Eviola project

[BJG145]

It's a teaser for the next collab with XenonJohn.



Q) What's the only commercial attempt at a MIDI bow?
A) The KMI K-Bow. Retailing at around $3K, it was not a great success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzbZ8pyPd0

[BJG145]

A while back XenonJohn came up with an idea for a new bow-like MIDI controller, and I blagged a prototype.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtZ2In3XGOE

It looked promising, so I asked him if he could build me an instrument which could be played like an EVI (one of the first wind synthesisers), but using a bow instead of breath pressure...the Eviola.

(I modelled the Artiphon Instrument above to indicate what it might look like. If the bow grip looks unconventional, it's because the EVI system uses three buttons under the fingers of the right hand.)

He just sent me some pics of work in progress.

















It's not quite as bizarre as it sounds. People have been using breath controllers to play VST string instruments for ages. For example SWAM Violin includes presets for various esoteric wind controllers like the Lekholm DM48 and the Berglund NuRad (also based on the EVI), but no presets for actual MIDI bow controllers, because they don't exist. Yet...

[RichardT]

That’s a great idea. Will it interface with sample libraries, or will it generate the sounds some other way?

[BJG145]

...just aiming to get a working MIDI controller at the moment...

[Wonks]

I’m trying to visualise how it works. With something like a wind controller, you have keys for the notes and you blow to determine volume/velocity.

With this, will there be strings to play like a violin/cello that get converted into note on/off, pitch and velocity info? Or is it for putting expression onto pre-recorded MIDI data?

[BJG145]

I’m trying to visualise how it works.

It's still at the experimental stage, but initially I'm thinking of using keys for notes on/off and bow velocity to send breath pressure (CC#2). The sensor acts like a single string. This will work for certain programs like SWAM Violin which have presets for wind controllers; I can basically tell SWAM it's an EVI, configure the buttons for EVI fingering, and use bow velocity to send breath pressure, and it's none the wiser.

This was my first experiment along those lines...which is rubbish, but the way I adapted the bow sensor was very basic, involving scraps of kitchen foil configured as capacitive touch sensors. (Processing/MIDI duties are being carried out by a budget Teensy called the "Teensy LC" which has capacitive touch built in.)

I didn't originally intend to make the experimental video above publicly available, let along this one, but by way of example...(this was my rough proof-of-concept attempt to put together the kind of thing I've now asked XenonJohn to build properly.)

https://youtu.be/q9B-goulJ04

(I hope Sam Spoons doesn't see this. He'd be horrified.)





I adapted my Eletrunk for this. Remember the Eletrunk? No? Good.

To get something like this working with programs that aren't based around breath pressure, it'll need a bit of development to convert bow movement to MIDI velocity. But MIDI velocity isn't the best way to interpret bow movement, which is why programs like SWAM Violin are designed around breath pressure. Real wind and string instruments respond to a continuously varying input, unlike something like a guitar or piano that's driven primarily by the initial hit.

This my favourite example of the realism that programs like SWAM are capable of with the right controllers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDm7LqbV5No

* * * *

I'm surprised that no-one has ever tried to make and sell something like this. The only comparable bow controller, the now unobtainable K-Bow, was the culmination of the development of what is usually called the "Hyperbow", where MIDI is used to augment and control the acoustic sound of a violin rather than to drive an entirely synthetic one.

[ManFromGlass]

The proof of concept video?
Love it!
Looking forward to the next incarnation.

I have used Serenade which is a free patch for Reaktor. It is awesome with the Leap Motion controller. Here is a good vid on YouTube -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkPvmr93K8

[Wonks]

Thanks for the info. Any idea how you can play more notes, given you’ve only got one hand free for fingering? More contacts and a longer board so you can support it with your body whilst moving the hand?

[Sam Spoons]

https://youtu.be/q9B-goulJ04

(I hope Sam Spoons doesn't see this. He'd be horrified.)

I've heard worse (much worse) at Gypsy Jazz jam sessions (and much better too, obviously)...

[BJG145]

I have used Serenade which is a free patch for Reaktor.

...thanks, that looks interesting...

Any idea how you can play more notes, given you’ve only got one hand free for fingering? More contacts and a longer board so you can support it with your body whilst moving the hand?

It's not going to be polyphonic the way I imagine it, but it could have quite a large range. With just three buttons on the bow and four on the instrument, EVI fingering would let you play chromatically over three and a half octaves, and you could double that with a second row of buttons.

(It's been implemented in a similar way to another MIDI wind controller called the Morrison Digital Trumpet, which has three buttons/valves under the right hand, moved to the heel of the bow, and two rows of buttons under the left hand.)



