Where's aftertouch on most keyboards? Don't you guys use it?

[godly]

Where's aftertouch on most keyboards? Don't you guys use it?
Because I use it allot and really miss it on most of the modern synths and keyboards?

[VariKusBrainZ]

What do you mean 'where is it' ?

Depends on what you own/use.........

[thecontrolcentre]

My ReMOTE SL has aftertouch, as does PUSH and my Sub 37. I wouldn't buy a midi controller without it tbh.

[chk071]

Never really used it much. But i'm not much of a keyboard player either.

[DJ Warmonger]

For now I'm not capable of using aftertouch... unless it's s single note. Probably not everyone in the world is a keyboard player needs aftertouch badly.

[godly]

What do you mean 'where is it' ?

Depends on what you own/use.........

I mean, why don't so many synth builders implement it into the new hardware?
The technology exists so long, I even have it on my Graphite49 and almost all other old synths I have, so why is it not on the new stuff mostly?

I would never buy a synth that doesn't have it.
These digital days the controller function of a keyboard is as important as the sound, right?

[himalaya]

I've written on this topic before....it's an unfortunate state of affairs to be honest: Aftertouch....However, by aftertouch you really mean channel aftertouch. This (channel, mono-aftertouch) ought to be relegated to the pages of history and every keyboard released ought to have polyphonic-aftertouch. We have velocity, which is independent for each key, so we should have pressure sensitivity available on per-key basis. Pressure is one of the most natural musical gestures: press-in* on the surface you play to obtain an expressive gesture, and yet the keyboard technology is absolutely dumb here.

* press-in, which can be translated as 'sliding' on some harder surfaces, it also applies to breath controlled instruments, or bowed instruments, any continuous modulation controller. And whereas when playing a reed instrument we can only obtain a mono-breath response, naturally, with electronic keyboards we can play chords, so it is natural to want independed pressure for each key in a chord.

It's sad that even expensive synths do not have bog-standard channel-pressure (I won't mention names!).

[lfm]

Never looked for AT in a keyboard or midi controller.
Best I had though, was an Arturia keyboard that had long enough travel for AT on keys.
But all others has been really numb feel to it anyway.

I go for modulation wheel or expression pedal instead - it works as channel AT and affects all notes sounding.

If AT really was that much in demand, it would be everywhere. And agree it could be polyphonic if to be of use.

[JorgV]

I consider myself a good player and don't use aftertouch, so I think it is a very personal thing. I don't think it is precise/controllable enough for serious expression, but that could also be due to the lack of practice with it. I mostly think it's gimmicky, for effects. But that's my opinion, as this question comes up often on forums, there is probably a demand for it and others can put it to good use. I use a Motif XF btw.

Like lfm above me, I always use the MW (when playing single handedly) or expression pedal (when using both hands), which have a much greater travel and therefore are much more precise. I even have Cubase filtering AT out in the preferences, because unintended AT is always generated and messes up the look of my parts

[Echoes in the Attic]

I've written on this topic before....it's an unfortunate state of affairs to be honest: Aftertouch....However, by aftertouch you really mean channel aftertouch. This (channel, mono-aftertouch) ought to be relegated to the pages of history and every keyboard released ought to have polyphonic-aftertouch. We have velocity, which is independent for each key, so we should have pressure sensitivity available on per-key basis. Pressure is one of the most natural musical gestures: press-in* on the surface you play to obtain an expressive gesture, and yet the keyboard technology is absolutely dumb here.

* press-in, which can be translated as 'sliding' on some harder surfaces, it also applies to breath controlled instruments, or bowed instruments, any continuous modulation controller. And whereas when playing a reed instrument we can only obtain a mono-breath response, naturally, with electronic keyboards we can play chords, so it is natural to want independed pressure for each key in a chord.

It's sad that even expensive synths do not have bog-standard channel-pressure (I won't mention names!).

I totally agree. I hve a very minimal setup right now for traveling so I'm glad to have a CME Xkey with poly aftertouch. Once you get used to it, playing pads are just not the same without polyAT. Why would I want an envelope to control the expression exactly the same way for each note when I could control it per note how I want. Much more fun. But I think people who play keyboards more traditionally like a piano (ie. in a more percussive sense) don't care about aftertouch. It's something much more useful for pads and electronic soundscapes and layered sounds etc. Also, I don't have a Roli Seaboard, but I think that something squishy like that would be the best for this type of playing rather than pressing into a traditional keyboard key, because you'd have to first travel through the normal key depth. Linnstrument too seems like it would be great for this. So I guess that's the answer for where is aftertouch - It's in the new breed of expressive controllers coming out.

