Roger Linn didn’t just develop the LinnStrument and then check out. He’s provided a steady stream of musical advice both of his own makings and from the device’s user community – all while being a driving force in MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE). The latest video is a must-watch addition to that ongoing series.
Look, without trying to flatter his ego or be overly reductive, I think it’s fair to say Roger is the most influential person in putting things in grids on musical instruments. And it’s also easy to say he’s probably up there for most influential drum machine creator, along with Ikutaro Kakehashi at Ace Tone/Roland/BOSS. But, whereas a lot of grids today are spiritual successors to Roger’s MPC60, the LinnStrument is distinct. It’s closer to a fretboard than the designs with discrete buttons/pads (monome, Tenori-On, Novation Launchpad, NI Maschine, Akai APC40, Ableton Push). As on the other ground-breaking expressive device, Haken Continuum, you’re able to make continuous gestures easily. It’s not a fretboard, to be clear, but the note arrangement(s) will be familiar to those and inherit many of the same advantages.
What I’ve always loved about LinnStrument is that it continues to evolve musically through practice. The culture of playing this device gives it life beyond just its engineering – as on any great instrument.
Now, the paradox is, that if you really want to create new gestures, it’s often helpful to mimic instruments and solos you already know, which is the whole point of this video. I hate variations of the phrase “you need to learn rules so that you can break them,” and I don’t really think that’s it. I’d see it more this way: by mimicking in this way, you’re wiring up connections between your ears, musical perception, and muscle memory. The more you do that, the more you’ll be able to articulate any idea you’ve got.
Could you apply the same to wild, new timbres? Absolutely! It does help to have some basis for those instruments, too – like, even if you imagine some space sousaphone, you might ground it in some known instrument, so you have a foundation from which to build.
Back to Roger’s history, yes, I’m aware he’s shared some notes about what he thinks about his LinnDrum design being remade in recent hardware and software. (I had already contacted him about it wondering if he’d comment.) And it’s important that both these tools use samples of the original hardware directly – they’re not simply models or recreations. But maybe this video is an even better answer than those comments. There are still new instruments to be created and explored. It’s not only about cycling through new gear, either – it’s about the long-term work of developing engineering and musicality.
For more:
And again, looking to all of the history of musical instruments, the relationship between builder/luthier/engineer and musician is always there. So check the LinnStrumentalists, too.
Whether Hans Zimmer is your cup of tea or not, there’s also a direct connection between thinking about expressivity and sound design and what Zimmer and team talked about for Dune 2 with another MPE device, Expressive E Osmose. To me, the Osmose is the best expressive evolution of the keyboard manual just as Roger has nailed the MPE successor of the fretboard. And again, you can apply existing knowledge but also develop new techniques and accompanying sounds:
But got more? Don’t hesitate to let us know what you’ve seen or what you’re doing in comments.