Once I first acquired to see the Expressive E Osmose method again in 2019, I knew it was particular. In my 15-plus years protecting expertise, it was one of many solely gadgets I’ve skilled that really had the potential to be really “sport altering.” And I’m not being hyperbolic.
However, that was 4 years in the past, virtually to the day. Quite a bit has modified in that point. MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) has gone from futuristic curiosity to being embraced by huge names like Ableton and Arturia. New gamers have entered and exited the scene. Extra importantly, the Osmose is now not a promising prototype, however an precise business product. The questions, then, are apparent: Does the Osmose reside as much as its potential? And, does it appear as revolutionary immediately because it did all these years in the past? The solutions, nonetheless, are much less clear.
What units the Osmose ($1,799) other than each different MIDI controller and synthesizer (MPE or in any other case) is its keybed. At first look, it seems to be like virtually every other keyboard, albeit a actually good one. The physique is usually plastic, however it feels stable and the highest plate is fabricated from metallic. (Shoutout to Expressive E, by the best way, for constructing the OSMOSE out of 66 p.c recycled supplies and for making the entire thing person repairable — no glue or speciality screws to be discovered.)
The keys themselves have this beautiful, virtually matte end and a wholesome quantity of heft. It’s a pleasant change of tempo from the shiny, springy keys on even some higher-end MIDI controllers. However the second you press down on a key you’ll see what units it aside — the keys transfer aspect to aspect. And this isn’t as a result of it’s cheaply assembled and there’s a ton of wiggle. This can be a purposeful design. You possibly can bend notes (or management different parameters) by truly bending the keys, very similar to you’d on a stringed instrument.
That is enormous for somebody like me who’s primarily a guitar participant. Bending strings and wiggling my fingers backwards and forwards so as to add vibrato comes naturally. And, as I discussed in my evaluation of Roli’s Seaboard Rise 2, I discover myself doing this even on keyboards the place I do know it’ll haven’t any impact. It’s a reflex.
It’s a quite simple factor to clarify, however very tough to encapsulate its impact in your enjoying. It’s the entire similar issues that make enjoying the Seaboard particular: the slight pitch instability from the unintentional micro actions of your fingers, the flexibility to bend particular person notes for shifting harmonies and the polyphonic aftertouch that lets you alter issues like filter cutoff on a per-note foundation.
These tiny modifications in tuning and expression add an virtually ineffable fluidity to your enjoying. Specifically, for sounds based mostly on acoustic devices like flutes and strings, it provides an natural aspect lacking from virtually each different synthesizer. There’s a little bit of a studying curve, however I acquired the cling of it after just some days.
What separates it from the Roli, although, is its formfactor. Whereas the Seaboard is keyboard-esque, it’s nonetheless an enormous squishy slab of silicone. It won’t attraction to somebody who grew up taking piano classes each week. The Osmose, alternatively, is a conventional keyboard, with full-sized keys and a really satisfying motion. It’s in all probability probably the most acquainted and approachable implementation of MPE on the market.
In case you are a pianist, or an completed keyboard participant, that is in all probability the MPE controller you’ve been ready for. And it’s hands-down the most effective in the marketplace.
The place issues get a little bit dicier is when wanting on the Osmose as a standalone synthesizer. However let’s begin the place it goes proper: the interface. The display screen to the left of the keyboard is decently sized (round four inches) and simple to learn at any angle. There are even some cute graphics for parameters resembling timbre (a log), launch (a yo-yo) and drive (a steering wheel).
There aren’t a ton of hands-on controls, however menu diving is saved to a minimal with some good group. The 4 buttons throughout the highest of the display screen take you to totally different sections for presets, synth (parameters and macros), sensitivity (MPE and aftertouch controls) and enjoying (largely only for the arpeggiator in the intervening time). Then to the left of the display screen there are two encoders for navigating the submenus, and the 4 knobs under management no matter choice is listed above them on the display screen. So, no, you’re not going to be doing loads of reside tweaking, however you additionally received’t spend 30 minutes making an attempt to dial in a patch.
A part of the explanation you received’t spend 30 minutes dialing in a patch is as a result of there actually isn’t a lot to dial in. The engine driving the Osmose is Haken Audio’s EaganMatrix and Expressive E retains most of it hidden behind six macro controls. The truth is, you possibly can’t actually design a patch from scratch — at the very least not the synth immediately. That you must obtain the Haken Editor, which requires Max (not the streaming service), to do severe sound design. Then it’s good to add your new patch to the Osmose over USB. Aside from that, you’re caught tweaking presets.
