Wind Controllers: WX7, WX11, WX5 by Yamaha

[Shooshie]

I started to post this in another forum, but there really isn't one that's appropriate for this kind of thing. Further, the subject of this thread is a set of input devices that significantly enhance the process of MIDI recording in Digital Performer, and these devices need to be considered as standard controllers, especially in this new age of Virtual Instruments. I don't think there is another input device with the musical potential of the Yamaha Wind Controller series for solo instrument performance, such as solo violin, cello, flute, trumpet, sax, clarinet, etc. Simply put, these instruments are to orchestral MIDI music what Disklavier Grands are to piano MIDI music.

Having said that, I'm launching this thread as a place for the posting of information relevant to any kind of wind controllers, but specifically the Yamaha series. Any time someone searches for any of these instruments, or for "Wind Controller," this thread is sure to pop up.

I've been seeing more and more people in this forum who, like me, use the WX series heavily in their work. Because these instruments have many significant features, as well as significant shortcomings, we need a discussion group especially to help leverage our needs into the planning and programming of Virtual Instruments such as Mach Five, Kontakt2, Vienna Symphonic Library, and any others which might be given incredible musical abilities in conjunction with a WX instrument, providing the right programming is implemented to link them together effectively.

James Steele, this is definitely a core-issue for Digital Performer among users who are also woodwind or brass players, but you might consider a forum for MIDI Wind Controllers, where we could have a lot of information collected locally and conveniently for those who need it. Just a thought.

Shooshie

[rikp]

Shooshie:

Thanks for posting this! Although I have nothing to add at this time. I have a WX7, WX5, and WX11. I tend to use the WX11 more, and I really can't say why.

I am looking forward to this thread.

Peace

rikp

[Shooshie]

I've been using Yamaha WX series wind controllers since 1987 or 1988; not sure of the exact date I started. But there have been three models in the WX series that I know of, and I've been unaware of their creation dates, and for how long they were sold by Yamaha. So, I did some Googling and came upon this page by another user. I'm going to quote the entire page here, and give a link to his original, since the information is valuable. I would hate for his page to disappear and leave us with a dead link. [edit, January, 2009: the link is now dead. I'm glad I posted the whole thing!] So, in the interest of fair use for an important resource, here is a brief history of the Yamaha WX series by Rex R. Djere.

From SaxTalk.

Date Posted: 8 / 15 / 05
Posted by: Rex R. Djere
The Electronic Saxophone: The Yamaha WX Series
In this article, I will present a detailed history of one of the least documented timelines in musical history, the evolution of the Yamaha WX Series of MIDI wind controllers. During extensive internet research on the history of the WX Series, I could not find the entire history of the WX Series in one location. That is when I knew that I had to write one myself. I have played a Yamaha WX5 wind controller for several years and I thoroughly enjoy it. In writing this article, I hope to learn more about how the WX Series came to be, and I sincerely hope that you learn a great deal as well.

The history of the Yamaha WX series celebrated a major milestone in 1987, when the Yamaha WX7 was introduced. However, the history actually began in 1984, when Yamaha started the development process of the WX7. The Yamaha WX Series was Yahama's attempt to translate their considerable expertise in making keyboard synthesizers to the burgeoning market of wind synthesizer technology. The history of wind synthesis began In 1971 when Roger Noble and William Bernardi applied for a U.S. Patent on their new invention, an Electronic Wind Instrument. Three years later, they created the first mass-produced wind controller, the Lyricon. There was no going back from this point. In the mid 1970s, Nyle Steiner invented a wind controller based on the trumpet. He called it the Electronic Valve Instrument. All of these events predated Yamaha's entrance into the wind synthesizer market by more than a decade. During this time, Yamaha was focused on its core markets: brass and woodwind instruments; and keyboards, both pianos and synthesizers. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there was not really that great a demand for wind sythesizers. The demand for the electronic wind instruments began to increase in the early 1980s due to the adoption of EWIs by two very famous saxophonists, Michael Brecker and Tom Scott. Tom Scott's performance on his EWI on Saturday Night Live in 1982 caused quite a stir in the saxophone community. Yamaha saw the writing on the wall, and began developing its own wind synthesizer.

