Quote:
Originally Posted by MBTC
I'd like to see aftertouch on any synth, but when I compare the price point with what I'd get in a Virus Snow for about the same amount, the KK still keeps my interest.
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That's why is really pragmatic to even acquire a good older keyboard that has aftertouch or even rare polyphonic aftertouch that you may not use the synth per se but utilize it as a much better midi controller than what's quite unforgivable in the vast array of midi controllers on the market today. One such example that could be got via ebay often quite cheap and is actually still a rather innovative board for synth design is Kawai K1 or K2, K3, K4...when Kawai was making synths (which their quite advanced Additive Synthesis K5000S/K5000W/K5000rack was last synth then focused to this day on high quality acoustic piano and digital offerings), they were really quite innovators and their key-action was bar-none. You may even already have a synth you may not use that's delegated to closet for now or one in set-up that's not used much that you can use to get the most out of an otherwise cool synth that I too find unforgivable to place a crappy set of keys on it. The Alesis ION is such a synth! SUCH a deep synth and reason I keep it but to place almost toylike keys on such a sunth is like designing a clarinet with a crappy mouthpiece!! On the Alesis Ion, understandably, it is very GREAT an emulating other classic synths with it's huge array of filters and deep mod matrix, but the ION is one of those synths that does not have a reputation for "it's own ION sound"...but is again another stereotype because it too has external stereo input to run other's through it to take advantage of those wonderful filters and had always wished Alesis had released a rack version of ION for that inexcusable set of very synthy keys, YET in it's NRPN rather than MIDI standard, it CAN respond to aftertouch--it's an example of engineers rather than musicians designing a synth.
The excuse many synth makers have made is "aftertouch never quite caught-on..blah blah", well, aftertouch is AWESOME to send variety of mod matrix routings to as our great Virii can attest to as well as very same keyboard used on DSI MEK....love that type of Fatar keybed to death! However, Access DID use a totally different Fatar keyboard for the Indigo and Polar shorter board Virii...why, do not know!
Rant over but being a lover of aftertouch, it is salt to my wound!