The Haken ContinuuMini, the little brother of the innnovative Continuum features the same technology/sound engine, is smaller but more affordable!
As a fan of Dream Theater and generally progressive rock music, I am always excited how such musicians master their instruments. But when Jordan Rudess start playing the Haken Continuum on the track “Octavarium” for the first time, the words fell to my mind at the beginning. Not because of the sounds but because of the look of this and the new ways how you can play this instrument. Looked at the price out of pure interest, my desire passed directly.
Now, several years later, many musician will get the possibility to play this innovative instrument. The Continuum will become not cheaper, but the developers (Lippold Haken, Edmund Eagan, Christophe Duquesne) have developed the ContinuuMini, a shrunken and affordable version of the original. They rely again on the same innovative technology and sound engine but in a smaller form. It has also a bidirectional implementation of MPE & MPE+ and can be used also with external gear. If you have ever dreamed to play a Continuum in your studio, this could be a good possibility to get one.
Overview
Now the playing experience of the big Continuum will be available in a new compact affordable package, the ContinuuMini. The ContinuuMini has exactly the same sound engine as the full-sized Continuum Fingerboard, delivering the same level of sound quality that Continuum owners have come to enjoy. The ContinuuMini is complete and self-contained, requiring only USB power and an audio output. Preset changes, octave switching, and system menu operations are all available directly from the ContinuuMini without the need for a computer connection.
The playing surface of the ContinuuMini has been designed to translate finger movement from one or two fingers at a time into beautiful musical expression. While based on similar design philosophies as the Continuum Fingerboard, the ContinuuMini has it’s own unique playing experience. The Mini’s playing surface can respond to incredible light touch, which leverages an underused aspect of human control, the ability of the hand to deliver delicate light touch finger input. Lighter than playing a piano, or strumming a guitar, or even lighter than the action of modern Midi keyboard controllers.
Every nuance of finger movement is captured and translated into sound through interaction with this highly-optimized playing surface. And complete control of the fully programmable EaganMatrix sound engine opens up a world of sonic possibilities. Due to it’s robust bidirectional implementation of MPE and MPE+, the ContinuuMini can control external synths or be played by external Midi controllers.
The pedal input can be used as a continuous sustain pedal input, for dynamic sustain or a variety of other uses within the EaganMatrix. The pedal input can also function as a bidirectional serial port. Currently this communicates with control voltage convertors, like Haken Audio’s CVC or Evaton Technologies microCVC, useful for interfacing with analog modular systems.
We’re excited about the possibilities of future uses for this port, further harnessing the EaganMatrix engine in new and novel ways. We are very proud of how we have been able to leverage our decades of hardware and software expertise into the ContinuuMini. The ContinuumMini fulfills a need for a small portable musical instrument that is intimate and expressive. This is truly a unique instrument, and with your support we’d like to make this new ContinuuMini a reality.
The Haken ContinuuMini is avaialable now for pre-order for a starting price of $599 USD. The final retail price will be $899 USD, in Europe higher. Shipping starts in January 2019.
More information here: Haken ContinuuMini
Lol “affordable”!