Deviant Synth has a nice review of the C-Thru Music Axis 64 Control Keyboard, a new MIDI keyboard based on the Harmonic Table: There are 192 keys on the keyboard in three identical 64-key sections laid next to one another, each section exactly one half key width lower than the one to its left. These can be split into different MIDI channels, which turns out to be a very powerful feature for non-obvious reasons. It gives you the ability to read each of the 192 keys separately, which is great if you?re interested in even stranger keyboard arrangements, controlling microtonal tunings, or turning the control surface into a relatively gigantic percussion controller. If you have a synth set to respond with the same patch on each of these three channels, then this feature also allows you to play the same note (same octave) in two zones without having the note off of one end the note for both keys Along with flight case and shipping to the continental USA, an AXiS-64 will set you back a little over two thousand dollars. That?s a lot of sushi dinners, but if you compare it to other alternative controllers on the market; Zendrum, Z-tar, Lightning, Marimba Lumina, Jazzmutant Lemur, Monome, and Continuum Fingerboard, the price of the AXiS-64 is justifiable, relative to its features. It?s not like USA currency is particularly strong in Europe these days, either. Summary The main feature, the keyboard layout, is really truly brilliant. The hardware is basically good, only the wheels are slippery and there?s no mechanism under the keys to measure aftertouch. The firmware is also basically good, but doesn?t send MIDI note-off data. The cost is high, but these days it?s a seller?s market for both alternative MIDI controllers and Euros. See the full review at Deviant Synth.

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