![]() The construction quality feels really good: it’s a classy product. The base and sides of the casework are a tough plastic, and the top panel is metal. The Osmose is quite a hefty unit, weighing in at 8.3kg, and measuring 894 x 316 x 87.5mm. The Osmose measures 894 x 316 x 87.5mm and weighs in at a considerable 8.3kg. So, after such an extended billing, does the Osmose reality live up to the hype? So it’s all a fascinating prospect, and it’s here at last. Control of software and hardware synths is still entirely possible, though, via USB or DIN MIDI (and even CV: see the ‘Additional Expressive Control’ box for more about that). That gives the potential for tighter integration between touch and sound, and better immediacy and ease of use. So for the first time since the original (but now long‑discontinued) Seaboard Grand we have a complete, stand‑alone, relatively affordable expressive synth that doesn’t rely on compatibility with soft synths running on an attached PC. Actually it’s far from conventional, as we’ll see in a minute, but it’s relatively more so than any other MPE keyboard to date. A totally different kettle of F#s from the Seaboard’s squishy continuous silicone rubber surface, the K‑Board’s hard strips, and the Linnstrument’s fret‑like squares. First, it has what might appear at first sight to be a conventional keyboard action, with full‑size black and white keys. Two things mark out the Osmose as substantially different to its obvious MPE‑friendly competitors. ![]() But with the small intervention of a global pandemic, it’s taken until now for production to go into full swing and units to start getting out to purchasers. This was announced by the French company back in 2019, with a launch planned for later in 2020. Now there’s another option, in the form of Expressive E’s Osmose. More recently we’ve seen more radical experiments in form factor, underpinned by the MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) protocol: they include ROLI’s Seaboards, KMI’s K‑Board and Roger Linn’s Linnstrument. First there were levers, wheels, pedals, the odd touch strip and breath‑controller input, and keyboard aftertouch. The quest to make keyboard‑based synths expressive has taken quite a journey over the decades. Expressive E’s Osmose is a synthesizer like no other.
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