Is it a Tubet or a Trumpa - Has anyone experimented with negative TouchSense?

[BrettM]

The idea is to create a PCM tone with a -64 TouchSense value and layer it with another tone with the default +63 TouchSense. Then, when you play lightly the first tone plays loudly, but as you dig into the keyboard the sound cross fades into the second tone. All sorts of unusual sound morphing effects are possible.

 

Similar timbres blend well, e.g., a tuba and a trumpet; but a double bass and a piccolo sound like ... a double bass and a piccolo.

 

This is doable on the XW synths using two zones of a performance, the PX-5s (where it's called Velocity Sense under the tone amp menu) using two zones of a stage setting; and any of the other Casio keyboards which have tones with a TouchSense parameter and allow keyboard layering, including many of the CTK and WK models.

 

Also good for training a light touch.

[BrettM]

Besides the ability to create weird hybrid instruments, this technique may be put to better use cross-fading between wet and dry versions of the same or similar instruments to create a more expressive single instrument. E.g., clean guitar cross-fading into distorted guitar (http://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/6612-velocity-controlled-distortion/), crunch guitar cross-fading into overdrive or finger bass cross-fading into slap bass.

 

Some dynamics is lost, but can be recaptured somewhat by tweaking the volumes of each zone in the performance.

[BrettM]

Another variation on the theme: create two versions of the same sound, one with vibrato and one without. Give the one without vibrato a negative Touchsense; then as you dig in, the vibrato fades up. It's almost like having aftertouch! (not).

[BrettM]

Yet another variation: use three layers, one with positive TouchSense, one with negative TouchSense, and one with zero TouchSense. The zero layer becomes the default tone which cross fades into either of the other tones, depending on how hard you play.