One of the most instrumental individuals in bringing the WX7 to fruition was a man by the name of Sal Gallina. Sal Gallina was primarily a saxophone performer who had dabbled in adding electronic effects to saxophones since the 1960s. Gallina was a saxophone virtuoso, and as such, he helped Yamaha to get the ergonomics and many of the technical aspects of the WX7 right. Besides being a great musician, Gallina also had a great deal of expertise in FM synthesis, the mode of sound synthesis on the early synthesizers. In fact, he had become so proficient in the field of sound technology that Yamaha actually came to him in 1984 to ask for his help in developing the WX7. When the WX7 was finally released, it was completely revolutionary. The WX7 had adjustable keys, something that had been unheard of in wind synthesizers up until that point. This made it very easy for saxophonists to customize it in exactly the way that they wished. The mouthpiece had a pressure sensor connected to an analog-to-digital converter, but it also contained a metal lever which vibrated and allowed the pitch of the wind controller to be bent much more expressively and radically than other wind controllers on the market. The mouthpiece was fully adjustable. One one the most innovative features of the WX7 was its ability to transmit data on more than one MIDI channel. This made it possible to play chords and even entire orchestras using the WX7. The WX7 also had a battery pack, making it much more portable than other wind controllers. Sal Gallina became the first WX7 virtuoso. You can here incredible recordings of him playing everything from rock guitar solos to complete orchestral recordings on the WX7 here.

In 1988, Yamaha released the WX11. The WX11's main advancement over the WX7 is that it was somewhat simplified, and therefore easier to use. The WX7 had a very steep learning curve and the WX11 proved to be easier for the beginner to learn. However, the WX11 lost some very powerful features of the WX7 such as a thumb pitch bend wheel. The WX11 was widely believed to be easier to play without glitches than the WX7, but the WX7 wass considered by many to be more flexible and more expressive. The WX11 was designed to be coupled with the WT11 wind synthesizer. The WT11 was a digital FM synthesizer that had various effects. It had four FM outputs, eight note polyphony, 10 digital effect (reverb, delay, echo, etc.), and it had internal memory. Both the WX7 and WX11 developed cult followings, with each camp very loyal to its own instrument. These two instruments dominated Yamaha's wind synthesizer landscape for the next decade. Yamaha did release another wind synthesizer called the EW30/Windjammer. This instrument was severely limited. It did not have an advanced pitch bend system as did the WX7 and WX11, and was not taken very seriously. The next major evolution in Yamaha wind synthesis was the arrival of the Yamaha WX5 in 1998.

The Yamaha WX5 offered up a host of new innovations and built on the powerful foundations of the WX7 and WX11. It had four dinstinct fingering modes: saxophone(a), saxophone(b), saxophone(c), and flute. Here is a summary of all four modes:

Saxophone(a)
Basically the same as saxophone fingering, except that the fingering remains the same in all octaves, and thus is easy to learn.

Saxophone(b)
This mode is similar to Saxophone(a), but with additional trill key functions to facilitate rapid passages. This fingering is similar to that on the WX5's predecessor, the Yamaha WX11 Wind MIDI Controller.

Saxophone(c)
A variation of the Saxophone(a) fingering mode, this mode allows saxophone-type alternate fingerings. Although alternate fingerings produce the same note, they produce slight variations in pitch and timbre which can be used for musical effect.

Flute
Similar to flute fingering, this mode is ideal for players who are familiar with flute fingering. Rather than continuous pitch bend in response to lip pressure, the pitch jumps up one octave when lip pressure is applied, simulating the "overblow" octave shift on an acoustic flute.

