nuance.

Though I’ve also had it locked to my Monomachine with 6 tracks of sid pwm bass with some pleasing modulation and fx. Sadly the MM gets upset if I try to map both pressure (being sent as CC1) and pitch (as CC2). Not sure if it’s something I’m doing wrong.

#28

Does the MM respond to modwheel?

If so, therein could be your conflict. Modwheel uses CC1 by default, and is typically mapped to vibrato by way of an LFO controlling oscillator pitch. Anyway, just a shot in the dark there.

Cheers!

#29

yeah, but i’m effectively using pressure as the modwheel in this instance. Patch is created from a default, so nothing already set on an LFO. I might document the issue in case it’s one of those things that becomes obvious when I go to show someone else. I have been meaning to record my progress with the linnstrument in the last 12 months anyway.

#30

It’s great, but has a unique playing feel that takes quite a lot of practice. The issue is that, for fingerdrumming, you want to strike the pads, but the LinnStrument is made to be pressed, then modulated. As a result, it’s hard to control strike velocity at lower levels so that drumming needs to be a hybrid of pressing and striking; I had to spend time finding the right balance using a combination of the onboard velocity curves plus MIDI velocity maps in REAPER DAW. It then took a lot of woodshedding to get to a point where my playing was barely passable to perform in front of other humans, and now I’m rusty. My ZenDrums, on the other hand, are all like butter.

The LinnStrument’s advantages are the huge number of pads for laying out all kinds of big-ass percussion batteries. Also, the pressure sensitivity (ZenDrum has none, only note on velocity) allows for some really cool drumming with BFD when you use the LinnStrument’s arppeggiator on one side and play stuff with the other hand on the other side without the arppeggiator. With big kits, though, it helps a lot to be able to use custom color mapping of the pads to track where stuff is, but the LinnStrument makes custom color maps a real pain. And even simply turning all the lights off (to at least avoid a visually confusing notes-based pattern) is a custom color map.

#31

Can you set the note offset for columns or if this is still only possible for rows in the current firmware?

#32

Still only rows as far as I am aware. And it’s global. I’d really like to have different offsets per part. and more than 2 parts per patch.

What would be your use case for column offset? (I can’t think of a use at the moment)

#33

the LinnStrument makes custom color maps a real pain.

I was just thinking about how you mapped those. I assume you have to send a map of CC commands back to linnstrument for the colours? Does BFD let you do that, or do you have to send it from somewhere else? I’ve seen some vsts specifically for programming grid lights which might make it easier. I’d have to dig up names though.

#34

Ben Fuhrman is your friend here. The software takes a bit of getting used to its quirks, but it’s a real savior. The problem is that it won’t work via USB hub (for example, the one on my mioXL), and because you can’t store a custom color map on a LinnStrument, your LinnStrument has to stay permanently tethered directly to the computer to use your color maps. Roger Linn is considering adding an option to preserve the last color map across power cycles. It’s not the same as having presettable onboard color maps (just 3 would solve a lot of problems), but it’s the most he’ll even entertain in view of user demand. Ben Furhman says that adding onboard presetting to his software is beyond his skill.

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#35

I’ve been using a BomeBox as my midi hub lately. It might be possible to send color maps via that and trigger them using whatever. I’ve been using a usb numpad to switch between configurations to switch how my linnstrument is pointing do, and what my master clock is.
Probably wouldn’t be fun to program though, i am having an anxiety just thinking about the possibility.

Thanks for the Ben Fuhrman link btw!

#36

To use the Linnstrument with a Hayden or Janko layout.

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#37

Just wishing out loud, I guess, but the LinnStrument needs to be a note-, channel-, and color-per-pad device, or else it’s suffering from accelerating obsolescence. I wonder if Roger Lynn didn’t design it as that kind of more generalized controller because 2014 technology can’t do it, or if other design choices (like the sequencer) crowded out the possibility of greater and more practical user-side customizability. It’s neat that it has an onboard sequencer, but I’ve never been inspired to use it beyond demoing it given my myriad of other sequencing options. Also, the LinnStrument is too sluggish to change modes in real time mid-performance.

