Predecessors Already in the 1930s
Benjamin F. Miessner was working on various electroacoustic instruments. Among these was an electroacoustic
clarinet, that featured an electromagnetic
pickup for the
reed vibration and was connected to a variety of electronic filters. Miessner's patent from 1938 marks the birth of the electronic wind instrument family. Early experiments with fully electronic instruments started in the 1940s.
Leo F. J. Arnold invented an electronic clarinet that featured an on/off-switch controlled by the human breath. This instrument is documented in Arnold's patent from 1942. It features a breath transducer for variable volume control, that works with a
piezo element. The prototypes of Zacharias, who started to work on electronic wind instruments in 1956, lead to the first commercially produced wind synthesizer – the
Hohner Electra-Melodica, released in 1967.
Analog wind controllers The first widely played wind controller was the
Lyricon from Computone which came about in the 1970s era of analog synthesizers. The Lyricon was based on the fingerings of the
saxophone and used a similar mouthpiece. It set the standard for hardware-based wind controllers with a number of features that have been preserved in today's MIDI wind controllers, including the ability to correctly interpret the expressive use of reed articulation, breath-controlled dynamics, and embouchure-controlled pitch variation. The Lyricon also expanded the playing range several octaves beyond the accustomed range for woodwind players. Tone generation on the Lyricon was limited to a dedicated analog synthesizer designed specifically to interpret various wired analog outputs from the instrument. Notable early recording artists on the Lyricon include
Roland Kirk and
Tom Scott. Third-party adaptations would later bring the Lyricon into the MIDI era. The next wind controller of note was the brass style Steiner EVI invented by wind controller pioneer Nyle Steiner. Steiner was the inventor of the brass style EVI (electronic valve instrument) wind controller designed for brass players, as well as the
EWI (electronic woodwind instrument) designed for woodwind players. Steiner made many very important contributions to the development wind controllers. His research started in the late 1960s and his first wind controller was the Steiner Parker EVI released in 1975. Originally this EVI was only a "controller" which sent control voltages only for pitch and gate and was to be connected to commercial analog synthesizers. The breath sensor on this early original model EVI was very crude consisting of a simple on/off switch activated by the player's breath pressure. Steiner went on to refine and develop new expressive methods of sensing the player's gestures which have since become standard wind controller features such as an expressive proportional type breath sensor (as compared to earlier switch on/off type breath sensing), tonguing velocity sensing, a vibrato lever for the right hand thumb, pitch bend up and down thumb sensors, glide sensing for portamento effects, bite sensing, lip sensing, and others. Steiner's analog wind controller systems eventually included his own analog synthesizer design bundled into a complete self-contained system (Steinerphone). Steiner was also a studio musician and he played his EVI on the soundtrack of the film "
Apocalypse Now". Shortly after the release of the Steiner EVI, woodwind musicians asked Steiner to make a woodwind version of the EVI, and Steiner designed the EWI. The EWI was made famous in the mid 1980s by jazz musician Michael Brecker with the group Steps Ahead when he played the Steinerphone EWI with dazzling bravura. Around 1985 Steiner developed a sophisticated MIDI interface for his EVI and EWI by modifying the JL Cooper Wind Driver box. In 1987,
Akai licensed Steiner's EVI and EWI designs and released the Akai EVI1000 brass style and woodwind style EWI1000 wind controllers along with a companion EWV2000 sound module. The EWV2000 featured a MIDI output jack which allowed it to connect to additional MIDI synthesizers opening up a universe of possibilities and numerous recordings in both movie and television soundtracks as well as pop music recordings. The EVI1000 or EWI1000 controllers combined with the EWV2000 sound generator were actually a hybrid digital/analog system. Analog signals were derived from the various sensors (e.g., key, bite, bend, glide, etc.) on the EVI1000/EWI1000 controller unit, then converted to digital signals by a front-end microprocessor in the EWV2000. These digital signals were then altered by the microprocessor and D/A converted to internal analog control voltages appropriate for the analog synthesizer ICs within the EWV2000. The D/A used within the EWV2000 used a very high resolution and conversion rate, such that the responsiveness to the player felt immediate, i.e. "analog". The subsequent EWI3000, EWI3020, and EWI3030m systems also used this A/D/A scheme within their dedicated tone modules, though these later models of the EWI would support MIDI in and out.
MIDI controller revolution With the advent of
MIDI and computer-based digital samplers in the early 1980s, the new music technology ushered in a variety of "alternative" MIDI controllers. In the 1960s and 1970s, the main way for a musician to play synthesizers was with a keyboard. With MIDI, it became possible for non-keyboardists to play MIDI synthesizers and samplers for the first time. These new controllers included, most notably: MIDI drums, MIDI guitar synthesizers, and MIDI wind controllers. Leading the way to demonstrate the virtuosic potential of this new arsenal of MIDI technology on the world stage through extensive touring and big-label recordings were guitarist
Pat Metheny playing the
guitar synthesizer and saxophonist
Michael Brecker playing the wind controller, each leading their own bands.
Digital wind controllers and MIDI The most widely played purely digital wind controllers include the
Yamaha WX series and the Akai
EWI series. These instruments are capable of generating a standard MIDI data stream, thereby eliminating the need for dedicated synthesizers and opening up the possibility of controlling any MIDI-compatible synthesizer or other device. These instruments, while usually shaped something like a clarinet with a saxophone-like key layout, offer the option to recognize fingerings for an assortment of woodwinds and brass. The major distinction between the approach taken by the two companies is in the action of their keys. Yamaha WX series instruments have moving keys like a saxophone or flute that actuate small switches when pressed. Akai EWI series instruments have immovable, touch-sensitive keys that signal when the player is merely making contact with the keys. In the hands of skilled players each of these instruments has proved its ability to perform at a high level of artistry. The now defunct Casio DH series were toy-like wind controllers introduced in the mid-1980s and had a built-in speaker (with limited sound sources) as well as being usable as MIDI controllers. A recent addition to the wind controller category is the Synthophone, an entirely electronic wind controller embedded in the shell of an alto saxophone. Since the electronic components take up the open space of the saxophone, it is not playable as an acoustic instrument; however, since the exterior matches that of the acoustic instrument, it is significantly more familiar to play. Additionally, keyboard-based breath controllers are also available. These modulate standard keyboards, computers and other midi devices, meaning they are not played like a woodwind, but like a keyboard, but with a breath controller (similar to a
pump organ.)
Yamaha's BC series can be used to control DX and EX units.
Midi Solutions makes a converter box that allows any midi device to be controlled by the Yamaha BC controllers. TEControl also makes a USB device that is simply a jump drive with a breath tube attached that can be plugged into any standard computer.
Acoustic wind instrument conversion to software MIDI as wind control Through the 1990s the major hardware-based wind controllers improved through successive models and a number of minor, and less commercially successful, controllers were introduced. These software solutions for a time were the only viable bridge between the woodwind or brass player and the synthesizer. But dating back to the 1980s a lesser known software-based alternative began to emerge. With a software-based conversion program the musician plays an ordinary wind instrument into a microphone at which point a software program (sometimes with dedicated computer hardware) interpreted the pitch, dynamics, and expression of this acoustic sound and generates a standard MIDI data stream just in time to play along with the performer through a synthesizer. While the first commercial product attempting this approach dates back to the Fairlight Voicetracker VT-5 of 1985, a more successful modern approach using software on personal computers (combined with a
digital audio workstation and softsynths) is relatively new. Two more recent examples of this highly unusual archaic approach were
Thing-1 from ThingTone Software, and
Digital Ear Realtime from Epinoisis Software. == Range of expression ==