The WX5 was fully customizable, virtually every feature on the instrument could be adjusted: lip gain, wind gain, pitch bend, timing, octave control etc. When I first got mine, I was a little bit overwhelmed with all of the options. This was an instrument where I had to read the manual. However, once I actually sat down and learned the system, I realized how incredibly powerful it was. The WX5 was designed to work best with the VL70-m Virtual Acoustic Tone Generator made by Yamaha. I originally played my WX5 plugged into a MIDI keyboard and it sounded horrible. When I bought the VL70-m, and played it through the synthesizer that it was built for, it sounded unbelievably good. The WX5 is still my primary practice tool to this day.

The Yamaha WX5 is still in production, and there is still a very big market for used WX7s and WX11s. As I did research for this article, I found a great number of websites with good information on Yamaha wind sythesizers. My favorite one was a 1987 interview with Sal Gallina and Nyle Steiner from Music Technology Magazine. Listed below are some of the other websites that I found to be very helpful:

WX7 Information
Yamaha Timeline
Windsynth.org

[Shooshie]

From the above article, I find the following timeline of particular value to us WX users; the creation dates and duration of the three models of wind controllers by Yamaha:


WX-7: hit the market in 1987

WX-11: hit the market in 1988

WX-5: hit the market in 1998

Actually, I don't find the cut-off dates for the end of their manufacture. I am not aware of the WX-5 having ceased production, but I've seen hints to that effect in recent posts by certain individuals. Perhaps if someone else knows the answers, they will provide them in subsequent threads.

I personally used 2 WX-7's for many, many years until the both finally were completely worn out. While one is deteriorated beyond repair, most likely, the other may actually be fixable at some future time, provided I can find the parts. Meanwhile, I use a WX-5, which is a fine instrument, though it lacks some of the elegance and professional qualities of the WX-7. I'd be hard pressed to tell you what those qualities are. I think primarily it's the weight and response. The WX-7 felt like a real instrument in your hands. The WX-5 feels more like a Casio rip-off. It's too light. I put batteries in it just to give it more weight, so that technical passages are easier. (if the instrument is too light it tends to literally leave your hands when the going gets rough)

Having said that, however, the WX-5 is lightyears superior in its software evolution, and is truly where the whole series should be heading, control-wise. It just needs to be redesigned from the hardware point-of-view, and made a little more manageable for hands accustomed to flutes, clarinets, and saxophones. Personally, however, I love it. It's a great instrument; it just needs to continue to evolve. And that is what I fear is NOT happening. It appears that maybe Yamaha has cut it loose and may possibly be without ANY of the WX instruments for sale at this time. I just need more information before I can say that with any certainty.

Shooshie

[stephentayler]

Incidentally, has anyone tried an Akai EWI recently with any VI's? I haven't used mine in years, and I found it too troublesome with hardware samplers. Its own sound modules were never very useful to me.

The main hassle is it has to plug through the Akai module to output MIDI........

kind regards

Stephen

[rikp]

Incidentally, has anyone tried an Akai EWI recently with any VI's? I haven't used mine in years, and I found it too troublesome with hardware samplers. Its own sound modules were never very useful to me.

The main hassle is it has to plug through the Akai module to output MIDI........

kind regards

Stephen

Same for me. I gave up on the thing because the Yamaha was so much easier to play and sounded better. I have heard great things about the new AKAI line though!

Shooshie:

Thanks for the history. I teach saxophone at a university and if it is OK with you I would like to share with my students.

Peace

rikp

[Shooshie]

Certainly, rikp! My general philosophy is to share knowledge. You may have seen references to "Shooshie's Mouthpiece Exercises" that have been all over the internet since about 1994. Since I'm NOT teaching at a university, I thought it important to let that stuff go wherever it may, so others posted it in their sites, and it's had a life of its own, so to speak. IN fact, it's been translated into other languages, most notably Chinese! I spent too many years developing those exercises and methods to let them wither away, so the internet was the perfect outlet for them.