This isn’t essentially a nasty factor as a result of, frankly, EaganMatrix feels much less like a musical instrument and extra like a PHD thesis. It’s undeniably highly effective, however it’s additionally complicated as hell. Expressive E even describes it as “a laboratory of synthesis,” and that appears about proper; patching within the EaganMatrix is like doing science. Besides, it’s not the enjoyable science you see on TV with fancy machines and take a look at tubes. As a substitute it’s extra just like the day by day grind of actual life science the place you stare at a virtually inscrutable sequence of numbers, letters, mathematical constants and formulation.
I couldn’t get the Osmose and Haken Editor to speak to one another on my studio laptop computer (a five-year-old Dell XPS), although I did handle to get it to work on my work-issue MacBook. That being stated, it was largely a pointless endeavor. I merely can’t wrap my head across the EaganMatrix. I used to be capable of construct a very primary patch with the assistance of a tutorial, however I couldn’t truly make something usable.
There are some presets out there on Patchstorage, however the neighborhood is nowhere close to as strong as what you’d discover for the Organelle or ZOIA. And, it’s not apparent truly add these handful of presets to the Osmose. You possibly can drag and drop the .mid recordsdata you obtain to the empty slots throughout the highest of the Haken Editor and that may add them to the Osmose’s person presets. However you wont truly see that mirrored on the Osmose itself till you flip it off and switch it again on.
Truthfully, lots of the presets out there on Patchstorage cowl the identical floor as 500 or so manufacturing facility ones that ship with the Osmose. And it’s whereas shopping these a whole lot of presets that each the facility and the restrictions of the EaganMatrix turn into apparent. It’s able to protecting all the pieces from digital analog, to FM to bodily modeling, and even some pseudo-granular results. Its modular, matrix-based patching system is so strong that it might virtually actually be unimaginable to recreate bodily (at the very least with out spending hundreds of {dollars}).
Now, that is largely a matter of style, however I discover the sounds that come out of this clearly over-powered synth usually underwhelming. They’re positively distinctive and in some instances in all probability solely attainable with the EaganMatrix. However the digital analog patches aren’t very “analog,” the FM ones lack the character of a DX7 or the trendy sheen of a Digitone, and the bass patches might use some additional oomph. Typically patches on the Osmose really feel like tech demos moderately than one thing you’d truly use musically.
That’s to not say there’s no good presets. There are some stable analog-ish sounds and there are a couple of respectable FM pads. However it’s the bodily modeling patches the place EaganMatrix is at its finest. They positively land in a sort of uncanny valley, although — not convincing sufficient to be mistaken for the true factor, however shut sufficient that it doesn’t appear fairly proper popping out of a synthesizer.
Nonetheless, the best way tuned drums and plucked or bowed strings are dealt with by Osmose is spectacular. Shortly tapping a key can get you a ringing resonant sound, whereas holding it down mutes it. Aftertouch can be utilized to set off repeated plucks that improve in depth as you press tougher. And bowed patches could be good sufficient to play notes inside a sure vary of one another as legato, whereas nonetheless permitting you to play extra spaced out chords together with your different hand. (This latter characteristic known as Stress Glide and could be nice tuned to fit your wants.)
The extent of precision with which you’ll be able to gently coax sound out of some presets with the lightest contact is unmatched by any synth or MIDI controller I’ve ever examined. And that turns into all of the extra stunning while you notice that exact same patch may also be a percussive blast if you happen to strike the keys laborious.
However, on the finish of the day, I not often discover myself reaching for Osmose — at the very least not as a synthesizer. I’ve been testing one for a couple of months now, and whereas I’ve used it fairly extensively in my studio, it’s been largely as a controller for MPE-enabled tender synths like Arturia’s Pigments and Ableton’s Drift. It’s undeniably some of the highly effective MIDI controllers in the marketplace. My one main criticism on that entrance being that its unimaginable arpeggiator isn’t out there in controller mode.
The Osmose is a beautiful instrument that, in the proper arms, is able to delivering nuanced performances in contrast to anything. Even when, at occasions, the borrowed sound engine doesn’t reside as much as the keyboard’s lofty potential.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/expressive-e-osmose-review-a-game-changing-mpe-keyboard-but-a-frustrating-synthesizer-170001300.html?src=rss