This is pretty cool. A 3-D printable DIY polyphonic wind controller, called the MIDILodica.
It has a grid of buttons on the body of the instrument for playing, plus a screen and buttons for setup.
I queued it to the playing at the end. The chord bend at the end is nice.
Nice: a simple idea and compact. I’ve been wishing for a true digital melodica, though, with standard black-and-white keyboard layout like a melodica, but all digital so that you can control volume. The biggest con of a melodica is that they’re loud af.
They have also released a wireless version, looks quite tempting at $132. Still no actual reviews though.
I haven’t played with it but there’s a new iOS synthesizer app that is designed with wind controllers in mind:
This is by Robkoo who also make the R1 Wind Synth
Robkoo has just released on Kickstarter* a smaller wind controller, from their R1.
Instrument sounds built in. Small speaker built-in. Basic playable keys, with selectable layouts. Motion control. Bluetooth MIDI. Choice of colors. Inexpensive.
Might as well continue the discussion on the general wind controller thread:
At some point this weekend I’ll try getting it setup with polyphony using the multichannel approach I took with the XPresso and the Electra One recording of the noodling can be found here:
Qithesizer was mentioned above but I don’t think I’ve seen Mela mentioned
Here’s where the fun begins. A quartet of Respiro voices selected randomly 2 at a time one to be the lead and one to be the drone in an EWI style hold every phrase.
In the editor this level of complexity isn’t exposed. More static harmonies and things like keysplits are though. There’s also intelligent harmony that does static harmonies in key which is only available on the AE30.
BUT I actually already ran through the MIDI channels it responds to yesterday (the implementation says 0-5). Parts 1-4 in the scene correspond to MIDI channels 1-4 like other Roland Zen Core synths. There’s no ability to change the RX channel but that’s enough.
To do this safely:
MIDI Control switch set to On
MIDI Ctrl Sounds set to Off (local off)
MIDI Ctrl BS set to Off (need to make sure we stay on same scene and don’t accidentally cause loops)
MIDI Ctrl PC set to Off (need to make sure we stay on same scene and don’t accidentally cause loops)
And it should work sending from the Aerophone and coming back processed into it but I haven’t tried that yet so this is all preliminary investigation.
I did have my Circuit Tracks able to play all 4 parts as a quick check and you can set the part MIDI RX to have breath and other controllers turned off if you want one independent of what you are playing for say a sequencer (though I spent all of 20min yesterday scoping it out so I haven’t tested)
All these parts can play polyphonically too and there’s full blown Roland drum kits in there. The Aerophone is essentially one zone of a Fantom (and like half an Integra for SuperNATURAL) with tons of performance controllers.
I also order a Synthstrom Deluge to play around a bit with some of this craziness I’m unlocking using the Electra One.
Zen Flute – Describe as a “mouth Theremin”.
I must say, the audio of this is the best sounding simulation of a real instrument i have ever heard. Sounds like a Native American flute for real. Usually electronic wind synths trying to sound “real” has no interest for me, but not in this case. Would be interested in the MIDI this generates as well.
Inexpensive and open source.
Simple to control, it senses the size of the mouth cavity for pitch, so similar to whistling, and then two other simple controls.
ADDED :
Meh, the VL-70m is still yet to beat.
Does anyone use a foot controller with their wind controller ?
I would like to trigger midi clips and loops while I play the Sylphyo.
The Behringer FCB1010 second hand is quite cheap.
There’s also these kind of things, quite expensive though :
Which one would you recommend ?
I hated the FCB1010 with a passion, by far the least intuitive setup mechanism.
I’ve got a MIDI Captain that I’ve setup to do some basic CCs when I need it to but I couldn’t really speak too much to it as I dont use it a lot.
Thanks I didn’t know this one, it might be a good candidate for me.
It’s also small, the FCB1010 is huge.
There’s a wind synth community event going on today for Nyle Steiner’s birthday:
Recording of stuff so far:
Current live stream
I haven’t been following it too closely, just took a couple looks at times today.
This is also mentioned in the recent Eagan Matrix update 10.40
I like the design of Warbl 2. The custom fingering support and fingering chart tool looks very useful. I like pitch bend by finger distance fro the hole.
I wonder if there will be a deal bundling Warbl 2 with Eagan Matrix Micro when the latter product is officially released, since Haken states it was designed with Warbl in mind. I don’t play the speculation game very well, but the photo makes me guess that an app will be required to configure settings in this Micro, and that a front panel UI (display, knobs, etc.) was omitted to maximize cost savings. As noted in the Micro thread, no CV either, but as a little box to pair by Bluetooth with Warbl 2 for computer-free playing I’m ok with that compromise.
In the meantime I’ve been inspired to check out tin whistle videos. The traditional D whistle sounds like it’ll produce piercing highs that would soon be intolerable to my ears. Thinking of getting a low D whistle - then I can learn the beginner tunes in the traditional D key but in the mellower lower octave. I may not stick to the trad fingering on the Warbl 2 if/when I get it but it’ll be fun to have the acoustic whistle and get some feel for how it plays.
