windsounds

Patches to be played from a MIDI Wind Controller like the Yamaha WX-7. The wind controller takes synthesizer sounds into an entirely new realm of expressiveness. Even very primitive analog patches can be made to SING if they are played from a wind controller. Here are some wind instrument sounds I came up with that use only analog-style components. Of course, better sounds than these can be obtained with more complex physical models.

Saxophones

Suprisingly realistic sax sounds can be obtained using only analog-style components in the following architecture:

                                           ┌──────────┐
┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐     │ LPF:     │
│ Pulse           ├───>│ LPF: Opens  ├────>│ Imitates │
│ Wave Oscillator │    │ with breath │     │ Body     │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────┘     └───┬──────┘
                                               │
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│   ┌────────────┐    ┌───────────────┐
└──>│ BPF:       ├───>│ Gain control: ├───> Output
    │ Imitates   │    │ Opens with    │
    │ Mouthpiece │    │ breath        │
    └────────────┘    └───────────────┘

I use fixed pulse waves for all the saxes. I obtained cutoff frequencies for the bodies of different saxophones from a scientific paper: The Saxophone Spectrum, A. H. Benade (with S. J. Lutgen), J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 83(5):1900-1907 (1988). [8 pp.]

Nord Modular Sax

Here's what my Nord Modular Alto Sax patch sounds like: (731K mp3)

Brass

Good sounds can be obtained with an architecture like this:

                                 ┌────────┐  ┌───┐
                              ┌─>│ Mute   ├─>│ M │
                              │  │ Filt 1 │  │   │  ┌────────┐
                              │  └────────┘  │ I │  │ Gain   │
┌──────────┐  ┌─────────────┐ │              │   │  │ cntrl  │
│ Sawtooth ├─>│ LPF: Opens  ├─┤              │ X ├─>│ Opens  ├─> Out
│ Wave Osc │  │ with breath │ │              │   │  │ with   │
└──────────┘  └─────────────┘ │              │ E │  │ breath │
                              │  ┌────────┐  │   │  └────────┘
                              └─>│ Mute   ├─>│ R │
                                 │ Filt 2 │  │   │
                                 └────────┘  └───┘

I tuned the filters for the cup and harmon mutes using data from the book "The Physics of Musical Instruments". On page 455 there is a chart showing the spectrum of a cornet played open and with various mutes.

Nord Modular Trumpet

Here's my Nord Modular trumpet patch with a Harmon mute: (471K mp3)

Reaktor Trumpet

This is the Reaktor Big Band synth with only one trumpet activated: (288K mp3)

Reaktor Big Band