Prog icon (Dream Theater) and synthesist Jordan Rudess shared this look at 12 ways you can play more expressively with the Expressive E Osmose synthesizer.
The Osmose expands on the capabilities of standard piano-style keyboards, by providing new expressive options for individual note expression.
In the video, Rudess covers 12 exercises for exploring and practicing new expressive options.
Topics covered:
00:04 introduction
02:02 Bach invention n°4
02:57 adding inflections
06:39 adjusting sensitivity
09:51 exercise 1 playing legato & press glide part 1
11:52 exercise 1 playing legato & press glide part 2
13:26 exercise 3 finger independence
16:16 exercise 4 vibrato right hand
19:05 exercise 5 vibrato left hand
20:16 exercise 6 vibrato left & righ hand alternation
21:56 about the aftertouch
23:30 exercise 7 aftertouch on simple chords
26:55 exercise 8 aftertouch on complex chords
28:26 exercise 9 aftertouch finger independance
31:02 exercise 10 playing thirds and sixths with press glide
34:59 exercise 11 controlling pressure with precision
38:23 exercise 12 press glide as grace notes
One of the best instrument/controller I’ve used in a long time. And I’m not even a piano player! And they made a ton of presets for a bunch of different VSTs as well.
The Osmose is a fantastic instrument to play.
If they made a knobby analog polysynth with this keyboard, it would be an insta-buy for me.
Yes! Pair the Osmose keyboard with the OB-XA synth engine, and it would be one of the best synths ever made.
Looks great and sounds great but, makes me wonder how long will these keys will last for with constant pressure applied to top and sideways ?
I’ve had mine since it was released, and no problems here.
My least reliable keyboard is actually the one with the simplest key mechanism, a Sequential Pro-One. When you press a key on the Pro-One, the key actually presses against a wire to complete a circuit. The wires oxidize over time, so you always have some keys that aren’t reliable.
Nah, its mainly the best fully-functional MPE controller so far, due respect to the now-discontinued Sensel line. The Eigenharp engine is a powerful thing, no question. Still, with so many synths including MPE reception, I’d feel more prone to mate the Osmose with a powerhouse. That way, I could lean into the MPE and worry less about the synth itself.
I haven’t played an Osmose, but I got some ROLI time, thankfully with the editor running. Its totally inviting to play. It felt a lot better when I turned off the side-to-side sensing. It created too much of a drunken, cartoon aroma! Even so, that just shows how much you can sculpt it into your ideal shape.