Hello everyone, my name is Gaz and I am a musician based in Bristol. I have just received my Pico today and have been investigating it thoroughly this evening.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate Eigenlabs for bringing really innovative new instruments to the market place. A great expense of time and energy has gone into this so thank you for all the hard work so far!
Secondly, I would like to thank John personally for his dedication to his vision. I believe now its out in the open, the interesting stuff can start to happen. I had the great fortune to chat to John last week and found him to be extremely honest and very, very easy to talk openly with. I think with plenty of user cooperation and healthy relations with the makers, we can make these instruments reach their potential.
Ok! So what did I make of my first few hours with the Pico?
Bewildering I would have to say. Unfortunately I was faced with a bunch of gripes (sic).
My first gripe was with the length of the included neck strap. It is too short for me! I found that it puts the breath controller too much in my face and I find it a bit irritating. It is down to me having quite a thick neck as it is perfect for my girlfriend but it is a bit of a shame it can't be adjusted for someone of my size.
My second gripe was with the cello which was one of the reasons I bought it in the first place. I want to be able to smoothly bow it like you can in real life but when I try to do it on the Pico, it re triggers the note on my return stroke. For instance, if I play a note and drag downward on the strip, the note plays now I want to sustain that note when I drag back upwards but the sound retriggers its attack and means I get a broken sustain. Very annoying. Is this an easy fix? Would be great if it could or am I missing something?
My third gripe (which has just happened again!) is that my Pico turns off for some strange reason. I can only get it back if I reload the software which takes a while to do. This is really irritating and I am not sure why it is doing it. Is it something to to do with my Macbook Pro's energy saving?
Fourth gripe: Browser keys! Say no more......
Ok, you get the picture. I am not entirely a happy bunny at this point in time but, I have seen the light with this instrument (and I don't care what some pompous idiot on Gearslutz says this IS an instrument and not just a controller) and can see how it will be awesome in the future...
Right. What am I suggesting that could improve matters then?
1.I think that the mode keys could be flipped around. I think that the main mode key would be better if it was the bottom right key. That way you could trigger it with your little finger and easily see all the keys. As it is now, when you press the main mode key your hand partially blocks the view. Also I think that your little finger can easily hit that key and all your fingers would be better laid out to press the next buttons. What do you folks think?
2. I don't like the octave up/down buttons one bit. For a start I think the colours of the led's should change to reflect what octave you are in. For instance both orange means middle, right green down one octave, right red down two octaves, both red down three octaves, Left green up one octave, left red up two, both green up three. I think that would really help you know where you are. Saying that though, I propose two different approaches for octave transposition. Ideas A + B. Also following on from the previous point this would mean that they would be the top mode keys.
A:Using the breath controller. The harder you blow the higher the octave. Much like a real wind instrument. I think it could be possible to have three octaves available this way and still retain enough dynamic control. Also I think it would be really good fun going red in the face trying to reach those high notes. I am sure this would add to the performance value of the instrument.
B:Using the strip controller. I think with certain instruments swift octave changes could happen with the strip control. Roughly divide the strip into three regions and it would be quick to touch the region for the octave change. I also think this could be a good way for tonic changes although it would take some practise to get accurate.
3.The bottom two keys currently used as scroll keys. As mentioned in other threads, these don't seem to work very well for the purpose of browsing, why not make one a pitch bend and the other a mod wheel? Or make one a latching sustain and the other a gate sustain. That would be great on the piano and probably a bit more intuitive than the breath sustain. I can see how they affect the fingering if they were pitched notes so I think looking for creative expression purposes makes sense.
John, I wonder how easy it is to implement the above changes? Whether a factory setup 2 could be made with just a few tweaks? I am intrigued about this because I think the success of this instrument lies with how easily it can be modded.
I am convinced that the future for the Pico, Alpha and Eigenlabs is very rosy indeed and I am glad and excited to be along for the ride!
So, thanks to anyone who has made it this far and I look forward to reading any responses.
All the best,
Gaz
UK
