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Sunday, June 04, 2006

This is just so much fun!

I wanted to share this with you, not because I think I'm great, but because I had so much fun making it.

Friends and family will know I've bought myself a Yamaha WX5 Wind Midi Controller for my 44th birthday. It looks like a clarinet, but it is more like a synthesizer keyboard that you play like a wind instrument. You can see a picture of it here.

I thought you might like an idea of what it sounds like, so I've uploaded some of my own recordings to give you an idea.

Some of them I just played from memory by ear because they're tunes I love (Like the Dark Isle, The Parting Glass, and Basin Street Blues). Some of them are from a "Play along" music book I recently bought which has the backing tracks that you can play along to. For one of them (Beauty and the Beast) I took a midi of the the tune, removed the melody line, and dubbed my own melody line over the top. (I'll promise to explain how to do this in my technical blog soon).

"Beauty and the Beast" is a very pretty melody. If you only listen to one of these tunes, I hope you listen to this one.

Anyway - here they are - the sounds of me having fun.

Piccolo voice:
The Dark Isle
The Parting Glass
Sway
Beauty and the Beast

Tromboe voice:
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

Trumpet voice:
Basin Street Blues

Clarinet voice:
God Bless The Child

Tenor Saxophone voice:
Hit The Road Jack