We want to give synthesizers the same potential for subtlety and nuance as acoustic instruments.
Most acoustic instruments allow subtle changes in the harmonic spectrum (timbre) of sound, between notes and also during sustained notes. These variations can be used impart emotion in performance, and mirror the way we naturally use the human voice.
The designers of early electronic instruments understood this, and indeed many of them came from the world of classical music. Like acoustic instruments, subtle vibrato is possible on the Theremin (1922), Ondes-Martenot (1928), Trautonium (1930), Ondioline (1940) to name a few. The development of modular synthesizers during the 1960s opened up a much larger sonic palette through the introduction of voltage controlled oscillators, filters, and modulators such as envelopes. By combining multiple oscillators and modulators it became possible to generate rich and complex musical timbres that evolve and vary in pleasing ways.
During the 1970s, self-contained analog instruments became available that included a keyboard, synthesizer and a control panel for sound design. These were initially monophonic without much sensitivity in the keyboard action. The MiniMoog synthesizer (1970) set the standard where a single pitch wheel and modulation wheel are provided for the left hand to articulate the sound.
This approach to keyboard layout continues to today, but it presents a couple of problems. The pitch wheel is generally set to +/-2 semitones. This makes it easy to do a 2 semitone bend, but hard to do a 1 semitone bend (because the player must accurately judge the half-way point), and impossible to do a 3 semitone (minor third) bend. Also, since the left hand is required for pitch bends it can't simultaneously be controlling timbre. Depending on the synthesizer, the modulation wheel can be set to modulate a single parameter (eg. LFO modulation depth, or filter cutoff). Of course, if the parameters are present on the control panel, these can be articulated during performance using the left hand. For example, the player could move from a smooth legato sound to a more staccato plucky sound by reducing the attack and/or decay time on the amplitude or filter envelope.
The advent of digital synthesizers saw the introduction of patch memories, and simultaneously the removal of front-panel knobs so that the actual sound design became hidden behind layers of menus and settings. Sometimes this was due to complex synthesis algorithms (eg. FM) where many parameters must be carefully balanced to sound good. In exchange for great sounds, musicians lost a degree of control over the sonic timbre during performance. This has led to a reliance on pre-programmed patches, which often will sound the same for each note played. While acceptable in some genres, there are still many situations where such sounds are considered sterile, and lacking depth and emotion.
Keyboard dynamics have also continued to evolve, from early control-voltage keyboards to more expressive keyboards that can sense velocity, pressure or displacement. Moving from a single switch to a pair of switches per key allows velocity to be computed by measuring the time between the switch closures. Pressure sensing (aka "aftertouch") often uses a pressure sensor such as a force-sensitive resistive strip for the whole keyboard action ("channel aftertouch"). A more versatile approach is to use a pressure sensor under each key ("polyphonic aftertouch") which comes at greater cost. Another approach (eg. in the Buchla Model 112) is to use capacitance to sense finger pressure. Today velocity sensing is universal, and pressure (poly or channel aftertouch) is becoming more common. The development of new low cost sensors (eg. for multi-axis hall-effect) makes it possible to sense true key displacement in multiple axes, which allows for more sophisticated keyboard interactions. For example the Osmose keyboard can sense continuous vertical displacement, velocity, polyphonic aftertouch pressure, and horizontal displacement (for vibrato and pitch bend).
The Morphonium is our attempt to make synthesizers more expressive. Of course there are many other folks working on the same problem, and we love the innovations in recent instruments like the ExpressiveE Osmose, ASM Hydrasynth, Arturia Polybrute 12, and the Roli Seaboard. These instruments generally focus on more responsive keyboard actions, whereas Morphonium gestural devices are independent of the keyboard action and can be used to augment any keyboard.
Synthesizers need better pitch control. As we have touched on already, pitch wheels don't really cut it. While playing melodic lines it is important to be able to accurately bend multiple different intervals. This is the motivation for developing the Vibe Bar: to allow accurate 1, 2 and 3 semitone bends with the same hand that is playing the melody. While wiggly Osmose-style keys are great for vibrato, they are too imprecise for bending more than one interval. Key bends can be combined with with pitch-wheel bends, though this requires the use of the left hand. In addition to the Vibe Bar, the Morphonium includes two gestural controllers to allow pitch articulation over a two octave range: the Gliss Strip and the Tron. Both offer continuous pitch control, as found on fretless stringed instruments.
Synthesizers need better timbre control. Many synths have control knobs close to the keyboard which allows the sound to be tweaked while playing. But knobs are not ideal for this, because they require use of the whole hand to turn a knob. The Morphonium is designed so that a parameter wheel can be controlled with a single finger, allowing multi-parameter gestures on one hand and providing a more natural feel. Players are already familiar with modulation wheels that are found on many keyboards, though a single wheel does not provide much control.
The Morphonium is not a synth. It is a control surface for whatever synths you use. We like to use software instruments like Surge and Kontakt in DAWs like Ableton and Reaper. But Morphonium will work with any synth that exposes enough parameters via MIDI. We find that 100 parameters are generally enough for an analog modelling synthesizer with added effects and layered sounds. In such situations part of the control surface can be allocated to each instrument while leaving some controls free for mixing.