Breath and wind controller Freeware Pack plus 256 Patches

[paradox148]

Thankyou very much for sharing the patches. I will be on the road for a couple of days but am looking forward to having a play in the weekend. Anyhow will give you some feedback once I have done that for what it's worth. lol.

I am a bit of a newbie in sound synthesis although I have been tinckering with midi sequencing over the years. The most programing I had done was years ago when I used to own the Korg M1 which I regret having sold but luckily we have the Korg M1 Legacy Edition now! And Matt's done such a good job with his patches that I am hearing stuff that I didn't know was possible on the M1!

Right now I am spending more time in looking for the more "authentic" instrument sound rather than Synthy type of stuff, but hey, I might change my taste after listening to your stuff!

[David Carpenter Wind Core]

Just tried out DIVA from u-he I have got to make some patches for the wind controller. This synth sounds great cpu hog but great.

[paradox148]

Thankyou so much for the Zebralette again! They are just amazing! It is going to take me quite a bit longer to go through all the presets properly but so far they are just feel so responsive to my EWI and I am having tons of fun. I have been playing around with soundfonts a lot lately(using either EXS or BS-16 on Logic) and I thought they were pretty good, and then this! Though not "authentic" if one is looking for full replication of acoustic instruments, using a synth instead of samples with the right patches is just so dynamic with the sound responding to every nuances of each of one's breath, and the possibilities are virtually limitless.

I think you have really gotten me back deep into sound systhesis. And using Zebralette and some of the other free synths you have posted will be great learning tools for me to get started.

But! Where did you think up all the preset names like Dodo Oboe or Deaf Bug?! LOL I found myself picturing all the sound in the weirdest way imaginable...

Sound synthesis surely has gone a long way since I last looked at it seriously. It is almost ridiculous that one can now get all these completely far out sounds for nothing due to the generosity of companies and people like yourself.

[David Carpenter Wind Core]

Glad you are enjoying the patches for zebralette. I figured I would name the patches after things in nature. Sometimes it is easier to come up with a bunch of names if there is a theme.

I am probably going to do a re release with compatibility for the mod wheel and keyboard only and for breath controller plus keyboard poly and mono.

I think this will give others with less midi controllers a chance to try these out. This free pack also can be added to so if anybody wants to include something I overlooked lets do it.

[ahiwasabi]

Checking in to see if anyone has had a chance to try these out and report back.

I'm working on some Zebralette tests, will post here a note when I've uploaded some results to listen to and which I'll comment on.

[Compyfox]

And there I thought, someone finally made a VST plugin that turns your normal microphone into a breath controller.

[MadmanST]

Check this out for mic control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDSkFs7WZ8&feature=plcp

Or BreathOSC for the Iphone.

Or just buy an EWI.

[paradox148]

I wonder if some vocoder plug in can be modified to be used as a breath controller, but I would imagine that ultimately if good breath control is the goal a dedicated breath controller or a wind controller would be necessary.

BUY an EWI!
(I guess a breath controller would still be better for keyboardist who does not want to have to learn a new instrument, and it would comes in handy for playing polyphonicly)

Edit: only just saw the last comment with the link to using mic control. Checking it out now!

[David Carpenter Wind Core]

The piz midi audio to cc plugin is pretty good although there is slight lag to it a dedicated breath or wind controller is faster and more accurate.

The Akai EWI Usb is a great entry level wind controller that can also be used as just a breath controller in combination with a keyboard with a little non destructive modification.

There is some what of a shortage of breath controllers as Yamaha has discontinued the BC3A which is the last of the breath controllers commercially available. A BC3A and a midi solutions converter box added breath control to midi for a long time.

For about the same cost of a BC3A and a midi solutions converter box you can get an ewi usb and modify it to be used for just breath control. So there are ways but it is a path less traveled these days.

There is an undeniable attraction to breath control as it allows someone another means of controlling and instrument naturally and opposite of the other instrument be played by the same person. Just like a guitar player playing the harmonica at the same time they are playing the guitar. Only you aren't limited to just a harmonica any wind instrument can be emulated in great detail depending on the sampler or synthesizer.

Also breath key split patches can incorporate this functionality into single instrument which makes it even easier and more natural to play. Just some food for thought.

Thanks for all the great input so far and I hope everybody is enjoying this free pack.

[paradox148]

Can the EWI4000s be modified the same way to be used as a pure breathcontroller? And if so, I would appreciate some info.

[Tony Ostinato]

perhaps just use a midi filter to filter out note data and just leave the breath control signals.


more kudos to diggler from another fellow windsynth player.

i couldnt agree more about reaper as well, i just switched my live windsynth setup from nuendo to reaper and i use lots of insert piz here midichords and midipbcurve for pitchbend control.


sadly we havent seen or heard from insert piz here in about a month, i hope hes ok.

[MadmanST]

For live use have you tried Forte or Cantabile? They both have 30 day trials.

[paradox148]

Thankyou for the suggestions. Just checked out Forte and Cantabile. Both look promising and very useful but I am on a Mac. It does get frustrating that before I switched to Mac a couple of years ago I kept on hearing that OSX is better for music production yet most of the software available I want now are Windows only. Using parallel just slows the system down that it is almost unworkable especially in a live situation.

To be honest though I cannot see myself using the EWI seriously as a breath controller for my keyboard. I can just imagine myself swinging the EWI around knocking on my keyboard while my hands are trying to play on the keyboard! LOL

On the other hand, after using the EWI, playing continuous sounds on my keyboard alone just does not sound right anymore so I may keep my eyes out for a used BC3.

[MadmanST]

Paradox148
Have you tried connecting the 4000s midi out to the midi in on your keyboard?

[paradox148]

Yes, I have tried connecting the EWI to my old arranger keyboard just to try out controlling its sound with my EWI(it works ok with some patch tinkering). I have just purchased a Korg nano controller so I can use it as a Midi Controller Keyboard.

However I use my EWI most in my study where it is connected to my Macbook Pro via Profire610. My 49keys Roland Midi controller and Korg Nano keyboard do not have Midi in unfortunately. (dang, I just lost a bid for the BC3 Kit on eBay)