[jdoo]

IMO, one of the best implementations of aftertouch in keyboards (and this is a 6-7 year old controller) - is in Arturia's Analog Experience The Laboratory. It has great (predictable) sensitivity, and you don't have to mash your fingers into the keybed, to implement aftertouch. I wish I could say the same for aftertouch implementations on other keyboards I use, or have used. For example, on my Roland JD-XA, I have to mash the keys down with a lot of force, in order to get aftertouch to register. And even then, it take particular settings, to make it a non-binary (on/off) implementation. Anyway, it works on the JD-XA, but is nowhere as clean as my Arturia's keybed. I have an M-Audio Axiom 2nd gen controller, that falls between the two.

Re: Do I use it? Absolutely. Not on every tune or patch, but on most any patch where I am playing leads or evolving pads. There is a certain amount of expressiveness that aftertouch provides, that I don't get from mod wheels or pedals. Probably from years of getting used to aftertouch.

[aMUSEd]

I've written on this topic before....it's an unfortunate state of affairs to be honest: Aftertouch....However, by aftertouch you really mean channel aftertouch. This (channel, mono-aftertouch) ought to be relegated to the pages of history and every keyboard released ought to have polyphonic-aftertouch. We have velocity, which is independent for each key, so we should have pressure sensitivity available on per-key basis. Pressure is one of the most natural musical gestures: press-in* on the surface you play to obtain an expressive gesture, and yet the keyboard technology is absolutely dumb here.

* press-in, which can be translated as 'sliding' on some harder surfaces, it also applies to breath controlled instruments, or bowed instruments, any continuous modulation controller. And whereas when playing a reed instrument we can only obtain a mono-breath response, naturally, with electronic keyboards we can play chords, so it is natural to want independed pressure for each key in a chord.

It's sad that even expensive synths do not have bog-standard channel-pressure (I won't mention names!).

Couldn't agree more, musical instruments should be as expressive as possible, not limit expression. I think this is a consequence of composition via mouse input becoming more dominant but it needn't be the case, even when people wrote notation it was seen as the composers ressponsibility to know the full range of expression each instrument was capable of, not to limit it to simple on/off functions.

[stimresp]

I wouldn't buy a synth or controller without aftertouch. I've only ever used channel aftertouch and I still find it very useful and - yes - expressive. Typically I map AT to control vibrato amount.

Every AT-enabled keyboard I have used has the ability to turn it off if you don't want it.

[himalaya]

I don't think it is precise/controllable enough for serious expression,

That is a valid point. Unfortunately, many aftertouch mechanisms are not tuned well. Most behave almost as an on-off switch, difficult to control and balance. We press in, there is nothing...and...suddenly there is everything!

It doesn't have to be that way. It's a matter of good design. There are keyboards with good pressure response. Just recently I spent all day with the new Minimoog Model D, which amazingly, has aftertouch! It's one of the best aftertouch designs I've played! So smooth, playable, responsive...However, I don't know if it's due to the CV control or not...Maybe someone who knows can clarify, however, the way aftertouch responds on this Model D re-issue is a dream come true. Mono, of course but still amazing.

And how would a good player use aftertouch? Take the Minimoog as an example. It's mono, so why would you want to use pressure to control anything? You can use the mod wheels or grab a knob, right?

Well, look at the video below, and see what's going on. See how this person is needlessly having to interrupt playing the Rhodes to access the mod wheel to apply LFO modualtion, which could be assigned to pressure instead!

https://youtu.be/nXhfQZ8uvTE?t=3m4s


How about chords? Below is a short audio example of an arpegiated sound. I'm playing chords here and it's nice to have both hands on the keyboard without having to reach to the mod wheel for any modualtion. Instead, I press in and get this variation in rhythm. And it works really well even with channel-aftertouch:

http://www.electric-himalaya.com/stuff/ ... p-mod2.mp3


There are many uses for aftertouch. It just needs the right approach.

[Mitch I.]

When I bought my synth keyboard (JV-80), it came with channel aftertouch, which was new to me. It required a lot of pressure, and I used it so much that I ended up with tendinitis. In order to avoid the pain, I had to stop playing for months and then relearn how to type and play keyboards. Years later, I'm still dealing with this issue to some extent. I've turned off aftertouch in my DAW, and I wish I'd never heard of it.

Just my experience.