Expressive E Osmose takes keyboards to “level nobody thought possible”, says Jordan Rudess
“The feeling of it is so cool. I’ve never experienced any kind of keyboard like this before.”
Jordan Rudess playing Osmose Expressive E
Jordan Rudess has given his two pence on the Expressive E Osmose synth, claiming that he’s “never experienced any kind of keyboard like this before”.
Speaking to Chris Barker and Will Betts on MusicTech podcast, My Forever Studio, keyboardist and musician Jordan Rudess expresses his admiration for the Osmose keyboard by Expressive E, which boasts a highly sensitive keybed.
“I was speaking to the two main guys that created [The Osmose] this morning actually, and I was singing praises to them really because what they managed to do was to take the traditional keyboard and really bring it to a level that nobody thought was even possible,” says the musician.
“The Osmose can be thought of as a continuous instrument,” he continued. “Continuous meaning a bowed instrument or even a wind instrument, and that’s a big statement for a keyboard because in history they are more on and off switches, especially according to Roger Lynn who has said that.
He then goes on to explain how it differs from other keyboards and synthesizers on the market.
“I get that a piano has a key, and the hammer hits the string and then you get to sit around and enjoy the sound of it,” the musician notes. “A synthesizer, you hit a note, it makes contact with the bottom of the key press and you’ve got your sound and it’s very much the same every time.
“In this instrument they really built something that is an augmented keyboard,” Rudess states. “It does a bunch of cool amazing things. For example, you can put your finger very lightly on the top of the keyboard, and it will track your finger so it feels so perfect. It means you can bring in notes slowly and accurately. Every note is completely independent because it’s an MPE-style synthesizer.”
“The feeling of it is so cool. I’ve never experienced any kind of keyboard like this before.”
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