 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-08-10 14:13
I read an article about the Yamaha WX-5 EWI, and I noticed it only mentioned sax and flute fingerings.I am thinking about mybe getting one (if I can get enough money) and I was wondering does it have clarinet fingering option as well?
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Author: John
Date: 2001-08-10 14:23
No, it only has sax, flute and recorder fingerings. Remember, though, that flute and sax fingerings are very similar to the clarion range of the clarinet so it is not all that hard to learn. Some advice from one who bought and later re-sold a WX-5: It is an impressive piece of technology but limited in its expressiveness as a musical instrument. If you want to use it playing as a club gig instrument it would be useful for the variety of sounds a midi instrument can produce. If you are limited as a keyboard player, it would be handy as a midi device - don't forget you need a midi sound module to get any sounds. If you are doing this as a hobby, it is great and I had many hours of fun with it. There are some web sites with information and chat rooms about the WX-5 and I encourage you to look at these before buying.
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-08-10 14:27
okay thanks! I can play the recorder to about 2 octaves so I might manage. Does anyone know of any EWIs with clarinet fingering options then?
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Author: DX-dude
Date: 2001-08-10 15:01
From memory (thinking back to 1989!) you finger one octave "sax-ishly" and use a LH thumb key to give you about 4 other octaves.
Of course, if you're handy with basic synth programming, you could have two "patches" (identical except that one has been shifted, say, 2 octaves higher) in adjacent locations within the synth, and flick from one patch to the other to give an even greater range. In a recording studio, you would probably just record the midi data (not actual sound) and doctor it later as necessary.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-08-10 16:55
Or just change the patch to give yourself clarinet fingerings - after all, it's just data.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-08-10 18:37
I tried one and did not like the response. It was just like using a keyboard. There was nothing to add "from the heart and soul" of the player except by using artificial means. Some people love them and have a great deal of fun with them. So, don't go by me. I have a friend who writes music with his attached to his computer. He does a lot of clarinet compositions--pretty nice work, too!
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-08-10 20:25
I don't know about the WX-5 specifically, but some of the MIDI wind controllers can be very expressive - they send note, volume, and pitch bend info (and more, I know, but let's keep it simple) like any other MIDI controller. A lot of the time it's the patches that aren't very sophisticated - like patches that sond the same no matter what volume you play at. The professional machines (patch boxes and sequencers) can really work well, but most of the consumers like me just use the patches "out of the box" and don't spend a lot of time and effort making it "right".
Listen to the opening music from "Law & Order" to hear <b>good</b> synthetic music. That bass sounds real! (I played bass professionally for a few years - and ring & slap is hard to get to sound right on a synth, especially at different volume levels).
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2001-08-10 20:56
It's *extremely* convincing, Mark. But even if something doesn't sound convincing, it's still a "neat toy" to play with. And if there's nothing else available, think of it as limited technology. You picture sounds in your head. I know someone my age who writes full orchestral compositions on a cheap program originally designed for small ensembles. It's really amazing, how realistic he tries to make it coming out of a synth keyboard. I'm sure it's a challenge, but now that I'm getting used to hearing his works out of something that's not real, I can almost picture what it would sound like if it *was* real.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-08-10 21:16
David - what I intended to say is that the controller (the WX-5) may be able to do some amazing things, but it's the patches that make the sounds. The sequencers do the orchestration and allow you to edit the data coming from the controllers.
I've done some work in the past with the Vienna Soundfont package available for my soundcard. It's a <b>very</b> sophisticated package to create patches - and it's free (works with the Creative series of cards).
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-08-10 22:01
Michele Gingras, who teaches at Miami of Ohio, is a very fine clarinetist and a dedicated player of the Akai Electronic Wind Instrument. She makes great music with it. She's also an excellent Klezmer player, not to mention being a lovely person.
Her web site is at http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~gingram/ . I highly recommend getting in touch with her.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jon Usher
Date: 2001-08-10 22:40
I've "doubled" on EWI for the past 3 years and recently swithed to the WX5. Most of the time I play principal clarinet (on my R13) and then when needed ,woodwind emulations on the EWI. For example, I'm in the middle of a run of "Westside Story" this week and am playing the reed 4 book (Pic, Fl, Clar, Sop. Sax, Bass Clar. and Bass(?!!) Sax). With the exception of the clarinet parts, everything else is being played on the wind synth.
Coupled with the right sound module the wind synth can play very expressively (most serious players use the Yamaha Vl70-m). Also, be prepared to download or purchase better patches in addition to tweeking the stock ones for better results.
Check out:
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~andrew/wind/#list
and
http://windsynth.org/home.html
for more info. You'll find those of us on the Wind Synth list very helpful.
Jon Usher
Buffet R13 Clarinets, Yamaha WX5, VL70-m, Mackie SRM450 and Neolithic Bone Flute made from the thighbone of a bear.
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Author: IHL
Date: 2001-08-11 04:38
thanks everyone. I'll take a look at those sites.
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