Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Aftertouch is great.  For me, a foot controller and/or wheels will
    never wash as replacements.
    
    I would never buy a controller without at least attack and release
    velocity, and mono key pressure.  (This means that either I have
    bought a Kurzweil Midiboard, or I don't have a controller.  You
    guess which).  I have never used poly aftertouch, but it seems pretty
    useful (especially when you split your keyboard).
    
    I would heartily advise springing for a controller with pressure.
    
    
    Personally, I'm still waiting for Midiboard features and KX88 weight. 
    I don't care all that much about the action (it doesn't have to
    be ``German'') and I don't care all that much about the price. 
    I don't understand why such a beast doesn't exist.  (A KX88II?)
    
    Actually, I suspect the reason is that no Yamaha voice modules support
    poly-after nor do they support release velocity, so damn if they're
    going to sell controllers which will work really well with other
    manufacturers hardware.
    
    Steph
    

    sorry. The tx81z support aftertouch to modulate
    ANYTHING that the breath controller can.
    
    To extrapolate a little: ALL YAMAHA modules could support
    Aftertouch if you re-map AFT to BC (sure, you might
    need a box in the middle. Axess and Yam make em)
    
    I use it. I wish it had a wider range.
    
    rr
    

    oops. sorry Bailey....you said "Poly aftertouch".
    
    Letsee: controllers that support it are midiboard
    and new ensonic (used as a controller). Thats it
    right?!
    
    It seems the ONLY sound generators that support it
    are Kurzweil and new ensonic.(Right?)
    
    so letsee....If I (or you) dont have either...how
    do I (or you) know if we're missing anything? ;')
    
    Just kidding. Ive played em. poly-after is useable
    but tricky....sometimes even musical.
        
    Now release velocity? sheesh. Debate time. Maybe thats
    why even fewer manufacturures make anything with it...
    
    
	ya know?
    

    
    In the recent  KEYBOARD review of the Ensoniq SQ-80, they mentioned
    that poly aftertouch was included in MIDI because the extinct
    Sequential Prophet T8 had that feature.  Norw try to find one of
    *those*....
    

    Mah KX88 puts out aftertouch, if I let it.
    
    I don't let it. AT eats sequencer memory like CRAZY. Anyone recall
    my panic when a 13-minute 'piano' improv ate my Mac ? - aftertouch.
    
    If I need a chordal sustained swell in one track/part I record
    footpedal controller #07 just for the duration of the swell.
    
    karl

    re -1...
    
    I understand that AT can be mapped to other params than volume..
    but if I wanna farkle the filter envelope on a patch I can still
    use #07 with the footpedal.
    
    karl

    Both ESQ-1 and ESQ-M support incoming MIDI polyphonic aftertouch, as
    well as mono aftertouch, as completely routable modulations (i.e. just
    as routable as velocity).  There's also a pin on the ESQ-1 motherboard
    labeled AFTERTOUCH, but I haven't explored what it does (electrically).
    
    I think I recall something about Ensoniq Mirage being able to deal
    with incoming MIDI aftertouch as well (not sure, will a Mirage owner
    please check his MASOS manual?)
    	
    My ESQ-1 (at V2.3) also "supports" release velocity, to the extent
    that in mono mode, the release velocity of note B (see diagram below)
    becomes the attack velocity of note A returning:                    
    	
    	A down   B down       	       B up            A up
    		 (A still down)       (A still down)        
    	---------______________________-----------------
                                                           

    re .7:  "How amazingly weird!"  You find the oddest things in the
    nooks and crannies of products.
    
    -------------
    re relevance of aftertouch and release velocity...  I'd
    really like to see a keyboard that provided access to the current depth
    of depression of a key.  That way you could control attack with
    velocity directly, and do other expressive things.  Both tracker pipe
    organs and Hammonds (I am told) have some of this property--originally
    it was a bug, I suppose--the linkages for each rank don't all engage at
    once. 
    
    	Eirikur
    

    Re: .5
    
    Trouble is with, say, the DX aftertouch is its 'granularity'. If
    you put volume on after (to do the swells you mention) you get some
    horrible number-induced noises. Better off with a footpedal.
    
    Richard.

    
    Yep I agree with Richard a Swell pedal works better for midi-volume
    then after-touch. As to the original question up to 8 weeks ago
    I had always had after-touch switched of in my sequencer(filtered)
    because of the memory issue. However with the purchase(tx802) of
    a machine that can do something worthwhile with A-T I am an absolute
    convert. I have a number of patches which use A-T to increase various
    of the DX7 parameters the best of which is the ability to add a
    little modulation and string rattle to a bass patch to make it sound
    like snapping the string and wiggling your finger at the same time.
    Terrific !
    
    					Paul.

    I think, as a general point, aftertouch is treated too much as an
    after-thought in most factory patches. It's as though the only use
    for it is to avoid having to master using two wheel controllers
    simultaneously.
    
    This need not be the case. Some of the best effects on after seem
    to come by routing to both volume and filter, opening the filter
    and increasing the volume with pressure. This sort of modulation
    enhances (to my ears) the 'organic' side of the sound -- gives it
    the sort of life you might hear in a sax. Very difficult to reproduce
    using mod wheels, but ideally suited to changing key pressure since
    that sort of tactile feedback seems to make it easier to exploit.
    
    All this might suggest bull**it, of course. But I was disappointed
    with the resolution of the DX aftertouch, and its routing limitations,
    for precisely these reasons. Since it's still a pain to capture
    and store all that data using MIDI (sic K.M.), perhaps a hybrid
    synth would be better, using analogue volume/filter modulation.
    
    But I'd still want after on a controller, unless it was specifically
    to be used for non-after-type (e.g. piano, organ, harpsi, mallets)
    sounds.
    
    Richard.

It's not clear to me whether or not .0 was in fact talking about aftertouch
or key velocity.

Todd.

    Well, I decided to 'trade up to' the KX-76, to get aftertouch. 
    Thanks for the opinions given here!
    
    -Jim

    Maybe I'm missing something here...
    	If I was to use After Touch only on non-sequenced parts it seems
    to me that the memory issue is moot. My thinking is that I would
    only use it on some up front solos or "live" background. There's
    never enough memory for what you want to do anyway.
    	Now if only I could get my ESQ-1 to do AT!
    
    		Mark