Hi, as u shuld be knowing Rahman has bought this new instrument soon we might get some unique sounds :) Courtesy : Wikipedia.org
Continuum (instrument) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Continuum-Side-view.jpg><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Continuum-Side-view.jpg> The full-size Continuum Fingerboard The *Continuum Fingerboard* is a music performance controller developed by Lippold Haken<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lippold_Haken&action=edit&redlink=1>, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Illinois>, and sold by Haken Audio<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Haken_Audio&action=edit&redlink=1>, located in Champaign, Illinois<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champaign,_Illinois> .[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#cite_note-LippoldHaken-0> The Continuum does not itself generate sounds. Rather, it must be connected to a sound-producing source that will receive MIDI<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_Instrument_Digital_Interface> input, such as a synthesizer<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer_(musical_instrument)> module. Contents [hide <javascript:toggleToc()>] - 1 Specifications<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#Specifications> - 2 Continuum players<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#Continuum_players> - 3 Artists using the Continuum Fingerboard<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#Artists_using_the_Continuum_Fingerboard> - 4 References<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#References> - 5 External links<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#External_links> [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Continuum_(instrument)&action=edit§ion=1> ]Specifications Technically a MIDI<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_Instrument_Digital_Interface> controller, the Continuum features a touch-sensitive neoprene<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoprene> playing surface measuring approximately 19 cm high by either 137 cm long (full-size instrument) or 72 cm long (half-size instrument), with a pitch<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(music)> range of 9350 cents <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cent_(music)> (about 7.79 octaves <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave>) for the full-size instrument, and 4610 cents (about 3.84 octaves) for the half-size instrument. The instrument has a response time of 1.33 ms<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millisecond> .[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#cite_note-HakenAudio-1> Sensors under the playing surface respond to finger position and pressure in three dimensions and provide pitch resolution of one cent (one one-hundredth of a semitone) along the length of the scale (the X dimension), allowing essentially continuous pitch control for portamento<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portamento> effects and notes that aren't on the chromatic scale<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_scale>, and allowing for the application of vibratos<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrato> or pitch bends to a note. While pitch bend and vibrato are standard features on most MIDI keyboards, sliding between half steps, as permitted by the Continuum, is not. A software "rounding" feature enables pitch to be quantized to the notes of a traditional equal-tempered scale<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament> , just scale <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_intonation> or other scale to facilitate in-tune performance, with the amount and duration of the "rounding" controllable in real time. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ContinuumAxes2.jpg><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ContinuumAxes2.jpg> An illustration of the Continuum Fingerboard's axes. The Continuum also provides two additional parameters for the sound: it is able to transmit the finger pressure on the board as a MIDI value, as well as the finger's vertical position on the key. These parameters can be used to enrich the sound even more, and are independently programmable. For example, a standard configuration is where position on the X-Axis (lengthwise) on the instrument corresponds to pitch, position on the Y-Axis (widthwise) corresponds to atimbre <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre> shift, and position on the Z-Axis (vertically) corresponds to a change in amplitude<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness>. The Continuum is capable of polyphonic performance, with up to 16 simultaneous voices. [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Continuum_(instrument)&action=edit§ion=2> ]Continuum players Perhaps the most famous player of the Continuum in contemporary music is Dream Theater <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Theater>'s keyboardist Jordan Rudess <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Rudess>. It can be heard in the songs "Octavarium <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavarium_(song)>" and "Sacrificed Sons <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrificed_Sons>" from the album * Octavarium <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavarium_(album)>*, and in the end of the song "The Dark Eternal Night<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Eternal_Night>" from 2007's *Systematic Chaos<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_Chaos> *. He is also seen playing the Continuum on Dream Theater's 2006 live DVD * Score <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Score_(album)>*, such as in the previously unreleased song "Raise The Knife". It is also used by him in a solo during Dream Theater's *Chaos in Motion Tour<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_in_Motion_2007%E2%80%932008> *. Rudess also plays the Continuum on songs he has guested on by John-Luke Addison (on the song "Unimaginable Charismatics", from the *Multiple Valences<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multiple_Valences&action=edit&redlink=1> * album) and Behold... The Arctopus<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behold..._The_Arctopus> (on "Transient Exuberance", from *Skullgrid<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skullgrid> *). He also uses it on his cover of Tarkus<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarkus>, from the album *The Road Home<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Home_(Jordan_Rudess_album)> *, between 11:31 and 11:55. The Continuum was used by John Williams<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams> for his score to *Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Kingdom_of_the_Crystal_Skull> *.[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#cite_note-2> [edit<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Continuum_(instrument)&action=edit§ion=3> ]Artists using the Continuum Fingerboard - Chris Lehman<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chris_Lehman&action=edit&redlink=1> (Street Level Doppler<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Street_Level_Doppler&action=edit&redlink=1> ) - Jordan Rudess <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Rudess> (Dream Theater <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Theater>) - A. R. Rahman <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._R._Rahman>[4]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#cite_note-ECEProf-3> - John Paul Jones<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones_(musician)> (Former Led Zeppelin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin>) - Terry Lawless <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Lawless> - Randy Kerber <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Kerber>[5]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_(instrument)#cite_note-DailyIllini-4> - John Williams <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams> -- best regrards Logesh A
