Give a guitarist a synthesizer, and you make them confused. Give them a synthesizer with innovative touch and dynamics controls, and you get a guitarist that is reconsidering their instrument choices.
Disclaimer: The Expressive E Osmose was provided to me by Thomann / Expressive E in exchange for the content. However, whether the video is sponsored or not, the company has no say in the things I mention in the video.
Specifications
- Multidimensional keyboard
- New 49-key keyboard – each key can handle velocity, aftertouch, and pitch bend individually
- 24-voice polyphony
- Haken Audio EaganMatrix Sound Engine: freely programmable modular synthesizer with 5 oscillators, 5 multimode filters, 5 envelopes, noise generators, 2 filter banks, 4 delays, and much more
- Supports sound generation methods like physical modeling, FM, subtractive, and additive synthesis and more
- Built-in effects: Reverb, Delay, Compressor, EQ
- Operation modes: standalone synthesizer, MPE MIDI controller, and regular MIDI controller
- Memory for 500 presets
- MPE arpeggiator
- LC color display and 6 encoders
- Pitch and modulation slider
- Buttons for octave and preset selection
- Stereo output: 2x 6.3 mm jack
- Stereo headphone output: 6.3 mm jack
- Pedal inputs: 2x 6.3 mm jack
- USB-B port
- MIDI in / out
- Dimensions (W x D x H): 894 x 316 x 87.5 mm
- Weight: 8.3 kg
What Is Expressive E Osmose?
Expressive E Osmose is a multidimensional polyphonic synthesizer where all 49 keys can handle velocity, aftertouch, and pitch individually. It also comes with a Haken Audio EaganMatrix Sound Engine that allows you to program sounds with 5 oscillators, 5 multimode filters, 5 envelopes, noise generators, 2 filter banks, 4 delays, and much more.
First Impressions
Even though I started my musical journey as a classical piano player, and I know my way around the piano keys a bit… this thing is next level! I have never owned a synthesizer and have just a basic understanding of how it works.
All my fears of not knowing what to do vanished as soon as I started playing this thing. The tones I was getting from the presets were incredibly inspiring, and I got lost in checking ‘one more preset.’
For a guitar player, using the pitch bend feels incredibly natural and adds a whole new dimension to getting expression control I never imagined possible on a ‘keyboard.’
Producing A Pop Cover With Expressive E Osmose
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not familiar with creating sounds with a synthesizer (yet), so I decided to dive into the presets the Osmose offered. And wow, there was plenty to choose from (+700)!
I went through all of them and wrote down about 40 that really spoke to me and that I thought might work for the song I was recording. (This took several hours)
My sister joined me on this project as an arranger and vocalist and came up with the intro for this song as well. So, my job was to take what she created and make it sound awesome.
The Osmose didn’t have any drums in it, though, so I decided to also try it as a MIDI controller to trigger some drums. The dynamics the Osmose provided made drum programming feel like I’m playing an actual instrument instead of just getting the right notes in and fixing them in the post.
Once I had the drum track(s) ready, I added some bass tracks, and the foundation for the song was ready.
I added a bunch of pads, lead tones, acoustic guitars, bass guitars, etc., in the Osmose that I absolutely loved and knew I would use in the song. (You can check out those in the video above) I don’t remember being inspired this much by a non-guitar instrument in a while, and I’m incredibly happy with how the cover turned out.
Is The Expressive E Osmose Good?
As I mentioned at the beginning, I started with classical piano. But what made me choose the guitar as my main instrument was metal music and also the expressiveness it had. You could do vibrato, you could do bends, and while difficult to learn at first, these things made your unique sound.
Expressive E Osmose is the first synthesizer that gave me the same sense of control and dynamics that I get with my guitars, which is an incredible feat to accomplish. Everything felt natural right from the start. You just want to keep playing because the tones are inspiring and make you write songs.
If you’re interested to acquire Expressive E Osmose and support what I do, you can use the affiliate link below:
►►Shop Expressive E Osmose At Thomann: https://thmn.to/thoprod/557647?offid=1&affid=394
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