Back to MIDI, DP, and Wind Controllers... The article on the WX series instruments was not written by me, by-the-way. I just found it on Google. But it's out there to be looked at, so don't hesitate to share it with your students.

Shooshie

[rikp]

The article on the WX series instruments was not written by me, by-the-way. I just found it on Google. But it's out there to be looked at, so don't hesitate to share it with your students.

Shooshie

Shooshie:

You are a true scholar!

Peace

rikp

[Frodo]

James Steele, this is definitely a core-issue for Digital Performer among users who are also woodwind or brass players, but you might consider a forum for MIDI Wind Controllers, where we could have a lot of information collected locally and conveniently for those who need it. Just a thought.

Shooshie

With that in mind, I'd be curious to include other types of controllers as well just to compare the pros and cons of various results using wind controllers, guitar/bass MIDI convertors, etc. for different purposes. This is not to take the focus away from wind controllers at all, but the idea of using other controllers than keyboards and knobs is most intriguing.

I did play flute and clarinet in high school and am VERY interested in breathing more reality into my sequences. I do like having the optional mouthpiece (the one without the mock reed...). I'd need to do more than brush up on my fingering-- and to get the lungs up to snuff!!

Great idea for a thread, btw!

[mhschmieder]

I did some research on available string controllers recently, and it's still more or less a no-go. Zeta still dominates, and you have to go throygh their expensive Synthogy module to convert the multi-string pickup to MIDI.

I keep hoping Yamaha will add MIDI capabilities to their semi-acoustic violins/celli/etc. All of the existing solutions are mega-expensive and still don't guarantee to give you actual MIDI control beyond simple note on and note off.

If I find the refs again, I'll post them here.

The WX5 is still available in the US, but not in Canada due to new EU regulations on battery devices (even though it can run on phantom power via the special WX cable).

[Shooshie]

James Steele, this is definitely a core-issue for Digital Performer among users who are also woodwind or brass players, but you might consider a forum for MIDI Wind Controllers, where we could have a lot of information collected locally and conveniently for those who need it. Just a thought.

Shooshie

With that in mind, I'd be curious to include other types of controllers as well just to compare the pros and cons of various results using wind controllers, guitar/bass MIDI convertors, etc. for different purposes. This is not to take the focus away from wind controllers at all, but the idea of using other controllers than keyboards and knobs is most intriguing.

I did play flute and clarinet in high school and am VERY interested in breathing more reality into my sequences. I do like having the optional mouthpiece (the one without the mock reed...). I'd need to do more than brush up on my fingering-- and to get the lungs up to snuff!!

Great idea for a thread, btw!

I don't know whether I'd be interested in other controllers or not. The reason I started this thread was to differentiate, since the needs of wind controllers are different from those of others (at least, so I think), and because I see very little in the massive MIDI literature out there which recognizes that and offers support to us. We're kind of a rare breed, which answers the question of "why isn't there more written about this, done about this, spoken out about this..." etc. Seems that we could use a little marketing clout in the form of a group. Heck, the Yamaha wind controller is even unlike the EWI. We have the only controller that I know of which works like a real sax -- vibrato from the lip, air pressure from the lungs, fingerings like real instruments.

If we could have true breath-control sounds, we'd be in the perfect position. Any VI which can modulate (cross-fade, actually) from one sample velocity layer to another in real time via any given controller should also be able to do so via breath control. If breath control support in VI's could simultaneously drive Velocity and Expression, we'd have amazing capabilities. But to my knowledge, no VI's allow this.

NOTE from Wind players to MIDI and VI manufacturers:
Allow us to program all your instruments such that they can cross-fade seamlessly in real time to different velocity layers as we crescendo via breath control. Give us Expression Controller #11 and Breath Controller #2 operated in real time from the same variable input. Use BC (CC#2) to cross fade the velocity and Expression (CC#11) to control real-time dynamics. Leave Volume (CC#7) for our faders in DP. The result of this would be phenomenal.

