Electronic Aerophone (Woodwind Controller)

To give an overview, I need to break this into two sections: completed and proposed. My prototype right now is not nearly what the finished instrument will be. There are so many things that need to be added to bring the project into full potential. I'll talk about physical construction first, and then into software. Here is the current prototype:



Hardware Aspects Completed and Operational On Prototype

• Touch sensitive keys - 16 total touch sensitive keys using a resistive touch method to limit latency. 11 keys are on the front (5 left hand, 6 right hand) and and an additional 5 for octave control under the left thumb.
• Air pressure sensor - A closed system that allows for accurate measurement of breath.
• Pitch Bend sensors - Force sensitive resistors control pitch bend / CC messages. Depending on how hard it is pressed is how much bend
• Wireless MIDI - Talks wirelessly to base station to send out MIDI data

Hardware Aspects Proposed

• Mouthpiece FSR - for measuring lip pressure (CC / Modulation / Pitch Bend etc)
• Bocal bend sensor - For measuring bend on the bocal from the top of the instrument (CC / Modulation / Pitch Bend etc)
• Force Sensitive Keys - For measuring pressure on the keys themselves. Allows for some interesting pitch bend effects as well as CC / Modulation etc
• IR Distance Sensor - For measuring distance from bottom of instrument to player (CC / Modulation / Pitch Bend etc)
• Onboard Synth - For practice mode... not the best synth, just a couple of analog sounds. Implemented by a basic MIDI codec IC or dedicated M3 Cortex processor
• Ribbon Controller - A long ribbon sensor along the back side of the instrument to be used in conjunction with the octave keys to allow for real bendy sounds or can be set to control volume, CC, Modulation, Pitch Bend etc. Could be used in 'touch and remember last' or 'touch with root' modes
• Bluetooth - Instead of using the base station have a bluetooth modem that can talk to an iPad / iPhone

Working Software on Prototype

• Automatic Breath Calibration - Start the calibration mode, and play two pressures: minimum pressure for note on, and maximum pressure. It will then auto calibrate the response curve.
• Custom fingerings - Currently set up to be EWIish, but allow for extended range on the upper and lower octaves without changing left thumb position, allowing for easier runs over the break.
• CC Mapping - Any of the sensors can be used as a source, gate, or scale to a CC out of the instrument.

Software Aspects Proposed

• Patch Selection - 'Patches' to be stored on the instrument that allow for configurations to easily be loaded without having to do anything but enter Patch Mode and playing a note. Allows for quick change of settings (MIDI Channel, CC configs etc)
• Breath response curve - Be able to change the response curve of CCs (most importantly breath)
• Alternative fingerings - For different instruments (including EVIish)
  

This hardware is currently only a prototype. (Current version shown above)

Please ask questions, give ideas or criticism!