Comments on: Haken Continuum Fingerboard, Alternative Music Controller, in Action

By: matt

matt — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:36:20 +0000

this has been on my wishlist for a long time, much easier than using pitch bend on a keyboard, a lot easier on the fingers…

By: lysander

lysander — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:41:57 +0000

God, I want one of these.

By: Richard Lainhart

Richard Lainhart — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:24:55 +0000

No, certainly you can play the Continuum on stage with a laptop as your sound source. You’ll need to interface with the laptop via MIDI, so you’ll need a MIDI interface of some sort. Typically, this would be combined with an audio interface, which you’ll need anyway to get high-quality audio out of the laptop. I use a MOTU Traveler, but there are many other choices.

Next, you’ll need some kind of MIDI-capable host to run softsynths or samplers or other virtual instruments that will respond to the MIDI data coming from the Continuum - a sequencer, Live, a VI host. Or, you could use a single stand-alone multi-channel virtual instrument, but it would have to be one that supports input on multiple MIDI channels and MIDI Mono mode, which many stand-alone VIs do not. If you have one that will, though, that might be all you need.

Finally, you’d have to program the VI or host to respond correctly to the Continuum’s MIDI data - see the post I submitted above about the requirements for effective Continuum use.

But yes, you can use the Continuum with a laptop, and with a little programming skill, it should be a very effective instrument on stage.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:37:45 +0000

Myles:so you mean that i can’t play on stage even if i have a laptop with many sounds?

By: myles

myles — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:38:32 +0000

Steve: It is a digital controller ONLY, as in it contains no onboard sounds of its own. The instrument acts as an interface so that you may control hardware/software synths and any sound producing tech that accepts MIDI or it’s direct Firewire connection to the Kyma workstation

By: steve

steve — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:50:04 +0000

Hey,guys.I’ve seen the abilities of the Continuum and i HAVE TO GET IT!I live in greece and i have a band and i would like to learn if you can play to lives with it.and what else i have to buy to change the type of the sound(while im on stage)?

By: myles

myles — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:32:06 +0000

Hey, thanks for posting the Continuum on it’s own at last, it deserves it for sure!

Nice to know you’re listening ;)

You will all be the first to know when I get my half-size fingerboard!

By: Nick@sonic

Nick@sonic — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:05:18 +0000

We have another video of the Haaken in action with Kyma if your interested from NAMM 2005

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2001

By: Richard Lainhart

Richard Lainhart — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:09:52 +0000

I don’t know what the cheapest would be, but to take full advantage of the Continuum’s features, you would want the unit to have the following minimum characteristics:

Full 10-voice polyphony (one for each finger)
10-channel MIDI reception
Support for MIDI Mono mode
4-octave pitchbend range
Full support for MIDI Continuous Controllers messages

By: Keith Handy

Keith Handy — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:04:04 +0000

Do most of us drooling over this thing actually have a sound module that can respond to all the per-note expression and large pitch sweeps? What would be the cheapest thing you could get that would actually take full advantage of this controller?