Aftertouch . . . who needs it!

[johnS]

No, really. Who uses aftertouch? I'm thinking of picking up a small MIDI controller keyboard and aftertouch seems like an important feature to decide for or against.

Do I need it? What sorts of sounds is it good for? What sorts of patches do you use aftertouch on? Would it be useful for sound design?

[Nubus]

I'm not embarrased to say it if I'm wrong, I'm not much into keys; but is aftertouch for the letting go part of holding down a note like what might occur on a real piano. That could be great for sound design I would imagine because it could triger a whole nother set of events right?

[dolivas]

Aftertouch is the pressure you can apply to a key after you originally pressed on a key. I tend to use it consistently for string like patches on synths and the like. You can also use aftertouch to trigger or modulate certain parameters like LFO modulation, filter resonance etc. etc.

So to put it simple I'd rather have Aftertouch than not. It depends on the music you make though. If you use pads alot and you like movement in the pads without having to use the knobs all the time on your controller then Aftertouch does have some use.

[Nubus]

OOH now I know what I need. I need to sell my MIDI controller!

[mikegee]

speaking of midi controls, my favorite is velocity, it's very helpful when using midi drums.

i'm not exactly a midi afficianado, but i have a friend who is a midi wizard, and it is really amazing what you can do with midi if you put yer mind to it. to be honest, i've tried learning more about midi, but i think i need a book or something that can explain it easily. anybody have any suggestions?

[Chaorta]

I certainly use aftertouch. While i'm not a technically oriented piano player (Read as: I suck), i find that having aftertouch available to assign to basically any CC i want is really, really nice. You can do so much more than vibrato. Any parameter than can be controlled, you can assign. FM amount, filter saturation, Envelope break points, OSC pitch fine tuned (For that analog out-of-tune feeling)