Alex Enkerli
In all sincerity, my #Eigenharp makes me feel like my life is complete.
In fact, it made me blog for the first time in quite a while. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, my #WordPress server is having issues and this post is currently unavailable. But still.)
http://blog.enkerli.com/2017/06/21/not-holding-my-breath/
Jun 21, 2017 at 10:41pmWeb
Show threadCharles š¯„¢ HutchinsJun 21, 2017
@enkerli I get a 500 server error trying to read you blog.

How long have you had the eigenharp? What's your background with playing instruments? Does it do OSC/MIDI or do you have to run software that comes with it? I've been wowed by demo videos for years, but feel slightly weird about the basoonishness!
Show threadAlex EnkerliJun 22, 2017
@celesteh Yeah, my blog is down. Still not quite sure why.
Got the ā€™harp Monday. My main background in music is as a sax player (for over thirty years, including training in classical music). Bought a Yamaha WX11 in the mid-1990s. Was only able to have fun with it recently.
Show threadAlex EnkerliJun 22, 2017
@celesteh The Eigenharps do require a connection to a computer but that computer can actually be a Raspberry Pi (haven't tried that part, yet). It does send MIDI (including MPE) and OSC (not clear on this part, yet).
Show threadCharles š¯„¢ HutchinsJun 22, 2017
@enkerli Does it connect via a USB cable? Is there (also) a network jack?

If it were tuba-shaped, I'd buy it in a moment! But I guess it would be much less portable!
Show threadAlex EnkerliJun 22, 2017
@celesteh USB only. The bigger Eigenharps (Tau and Alpha) use a base station. They're so imposing that it distracted me from understanding the ā€™harp was my ideal instrument. Can play the Pico like a sax.
So your back is in tuba? Do you still play?
Show threadCharles š¯„¢ HutchinsJun 22, 2017
@enkerli Sometimes. I'm working on tuba/electronics projects now. One is dubstep with live tuba and the other is an (extremely sparse) live coding language which is input via tuba playing. These are actually my first forays into combining things, because usually I find it's too much to think about to do everything at once.
Show threadAlex EnkerliJun 22, 2017
@celesteh Insert joke about the tuba being a handful.
Part of my intention, with the Eigenharp, is to use it in Sonic Pi. (Not only is SPi a livecoding environment making SuperCollider really shine, but the new version allows us to do cool things with OSC and MIDI I/O.)
After attending some mixed synth/sax performances at Drone Day, been thinking about ways to involve my alto in synth-heavy projects. But learning the Eigenharp is likely to take more of my attention.
Show threadAlex EnkerliJun 22, 2017
@celesteh To me, the main point of those controllers is expressiveness. My #Eigenharp Pico is by far the most expressive digital instrument for my needs with 3D touch plus breath control and a strip. All very high resolution (14 bits instead of MIDIā€™s typical 7 bits) and high sampling rate (2kHz as control rate is pretty much a firehose).