A Breath in an Electronic World:

Experiments in Musical Expression using a Midi Wind Controller

Matthew AhrensMentor: Dr. James Bohn

Bridgewater State University

OverviewWhat is a wind controller?Use as an electronic midi

instrument.Sample based synthesis.Issues with commercially

available voices.Applied Results – composed work

◦Blend: duet for EWI and Guitar

What is a Wind Controller?Played like an acoustic wind

instrument.◦Breath◦Keys

Sends midi data to modules.Modules generate sounds

according to midi instructions.

How does it work?Midi Keyboard vs. Wind

Controller.

MIDI Continuous Control #2 Breath

Velocity controls initial volume and timbre.

Breath controls:◦Initial and sustained volume

(dynamics).◦Onset (attack)◦Cutoff (Articulation).

Other Midi CC#sPortamento.

Glide (Glissando).

Hold and Octave (Polyphony).

Pitch Bend

Pitch SystemKeyed fingering systems.

Pitch SystemValved fingering system

Systems on a Wind ControllerDifferences and similarities to

acoustic instruments.

YamahaWX5

EWI4000s

Sound Modules

Sound ModulesWind Controller

◦Sends midi messages to theSound Module

◦(Hardware or software) which Interprets data as instructions to

manipulate a Sample or sound algorithm (additive synthesis).

Sound is then output to a

Speaker or Amplifier

Flow Chart

SamplesSmall recorded segments of toneManipulated by Module according

to midi messagesExample: Nylon Guitar String

Sample

Parts of a SampleFour Basic Parts:

◦Attack◦Resonance◦Decay ◦Cutoff

Triggering Parts of a SampleCC#2 Breath used to trigger

parts on and off.◦Breath on sends initial volume and

timbre for onset.◦Sustained breath value maps to

loops resonance part.◦Breath off signals decay.◦Finalized with cutoff.

Hardware for this ExplorationRoland Fantom-XR

◦Four different samples uniquely controlled simultaneously

◦Large variety of effects and timbre controls that can be mapped to wind controller parameters

◦High quality of sample manipulation and output.

Fantom-XR Images

Fantom-XR Interface Images

Issues with Wind Synthesis TodayUsed as an emulation device

◦Approximately 90% of commercial patches available are emulations (Patchman Music).

◦The rest are synthetic timbres modeled after steandard electronic voices E.g. Popcorn.

Issues with Wind Synthesis TodayAcoustic wind instruments:

◦Multiple timbre across registers.◦Expression achieved through

techniquesCommercial wind controller

voices:◦Unmapped expressive controllers

(CC#s)◦One Sample (single timbre) across

eight octave register◦Simple changing from velocity driven

(keyboards) to breath driven.

Solution with ExperimentationGoal: Create and Use a custom

sample that addresses these issues.

Attempt: A voice that used classical and acoustic guitar samples.◦Samples were chosen from the

Fantom-XR’s built in collection.◦Timbres were chosen to blend – or

compliment – a classical guitar.

Making the PatchSamples were cross faded to

create artificial registers. Acoustic guitar sample is only

voiced in the classical guitar’s harmonics timbre.

Centroid – jargon term for average brightness of a sound – was used as the determinant for matching the samples.

Result: a voice with a timbre and feel unique to both guitar and wind emulation.

Composition and RecordingBlend: For EWI and Guitar

◦Cuente el Arroz Chromatically heavy to show dissonance

and resolution between an acoustic instrument and an electronic one.

Interweaving lines to show both parts as supporting to each other.

◦Ping! Guitar part only uses natural harmonics. Shows timbre differences capable with a

expressively programmed voice.