4 ms·

As someone with a linnstrument, I have to say that I absolutely adore it. It's among my best purchases I've ever made and is completely intuitive to me (who has

As someone with a linnstrument, I have to say that I absolutely adore it. It's among my best purchases I've ever made and is completely intuitive to me (who has much more time on stringed instruments than keyboards). I don't hate keyboards, but I like them less after using the linnstrument. The isomorphic layout means that more time can be spent memorizing a diversity of chords and scales by function as opposed to memorizing the same function in different keys. It's a blast to play and the expressive bends and whatnot are incredible.

Rampoina 8y ago
I have the opposite opinion (I also own a linnstrument). I come from a piano background, and as someone that kind of struggles to improvise in keys with more accidentals I was attracted to the idea of an isomorphic layout. After playing a lot with the isomorphic layout I've come to a conclusion that it comes at a cost (it has its advantages and disadvantages compared to the traditional piano layout) To be isomorphic the layout has to have multiple representations of a single note, with this comes the fact that you don't really have to learn one shape for every chord, you have to learn multiple ones if you play complex polyphonic music and want comfortable fingerings (the linnstrument also has this problem that you can't play 4 notes in a square which comes at the most unexpected times specially between the two hands). So the comparison would be to learn every key thoroughly vs learning every (useful) alternative for every chord. In my opinion there's nothing intuitive about the y axis having a greater intervalic distance than the x axis, specifically I would have this problem when going down in a melody to the previous "string" the distance to that note is way different than it would be on the same string. To be fair I think the only intuitive layout is a linear one (like a single string, or the haken continuum) If anything, having played with an isomorphic instrument has encouraged me to learn the piano layout more deeply. Having said that, the linnstrument itself is a decent product all and all (although I have some beefs with it but I don't want to turn this comment into a review) and it makes sense that you like the layout having more experience with stringed instrumments, but I would say that's familiarity not intuitiveness.
- mkl 8y ago
  Maybe try a linear isomorphic layout, Janko style (see my top level comment; I'm coming from piano). Edit: Is that any four note square? Just squares, or rectangles too?
  - Rampoina 8y ago
    Rectangles too, any four corners played at once. It's because the sensors are horizontal and vertical stripes of velostat, so every individual stripe can only sense pressure, the location is gather by combining the information of the overlapping stripes. from their webpage [1]: > If 3 note pads are pressed that are 3 corners of a rectangle, presses to a note pad that is the 4th corner of that rectangle will be ignored. [1] http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/ls-specs.html http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/ls-specs.html
Maciek416 8y ago
Fellow Linnstrument owner here. Agree completely on your point about the diversity of chords. It's really really hard to imagine going back to a piano layout and attempting to get back to the high water mark of where I'm at with a Linnstrument today. If something could be described as a gateway drug to harmony and music theory in general, this would be it. For people who haven't used one of these, a 2D isomorphic layout (as seen in the Linnstrument and others) enables you to see chords, scales and progressions initially as 2D glyphs, and later as a lattice structure as your eyes/hands become more accustomed to the layout. Learn the pattern for a given scale or chord once and you can relocate it anywhere with almost no mental cost, so transposition is effortless compared to a piano. I agree with the other poster in this thread on the "four corner" problem, which comes up surprisingly often. I think Roger Linn has spent a lot of time making a big deal about the Linnstrument's sliding and MPE capabilities, but the isomorphic layout is really the workhorse. If any iPad owners are looking to try out an isomorphic layout and don't want to shell out for a Linnstrument, check out Musix Pro.
- arvinsim 8y ago
  > If any iPad owners are looking to try out an isomorphic layout and don't want to shell out for a Linnstrument, check out Musix Pro. Thanks for the recommendation. You saved me from yet another developing GAS :D

Rampoina 8y ago

I have the opposite opinion (I also own a linnstrument). I come from a piano background, and as someone that kind of struggles to improvise in keys with more accidentals I was attracted to the idea of an isomorphic layout. After playing a lot with the isomorphic layout I've come to a conclusion that it comes at a cost (it has its advantages and disadvantages compared to the traditional piano layout) To be isomorphic the layout has to have multiple representations of a single note, with this comes the fact that you don't really have to learn one shape for every chord, you have to learn multiple ones if you play complex polyphonic music and want comfortable fingerings (the linnstrument also has this problem that you can't play 4 notes in a square which comes at the most unexpected times specially between the two hands). So the comparison would be to learn every key thoroughly vs learning every (useful) alternative for every chord. In my opinion there's nothing intuitive about the y axis having a greater intervalic distance than the x axis, specifically I would have this problem when going down in a melody to the previous "string" the distance to that note is way different than it would be on the same string. To be fair I think the only intuitive layout is a linear one (like a single string, or the haken continuum) If anything, having played with an isomorphic instrument has encouraged me to learn the piano layout more deeply. Having said that, the linnstrument itself is a decent product all and all (although I have some beefs with it but I don't want to turn this comment into a review) and it makes sense that you like the layout having more experience with stringed instrumments, but I would say that's familiarity not intuitiveness.

mkl 8y ago
Maybe try a linear isomorphic layout, Janko style (see my top level comment; I'm coming from piano). Edit: Is that any four note square? Just squares, or rectangles too?
- Rampoina 8y ago
  Rectangles too, any four corners played at once. It's because the sensors are horizontal and vertical stripes of velostat, so every individual stripe can only sense pressure, the location is gather by combining the information of the overlapping stripes. from their webpage [1]: > If 3 note pads are pressed that are 3 corners of a rectangle, presses to a note pad that is the 4th corner of that rectangle will be ignored. [1] http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/ls-specs.html http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/ls-specs.html

Maciek416 8y ago

Fellow Linnstrument owner here. Agree completely on your point about the diversity of chords. It's really really hard to imagine going back to a piano layout and attempting to get back to the high water mark of where I'm at with a Linnstrument today. If something could be described as a gateway drug to harmony and music theory in general, this would be it. For people who haven't used one of these, a 2D isomorphic layout (as seen in the Linnstrument and others) enables you to see chords, scales and progressions initially as 2D glyphs, and later as a lattice structure as your eyes/hands become more accustomed to the layout. Learn the pattern for a given scale or chord once and you can relocate it anywhere with almost no mental cost, so transposition is effortless compared to a piano. I agree with the other poster in this thread on the "four corner" problem, which comes up surprisingly often. I think Roger Linn has spent a lot of time making a big deal about the Linnstrument's sliding and MPE capabilities, but the isomorphic layout is really the workhorse. If any iPad owners are looking to try out an isomorphic layout and don't want to shell out for a Linnstrument, check out Musix Pro.

arvinsim 8y ago
> If any iPad owners are looking to try out an isomorphic layout and don't want to shell out for a Linnstrument, check out Musix Pro. Thanks for the recommendation. You saved me from yet another developing GAS :D