As a youngster I had a year of piano, then taught myself to play the recorder, flute, and much later the saxophone. At this point I mostly play Akai-EWI midi wind controllers (EWI-USB & EWI-4000s)using the best, most realistic synthesizer patches I have managed to find, after years of searching and testing....
For live performance, wind controllers do the best job for wind instruments (flutes, panpipes, clarinet, saxophone, oboe etc.) as well as brasses (trumpets, trombones, tuba etc.)and, with some limitations, surprising well for strings.
With wind controllers you no longer have the headaches of finding and dealing with reeds, lip problems, and leaky pads. Unfortunately there is negative side consisting of the loss of true acoustic sound quality (the complexities of timbre), nuanced control and finesse, and dynamic range. For brass players there are wind controllers built with \"trumpet valves\" keys in place of saxophone type of fingering. These special brass wind controllers are very expensive. Fortunately, the EWI-4000s can be configured to use 3 keys in this manner...........................................................
As of 2010, I can recommend the Ketron SD2 as the single best hardware synthesizer for acoustic instrument sounds. This synth is also relative inexpensive and has sounds that are as good as, or better than the combined sound patches of 3 to 4 of the best, and most expensive hardware synths. In fact some of the sound patches are even better than many patches of the best software synths (such as Garritan synths samples, or the Roland HQ Orchestra). The SD2 is a small box with no control knobs for changing patches -so you will need to connect it to a computer using an optional USB to midi adapter. It is not perfect, but nothing at this point matches it for the price and convenience. There is now a more expensive version with knobs that will allow you to choose patches....................................................
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Since I wrote all of the above I have found the ultimate Trumpet and Trombone sounds from samplemodeling. They have, without doubt, the most authentic Trumpet and Trombone sounds to use with any MIDI controller, but they are specifically configured for for wind controller players. The responsiveness and amount of control from a MIDI Wind Controller is just unbelievably, and incredibly good. No delay, great legato, and lots of subtle tonal changes with attack and intensity. This technology shows just how good things can get for MIDI Wind controller players...........................................................
I hope you enjoy the jazz music below. In particular I wish to draw your attention to those later pieces in which my friend, virtuoso clarinetist Don Jacobs, elevates the music to another level. His clarinet was recorded with a microphone. Each piece was recorded live and there is no dubbing, or editing other than some fadeout endings or intros. Please pay particular attention to his incredible improvisations that never stray too far from the melody, and the nuanced rich harmony that he creates when he is not taking a solo. It is no wonder he is a musicians musician and is in great demand in the Chicago area.
Have fun. Turn off all the lights or just close your eyes and listen............................................................
Thanks,...........................................................
Dan............................................................
Please use Internet Explorer for downloading any of the pieces since FireFox has some compatibility problems with this site!
About the song:
D Jacobs on Clarinet and DS Tong on harmon muted samplemodeling Trumpet.
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