This is the mockup I sent XenonJohn suggesting three buttons under the heel of the bow, like the trumpet valves in the EVI system, with a pressure sensor on top.



It was influenced partly by the box of electronics built into the heel of the K-Bow.





The above pics don't include the completed bow; I'm looking forward to seeing that.

I've heard worse (much worse) at Gypsy Jazz jam sessions

Really? Can you give me the details for the next meet?

[Wonks]

Ah, more buttons on the bow. Cunning!

[BJG145]

...yep, the way the EVI system works, in a nutshell, is that the right hand plays a repeating pattern on three "valve" buttons which is similar to the first chromatic octave of a trumpet, while the left hand steps through octaves.

There's a slight complication in that the right-hand sequence contains some duplicate patterns. On a trumpet, they're distinguished by breath pressure. On an EVI, they're distinguished by an extra button played with the left hand. I've adapted the system by combining this extra left-hand key with the octave control in a way that lets the left hand step through half-octaves by pressing 1, 1+2, 2, 2+3, 3, 3+4, 4.

For the first 10 seconds of this first attempt, I'm just playing these half-octave combinations with the left hand. After that I start trying to use the three scraps of foil stuck to the base of the bow to fill in the other notes by playing them like trumpet valves, not very successfully.

https://youtu.be/XmLtcER6ZYY

Hopefully these will work better...(this will be the heel of the new bow).

[Sam Spoons]

I've heard worse (much worse) at Gypsy Jazz jam sessions

Really? Can you give me the details for the next meet?

Odd but I seem to have lost that fiddle player's phone number

[BJG145]

The 3D printed parts have been given a dose of acetone vapour polishing to bring out the shine.



USB connection...



End cap with strap loop...

[ManFromGlass]

I admire your patience and my gosh it all looks so tidy!

[BJG145]

...latest video update from Dr Dingley...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrksVZH9l8

[BJG145]

I finally got my hands on the Eviola. Very pleased with this. It's unique, and it's a beaut.

I've just been practising scales and simple patterns so far...

https://youtu.be/1-zUVaUOfiM

I'm used to the three 'valve' buttons (mounted on the heel of the bow in this design) being capacitive touch like the Akai EWI, and these are quite stiff, so I've been scouring eBay for something lighter. It's pot luck ordering buttons on eBay because you don't get the fine details like activation force, but I tried fitting one of these and it looks promising.



I pay the same attention to detail when it comes to buttons on MIDI controllers as guitar techs do with hand-wound pickups. Well...almost. I teased it apart with a screwdriver and lopped a few loops off the spring to lighten the touch, and I think it'll work well. Just ordered a couple more.

As well as the buttons on the underside of the bow, there's a pressure sensor on the top, under the thumb, which can eventually be used to control bow pressure; it's wired up but not programmed in yet. After that there's a couple of other refinements to look at...but so far it's shaping up well...

[Drew Stephenson]

Sounding good!

[Martin Walker]

Wow - that's most impressive Ben!

[Folderol]

Very nice indeed!

[Arpangel]

You know you’re doing interesting things (good, worthwhile?) when the technology to realise them isn’t readily available, and you have to construct it yourself.
This is a perfect example.

[BJG145]

Cheers guys.

About 40 years ago a friend at school gave me a cassette copy of Mendelssohn's Em violin concerto. I've still got it. That was the first time I wanted to play violin.

https://youtu.be/I03Hs6dwj7E?t=16

My dad was a Bach fan and introduced me to the sonatas and partitas. This section has always been engrained in my memory.

https://youtu.be/7y4lcQ7BTLw?t=6

Later on I listened to the Prokofiev sonatas loads.

https://youtu.be/b5pBnp9LZ9g?t=6

Then of course, there's The Waterboys.

https://youtu.be/a4UQJwd3awQ

I had a few lessons at one time, but I didn't get anywhere; far too difficult (and downright uncomfortable).

...so, I'll never be able to play the violin. But I'm happy noodling away on my Eviola, with a dodgy cello patch and far too much reverb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6nl2Fv8k4

[BJG145]

I found the bow supplied with the Eviola a bit short. It had maxed out JD's laser cutter, but I sent it to a local company and asked for more of the same. The extended version arrived today - this is much closer to the length of a violin bow (though still a little way to go).



Looking forward to trying this out.

This has 2mm bars and 2mm spaces. They also supplied an alternative version with 1mm bars and 2mm spaces. I'm amazed at the precision of laser-cut plywood. It smells like a bonfire, but it's very accurate. The burned edges add a nice visual touch.

(The sellotape is the temporary aftermath of replacing the bow buttons with three of the ones shown above; much lighter touch now.)

[Folderol]

Good grief. There was so much reverb on that it made my speakers damp
Sounds pretty good, but you need practice