I just posted a YouTube video of the DM48 in action covering Little Walter’s “Last Night” with a live drummer... in a busking/looping style. I use the DM48 to loop the bass, and then the keyboard harmonies, with sounds from an old E-mu MoPhatt synth. For the solo, I use the DM48 with a Yamaha VL70-m patch that sounds a bit like a bari sax. So, all of the DM48-triggered sounds here are from hardware synthesizers (just what I was having fun playing with).
As my drummer, Andy Fordyce, and I have recently been working up looping/layering arrangements to play out busking at Faneuil Hall in Boston this summer, I was super curious to combine all of these things and try them out with the DM48. Prior to this song I have been using a bunch of acoustic harmonicas for layering our live arrangements (including chord, chromatic and various diatonics).
I’m not sure if the DM48 will end up as part of our busking rig yet, but it is tempting…. Stay tuned!
I don't have a lot of personal interest in MIDI harmonica, but I've got to say the initial bass and organ loop were the best examples I've heard of why someone might want to use one of these devices.
I'll need to make my way into the city to catch you guys sometime. ---------- Ridge's YouTube
That's what I was trying to demonstrate. Of course, I could have looped the bass and keys and then switched to traditional amplified diatonic for the solo. I was just so excited to try out those low synth sounds....
;-)
It would be great to see you at Faneuil! Of course, you're welcome to sit in as well if you'd like!
Hi interesting...but it sounds like a synthesizer. So depending if one thinks that's a positive or negative I guess. We kept waiting for the harp to kick in then we realized that was it... Still nice to see new inventions... good luck (Faneuil Hall area used to be my old stomping grounds...bicycle messenger things like that)
Last Edited by Spderyak on May 13, 2017 4:24 AM
The playing in the video sounds like a synthesizer because that’s exactly what it is!
(two different synthesizers to be precise)
The DM48 is a MIDI controller for synthesizers and samplers, just as a MIDI keyboard is… or a set of MIDI drums. Those rubberized MIDI drum pads don’t do much but make a lame “thup” sound until they are hooked up to an electronic drum machine, sampler or synth. Similarly, the DM48 won’t play a single note without being hooked up to a such a device (even including those drum units).
So, as the “only” sounds it can be used to play are synthesized or sampled; that includes harmonica tones!
For me, and I suspect for many reading this, I am madly in love with harp mics, tube amps and hand techniques; I love the immediacy and the particular tonal qualities of both the acoustic and amplified harmonica. I do not see the DM48 as a replacement for that; the DM48 is a different beast altogether.
So, if the DM48 is not about to replace my Marine Bands or chromatics completely, what good is it…?
Though it offers a host of new possibilities, below I’ll list some cool features I think harmonica players might be interested in.
- It allows you to play *any* sound that can be triggered by MIDI (as I stated above, and demonstrated in the video).
- It allows you to transpose to *any* key you want, in any octave.
- It allows you to use *any* tuning you want, and choose between tunings at will.
- It allows you to play and practice almost completely silently, listening through headphones.
There’s more, but I’d rather show you so I’ll be posting more demo videos in the coming weeks and presenting at SPAH.
Back to the last video for a moment, though. I certainly could have used the DM48 to layer the bass and keys and then switched to an amplified diatonic for the solo, and am likely to do that in the future. That approach would likely have caused less consternation as well, but what fun would that be?
I really dug this video and usage of the DM48. Great demo showing how the DM48 can be used for the non-lead parts of the band.
I'd be really into getting one, I'm holding off the see what happens with the bending, i.e. if pitch bending via breath resonance will be possible or if Brendan or Erik come up with an integrated controller for it.
Breath control of the pitch bends is available on the DM48 but it’s based on pressure, not resonance. Erik is not currently working on changing that, and I don’t think Brendan is either…. I think his plans involve further use the hands, but he can weigh in on that.
I just posted a video that uses half and whole step breath pressure bends, in combination with the 2 sliders, to play 24 notes on a single hole. This could be increased with more practice. Anyway, I play a simple 2-octave chromatic scale….
This is simply a proof of concept/demo video, but I hope it will inspire creative thinking about possible uses of this exciting new instrument.
This is very cool. BTW when I said demo, I meant, great music but also shows the capabilities of the DM48.
That's a bit of a head melter in terms of learning new layouts every time, or at least having many ways of getting the same note...but it means that things will be playable on the DM48 that are not possible on current harmonicas, especially if we make new tunings/layouts to suit a song as shown. So many possibilities, as your 2nd video shows.
Programming what was called on another forum "chord per hole" for backing was an option in MIDI, I guess. Personally, I think I'd put in a chord harmonica tuning such as the the Suzuki Chord/S56 and keep a regular layout for soloing and basslines. The basslines would beat either tuning down a regular chromatic low (I have one that goes to G2), or possibly be more fluid than the regular bass harmonica.
@blingty I would love to get my hand on one, just to try what you suggest--configuring it as an SSCH and then switching to another tuning for melody and bass (and percussion--this thing should be an acceptable percussion controller). And in terms of head melter, I can handle odd layouts--just try me. I also know MIDI pretty well, having used it in one man band situations for 30 years or so. But I don't have $600 in my budget for one right now, and I think I would want some peripherals in order to port the MIDI out to standard devices--right now, the interface is proprietary, you can't just plug in to your piano 8)
Yeah, fewer and fewer new MIDI devices use the original 5-pin DIN format now. Instead they use various forms of USB.
To use my older hardware synths I connected the DM48 to my laptop and used the DIN MIDI out of a Focusrite Scarlett interface (also USB) to connect the computer to the synths.
So the Scarlett/computer combo did the translation from USB MIDI to DIN MIDI.
I am going to explore more software synths now, which could simplify the setup greatly, and maybe even roll my own….
Yeah, fewer and fewer new MIDI devices use the original 5-pin DIN format now. Instead they use various forms of USB.
To use my older hardware synths I connected the DM48 to my laptop and used the DIN MIDI out of a Focusrite Scarlett interface (also USB) to connect the synths. So the interface/computer combo translated USB MIDI to DIN MIDI.
I am going to explore more software synths now, which should simplify the setup, and maybe even roll my own….
Looks like the Scarlett 2i4 is $200. Adds up, don't it. I already have more gear than I have time to set up at a gig . . . perhaps if I were mainly a harmonica player, it would be more of a priority. That bari sax sounds huge!
Yeah, but the bare bones to do what you need to convert USB MIDI to DIN MIDI through the computer can be had for less than $30 with something like the ART Connect. The Scarlett adds some fancier audio I/O which you may or may not need.
Also, thanks for saying that about the "bari saxish" sound. I like it too, though not everyone has been a fan....
;-)
I think I was especially fond of it because it felt so cool to play that low and powerfully on a harmonica, and with such ease and responsiveness.
