Using a Breath Controller
It’s not at all obvious that a bowed instrument model can benefit from a breath controller. After all, breath control is not an inherent part of the instrument.
But we’re going to try it, anyway. The reason is that bowed instruments are among the most expressive instruments around. And a breath controller is among the most fast-acting and intuitive of the realtime controllers.
We’ve already covered the basics of breath control with our previous wind models. But this model has an important difference: it’s not monophonic. If we simply repeat our previous techniques, we’ll be triggering multiple notes every time we blow into the controller. That’s not good.
The model’s basic control parameter is bow velocity, currently controlled by an envelope generator. So far, so good. In previous models, we’ve eliminated the envelope generator when adding the breath controller. In this patch, we’re not going to do that. Instead, we’ll keep the envelope generator, and have the breath controller vary the envelope generator’s output level.
What will be the effect of this?
- Pressing a key on the keyboard (without blowing into the breath controller) will not make a sound, because the envelope generator’s output level is zero until the breath controller is activated.
- Blowing into the breath controller (without pressing a key on the keyboard) will not make a sound, because the envelope generator has not been triggered by the keyboard.
A breath-controlled patch
Below is a patch for a breath-controlled bowed string model. As in the past, the breath controller appears in the patch twice:
- It regulates bow velocity via a MIDI Control Receive Module (to achieve fast response).
- It regulates a bunch of other parameters via morph group 8, including bow force, output level, vibrato rate, and vibrato depth.
The portion of the patch that controls the bow velocity is shown in the picture.
Notice the purple switch immediately above the bow velocity envelope generator. This switch decides whether the envelope generator’s output is influenced by the switch. It’s in one of two positions:
- EG Only: The envelope generator’s output is controlled only by the Constant module (the one set to 9 Clavia units).
- EG+Brth: The envelope generator’s output is controlled by the breath controller, but is limited by the Constant module.