Another surprising controller

Jun 20, 2007 07:16 GMT  ·  By

Among the zounds of controllers on the market, many of those that are new are barely bringing something that was never seen before or at least has never been done that respective way so far. Well, Haken Audio decided it's time to go big and interesting and have released their Continuum Fingerboard, one controller likely to gain supremacy on the piano-like new generation of such devices.[admark=1]

The Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard comes in two versions, full- and half-size and the user can simply choose what suits best his/her goals. This alternative controller looks like very few others on the loose now; namely it sports a soft surface covered in clot and with small marking for note delimitation. It can sense multiple parameters at one time as it works in a virtual 3D environment.

The left-right movements (parameter modifications) control the pitch variations at a rate of 184 cents per inch (73 cents per cm). The pitch can be used with very subtle vibratos as well as with huge side-to-side slides over the entire length of the fingerboard. The second parameter controls the front-to-back placement of the output sound and it is sensed over the length of the keyboard. Finally, the z axis determines the pressure of the note, thus ensuring a velocity or aftertouch-type dynamics recording.

The Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard sports MIDI in and out connectors as well as FireWire ports allowing you to connect it to almost whatever external controllable device you might have in mind, computer or not. The accuracy of the response when using the Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard is ensured by the 1.33ms scanning interval; this controller can play a 16-note maximal polyphony and the price is around $5,000 (for the large, 8 octave version).

Get a glimpse of Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater (and other musicians) demoing the Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard, here.

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Photo Gallery (4 Images)

Looking awesome on any stage
3-axis dynamics-sensingContinuum comes in full- or half-size
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