[LAU] Electiric wind instrument on linux

[Will Godfrey]

On Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:47:43 +0200
Lorenzo Sutton <lorenzofsutton at gmail.com> wrote:

>Hi MRP,
>
>On 28/10/21 01:53, M.R.P. zensky wrote:
>> Hello I have a Yamaha WX5 midi wind controller and a steinberg UR22C. Runnng Ubuntu Linux. It  recognizes the steinberg but I am new to pro music and am wondering what is the simplest way to be able to hear the instrument. Someone hhtold me that I need to use virtual instruments for this instrument. Is it neccessary to install a daw in order to install the virtual instruments? Again I am new so anyone that can explain to me  how to just
>> Hear the instrument would be great.  
>
>The general idea is as follows:
>
>[ MIDI Controller ] -> [ MIDI Interface ] -> [ SoftSynth ]
>
>In your case:
>[ Yamaha WX5 ] -> [ UR22C ] -> [ SoftSynth ]
>
>So you don't strictly need a DAW to use a virtual instrument / 
>softsynth, although some DAWs provide ways to incorporate softsynths.
>
>A couple of softsynths ideas for quick testing of your controller could be:
>
>- qsynth (soundfont player GUI for fluidsynth)
>- yoshimi (an actual synth)
>- Carla (not strictly a synth, it's a plugin host but supports both midi 
>plugins and a bunch of 'virtual instrument' formats such as SF2 and SFZ)
>
>I'm assuming the above are quite easily available for Ubuntu.
>
>Then, familiarize yourself with Jack audio, jack midi and alsa midi 
>(there's lots of material online, but if in need ask specific questions 
>here). qjackctl is also a good piece of software to install.
>
>Then, what instruments to actually use, their 'quality' etc. really 
>depends on the type of music you want to make, your use case etc.
>Unfortunately I'm totally inexperienced with wind controllers, so not 
>sure what works best.
>
>Hope this helps.
>Lorenzo

The *tiny* bit I know about wind controllers is they send notes (obviously),
breath (cc2), pitch bend, expression (possibly modulation).
Some send NRPNs as well as other CCs intended for specific purposes.

You might struggle to find a soundfont setup that handles all of this.

Ideally, if using a softsynth you want one that supports all of these, as well
as MIDI-learn.

Lorenzo has mentioned one that supports all of this natively. and I know of
someone who uses this quite happily. There may be other suitable softsynths.

I also know one person that uses a wind controller on a Windows setup,
but that has a dedicated software package. 

-- 
Will J Godfrey
https://willgodfrey.bandcamp.com/
http://yoshimi.github.io
Say you have a poem and I have a tune.
Exchange them and we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.