Roger Linn LinnStrument Sneak Preview

Electronic music pioneer Roger Linn demonstrates the LinnStrument – a new pressure-sensitive multi-touch instrument that he is developing.

The LinnStrument is capable of sensing independent and simulaneous pitch, timbre and expression data from each finger on each note within a grid. This allows you to slide pitches from one note to another and dynamically vary volume and the sound of each note.

This is a sneak preview – no announcement has been made about Linn’s plans to release this or what pricing would be.

25 thoughts on “Roger Linn LinnStrument Sneak Preview

  1. Very expressive. But then of course all of these new controllers are (Eigenharp, Continuum, …) – once you have learned to master them …

  2. Exactly. Amazon bought the company that was developing these pressure sensitive surfaces. They now hold the patent to it which is why this still a prototype. It's really a shame that the world is being denied this technology, especially since Amazon's Kindle doesn't seem to make use of it at all.

  3. Well Ipad can… sort off. It can react to the "area" of contact.
    The more you press your finger, the more the surface in contact increases, so it's almost pressure sensitive. It's not velocity sensitive however.

  4. ben – the iPad is capable of a sort of velocity sensitivity that works surprisingly well. The new Garageband uses this with its virtual instruments.

    Not sure how it's implemented – possibly area of the initial surface contact?

  5. I… I want one! I have been watching the videos posted here about the Continuum and those have all been rather impressive but that thing costs over three thousand euros! If this one somehow makes it into production I'm almost certainly going to buy one.

    Not that I'm not happy with my Axiom. Sorry baby!

  6. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

  7. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

  8. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

  9. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

  10. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

  11. This looks really cool. Another potentially great instrument to watch for! There is so much great, expressive hardware controllers coming out these days. Another similar unit is the Madrona Soundplane A. It is still in development but it looks pretty amazing too: http://madronalabs.com/hardware.
    I agree with Christoph about the fact that these instruments need time to master. Once I find a hardware controller that is expressive enough I will definitely make the time to master it.
    I also agree with Tak. I hope that Roger Linn prices in aggressively. An inexpensive, yet very expressive controller that is as portable as the Linnstrument prototype is could become really hit. Hopefully pressure from similar Ipad apps will keep the price down.

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