Title link takes you to the video on Gearwire. That's Axel Hartmann on the left. He designed the look and feel of synths for such manufacturers as Access, Waldorf, MOOG, and of course his own Hartmann Neuron. I believe that is Stefan Stenzel on the right, but he said it so fast I'm not 100% sure. : )The Zarenbourg uses physical modeling and not samples. It is being touted as a players keyboard with basic editing on the panel and more extensive editing via software. You will be able to edit and save your own custom patches. I'm a synthesist at heart, but there is something attractive about letting go of the editing and just playing the sound that's there in front of you.
His name is indeed Stefan Stenzel. He's the chief designer of that keyboard, if I understood him correctly.
ReplyDeleteI got my hands on the instrument for a little while when I was there. Not all the piano models were running yet, but what I heard was very expressive and musical. Stefan said he was still soliciting opinions from players as to keyboard feel, features, etc. The installed keybed was weighted, but not too heavy - similar to a Wurlitzer 200A. I commented to them that I would like to see a slightly heavier action so as to not have to feel so timid when really layin' into it.
The unit is very deep. I asked Axel, and he said he took a ruler out, measured the depth of a Minimoog Voyager, and made that the depth of the lid. Heh! Talk about nailing your target market! I understand those dimensions aren't yet set in stone, however.
I couldn't make any real judgements for the quality of the built-in sound system, being a noisy show floor and all, but from what I could make out that, too, was headed in the right direction.
Axel's and Stefan were really nice guys to talk with, and were genuinely interested in what folks had to say, both retail buyers and musicians.
Now if the dollar were just a little stronger vs. the Euro, we Yanks might be able to afford these things...
e
It's great to finally see a face behind the name. I remember Stefan from the old days on the Waldorf list. I forget if it was him or someone else at Waldorf, but I once wrote up a description of my Waldorf XT. They liked it so much they put it up on the Waldorf site as a user testimonial. Unfortunately that was ages ago on my old PC and to this date I can't find it.
ReplyDeleteI am very sure it is Stefan Stenzel on the right.
ReplyDeletekeep on turning these knobs
Till "Qwave" Kopper
The one on the right of the egocentric man ;) is Stefan Stenzel, a real genius dsp programmer.
ReplyDeleteMATRIX: I´ve two comments from the old XT site, one from John H***** and another from Vergel E****, are you one of these???
JZ
Is the case mainly empty? It's so big.
ReplyDeleteThey should have installed a slot to save your lunch.
It seems retarded to make it so big if they don't have to.