Ever hear of an EWI (Electronic Woodwind Instrument)? Its a 4
oscillator virtual analog synth, played like a woodwind
instrument. Its similiar to a clarinet or soprano saxophone (my wife
says it looks like a vacum cleaner attachment).
There's a picture of one on the main page of my website www.jimsjazz.com .
The EWI outputs both audio and MIDI. I wondered if I could control
my MOTM gear from the EWI MIDI output. I plugged the MIDI signal
into the 650 MIDI-CV converter. Not good results. The EWI has lots
of breath information, no volume info, and other data that the 650
won't handle. 650 crashed often.
The next step was to record the EWI info (I use Sonar). I spent
several seconds "composing" a little tune: 8 bars, 4 chords. Made a
simple loop of it. Played an EWI solo, saving both the audio and
MIDI info in Sonar. Sloppy
performance, so without listening to the first EWI performance, I
recorded a second pair of EWI tracks.
Then I got this idea: maybe I could use the phrasing info from the
audio track to control the MOTM output. (Too lazy to put together an
envelope follower.) A little experimentation: the recorded EWI audio
signal goes to the 850 mix in. The gate output is a solid gate
signal, goes to gate input of 800 envelope generator. The 850 CV
output is a little tricky. As a control input to 190 VCA its
somewhat useful, although some of the audio reappears in the 850 CV
output. The EWI's pitch info appears at the 650 CV output. Controls
the pitch of two 300 VCOs (tuned to an octive below the EWI audio)
and 420 filter.
I recorded the MOTM output, once for each EWI pass. At this point
there are 5 tracks: EWI audio for each pass, MOTM audio for each
pass, and a simple rhythm loop.
Well the audio tracks aren't so hot (I played sloppy) and the MOTM
stuff is not really tracking so well. I decided to bury the mistakes
with some pads. I found that with some reverb I could use both EWI
performances simultaneously, if you don'f mind some parallel minor
seconds (maybe that's "ethnic"). Not buried enough yet, so I added
more rhythm tracks. Added an intro and ending, a sort of arrangment
appeared.
You can hear the result via www.jimsjazz.com/Francesco.mp3 . Corn is
good for the soul.
Jim
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