CallMeZoot
01-21-2006, 12:37 PM
Just picked up an M-Audio Trigger Finger from academicsuperstore.com (169 if you're a teacher or student). They run for about $199 but you can do better on ebay, academicsuperstore, etc.
Haven't gotten a chance to go deep with it yet, but the aftertouch makes playing the JABB stirs a breeze, and playing/improvisin percussion lines on a pad controller is so much more intuitive and inspiring than on a keyboard. When I have a chance I'm going to set up presets for all the JABB and GPO percussion.
Also it's a relatively cheap way to add more assignable knobs (8) and sliders (4) to my rig (plus the aftertouch on each of the 16 pads can be assigned to any cc, so there's another 16 if you need them). It's quck and easy to switch between presets, so you could feasibly control 192 separate variables with this baby just by switching back and forth.
I experimented a little with using its aftertouch for vibrato on the JABB saxes, and it seems to work well. (hold a note on my keyboard, then with my other hand push lightly on one of the pads on the Trigger finger). I'm sure with some tweaking I can learn to do this effectively. Obviously it's not the same as having aftertouch on the key, but I couldn't justify buying yet another keyboard controller just for the aftertouch.
Oh and if anyone is planning on buying Ableton, this comes with a lite version which entitles you to a $249 upgrade to the full Ableton.
Just thought I'd share...
chris.
Haven't gotten a chance to go deep with it yet, but the aftertouch makes playing the JABB stirs a breeze, and playing/improvisin percussion lines on a pad controller is so much more intuitive and inspiring than on a keyboard. When I have a chance I'm going to set up presets for all the JABB and GPO percussion.
Also it's a relatively cheap way to add more assignable knobs (8) and sliders (4) to my rig (plus the aftertouch on each of the 16 pads can be assigned to any cc, so there's another 16 if you need them). It's quck and easy to switch between presets, so you could feasibly control 192 separate variables with this baby just by switching back and forth.
I experimented a little with using its aftertouch for vibrato on the JABB saxes, and it seems to work well. (hold a note on my keyboard, then with my other hand push lightly on one of the pads on the Trigger finger). I'm sure with some tweaking I can learn to do this effectively. Obviously it's not the same as having aftertouch on the key, but I couldn't justify buying yet another keyboard controller just for the aftertouch.
Oh and if anyone is planning on buying Ableton, this comes with a lite version which entitles you to a $249 upgrade to the full Ableton.
Just thought I'd share...
chris.