issue11

EMUSIC-L Digest                                      Volume 55, Issue 11

This issue's topics:
	
	MIDI Wind Controllers - SUMMARY (3 messages)

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Date:         Fri, 20 Aug 1993 18:44:00 GMT
From:         "David Rees, UCL." 
Subject:      MIDI Wind Controllers - SUMMARY

        A couple of weeks ago I posted some questions about MIDI wind
controllers. Thankyou everyone who took the trouble to reply. These include
(in no particular order) Eric, Bill, Elaine, Martin, Dave, Randy, Brian, Dave,
Paul and Ken, several of whom also kindly answered some subsequent queries I
had.

        Below is a summary of the information I received. Most of this comes
from Randy's description of the Yamaha WX's, since this was extremely
comprehensive. (Thanks Randy!)

        It seems a good idea to me if things like this summary were available
in some sort of FAQ or by ftp from castrovalva for example. So, whilst almost
everything has been corroborated by more than one person it is very likely that
there are some mistakes here. If anyone spots these I'd appreciate it if these
were pointed out to me.

        Please mail direct to me at the address below. I am on holiday for two
weeks from Monday, so anything messages posted to the net will almost certainly
have been deleted by the time I get back. I'll sort out out getting this in a
FAQ or uploaded somewhere when I get back.

        Thanks,

                David Rees
                University College London

                djxr@uk.ac.ucl.starlink

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|                      SUMMARY - MIDI Wind Controllers                         |
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There are two reasonably common families of professional quality wind
controllers, one from Akai (the EWI instruments) and one from Yamaha
(The WX instruments).  The fingerings are based on sax fingerings apart
from one of the Akai's that is supposedly for brass players, with some sort
of wheel device the player rotates with his free hand.

There is also a range made by Casio which are basically "musical toys". I've
bought a cheap secondhand one of these as a "proof of concept". (Thanks
Martin.)

The Yamaha's seem the most common, if the small sample of people who replied are
anything to go by. In particular the Akai's are not available in the UK. They
are available in the US and in Europe from Akai in Germany.

Not one person who replied about any of the different models seemed
dissatisfied in any way! In particular, the Yamaha WX-7 got "rave reviews".

Several reported differences between the Akai's and the Yamaha's seem
significant:

    * The Yamaha controllers are pure MIDI controllers, while
      the Akai controllers put out analog signals.  The Akai
      controllers are sold with modules that combine a
      (reportedly decent) analog synth with a CV-to-Midi converter;
      the synth module cannot be played from a purely MIDI source
      (such as a sequencer).

    * You blow INTO an Akai, but THROUGH a Yamaha.  That is, a Yamaha
      is more like a conventional wind instrument.

    * The Akai has touch-sensitive key elements, while the Yamaha has
      more conventional mechanical keys.


*** YAMAHA'S ***

There are three Yamaha wind controllers, the WX-7 (now discontinued),
the WX-11, and (through their band instrument division) the EW-30.

The basic sensor inputs on the instrument are a breath pressure
sensor, a pitch bend (bite) sensor, and the keys.

When you blow into the instrument, at a certain pressure threshold a
Note On is sent.  The velocity of the Note On is based on how fast you
attack the note.  The instrument plays legato, in that if you key a
different note while maintaining breath pressure, the controller sends
a Note On for the new note before sending the Note Off of the first
note.

While a note is on, the breath pressure sensor produces a stream of
continuous controller messages.  (The WX-7 lets you choose Breath
Pressure -- controller 2 -- or Aftertouch/Channel Pressure; the others
I think only offer the former.)  This is typically used to control
overall volume and brightness.

There's a set of octave switches on the underside of the instrument,
controlled by the left thumb.  The octave ranges of the fingerings
overlap, so it's possible to thumb the octave shifts at convenient
points.

The mouthpiece looks much like a sax or clarinet mouthpiece.  There's
even a "reed"!  The reed part doesn't vibrate, but if you bite into it
you can raise the pitch.  This is useful for bends and for vibrato.
The WXs also have a pitch bend "wheel" controllable by the right
thumb.


The WX-7 is the most flexible of the Yamaha instruments.  It includes
a set of pots to adjust the feel of the instrument, and a set of
switches for various configurations (like which controller signal
to use, or what key -- C, Bb, or Eb -- to map the keyed notes to.)

The WX-11 was the second model.  It lacks some of the customization
features of the WX-7, but is said to be easier to play without
glitches.


