LinnStrument performance with and without expression

With The Last Of Us remastered coming out tomorrow on PS4, I couldn’t help trying to play The Choice on the LinnStrument. This instrumental from Gustavo Santaolalla touches me deeply every time I hear it and I hope I’ve done it justice with this LinnStrument performance.

I’m using the row-per-channel configuration so that each row acts as an individual string. The sound is coming from Trilian with an 8-part multitimbral setup (one for each row).

With Expression

I recorded the LinnStrument MIDI data into Cubase and afterwards removed the per-note pitch bend and per-note pressure expression data. Below is the same performance, with the audio that just uses notes with velocity, as you would play on a regular MIDI keyboard. Some parts are of course not entirely correct anymore since the glissandos are gone. I considered editing the MIDI data, but decided to keep it a one-to-one translation instead.
I hope this allows you to evaluate how new expressive controllers are able to breathe life into a performance.

For the really technically inclined, you can download the MIDI file with the recorded performance and all the original expression.

Without Expression