Modulation Added to the Mini PitchBender for DM48

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Brendan
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Modulation Added to the Mini PitchBender for DM48

Post by Brendan » Sat Dec 23, 2017 4:38 pm

In association with electronics expert Tim Jacobs, I developed an add-on accessory for the brilliant Lekholm DM48 MIDI harmonica. Called the Mini PitchBender, it's a small 4 way toggle unit that gives you controlled bending. There were 4 bends programmed in, but I found I wasn't using he up-bend at all - only the down bends.

I asked Tim to swap it for something really useful: Modulation (the MIDI technical term for Vibrato). Now you can get modulation/vibrato at any breath level on the DM48, incuding very quiet notes. You can hear the sound in this demonstration video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghbIGLRoDTA&t=8s

There is also a description of an online Calibration Tool that Tim has created to fine tune the Mini Pitchbender, and even make it work in different ways. For example, to get bigger bend ranges, change the bend directions, or swap Modulation for some other MIDI effect. You can see his extensive notes on the Calibration Tool plus the fascinating history and electronics behind our Mini PitchBender project here:

https://mitxela.com/projects/tiny_joystick

Happy Christmas everyone!

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