bar|none wrote an extensive blog post about the state of the Eigenharp and what’s coming in 2012. He also talks about his experience as a musician and very early adopter (he got one of the first Alphas).
He closes with:
I do now see how the original vision will become reality for users. This is an amazing instrument and platform. There is no equal anywhere. Yes it is complex, but it now hides this complexity under a mature, accessible and very capable host while allowing access and extensibility to all levels of player from beginner to pro users as well as to programmers wishing to extend the platform. Even if you never changed out a sound in the factory setup, you could play, learn and enjoy this instrument for a lifetime.
Head over to his blog for this very interesting read:
http://bar0.blogspot.com/2012/01/eigenharp-2012-preview.html
Posted in Controllers, Software.
Tagged with EigenD, Eigenharp, Open Source.
By Geert Bevin
– January 2, 2012
A small gift for the New Year, an instrumental composition on the Eigenharp Alpha “That What Remains”.
This combines many thoughts and feelings that go through me when thinking about what remains after people left this earth.
Posted in Controllers, Live, Song.
Tagged with Analog synthesizer, Diva, Eigenharp, Instrumental, Original.
By Geert Bevin
– January 2, 2012
On December 30th, Richard Lainhart passed away due to complications after surgery. I only exchanged brief messages with Richard and would have liked to know him better personally. Richard’s passion for emotional electronic music has inspired me a lot over the last years. His approach to using the Haken Continuum with his Buchla 200e modular analog synthesizer are in my opinion landmarks that paved the way to playing electronic instruments as expressively as traditional instruments.
Take a while to browse though his Buchla website and certainly don’t miss his performance of Messiaen’s “Oraison”
Posted in Controllers.
Tagged with Analog synthesizer, Buchla, Continuum.
By Geert Bevin
– January 1, 2012
Every Monday at 16h00 CEST we’ve been meeting in a virtual Eigenharp Clubhouse using Google+ Hangouts.
It has been a lot fun and very interesting with a great attendance! There are several regular attendees (Geert, Mike, Antonio, Dragica, Chris, Larry) and we’ve had everyone from passionate existing users, excited new users and people interested in learning more about the instrument.
Don’t hesitate to join us next time at:
https://talkgadget.google.com/hangouts/extras/talk.google.com/eigenharpclubhouse
If you missed the previous clubhouses, you can find all the recordings on LiveStream.
Posted in Controllers, Demonstration, Tip, Tutorial.
Tagged with Clubhouse, Demonstration, Instrument, Tip, Tutorial.
By Geert Bevin
– December 14, 2011
Recording of the weekly Eigenharp Clubhouse on Google+ Hangouts, December 9, 2011:
http://talkgadget.google.com/hangouts/extras/talk.google.com/eigenharpclubhouse
We Talked About:
- Santa Clause, Reindeer Antlers, snow, people arriving for the hangout
- The challenge of introducing Eigenharps to people
– plugin use and advanced features (automation parameters)
- discussion of a new players YouTube offering showing unique features
- controller vs instrument
- using an iPad surface vs Eigenharp
- need to keep your eyes on an iPad (no reference points) vs Alpha Divots
- Roger Linn’s Linnstrument creation of a reference surface (similar option for iPad)
- Sample Sizes for EigenD vs other host (plugins don’t change)
- general discussion of sample library sizes vs realism (bigger often more complete)
- Hint, make disk images rather than working from physical DVDs (speed)
- often libraries are optimized for keyboards (not Eigenharps)
- general discussion of models as an alternative to samples (PianoTeq, AAS)
- Small setups as an advantage for fast loading (including MIDI only setups)
- Geert’s setup for HangDrum (Sonic Couture)
- using Boulder (and other) sample libraries in Kontakt
- travelling with an Eigenharp (carry-on?, courier, heavy duty flight case)
- general chat about the Developer Conference, then back to travelling (double case)
- What is Workbench (general description)
- Workbench allows easier creation of smaller setups that are highly customized
- no coding specifically required to work in workbench
- sub-configurations termed ‘rigs’
- Experimental release of 2.0; considerations and some future directions
- Stage in the app store? Meeting guidelines is a significant effort
- multitouch gestures in Stage
Posted in Tip.
Tagged with Clubhouse, Tip.
By Geert Bevin
– December 9, 2011
Last night I posted my first improvisation video with the my Eigenharp Alpha Hang Drum setup, so I thought it would be time to post the Belcanto to create it also.