It may be possible to do this anyway, using a console in DP. I first have to get a VI which supports cross-fading between velocity layers, and then I'll try my hand at programming a console to do this for us in real time with Breath Control and/or Expression control.

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

By the way, anyone who owns a Kurzweil owns a fully-breath-controllable MIDI library. The Kurzweil can be transformed into a breath-controlled instrument in one easy step:

••• In Master Mode, press both the Chan/Bank buttons and then confirm with the "Yes" button on screen. Now you're in guitar/wind controller mode. To leave this mode, you have to either restart or do a soft-reset.

This is perhaps the best non-yamaha implementation of breath control in the MIDI world, and gives you access to more instruments than Yamaha!

Shooshie

[dickhauser]

I'm another wind player. I use a WX 5 now, but started out with the WX7. When DP 5 came out with it's VI's, I spent a short time looking around for instruments that recognized cc2 and didn't find any. It's on my list to look for ways to program the DP VIs' for wind, but I haven't tried yet.

Does anyone have some experience programming DP VI's for wind controller?

[homebilly]

Incidentally, has anyone tried an Akai EWI recently with any VI's? I haven't used mine in years, and I found it too troublesome with hardware samplers. Its own sound modules were never very useful to me.

Stephen

i have all of the EVIs that exist both from Akai & Steiner himself. I have been playing EVI since Donald Byrd showed me his back in 84 and i bought my black analog steiner in 87 or so and my Akai EVI 1000 around 88. i was also at the Akai factory one year and saw a mini keyboard controller that they were prototyping at the time. it had all of the EVI/EWI breath controls on it as well as a 2 octave keyboard. i was trying to talk them into giving me one but that never happened.

i now play a Steiner EVI again. breath control makes all of the diference in the world to me for WW sounds. it's nice to approach a WW from a WW player's POV even though i am a brass player. it brings the samples a bit of life as the breath make them well, breathe so to speak....

there are still some tweaking that i need to do to my samples but it is so much easier to input the sounds like a musician instead of someone that barely can play piano (me). much faster too!

ron

[Shooshie]

The Operations of a WX type Wind Controller
and why I would like to see a major change, easily accomplished, that would enhance the usage of these controllers for real-time MIDI VI performance.

First of all... To continue on the theme of "other controllers" (guitar, violin, voice, etc.) I have to claim ignorance as the reason for my reluctance to bring them together into this thread. I fear that a compromise that benefits a MIDI guitar controller, for example, may leave us Wind Controller players right where we started. My goal is to get someone to program a set of VI's that allows real-time cross-fading between velocity layers. As they are now, the velocity you strike at the attack of your note remains the only velocity possible as the note gets louder and softer. This is particularly troublesome in long legato passages. Which brings me to a quick discussion of the mechanics of what happens when we play sounds with a Yamaha WX-7, WX-11, or WX-5.

Part 1:
In long legato passages, the first velocity struck is the velocity assigned to the entire passage. The difference between synths and samplers becomes very important in this. When you attack a note on a synth or a sampler, the following take place:

••• Synth: the attack invokes the first parameter of the envelope, which is usually R1, meaning Rate 1, or rate of attack.
--R1 is pre-programmed to rise at a certain rate until it gets to L1 (Level 1) which is the "body" of the sound.
--L1 is usually set to respond to Velocity. Thus, a Velocity of 64 will set L1 at 64, or at a multiple thereof.
--Thus a WX-7 (or any other Wind Controller) attacked with an output of 64 will set the main body of the sound at 64 also. Then there are other parameters in play that determine what happens next. But we won't get to those yet.

