Haken Audio has introduced the Slim 21, the latest addition to their Continuum Fingerboard line.
The Slim 21 Continuum offers the full engine and capabilities of their flagship Continuum expressive instrument, but with a smaller 21-note range. It’s based on the EaganMatrix Sound Engine, which has been designed specifically to deliver an expressiveness and immediacy that rivals traditional acoustic instruments.
The Continuum tracks each finger individually with microscopic accuracy, using up to 12 independent Hall-Effect sensors per finger. The analog output of each sensor is digitized by ultra-high speed A/D converters. A typical note played on the Continuum will have data from hundreds of thousands of Hall-Effect samples, allowing for exponentially more accuracy and sensitivity than traditional keyboards.
Here’s an in-depth overview and demo from composer Josh Madoff:
Pricing and Availability:
The Haken Audio Slim 21 is available now for $1,799 USD.
Beyond impressive. So close to how I want to play and express.
I am pleased they didn’t use the word ‘affordable’. Prices be crazy these days.
I’ve wanted a Continuum for awhile, looks like I’ll keep on wanting.
Oh, 1700,- is a midrange synth in my book. So, I concider it affordable… Especially since it has no lame keybed those usually come with. And also, it is nearly limitless in what it has to offer in digital, if you care to hook up screen. I bought myself a portable touch screen, which has made the Korg Native series win out from the hardware as well.
Next year there will be more news about the Aodyo Anyma Omega synths potentially being picked up again by that company that bought up all of Aodyo’s stuff. Considering our options for physical modeling in hardware, it’s going to be a choice between this one and that one. So, this one’s going to next years’ wishlist for now!
Some prices definitely cause you to choke for a minute. I loosely look at this as being similar to the $2500 – $7k tag for a real cello. That’s not an impulse buy like a Roland Boutique or a mid-range effects pedal. Its a serious commitment. $1700 pro-rated over a decade for an instrument you’ll really dig into isn’t that hard a bite. Exotic & a bit weird for normal people, but that’s not Synthtopia readers, is it? 😛
I just bought a “new to me” car, it cost $1200….so you don’t have to ask if I can afford this, but I have wanted one since they came out….someday I will be able to get one.
I’ll stick with my Roli Seabord Rise 2. $1,700 for 3 keys? No thank you lol
Having used both the Seaboard and the Continuum, I’d say that they are VERY different instruments.
The Seaboard is easier to get started with, if you are a keyboardist, because of the more familiar ‘keyboard’ form factor. It’s not nearly as immediate as the Continuum, though, and not good for big, expressive pitch bends.
Neither instrument is really a great solution for pianists that want a more expressive instrument.
The Expressive E Osmose COMPLETELY blows away the Seaboard for everything except big glissando pitch bends. I feel bad for ROLI, but if you have traditional keyboard skills, the Seaboard makes everything harder. That’s not the case with the Osmose.
If you want to incorporate big glissando pitch bends into your playing, LinnStrument is probably the best option. If you want a more expressive keyboard, the Osmose is the best option. And if you want the most expressive electronic instrument ever made, that’s where the Continuum shines.
I found the roli to be more useful as a controller to the Osmose. The osmose was nice as a synth which I’d record as audio but the only useful mpe like feature I found was the pressure sensitive portamento which in reality is a programmed feature not specific to the key bed. Compatibility with piano skills I feel is overrated, the more compatible a device is the less variant the expressiveness. I one day want to buy a continuum though.
I don’t know if I would want a Continuum, or, as I call it, the Scarf. I definitely did not pass up the chance to own a near mint C-Thru-Music Axis-64 in the road case for the same price. It weighs a ton, by the way. I pulled a muscle in my back picking it up wrong.