While it is true that many MIDI synthesizers rely on samples, there are plenty of delightful exceptions.

More often than not I play my wind controller through a synth module that uses no samples in it at all, but instead uses physical modeling synthesis. In very simplistic terms it uses computer models of different sources (single reeds, double reeds, cup mouthpieces, bowed strings, picked strings, etc.), follows them with computer models of resonators (guitar bodies, tubes, cones) and then dampers (bells, bridges, etc.).

The result is something that doesn't quite have the tone of the physical instrument that you may be emulating, but it reproduces the nuances of that instrument very well. Depending on the patch, different attacks, throat growl, flutter tongue, hammer-ons/pull offs (in legato mode), lip slurs (brass) and so many more.

How well? Enough to fool players of their own instruments. I'll give a few examples:

  • I also frequent a guitar forum. I posted an example of me playing a guitar solo using my Yamaha WX5 wind controller and VL70-m physical modeling synthesizer. I told the guitarists that it was my playing but I didn't tell them I was playing synth. The thread got hundreds of hits and I got dozens of compliments, including one that said my playing was rather like Jeff Beck (wow! that one floored me). After the thread started to lose its momentum, I admitted that I played it on synth. People were amazed and told me so. Only one person then said that he though there was something a little odd about the whammy bar vibrato but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
  • I was playing trumpet with my WX/VL in the lounge of a country club. The people in the dining room could hear us but couldn't see us from their tables. A trumpet player actually got out of his seat and walked into the lounge to see who was sitting in on trumpet.
  • A similar thing happened at a private party. The husband, a guitar player was hosting the guests inside the house. We were playing on the back porch and the wife was tending to the guests outside. We were playing a song and I was using a patch called "Carlos" and the guitar playing husband walked outside to see who was sitting in with us. This was before I quit bringing the keyboard to the gig and replaced it with a guitar.


There are other forms of synthesis that don't use samples as well. Each has its strong points and weak points. Even the so out-of-fashion FM synthesis from the DX7 days still is useful, especially with melodic percussion like vibes, marimba, etc., I still use the old Roland LA synthesis in the MT-32 for a few stellar patches found nowhere else, of course analog synths like the Moog, Arp, Oberheim are making a comeback, and there are others.

MIDI isn't old and tired yet, there are still a lot of unused parameters that will allow it to grow. And in the words of Alan Parsons, "Since [1983], MIDI has been embedded in the DNA of virtually every pop music production." And in the words of Craig Anderton, "But to consider MIDI a museum piece that, against all odds has remained relevant over the decades ignores the reality that ... MIDI continues to evolve."

Sure it has it's limitations, what tool doesn't? And sure other tools have joined the party in the past 30 years, but they also have their limitations as well. The ideal is to learn how to use each tool to it's fullest potential, and then choose the best tool for the job you have in front of you.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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