A companion piece to the WX-11 is a synth module, the WT-11.  This is
a 4-op FM synth (a la TX-81Z or DX-11) with a few digital effects,
and programs specifically designed for wind control. This got mixed reviews,
some people love it, some hate it!

If you don't use the WT-11 you'll need a separate BT-7 battery pack
that powers the unit and provides a MIDI out.

The EW-30 seems to be the hook-em-while-they're-young version of the
WX-11/WT-11 combination, sold through
Yamaha's band instruments division.  The most serious limitation seems
to be the lack of the "reed" for pitch-bend.


You have to worry about synths and programming with the WX's.  Most
synths and synth modules are designed with keyboard players in mind,
and some absolutely essential features, from a wind player's
viewpoint, are missing on a variety of popular synths.  Conversely,
hyped features such as number of voices and flexible envelopes aren't
of compelling interest.  Even velocity sensitivity isn't all that
useful except for programming attacks.

The most prevalent lapse is the lack of a legato, single-trigger, mono
mode.  On a lot of wind controller voices, you want to be able to play
a new note without have the synth envelopes retrigger.  Many of the
Roland synths, and the Korg M1, lack this feature, and I would be
suspicious of sample-based instruments in general.

The synth must offer musically useful control of volume and tone
parameters from the Continuous Controller 2 or Aftertouch.  Older and
-- alas -- less expensive synths are suspect.  You want direct
linear control of the appropriate parameters (e.g. filter cutoff,
FM modulator output, vector mix.)


Synth modules that people like:-
        TX-7, TX-81Z, TX-802, TG-77,
        Korg Wavestation A/D
        Kurzweil K-2000R
        Oberheim Matrix 1000
        WT-11

Synth modules people didn't like:-
        Oberheim 6M (6R?) ... audible click between legato notes
        Korg M1 ............. no legato
        WT-11 !!!

Cost:-
        The WX-11's have just been relaunched in the UK, with a recommended
price of GBP 299. The WT-11 is no longer available so you'll need the BT-7
battery pack at GBP 49. The best price I found was GBP 275 for the WX-11 and
the BT-7 (inc VAT) from a mail order company in Newcastle.

        The WX-7 is no longer made, and can be got for about GBP 200 second
hand. I couldn't find anything on UK prices for the EW-30.

        In the US the WX-11/WT-11 combinations goes for about $900-$1000, and
the BT-7 is about $50. The EW-30 costs about $500-$600 and is available through
Yamaha's's band instruments division.

*** AKAI'S ***

        Akai produces two controllers the sax one (EWI) and the bizarre trumpet
one (EVI).

        These have touch sensitive keys which take some getting used to, since
just touching a key produces a note. ie. you can't rest your fingers on the
keys like on a real woodwind instrument.

        Apart from this the only thing I really know about them is given at the
top of this post when listing the differences between the Yamaha's and the
Akai's.

Cost:-
        Not available in the UK. They are available in the US and in Europe
from Akai in Germany.

        US - EWI 3000 with analogue module - about $1200


*** CASIO ***

Casio made a DH-10, DH-20, DH-100, and DH-200, all of which were about the
same, though the later model claimed more sounds. They lack most accidental
keys, so you play them more-or-less like a recorder, which can take a true sax
player some time to get used to.

They are shaped like saxophones, have an internal speaker (at the "bell"),
audio output and MIDI output.  It is not the most expressive way to play a
MIDI module, but it does send velocity with its note on messages and
also controller messages (channel aftertouch) as you change how hard
you blow after sounding a note.  Fingering is mostly like a sax but
there is an alternate fingering method that you can select which allows
many octaves of control.  The Casio is good for fun and basics but one
of the Yamaha wind controllers will be a better choice if it is to be
your main controller.

I don't think these are made any more. They go for about GBP 40 or $60.

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Date:         Fri, 20 Aug 1993 17:54:39 EDT
From:         Mark Simon 
Subject:      Re: MIDI Wind Controllers - SUMMARY

Thank you, David Rees for you lengthy summary of wind controllers.
At Joe M.'s suggestion I have been considering getting one.
Too bad the WX-7, which everyone seems to think is the best is
no longer being made.

                     --Mark Simon
                       tip@cornellc.cit.cornell.edu

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Date:         Fri, 20 Aug 1993 17:55:20 -0400
From:         Joe McMahon 
Subject:      Re: MIDI Wind Controllers - SUMMARY

Thanks for taking the time to put it together. I have stored it as
wind-controllers-FAQ (on castrovalva.gsfc.nasa.gov, of course).

 --- Joe M.

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