[patseguin]

I have a WX5 with the Patchman VL70 module. I'm looking for another module to add on to get some more interesting sounds. Are there some more popular modules anyone can recommend that work well with a wind controller?

 

[tjontheroad]

Buy the Turbo Chip from Patchman if you have not already. It's the ideal set of sounds. Any other midi synth will work as long as you edit the sounds for the wind synth's control inputs.

 

[patseguin]

Yeah, it has the TurboChip in it. I remember seeing a guy playing a WX5 in Youtube and he had a really neat sound. I seem to remember it was some kind of Roland module...

 

[Nefertiti]

I have a Roland XV-5080 I use with mine on pop gigs. It has everything I need in it. With the patchman sounds in it it is great.

 

[tjontheroad]

I've midi'd in my Emu Proteus and my Powerbook laptop using Logic Pro sounds with interesting results. Some sampled string sounds for example are very realistic. For live work, I've found it too complicated to use though. Too much set up time and button pushing between songs to get the results I wanted. Most times, the Turbo VL70m was plenty up to the task. If you want to do a more complex live setup, a MFC10 foot switch is a big help. It can send individual program change commands to each tone module with a tap of the foot. There was one in the marketplace you might want to search for.

I've found the best match to the VL70m is a sample based synth. The VL70m synth engine is based on physical modeling. Physical modeling is very expressive and can vary in tonal color with midi control messages sent by the WX5 to match the way a real instrument changes it's sound as you play. The downside to physical modeling is it can be a little thin harmonically. Sampling synths are based on recordings of actual instruments so they are like listening to the real thing. But, they don't respond as well when you want expressiveness. When mixing together the two synth engines, you can get the best of both worlds.

 

[Dr_sax]

I use and recommend a Oberheim Matrix 1000, a Yamaha VL1m, an Ensoniq ASR10m and a Clavia Nord Micro Modular. Some of these go pretty cheap on the used market. The Micro Modular is very small and fits in the case of my WX7 too.

 

[patseguin]

Yeah, I think the guy was playing the XV5080. It wasn't you that I saw was it Steve?

Anyhow, yeah I was thinking a sample-based synth might be a nice match for the VL70m. I have no idea how I would hook up both yet, but I'll have fun messing with it!

 

[timobrien]

I've used both Garritan Jazz & Big Band and Kompakt (the now-discontinued player similar to Kontakt) with my WX-5.

For playing live, I'd definitely go with a hardware box. But for home and recording, a sampler is great....

 

[xuanvu]

Dr. Sax, how well is the Micro Modular response to breath control? Do I have to tweak it a lot for it to reponse as well as the VL70?

Thanks,
Kenny.

 

[Dr_sax]

xuanvu,
The response is perfect, but you have to edit it. I had it pretty quick done with the software editor. Just assigned a controler to breath and patched it. That way I modified the included presets I like best very quick. This little synth is real fun to play with. But you need a bit understanding of analog synths to program it.