« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2022, 05:06:46 AM »
I briefly had a Modal Skulpt Synth SE, which had this same sort of keyboard. The Skulpt had a decent digital synth engine, but these touch-keyboards are no fun at all.
I agree when it comes to actual playing. On the Toraiz AS-1 (which is the best sounding bass/mono synth I've ever owned or heard for that matter), I do find that sometimes having any keys are better than none at all, simply for quickly auditioning sounds as I flip through them to be sure I'm on the one I want. I spent some time creating something lots of bass patches that are kind of "raw materials" and optimized for my own needs, but there's too many of them to come up with creative names, so they are just like Bass 001, 002 etc., so auditioning is the best browse mechanism (same goes for entering sequences or quickly hearing how the sound behaves while arped). The latchable touch strip on the thing (which I usually have mapped to filter envelope amount) is so useful, that it transformed my opinion on the value of touch strips. I've heard lots of good things about the expressive possibilities of the touch keyboard on the Microfreak, which I don't own but am considering after my experience with the Keystep Pro.
Logged
Prophet 10, OB-X8m, Prophet 6, OB-6, 3rd Wave, Prophet 12m, Prophet Rev2-16, Toraiz AS-1, Pro 2, Korg Polysix, Roland JP-8080, Roland System-8, Virus TI2, Moog SlimPhatty, Hydrasynth desktop, Roland SPD-SX SE / Octapad, Maschine, Cubase/Ableton/Akai MPC
3 Replies
1439 Views