@fhenryco said in playing sylphyo without the hands:

probably the bite-sensitivity signal might be converted into sound pitch

You cannot play exact notes over an octave or two based on the data of a pressure-sensitive device. The movement is too small and therefore the resolution is to coarse. With appropriate conversion and depending on the device a reliable playing range may span 3-5 notes at most.

If you neither want a MIDI harmonica, no arranging your own breath sensors in a pan flute-like shape and build a converter, you could whistle or sing into a microphone and use a vochlea Dubler or sonuus G2M for conversion. This doesn't give convincing melodies though, it's more for effects.

Maybe you are better off by reversing your approach. Find another way to play the chords and get freedom for your hands to play the instrument of your choice.
 
 
@fhenryco said in playing sylphyo without the hands:

i dont really like artificial sounds and i really would like to use the sylphio to play the sounds of all kind of real wind instruments

Beside of the Sylphyo there are for example the WARBL controller or the Akai EWI, which are pure controllers and don't include synths. For natural virtual wind sounds you can look at the well-known SWAM libraries at audiomodeling.com

Just a recommendation:
Before you buy a dedicated wind controller, look at it's features and look at the features of the software or hardware you want to control. Otherwise you may buy an expensive sound generator just to find out that your controller can only handle half of it. Or vice versa, you may buy an expensive controller, but finally discover that your existing keyboard works fine for your favorite sounds.

MIDI bass pedal with 13-17 keys (=pedals) like Studiologic MP-113, Studiologic MP-117, Ketron K8 or other, plus a breath controller, preferably with bite-sensitivity, for example from Tecontrol.

Or one of those funny roll up piano keyboards on the floor – if you don't mind to wear very pointed shoes or high heels.

Or some body sensors if you are in experimental music.

You would feed the Sylphyo Link box with MIDI notes and controller data. It contains the same synth as the Sylphyo. You may need an additional box (or software) to convert the data to play in the correct range. And you cannot use the movement functions of the Sylphyo, which make it unique. And until we get an editor, you can not configure the Link box without a Sylphyo. And the feeling is completely different.

On the other hand, you can play any hard- or softsynth this way with your mouth and feet. For example the Aodyo Anyma Phi, the brother of the Sylphyo. Or is it a sister? Don't know.

Bending up and bending down with different fingers and different movements on different touch plates will never work well for all aspects. It is ok for occasional ornaments, some whining- and "woah" effects, but not for precise bending. I am not sure about the internal sounds, but for MIDI controlling the beta key-bend and the thumb-down bend can remain as they are and I see no need for refinement. This is the fun stuff. But what about precision?

I believe, rolling the thumb upwards/downwards on the slider could work with a good degree of precision, but the slider's location is too low for a natural grip. Unhappy with currently available bending and in absence of a sensitive mouthpiece or a mechanical rocker for the thumb (both old Yamaha style), I tried to use a foot pedal for bending. Couldn't find one with a middle position and the coordination feels odd anyway.

Finally I use the roll movement of the Sylphyo. The standard mode has two drawbacks:

1. the hysteresis ('platform' between left and right) is too wide for smooth bending across the midpoint and
2. it is hard to start higher or lower and bend towards the target note.

At the moment I am happy with bidirectional absolute roll mode. For some reason this mode does not allow range setting and I have to scale the data in software. Normally my roll maximum is about 40 degree left and right for 1 semitone and I adjust the synth accordingly. For larger ranges I use relative roll instead of absolute. For wild effects the absolute mode with a wide bend range is worth a try.

I have visual feedback of my data, but don't need it for bending. It is natural and easy to find and keep the neutral position of the Sylphyo. And most musicians have ears ;-) An additional advantage is the possibility to stretch octaves, typical for many real instruments. You can play low sounds a little left (lower) and high sounds a little right (higher). In absolute rolling mode, the Sylphyo controls that really good.

My suggestions for development:

1. Leave thumb-down bend as it is.
2. Leave key-bending (beta) as it is, maybe make it just less accidently and add CC output.
3. Make pitchbend a selectable output for all movements.
4. Allow range scaling in all absolute movement modes.

At the moment we cannot talk to the devices about configuration.

But I think a three-way communication between an Editor, Link and Sylphyo plus a bidirectional communication between Sylphyo and Link, when the Editor isn't here, would be a tough job for the developer and personally I would not need this. One direction would be enough for playing.

For my usage:

1. The Sylphyo should accept CCs and/or NRPN and/or short SysEx strings for single parameters. And SysEx of medium length for setting-presets. The simpler the syntax the better.

2. If we send the data to the Link, it should a) store them, and b) forward them to the Sylphyo.

This way we can send configuration data over wire and wireless. People who love to change settings directly on the Sylphyo can still do this.

Regarding the other direction, from the Sylphyo to the editor program:
It is desirable that the editor follows the Sylphyo, the instrument would send the same data in realtime. This is also a great help for custom software controllers. For receiving this data I would accept a direct cable connection to relief the Link box (actually to reduce the burden on the programmer).

Regarding preset storage:
Storage of presets from within the instrument (dump) is commonly a separate process and does not happen during a performance. I would not mind to connect an USB cable for that. Stored presets can be managed by the editor program. There is a drawback of course: Players without a computer/controller cannot load presets on stage.

I think the data need special organization. Short messages (SysEx and/or CC or NRPN) for single parameters. Medium length SysEx for "settings" storage. And the big dumps for complete configuration including the sound engine.

@clint said in Request; Sylphyo Editor:

(Sorry if this topic has been discussed previously ... I seem to recall some discussion about this, but cannot locate it in the forum logs)

In the Anyma Phi thread "Maxforlive device?"
was a discussion CC vs NRPN vs SysEx.

We did not come to a conclusion but I would still prefer a combination of CC and short SysEx, like the Waldorf Blofeld does it. Most important on CC, every single parameter via 10-Byte SysEx strings. Best of both worlds. Long SysEx only for dumps.

I need at least two swabs. One swab alone does not dry the plastic of the Sylphyo sufficiently. The BG A36B is about the size of the Aodyo swab, which is also a BG product and just a little asymmetric.

You could take two of the A36A (the long one), or one each of the A36A and A36B.

@gromit
The linked mouthpiece swab won't work. You need more fabric, longer cords, and a weight at one end.

I use Oboe swabs and they work well.

@robst247
I would give it back to the dealer because it does not work.

Nobody knows what the previous user has done to the instrument and if it ever worked, but I doubt that Aodyo accepts that as a warranty case. Cost of repair may overshoot the price difference to a new instrument.

The dealer is responsible, he sold a non-working product. I think you should reclaim your money.

@dr-vibes1 said in Breath control:

... settings or the parameters to be able to make the crescendo/disminuendo

Normally your breath. Blowing progressively harder is crescendo. Blowing progressively softer is decrescendo.

If you control other software like instrument plugins and hardware synths, velocity can be important. The optimal setting depends on the instrument. You can set velocity to a fixed value and use breath for a volume parameter or/and you set velocity to "Dynamic", where it follows the breath, more or less.

Correct. With standard settings, Roll CC is only sent when the Sylphyo plays (either blowing or in "shake" mode).

If you set the Roll parameter to "Absolute", it always sends CC, but you cannot set a range in absolute mode.

—

I thougth the "Movement > Always On" setting would switch on all movents permanently. But it does not make any difference here, at least nor for MIDI output.