RE: My experiences with the Handsonic (long, reveiw)

["Jonathan El-Bizri" <jonathan@full-moon.com>]

bIz


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>>My
>>overall experience suggested that it was designed 'down' for easy
>>accessibility and instant 'look Ma! I'm playing techno!' gratification,
>>rather than trying to break new ground or really excite developed
musicians.
>
>oh-oh...

Well, that's Roland for you, pretty much.

>
>oh, drat.  and there's no wayto upgrade the sounds I assume...
>

Nope. You could control an external sound module, but that kind of kills 
the
point of having all that stuff on board. From my own point of view, I'm
rather tired of 'lots of programming to get it to do what you want'
instruments.  If I want that, I can use reactor, which is what I'd probably
use the handsonic to control, latency and all.


>>b. The effects were likewise tame, nothing interesting or even very 
>useful
>>in shaping the sound.. No resonant filters, which the instrument was
>>practically crying out for. What's up with that? I'm supposed to get
excited
>>over a reverse reverb? Hey! It's not the eighties any more!
>>
>>Since you only have a single stereo out, you can't add effects after the
>>fact, except to the whole kit.
>
>arg!  I live off effects!
It's pretty much a less than run-of-the-mill drum machine, with >excellent<
hand drum sounds, tied to an cool controller surface but with a something 
to
be desired UI and set up, and an unflexible architecture. It's still a lot
of fun, but don't expect to be excited by anything but the hand
drum/percussion emulations.


>>b. The midi implementation, as far as I could see, was adequate. It had
>>local off, which was my main concern, and
>
>... and?
Sorry, I forgot. I think I was going to say something about external
controllers, but you can midi all that in.

>All in all, very glad to get this review.  At least if I get it I'll know
what
>I'm getting!

        Like most Roland products, it struck me as lots of fun on the 
showroom
floor, but after really banging it, I came up against dissapointment
quickly. All I really wanted, apart from the usable control surface and the
hand drum emulations, was some new sounds. It didn't deliver, 
unfortunately.
I might get one anyway, especially if I can find one used, just to use as a
controller in the studio.  It doesn't seem like the kind of tool that will
become replaced with newer ones soon.
        Definitely give it a good work out before you buy it, and remember 
what
$1000 can buy you, outside of musical gear.
        As I said before, anyone who has one who can give me a different 
opinion
>please< do so. I really want to hear from someone who's 'woken up with it
in the morning' as it were.

bIz