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Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:14 am
by drumonica
Hi. With the Advent of Erik's DM48midi harmonica, heralded by Brendan recently,I hope that its OK for discussion here too... I'm very excited, even put my name on the order waiting list, but with not being able to try it personally I have reservations. Back up, updates, repairs, connections, etc. Already addressed and received rapid response personally from Erik, but guess it would be a good place to share here, perhaps. I am currently using android platform for cell and tablet use, the latter, at least, now due for renewal. Prior to doing so, I personally am keen to hear people's opinions regarding pros and cons of best platform, for future tablet, or phone for connecting to midi, synthsetc,suitability, reliability, size, operating needs, costs etc.Both items are major outlays and all prior consideration and sharing of views are surely helpful. Thanks Drumonica.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:48 am
by Brendan
Absolutely Chris! The DM48 perfectly fits the category of "Interesting Alternative Harmonica Ideas" :)

Good info on suitable platforms is in the DM48 manual:
http://www.lekholminstruments.com/DM48_Manual.pdf

I'm using the EwiReasonSounds Refills in the free demo version of Reason. They are fantastic.

BTW I'll have my DM48 with me at the Frankfurt Musikmesse on Friday/Saturday this week for anyone who wants to check it out.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:58 am
by jazmaan
My DM48 is on the way! I'm really looking forward to experimenting with various tunings on it. Hopefully it will be here within a week or two.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 2:14 am
by dblues
I used to play through a mic>midi>synth set up, but there were always some glitches when bending and playing more than one note at a time. This invention seems it will not have those problems as it is direct from pressure sensors. Very cool. One concern to me is that there are not any real sounding harmonica patches (that I am aware of). Using organ, bari sax and trombone sound patches are pretty neat though, as they sound pretty good. (At least back in the time I was using mic>midi>synth).

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:28 pm
by Brendan
Chis Hein has a chromatic harmonica MIDI patch set out:

https://www.bestservice.de/en/chris_hei ... onica.html

Erik Lekholm has tried it on the DM48, sounds good. Though to me the point of a MIDI harmonica is NOT to sound like a harmonica: I have plenty of traditional ones for that.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 2:06 am
by dblues
That patch is quite good. I also have many (too many possibly) harmonicas. I was mainly thinking about the ease of tuning changes and keys.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 10:56 pm
by jazmaan
Ok, I have my DM-48 in hand and working!

I set it up on my Windows PC using the recommended settings with Reason (demo) and Acoustic Electric Waves plug in.

My first impressions. Its well built, feels solid and not much different from a "real" chromatic in hand! That's good!

But so far, the thing is TOO easy to play - meaning that on a normal chromatic I can get away with a certain amount of geographical imprecision without having adjacent notes sound. But on this thing I have to be perfectly precise in my mouth placement while playing single note lines or I will accidentally sound adjacent notes. Even more of an issue is when I'm skipping holes to play a melody, unwanted in-between holes are sounding. I tried turning down the "sensitivity" control, but all that does is make everything quieter, it doesn't seem to stop those adjacent or in-between holes from sounding. Any ideas?

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 3:34 am
by jazmaan
So I tried setting up the DM48 with Presonus Studio One 3. Got it to register and it even shows it receiving midi controller information, but I can't get it to make any sound through any of the software synths plug-ins. :cry: My own inexperience at play here, but if anyone has an ideas, I'm all ears.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 2:54 pm
by Brendan
Set Solo Assist to 20, that will help with clear single notes.

Re: Midi harmonica dm48

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 4:11 pm
by jazmaan
After fooling around with "Solo Assist", "Response", "Sensitivity" and "Triggering" I'm getting closer to a more natural harmonica feel. Helps to read the manual. :>