Brendan Power

A few years ago, with expert help from London MIDI guru Tim Jacobs, I released the Mini PitchBender: a small 4-way joystick unit intended to add accurate pitch bending to the new Lekholm DM48 MIDI harmonica. It proved popular among DM48 owners, and all the initial batch sold out. In response to demand, in 2021 I partnered with Professor John Shirley of Massachusetts University Lowell to launch a new product called the miniMIDI-JOYstick (Patent Pending). Outwardly it looks similar to the original Mini PitchBender, but its capabilities go way beyond mere pitch-bending alone. It is now a user-programmable MIDI controller with 16 Presets - including pitch-bending, modulation, and many other kinds of expression. It can be fitted on virtually ANY musical instrument, whether acoustic or MIDI. That includes brass and woodwind instruments, bowed and plucked string instruments, percussion instruments, all kinds of harmonicas and accordions - and even vocal microphones! As long as it’s plugged into a MIDI-capable interface of some kind (eg. an iPhone), a huge array of expression can be added to enhance any audio or MIDI signal.

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

MINI PITCHBENDER and BLUESHARP MOUTHPIECE for MIDI HARMONICA

The Lekholm DM48 is a very impressive MIDI Harmonica, only released in 2017. As the first beta tester, I helped the inventor Erik Lekholm add extra tweaks to its amazing range of useful features, which you can see in this video. The DM48 has incredible functionality and expression, but two things about it make it less appealing to diatonic harp players: an inability to controllably bend notes, and a 12-hole chromatic-harmonica-size mouthpiece.

For my own playing and to help make the DM48 more user-friendly for all harp players, I decided to develop two add-on accessory parts to address these issues. Diatonic players are used to small 10-hole harps, so I designed a 10-hole mouthpiece with the same shape and close hole spacing as a blues harp - complete with real metal coverplates! It screws into the same sockets as the stock DM48 mouthpiece, and gives a familiar diatonic-size interface to the amazing new world of MIDI harmonica.

The Mini PitchBender was something I could not develop on my own; it required a partner with sophisticated electrical and MIDI knowledge. I found the perfect person on YouTube: London electronics guru Tim Jacobs (check out his website). We struck up an online friendship and worked hard together over several months, trying various approaches to this gnarly issue. The best approach turned out to be a mini joystick, which allows a player to bend notes accurately to 4 different pitches with small finger movements.

After a little practice I was able to use it to mimic the kinds of bends I do on harmonica, and discover more cool bends that are not possible on any normal harp! This pitch-bending control adds so much soul to the DM48, which for me greatly increases the playing pleasure of this amazing instrument. Combined with the Bluesharp Mouthpiece, the Mini PitchBender gives diatonic harp players the ability to play MIDI harmonica with a familiar interface and bending technique for the first time.

Hear for yourself: check out both accessories in the video!