What's an instrument similar to the Eigenharp?

As title. Are there any?

tl;dr - there isn’t really one… its rather unique

BUT, that doesn’t mean its ‘better’ etc, rather unique in its approach,
so depends

  • what do you mean by similar?
  • what features are important to you?

keys - there’s not really anything similar, they are (very) bespoke making them sensitive, accurate as well as ‘3d’. continuum/osmose are the only ones Ive felt are a sensitive/responsive (albeit v. different)

breath - not sure if there are any ‘mpe’ controllers with breath, but you could use some kind of breath controller. (hmm, theres the warbl? and I think one other specialise one?)

ribbons - I, personally, think are the weakest point on the Eigenharps. there are instrument / controllers that can have a ribbon or something similar (e.g. continuum region) - again, also easy to supplement if you need.

software - EigenD is a pro and a con.
pro - its very performant, and specialised to the task. esp when you do NOT want to go via midi.
con - midi is ubiquitous, and mpe now is common. not being midi class compliant for many is a drawback.

generally, it was a rather unique vision, deliberately trying to move away from the keyboard tech ‘look’ and approach… which is, likely, what made it harder to sell, a big leap of faith for potential buyers.


In terms of quality of touch / expression (but different form factors),
Continuum, Id say is ‘obvious’ one.
Linnstrument, , definitely one to consider in the controller field. lots of musicians love it.
Osmose, but you don’t get the ‘3rd’ dimension in quite the same way, it is very much focus on keyboard player. (love mine :)))

ofc, there are quite a few of others… many are ok, but oft lack responsiveness / accuracy in my experience - but can be budget friendly, and some love them - personal taste.


oh, I should give a special mention to the Striso… its small / portable, rather different approach, but it’s a lot of fun to play, and really feels good.

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To answer your question, I was thinking of the form factor, the fact that you hold it more like a cello or a viola da gamba instead of a keyboard, but it has buttons instead of strings, and enough buttons to be used like a traditional instrument with multiple full octaves, plus the mouthpiece and keys. I think I would never use the ribbons to be honest. :stuck_out_tongue:

Hi Parapa1 -

You previously mentioned that you were looking for a wind controller, but had issues with an EWI, maybe around sensitivity…? You also said: "On an instrument like this…if I need to play something fast, I can choose to not blow.”

The last point is probably only true of the Tau/Alpha, as they’re the only controllers with both breath and a large number of keys (unless you simply played a keytar with a breath controller).

(I love the large form factor of the Tau/Alpha, but I’ve never been able to acquire one, so I’m currently planning to build something vaguely resembling one, albeit without the multi-axis keys which are another unique feature.)

I’ve tried various wind controllers, mainly EWI. I originally learned trumpet, and I like the fingering system developed by Nyle Steiner which allows you to access a large chromatic range with a handful of keys. I’ve been able to implement a version of this on the Pico, though I needed help from people like @thetechnobear, as they’re quite challenging to work with.

I think the Warbl is really cool; the breath control feels quite responsive to me, and the keys have optical sensors that can respond to distance. It’s also open-source.

I’m interested in the new ASM Diosynth, and the Glissotar also looks fun. But there’s currently nothing much like a Tau/Alpha out there.

yeah, the form factor is pretty unique.

the linnstrument has guitar strap hooks, but doesn’t look very comfortable to use.

as you noticed,
Eigenharps were very much designed around traditional instrument ergonomics.
the tau/alpha on the large strap are centre weighted so they can be used either like guitar style or more upright like a wind instrument. or you can use a spike on the ground like a cello/bass etc, either standing or sitting.
then the instrument faces the audience, so they can see the musician play.

( * ) note : the optional large spike for Tau is rare, even by eigenharp standards.

the attention to detail John/Eigenlabs put into Eigenharps was undeniably impressive.
perhaps, to the point, that cost/pricing almost feels like an afterthought, and they didnt seem to care that you’d have to learn something new / unique.

so you end up with something that needed quite a monetary and time investment, which whilst attaching a huge amount of (media) attention, I suspect was a hard sell to many musicians esp. for a smaller ‘brand’

counter that today, where most controllers etc are often designed to a price point, and very much focused on attracting existing players of keyboards etc
can’t really blame them, even doing this, its still a hard sell… and we have seen many manufacturers not survive.

ofc, there are other areas… which I dont know much about.
electronic wind instruments - I guess output midi, but how flexible?
guitar like controllers - been a few of these, some offering mpe.

so yeah… I think the things with interesting form factors are Striso, Warble and Continuumini, but they tend to focus on a more portable approach.
(Strido Duet is interesting as its an accordion-like approach)