You can download the script from here:
Eigenharp Alpha – Hang Drum script
Make sure you use at least EigenD 1.4.8, I updated some of the Belcanto with newer constructs which will only work with the latest release.
It’s important to read the instructions in the script, here’s a copy of those:
Continued…
Posted in Configuration, Controllers, Setup.
Tagged with Belcanto, Configuration, Eigenharp, Setup, Software instruments, Tuning.
By Geert Bevin
– December 8, 2011
I was feeling quite a bit emotional and stressed tonight and needed something that really relaxed me, so I started playing with my custom Eigenharp Alpha Hang Drum setup. Since I got some requests to record a video with it, I just recorded the session and I came up with these themes. I’m not a great percussionist by any means, so this is just what it is, hope you like it.
This is solely using the sampled Mk1 and Mk2 Hang Drums from SonicCouture’s Pan Drums product.
Instead of playing them as regular instruments on the Eigenharp, I arranged the two different sampled Hang Drums on the playing surface of the Eigenharp Alpha so that one is on top and the other at the bottom. The notes of the Hang Drums are structured in colored ‘zones’ of five keys which correspond to the different articulations for the same note. This means that I can just hit the area without thinking about musical notes and get into a percussion mindset. The arrangement is very similar to what would happen if you cut a real Hang Drum in two and bend each half until it’s straight, with the Ding and Gu stuck at the top end.
It works very well and feels extremely nice with the super sensitive keys of the Eigenharp. The colored lights are also naturally soothing and it’s truly a relaxing experience to play.
Posted in Controllers, Live.
Tagged with Eigenharp, Expressiveness, Hang Drum, Live, Original, Performance, Software instruments.
By Geert Bevin
– December 8, 2011
Francisco reached out on the official Eigenlabs forums to point us towards his first live Tau performance. It was done at Mexico City’s MUAC (Museum of Contemporary Art) and he very successfully accompanies his short film about war and the consequences.
He says:
All the “solo” sound are played live… at the beginning of the piece there is a theremin style sound and later some moog style sound (I used Omnisphere). I’m not triggering loops here, all the background is pre recorded in the computer. I’m changing TAU sounds in real time using MaxMSP and a pedalboard.
Posted in Controllers, Live.
Tagged with Live, Original, Tau.
By Geert Bevin
– December 6, 2011
While experimenting with upcoming features of EigenD 2.0, I was testing out the new audio input support and came up with this experiment.
I’m playing my Moog Slim Phatty with the Eigenharp Alpha by routing its audio back into EigenD through my Metric Halo ULN-2 audio interface. This allows me to use Audio Units for real-time performance effects through host automation parameters while playing the analogue synth through MIDI at the same time.
The Slim Phatty is full driven with 14-bit MIDI for modulation and volume, modulation being tied to a key’s sideways motion, while slight volume changes are tied to pressure. Pitch is, as usual, tied to a key’s up and down motion.
The audio units used are Rob Papen’s Delay, Distort and the iZotope Ozone limiter. The Eigenharp’s breath pipe is tied to the amount of distortion that’s applied and the first strip controller is tied to the amount of feedback that is used in the delay. At the same time, the key modulation also changes the filter frequency for the distortion effect.
The sample rate of EigenD an my audio interface is set to 96kHz with only 96 samples as a buffer size. This really captures the nuances of the analogue audio as well as reduces the latency so much that every interaction with the effects feels instant.
For the purists, you can download the original 96kHz file as recorded, without post processing from SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/gbevin/eigenharp-alpha-with-slim-phatty-experiment
Posted in Controllers, Live, Software.
Tagged with EigenD, Eigenharp, Expressiveness, Live, Moog, Slim Phatty.
By Geert Bevin
– December 5, 2011
Since last weekend I’ve been playing around with my new Moog Slim Phatty since I want to explore the world of analog synthesis (which is new to me).
This video shows two ways to tie the Eigenharp’s expression capabilities to the modulation features of the Slim Phatty. The first one uses the breath pipe, similarly to a traditional mod wheel and the second approach uses the sideways inclination of the playing keys to control the modulation amount.
This video demos how this influences your playing.
Posted in Configuration, Controllers, Demonstration.
Tagged with Configuration, Expressiveness, Live, Moog, Slim Phatty, Tau.
By Geert Bevin
– November 3, 2011
bar|none wrote an extensive blog post about the state of the Eigenharp and what’s coming in 2012. He also talks about his experience as a musician and very early adopter (he got one of the first Alphas).