#38

I hesitate to answer questions that would best be answered by Roger Linn himself, but I reckon I’ve been on the inside rail of this long enough at this point, and I’ve never seen Roger around these parts, so…

The simplest answer is that he intended the LinnStrument to be an instrument unto itself, with a finite design, not unlike a guitar, violin, or any other traditional instrument. That includes (and embraces, by design) any perceived limitations. Its sole purpose was to allow for software instruments to be played with the same level of expressivity as acoustic instruments. To that end, I think it is incredibly well-thought-out and accomplishes this brilliantly. Moreover, a lot of thought was put into making it future-proof, within reason, in so far as its intended functionality is concerned.

On the other hand, it was never intended to be a sequencer, clip-launcher, or general-purpose MIDI control surface for your DAW. Without splitting hairs, the two main reasons behind this design mantra were to avoid feature-creep and keep the LinnStrument’s integrity as an instrument in sharp focus.

The limited sequencer functionality was not originally Roger’s vision, but rather the brain-child of his chief programmer, Geert Bevin, who wanted to play around with this concept for his own amusement. He was granted permission to do so because (and I’m definitely overstepping here, but the overall sentiment is thus) Roger holds Geert in the highest regard for how generous he has been with his time, and the monumental effort he has put into programming the LinnStrument. I think that’s fair. And no, the sequencer functionality is not crowding-out other user-requested features.

It was a conscious (and generous) decision for the code to be open-source, such that anyone can tinker with it, at their leisure, should they believe strongly enough that the LinnStrument could or should be something more. Again, I think that’s more than fair.

On a personal note, I wouldn’t want the LinnStrument to be any of the convoluted things I see other people asking for. As a proficient instrumentalist, I truly appreciate its elegant and efficient design. In short, the LinnStrument was designed to be played, not poked at. In that regard, it is easily the most configurable and forgiving playing surface on the market.

Bravo, Mr. Linn!

Cheers!

*Edit: I think it’s also worth noting just how far the LinnStrument has come, and how many subtle but meaningful user requests have been accommodated. As someone who has helped to conceptualize and troubleshoot a few of the LinnStrument’s finer points, I can assure you that Roger Linn is an objective and open-minded guy. But he knows what he wants, and rightfully so. As such, if you’re going to ask for changes, a concerted effort must be made to understand what the LinnStrument is, how it works, and what it was intended to be; else you will be met with Roger’s staunch ideology. :wink:

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#39

Roger has said he envisions new and expressive instruments that can be electronically controlled as his innovation on what traditional instruments can do. Not all limitations are good, and he wants to extend those limits for the sake of players who play, not for some abstract “limitations are good” design aesthetic. His vision limited to tonal music in the Western tradition (the system of major and minor and thirds, etc.), Roger’s never considered how his isomorphic layout with like a zillion expressive pads suits microtunings and expressive percussive playing. That’s fine, and we could overcome the visual and tuning confusions the 200-pad layout presents by controlling each pad’s light and note number (and channel would help). But if you’re a player and not a world-class engineer like Geert Bevin, the open-source aspect is cold comfort: I’ll put in endless practice to perform well, but I don’t want to put in even more time than I already do learning to program at a level that may not even ever succeed (others have given up on customizing the LinnStrument).

The more generalized expressive instrument (let us lay out notes and visuals as we need to) fits Roger’s design intent, yet he doesn’t fulfill his own intent for people who want to perform. I’ve compensated with external boxes meant as accessories for musicians who aren’t engineers (for example, Bome Box, computers, though not every MIDI processor on the market), and all configs end up unwieldy and challenging to maintain in the studio, let alone use for live performance.

I’m saying the LinnStrument is becoming obsolete because other controllers are fulfilling its logical function of a large array of expressive controllers: Sensel Morph, Lumatone, Erae Touch. The first is inexpensive, but too limited (too small, too little MIDI resolution), the second too expensive and unwieldy, and the third—though very promising—isn’t here quite yet. I don’t include Haken’s Continuum or the upcoming Osmose because they’re committed in fundamental ways to a traditional Western keyboard interface.

Edit: The required concerted effort justifying a change must convince Roger that enough people will actually use the requested capability, that it’s not just a neat idea, but his view of what people will find musically practical. It’s an economic and market thing as much as his ideology of what he considers musical.

#40

Okay. I’m not sure what your point is, to be honest.

