breath controller

ORIGINAL: djoni

hello,

is there any breath controller available that controls SoftSynths?
Some kind of usb breath device?

I am looking for some sort of controller to give me some more expression to my sounds.

By the way, are there any softsynths that support these types of controllers?

kind regards

joni

Yamaha makes a breath controller (BC3) that plugs into a jack on some of their keyboards and other MIDI controllers (the now ancient and forgotten G10/G10C for instance). It's only job in life is to generate breath contoller data. As for free standing units...I'm kind of clueless. There are wind controllers that have been manufactured by Yamaha and Akai (I think) that allow woodwind players to play MIDI instruments...but even then...I don't recall that any of them have a USB interface. I think they all assume you have MIDI running somewhere.

Otherwise, try the Yamaha BC3

...and add a Yamaha DX7 or any other keyboard or device that has the BC IN and MIDI OUT

Yamaha DX7

Are you letting us know your age?

thanks guys,

what I am looking for is a breath controller and not a midi wind instrument.

maybe it is somthing that does not exist at all.

kind regards

joni

I use an Anatek Wind Machine and a Yamaha BC3 all the time. It can create some nice swells and articulation on brass & woodwind sounds. It's also cool for emulating convincing pedal steel parts. The new CME keyboards have breath controller inputs and I think the 49 note version is right around $200. The Anatek company is out of buisness, but you might find a used Wind Machine on eBay. Trumpet was my first instrument so I like to make my horn parts as "real" sounding as possible. The Wind Machine converts breath controller info into selectable midi controllers. (usually volume) I also have a Yamaha VL-1 which is the ultimate BC instrument IMHO. I was really hoping Arturia Brass might be the software equivilant, but the demos are really bad.

Like you, I was looking for a Midi controller to add more expression to my playing. I thought that the BC-3 might be the ticket but found it a little non-linear in its output. In addition, moving air through the device was more distracting than I had hoped (not to mention dizzying!).

As I was using the device, it occurred to me that if I had a controller that responded to bite pressure, I might have something more usable. Several of the commercial wind controllers offer something to this effect. But I found no commercial devices that offer this type of midi controller individually.

After a little research, I found a company which caters to robot experimenters. They sell force sensing resistors. I fabricated a device that consisted of one of the FSRs hotglued between two small pieces of hard plastic. I use potentiometers to adjust sensitivity and range. It plugs into a Midi Solutions expression box (you can also use a Breath controller box).

This has worked very well for me. After a little tweaking, I’ve been able to achieve very smooth and accurate midi control through the device. When I lightly apply bite pressure, the control change parameter gradually engages and as more pressure is applied moves toward its maximum value. A couple of trim potentiometers can be easily tweaked for best effect.

I still receive some benefit from the Yamaha BC3; I used the boom to mount my bite controller. (One could ,with a little work, mount the bite controller directly on the mouth piece of the BC3. You could then have both breath and bite pressure controlling different CCs)

ORIGINAL: Honest_Al

Otherwise, try the Yamaha BC3

...and add a Yamaha DX7 or any other keyboard or device that has the BC IN and MIDI OUT

Oh yeah! That's why I haven't sold my DX7! (there are other reasons, o/c...)

ORIGINAL: Honest_Al

...very..very old

Got my DX brand new in 1984. How does that rack up?

ORIGINAL: bentleyousley

I thought that the BC-3 might be the ticket but found it a little non-linear in its output. In addition, moving air through the device was more distracting than I had hoped (not to mention dizzying!).

Note that the BC3 is very sensitive to the way it is set up. If you are having apparent linearity problems, you need to set the gain and offset carefully so that your resulting MIDI control numbers fall into a decent range. My suggestion would be to use some sort of MIDI monitoring utility like MIDI-Ox to watch your MIDI data while you adjust the offset and gain controls. You'll find it to be MUCH more useful when properly adjusted.

...and there's a control to let to restrict the amount of air that blows through. Proper setup is the key.

djoni
hello,

is there any breath controller available that controls SoftSynths?
Some kind of usb breath device?

I am looking for some sort of controller to give me some more expression to my sounds.

By the way, are there any softsynths that support these types of controllers?

kind regards

joni

While googling I found this old thread. The swedish company TEControl makes a USB breath controller. Can't post link because I am new, but you can easily google it.