Expressive E Osmose: Interview With Hans Zimmer
A synthesiser and controller in one - with more than MPE!
3,4 / 5,0 | 
[12 December 2024] For the soundtrack to Dune: Part Two, Hans Zimmer deliberately avoided using traditional orchestral instruments in favour of the Osmose E Expressive. In an interview and video documentary, he talks about this extraordinary instrument and shows how he and his crew used it as a compositional tool.
All about Expressive E Osmose
Film Music With Osmose
In the documentary, Hans Zimmer explains that this innovative instrument allows him to modulate sounds in real time using velocity, movement and vibrato to create extraordinary expressiveness. Zimmer was looking for sounds that did not evoke the past, but rather embodied the idea of a ‘musical future’. Osmose gave him the ability to create soundscapes that could change dynamically, which is particularly important for science fiction films.
Zimmer also describes how the Osmose keyboard, unlike a conventional piano, is sensitive to touch and changes the sound within the stroke of a key. This ability allows for a fluid style of playing, similar to violin or guitar technique, where notes are shaped by minimal movements. According to Zimmer, the instrument brings together different cultural influences and blends them into a harmonious whole, perfectly suited to the ‘mixed’ world depicted in Dune.
Watch the full documentary here.
So Osmose was the main factor in realising Zimmer’s vision of a futuristic and culturally diverse soundscape for the film Dune: Part Two. And it really added to and enhanced the atmosphere of the film musically.
2.0 Update & a review!
[04 September 2024] Here it is: Osmose 2.0 update! New Features, a lot of bugfixes and even more. That’s a lot of MPE, isn’t it?
Update 2.0 for Osmose: More control with new MIDI features
[04 September 2024] A lot has happened in the meantime. Since the release of Osmose, there have been two major updates and a beta phase for version 2.0, during which more experience was gained with the users themselves in order to avoid bugs in the final version. The handling of the sensors has been changed several times to match the feel of each individual key via sensor and software.
Up until version 1.4, there were still small differences between each keystroke. In my opinion, it was possible to avoid this with a small workaround and it didn’t feel too bad, but it was still a complex undertaking. Some devices were also recalibrated for free on the hardware side of the service. However, most people just had to install the “new” update and got the newer, better version in advance.
From MIDI glide to MPE arpeggiator: what the new Osmose OS has to offer
The biggest innovation is undoubtedly the arpeggiator for MIDI devices. Osmose can process MIDI in many different ways to control as many synthesizers as possible with as much precision as possible. The arpeggiator uses the sensors to control timing, direction and ratchets. For example, you can emphasise two notes by playing them a little harder and then cleverly moving them to other keys. Alternatively, you can use sideways bends to do the same thing, and then send the result to the MIDI synth at double or multiple speed to make it even more exciting.
This new flexibility is better in many ways, as you don’t have to take your hand off the keyboard to adjust octave mode or sequence, for example. All you have to do is use the second lever travel, the area after the key is pressed but before the aftertouch. Osmose has enough sensors for the whole range to get the arpeggiator into other patterns.
Here is an overview of the most important new features:
- Glide in advanced MIDI mode
- MPE Arpeggiator in advanced MIDI mode
- Preset Favourites and Playlists
- 2048 preset memories
- Modification of presets and playlists via programme changes
- New soundbank management system
- … and much more!
Registered users can download the update free of charge from the Expressive E Website.
Osmose: Augmented Keyboard Synthesizer with Haken Audio sound engine
[09 September 2021 / Original post by Robin Vincent] Expressive E’s impressively expressive Osmose instrument and MPE controller will be shown to the public for the first time at Superbooth.
It’s been two years since Expressive E revealed the Osmose instrument reporting to have the most advanced sound engine for expressivity. It comes with Haken Audio’s unique EaganMatrix sound engine covering everything from virtual analog to FM synthesis and physical modelling. Each key can deliver 3 dimensions of control with polyphonic pressure, aftertouch and pitch control. While other MPE controllers can offer similar features nothing quite emulates the piano or an instrument experience quite like Osmose.
Osmose is a remarkable device. It looks spectacular, it has a professional sheen and an elegance about it that would appeal to any musician wanting to find a more expressive way of controlling electronic sound.
Up until now, only a few select artists have been able to get their hands on the Osmose but now that long wait is over. Expressive E will have working models of the Osmose on their Superbooth stand and are currently promising delivery to all their preorder customers this year.
If you want to properly test out the Osmose then you’ll need to make an appointment with Expressive E and head out to their woodland booth #B030 at the show.
Expressive E Osmose
[20 November 2019] Expressive E is attempting to change the game with an elegant looking synthesizer instrument that hopes to offer an unparalleled playing experience where every note can express itself in three dimensions.
Osmose
They say it’s the result of more than seven years of intense research and development. The idea is to offer the MPE style of expressive control but while retaining the form and function of a traditional piano keyboard. The result is that you don’t have to learn a whole other instrument; you already know how to play it. “It does this while not only respecting, but also enhancing the player’s existing keyboard skills.”
The mechanism present on each and every note delivers three dimensions of control. They are calling it Augmented Keyboard Action or AKA.
There’s “Tap” which is the initial contact with the key that seems to me like velocity but it’s undoubtedly more complicated than that. Then there’s “Press” which is the continuing down motion on the key – it’s not aftertouch as such because you haven’t reached the full motion of the key yet – it’s that space in between. “Press and Tap” is a combined gesture that can be used for swelling notes or for anything you want. “Pitch” is in the wobble from side to side for vibrato and pitch bend. And you’re not wobbling your finger on a surface you are moving the actual key. “Aftertouch” is a bit more familiar and it’s polyphonic and “ultra-dynamic”. “Shake” is a new one where you vibrate your finger very quickly to add articulations. “Strum” turns each note into a sort of arpeggiator where it strums a number of notes. Check out this video for examples of how this plays out.
EaganMatrix Sound Engine
Of course none of this matters without a sound source capable of interpreting the gestures. That’s where Haken Audio comes in. The EaganMatrix comes from the Haken Continuum Fingerboard and is designed from the ground up as an expressive synthesizer instrument. It includes many types of digital synthesis, including physical modelling, additive, subtractive, FM, virtual analogue, granular and spectral synthesis. The whole library has been tweaked to make the fullest use of the AKA technology.
MPE
Osmose can also be an MPE controller for other compatible instruments and software. Looks like the perfect companion to the Black Corporation Deckard’s Dream! It doesn’t need a computer, it can all be configured from the control panel.
Availability
Osmose should be available next summer for a retail price of €1799. Expressive E is taking preorders up until the end of the year at a 40% discount of €1079 with a deposit of €299. There’s not going to be many so get your name down quick if this interests you. Personally I think it looks like a work of art and is the closest thing to a workably expressive keyboard that I’ve seen. And you don’t have to sacrifice all the useful things about a regular keyboard to do it.
More information from Expressive E
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