First off, no one, including myself, and especially not Roger Linn, made the claim that “all limitations are good”; nor would I (or Roger, I presume) consider that to be a “design aesthetic” per se. But limitations are inevitable, even necessary, if one is not willing to sacrifice elegance or efficiency for some misguided notion of boundlessness. Roger has indeed made that very clear. And that’s before you consider where the underlying tech is at. It’s often a layman misconception that we’re further along and capable of so much more than is actually the case.

Second of all, the code being open-source is not necessarily meant to be a “comfort” to players; but it does, quite effectively, put the often-taken-for-granted burden of innovation on those who would presume to know better. It’s a way of saying, “Hey, think you can build a better LinnStrument, or improve upon the one you’ve got? Go for it.” Its easy, right? I mean, what was Roger thinking, not accommodating esoteric use-cases like micro-tuning and Jankó keyboards? And why doesn’t the LinnStrument allow for vertical pitch-slides, or more than four notes to be played vertically, or… WTF? :wink:

Look, man, I hear ya. I understand the plight. I really do. But seriously, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of one’s time to invent something like the LinnStrument. We should be thankful that it even exists, let alone that it’s such a robust platform. Many of the feature requests people make, and indeed most of the firmware “improvements” they attempt, either make operations convoluted and overextend the U.I., or exceed the limitations of the sensor technology and just break things (like the velocity sensing for instance).

Thirdly, every one of the controllers you’ve mentioned above (you said it yourself) suffer from their own limitations, and do not perform as well as the LinnStrument on many key aspects; not the least of which (in addition to the problems you already listed) are velocity sensing, latency, responsiveness, position sensing accuracy, build quality, connectivity, autonomy, etc. So, how exactly is the LinnStrument becoming obsolete? The truth is, these other controllers have a long way to go, just to catch the LinnStrument, never mind supersede it.

Lastly, as well as I do know Roger (and again, I do not presume to speak on his behalf), what he personally considers “musical” (i.e. whether or not he values microtonal music for instance) doesn’t seem to affect his decision making. Not that I’ve seen anyway. He tends to concern himself only with the objective (expressive playing and ergonomics in this case) and the technical aspects of what the LinnStrument’s actual responsibilities are as a playing surface (i.e. is ‘X’ requested functionality perhaps better accommodated by a third-party app or the sound engine it’s connected to?). Case in point, you found workarounds for your own specific technical needs. Granted, it was a kludge, but what does that tell you? I don’t think it’s fair to put that on Roger. Now, I’ve no doubt that he’s genuinely interested in hearing about it—of course, he is—but that doesn’t mean he’s going to take it on; nor is he obligated to do so.

Cheers!

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#41

My point is a sober assessment of the LinnStrument’s relative merits. There’s a time (and well-known forums) for cheerleading and spirited expressions of gratitude—I like my LinnStrument a lot–but such a pricey transaction and time investment warrants thoughtful consideration. I say it’s becoming obsolete because the other, far more limited devices mentioned above all aspire to meet your esoteric use case of microtunings and visual layout flexibility. I have stuff that I’ve put a lot of resources into because I think they sound good and work well (Omnisphere (MPE), Black Corporation (MPE), several near-misses of Sequential–it will happen someday) that all provide microtuning capability; and there are others offering this pregnant collection of your esoteric use cases.

My point is that I want to play them live with an appropriate interface, which the conventional keyboard layout can’t be due to excessive cognitive friction and hobbled ergonomics. LinnStrument, whose density of pads puts a musical range of microtuned notes confortably under one hand (namely, an octave) with the clarity of an isomorphic layout, is currently the best thing going, but the setup requirements are too unwieldy, and its lighting limitation is almost as disorienting as the traditional 12-note keyboard. If these features are technically impossible, that’s one thing; I’m a player, not an engineer, which is why “so go program it yourself” is such a non-starter. I do know that, for example, my ZenDrums’ ancient firmware interface, which consists of exactly three 7-segment LEDs, allows setting note and channel per trigger, though it’s limited to triggering note-ons only, and just 30 of those. If it’s never been technically possible for the LinnStrument to control other than 12-tone equitempered pitched instruments, that would be hardware obsolescence in the face of others that have been aspiring over the past 2-3 years to enable playing existing, popular, and quality sound modules as they’ve been designed to be played. If it’s always been technically possible, then what was a failure of vision-cum-economic business decision in 2014 looks more and more like ossification in 2021. Obsolescence in either case, just a question of how much and how fast.