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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.
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