••• Sampler: the attack invokes the choice of the layer of the sample. Some samples only have one layer. The loudness is determined by the attack as well. Thus, velocity of 64 would only be determining the loudness, or expression, of that sample. In samples with two or more velocity levels, the attack determines the selection of which level is appropriate.
--Two layers would probably be split somewhere around a velocity of 80, since one layer would be recorded with a very loud attack (80-127), and the other sample layer for that note would be chosen for all other attacks (0-79).
--Some samples utilize even as many as 30 layers; that's 30 sampled notes for every actual note. All 30 notes have different velocities, or attack loudnesses. These are massively large sample libraries, but they are also the most realistic, since the computer is doing very little interpolating between velocities.
--As a wind controller attacks at any given velocity, its attack causes the sampler (rompler) to choose the appropriate sound layer for playback, and to choose the loudness level (expression control, most likely) for that sound. Up to this point, there is little difference between a WX-7 and a Kurzweil keyboard (or any other keyboard).

Part 2:
We've looked at the attack of the notes in a synth and in a sampler/rompler. What happens next is critical. Let's say that next, the player decides to add a sudden increase in volume. That is to say, he blows harder! Here is what happens in synths and samplers:

••• Synths - in a true "Breath Control" patch, normal Envelope Generator (EG) parameters are turned off, leaving only L1, which is set continuously by the Breath Control CC #2. Velocity is ignored.
--Some synths, such as the Kurzweil 2600, have a special mode for Breath Controllers. This is not true BC, but it is a very nice compromise. Here's how it works: All velocities are set at 64. The envelope of the patch, once attacked, continues as it normally would, except that L1 (Level 1) is operated in real-time by either Breath Control (CC#2) or Expression Control (CC#11). Thus, after an attack preset to 64, the patch continues with a variable L1. A patch with multiple levels (L1, L2, L3...) will function as it regularly would with a velocity of 64, except that each L will be variable (not confirmed by Kurzweil, but suspected by me).

••• Samplers - Once the initial attack is over (above in part 1) the sound is continued with one of three possibilities:
--1: the sample plays without interference or interruption (usually the way pianos and guitars are programmed)
--2: the selected sample layer (selected by Velocity, as per above description) loops continuously or plays to its end, but with dynamics now controlled by CC#11 (Expression)
--3: (does not exist, to my knowledge, but this is what we want to happen) the selected sample layer plays with dynamics controlled by CC#11, but Breath Control (CC#2) can be used to monitor the level, cross-fading to louder samples if the loudness exceeds the intitial attack, or cross-fading to softer samples if the loudness drops below the lower threshold of the current velocity layer.

Part 3
Finally, the note comes to an end. That end may happen in one of three ways:
--1: it follows the Wind Controller to zero, either by way of BC (CC#2) or Expression (CC#11).
--2: it fades as per the recorded sample, in the case of a piano sound held until its end.
--3: it crossfades to the lowest sample level (Velocity of 0 -- 20, for exampe), and then the volume is lowered to zero via Expression control.

the last one is what I want to see happen via our modern sampler/rompler players, such as MOTU SI, Garriton Persona Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Library, Mach Five, Kontakt2, etc.

I hope I have shed some light on how all this works, and what I am hoping to accomplish in the end. If it's too complicated to understand, forgive me, but most WX players will understand it immediately. If by reading this, one sees a similar desire for guitar or string controllers, then by all means we should join forces and work together. But I don't think that is the case. Why? Because of Part 2. Part 2 describes what happens when we crescendo. The guitar hasn't been born that naturally can perform a crescendo. But I may be wrong. Perhaps the MIDI controller in a guitar includes a volume pedal, or a generic Continuous Controller pedal. That would make the two controllers more alike, and possibly merge some of the needs which we would like to see accomplished.

To sum it all up: we want to strike a note and play the note, always with the most appropriate sample sounding for that given instant. If we get louder, the volume gets louder AND cross-fades to the louder sample. Likewise, if we diminuendo, we expect the sample to do likewise, but crossfade to the softer sample. If we have this technology at our disposal, most of the awkward bodies of samples (sfzp, fp, sfz, staccato, legato, etc.) will be unnecessary, as the instrument will respond in real time to our playing, and our controllers (WX5, etc.) can provide the real-time action to generate all types of articulations and dynamics. This would make the wind controllers the most coveted of input devices for VI's.

Shooshie