OT midi converter experiments(guitar & wind instruments)

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Lately I've been messing around with a small analog synth (Doepfer Dark 
Energy).
So it seemed like a fun idea to plug a guitar into a midi converter
and give it a try.

Just using the mono input of the Yamaha G50 (which is just like the Axon 
gear,
except it has this very useful mono jack input).

First thing I noticed was a quick response compared to a wavetable synth.
Surprising, but taking away that little bit of extra latency, which isn't
normally noticeable when playing from a keyboard really makes a difference.
(also, I wasn't running through digital fx, which is what I'm used to.)
Overall it felt surprisingly responsive.


Next experiment was to plug in a microphone (needs some kind of pre-amp)
and try blowing the clarinet into it.
Apart from the usual problems of close micing the clarinet it seems to 
work pretty well,
although feedback can easily cause the note to sustain indefinitely.
For the clarinet/sax , it would need a p/u on the mouthpiece to be 
practical , but
trumpet (& flute?) should be viable.


I don't think Axon do a mono input device, and I guess that the hex
inputs are designed to match the pitch range of the guitar strings, but
patching to a single string input might be fun.

The Sonuus G2m should work with a mic signal (via pre-amp or mixer).
(it's not so fast tho')

One other tech detail is that midi pitch bend has to be used as well
as the CV from the Notes. Otherwise guitar trills don't work, and the 
clarinet
will hardly work at all.
On the DE synth this needs patch cables and an attenuator.


hope that's useful/informative

andy