Expressive E: Osmose Synth/MPE Controller

I have seen the future, and it is this instrument. In an industry that overuses terms like “revolutionary” and “game changer,” Expressive E’s Osmose is an amazing new instrument with an extremely elegant and refined culmination of over 40 years of research into sound synthesis and electronic musical performance. At first look, your impression of the Osmose will likely be something like, “Hmm, that’s a bit odd and not a lot there.” The simplicity and sparse layout of the Osmose belies a very deep instrument with vast sonic and performance capabilities underneath its hi-tech modern hood.

Let’s start with the most obvious new feature here and focus on the performance aspects of the Osmose. The Osmose has a full-size standard piano-style keyboard that is raised above (rather than embedded into) the instrument, and the backs of the keys extend another three inches or so beyond a typical piano keyboard. It’s almost as if one took off the front panel of an upright piano and exposed the back side of the keys and piano action. This extra travel allows each key to have two additional modes of response: nudging each key left or right or pushing the key down with a bit of extra pressure about 3/8-inch beyond its normal resting point. This allows for what Expressive E calls A.K.A. (Augmented Keyboard Action) which sends MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) to the Osmose sound engine. For those unfamiliar, MPE is an extension to the original MIDI spec adopted in 2020, allowing each note in a MIDI command to have separate controller data. For instance, on an MPE instrument you can play a three-note chord and use an MPE gesture to modulate the third of the chord. A lot of new instruments, particularly software instruments, use MPE. Ableton Live [Tape Op #160] and Newfangled Audio’s Generate [#140] are both MPE compatible, for example. On the hardware side, companies such as ROLI and Haken Audio have made unique MPE controllers that nod to (but leave behind) the traditional piano keyboard. The MPE instrument I’m most familiar with is the excellent ASM (Ashun Sound Machines) Hydrasynth. The Hydrasynth uses a digital sound engine that models traditional subtractive analog synthesis along with a ribbon controller and an MPE aftertouch keyboard that allows for polyphonic aftertouch modulation of patches. Many people have suggested that the Hydrasynth is like an updated modern version of the Yamaha CS-80. I’ve used the Hydrasynth on many sessions, and it’s always fun to put it in front of a good piano player who may not have much experience with synthesizers and watch them quickly home in on the performance aspects of the instrument. Piano players (more so than synthesists, who are sometimes not used to keyboards being more than on/off switches) are usually in tune with using dynamics in their playing, so the new generation of MPE instruments opens up a lot of interesting new sonic options for both players and producers. The Osmose is unique, however. For example, I have a ROLI keyboard, but it’s hard to play and feels like a bit of a novelty, and playing chords on it feels kind of clumsy. The Osmose bridges the gap between early MPE controllers such as the ROLI or the Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard (more on Haken shortly) and normal note on/off keyboards. At first glance, it’s just like a standard keyboard but one that offers significantly more MPE functionality than the Hydrasynth. I should also note that even though the Osmose keyboard is plastic, it has a classy feel to it. The keys have a nice matte finish, making them feel more like high end piano keys rather than a Casio keyboard. It’s also important to note that the Osmose can act as an MPE controller for both MPE-compatible soft synths or hardware synths via USB or 5-pin MIDI DIN connections.

The sound engine of the Osmose uses a unique system called the Haken Eagan Matrix (HEM). Imagine if you crossed a digital synthesis environment capable of a variety of synthesis algorithms, including FM, additive, and physical modeling, interfaced with a programming environment like Cycling 74’s MAX [Tape Op #76], and the matrix patch interface of the classic EMS VCS 3. The HEM is standalone, and built into the Osmose. While the sound design possibilities of the HEM are vast, with a huge number of tweakable parameters (the standalone manual for HEM is 129 pages long), Osmose breaks each of the 500 presets down to four digestible parameter macros, with up to four more on a secondary screen. Each patch type is slightly different, consisting of four to eight of the most obvious synth parameters available, each of which will have a significant effect on the sound. These parameters, usually changing the envelope and timbre of each patch, make sense for each patch while offering a clear place to start tweaking. In other words, here's the power and flexibility of a very advanced digital synthesis engine (including a high degree of sound design capabilities) without having to get deep into the weeds with FM or physical modeling synthesis theory.

I should mention that, as with many current newer synths, the Osmose has an LCD screen about the size of an iPhone. Four switches above the display with four knobs below it make up the primary interface to program the Osmose. I also must say that the GUI, design, and implementation of the Osmose screen and interface are the best I’ve seen to date. The use of color, shading, icons, and scale makes for one of the most intuitive interfaces I’ve used, allowing this complex and deep instrument to be super easy and straightforward to use. If you hate digging into manuals, you’ll love the Osmose. The patch Abyss Lands, for instance, which is a dual-layer atmospheric pad type sound, has these four parameters on the primary edit screen: Timbre, Layer Speed, Layer Structure, and Release. The more straight-ahead patch, Analog ADSR, has Filter, Resonance, Attack, and Decay, while the FM Brass patch has Timbre, Tone, Body, and Growl. However, if you want to, you can download the Eagan Matrix app and dive into programming your own patches using the HEM environment. This is a deep modular interface and programming language requiring some level of math and understanding of the many concepts contained within the HEM modules. While I typically love to geek out on this kind of thing (see my reviews for VCV Rack [Tape Op #123], Johan Eriksson's Automatonism [#121], and Subatomic Software’s Audulus [#103]) I decided to forgo getting into the weeds by digging too far under the hood of Osmose. Instead, I’m taking advantage of this deep digital synthesis engine without having to wrap my head around the less-than-intuitive concepts of FM or physical modeling, while enjoying the sound and expressive physical interface. In this sense, Osmose really is futuristic, taking decades of advanced research and putting it into an intuitive, easy-to-use, and completely unique instrument that looks like some kind of art project from the pages of Dwell or Wired Magazine.

As I was reviewing the Osmose my studio partner, Bobby Lurie, was visiting from NYC and working in the studio. He’s primarily a drummer and piano player, making cool instrumental music under the name Blurry. I was curious what his take would be on the Osmose as someone who is a very good pianist and who only owns two synths: A vintage Moog Minimoog Model D and a Buchla Music Easel. We laid down some drums, bass, and piano tracks on a new song, and then Bobby spent a few days playing around and adding overdubs with the Osmose. He loved the instrument, both the way it sounded and the expressive performance options. He kept telling me how much he enjoyed playing with it and how impressed he was with its sound. That’s the point for a studio or player, right? Fun to play with cool sounds.

In one sense, the Osmose makes earlier digital synthesizers, such as the New England Digital Corporation's Synclavier, seem pretty simplistic and limited. Because it’s so easy-to-use and play (have you ever programmed a real Synclavier or Yamaha DX7?) at a price tag of less than $2000, this instrument is pretty amazing to me. If you want to look into the future of synthesis, set your sights on Osmose.