Linnstrument + TEC Breath Controller

[hariossa]

Hi, just wanted to say that it is an awesome combination. It adds even more natural expression to your playing, I have been using it with Serum and also the Grid in Bitwig and it works flawlessly. You can assign it to so many parameters! My favourite is in the Grid in Bitwig with just one Sine wave oscillator, assigned to wave skew and output level. With a saw wave you can assign it to filter drive, filter cut and output level and it gets really responsive, the dynamic range is huge!, with a Hammond organ patch you can control not only the volume but also the rotary speaker speed, well you get the picture...

If I remember well I believe I saw a picture of an early Linnstrument design that included a Breath Controller so I guess they belong together.

Cheers!

[Roger_Linn]

Hi hariossa,
Thanks for the information. Yes, one of my early renders included a wind controller but the problem was that almost no one wanted it. Except for wind players, nearly all preferred finger pressure to control loudness. The good news is that any LinnStrument player can add wind control by buying the TEC device.

[Tj Shredder]

The TEC is on my wishlist for a long time, I am sure I will get one...

[Reckon104]

I totally agree that it's a great combination. Personally, I have found that it feels much better to use the TEC with the LinnStrument than it does with a standard midi keyboard. Maybe the way touch is so much more connected with the Linnstrument somehow gives the wind controller a more organic feeling, whereas I found with midi keyboards it feels more like an "add on" even though you can get good results.

[hariossa]

Any Linnstrument+Bitwig users who also own a TEC Breath Controller here?, I would be happy to share my Grid patches if you want to try them.

[TigerBalm]

Sounds cool! Can you make a video or audio to show off what you do with it?

[Roger_Linn]

FYI, here are a couple of videos of LinnStrument + TEC wind controller:

1) Dino Soldo at 5:25 in "The LinnStrumentalists" compilation video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypHCxq9 ... dex=2&t=0s

2) Steven Barnard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f71YahM ... ex=19&t=0s

[John the Savage]

Yes, one of my early renders included a wind controller, but the problem was that almost no one wanted it...

That's a relief.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one NOT wanting to look like a member of Star Wars Cantina Band. Seriously, guys, you're gonna get yourselves stuffed in a locker. I know that might sound harsh, but I'm just looking out for y'all.

It's "Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll"... Remember? Let's make an effort. Think of the girls...

Cheers!

[waraukaeru]

It's "Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll"... Remember? Let's make an effort. Think of the girls...

What makes you think girls don't want someone that's good with their mouth? Or boys for that matter?

That said, maybe we want to be more inclusive here. It's not just a boys club. And if we're splitting hairs about what is just "too nerdy"... hooooooooooooooo...

[John the Savage]

Huh?

Okay, first of all, I was clearly joking. But thanks for turning that on its head.

Second of all, despite the overly-sensitive, politically-correct, all-inclusive, self-empowering, ironically ironic times that we're currently living in; I'm not interested in pouring over my every word to make sure that what I say is absolutely neutral, to the point of saying nothing at all, and guaranteed not to offend anyone, anywhere, now or in the future, or leave anyone out. God forbid someone draws a rainbow with too few colours in it these days. At any rate, this is a tech forum, not a rerun of Romper Room. Hell, Romper Room probably wouldn't pass the Millennial sniff-test either. Regardless, we're all adults here. No? Good. Moving on...

At the end of the day, if you've got a LinnStrument strapped to your chest and a breath controller in your mouth, and you're taking yourself too seriously, well... If you can't find the humour in that, I can't help you. It was funny. At least until you came along and presumed to make it about some ambiguous Non-binary LGBTQ+ thing.

Wait, does that even include nerds?

Cheers!

[hariossa]

I know you were not entirely serious in your post, I have read enough posts of yours to be able to catch your drift. But I've met musicians who are really afraid of looking silly or not having that "rocker image" (like when I strap my guitar very high and people say I look like Frank Gambale and need to start doing the Jane Fonda workout moves that he did in his lesson video). For those people I can only quote what the wise Allan Holdsworth had to say about it when he started playing the Synthaxe: "It's a struggle to play an instrument like that, but you have to deal with the limits of technology at any specific point in time. And that's the nature of instrumentation: instruments are, by definition, tools we use to perform the tasks, fix things or express ourselves. When I hear criticism for choosing the Synthaxe as my instrument, it makes me feel as though those people aren't relating to the music or the notes; they're only relating to something physical. They're hearing with their eyes".
And I agree with you, this world has turned overly imprisoned by "correctness", We have to practice more laughing, specially about ourselves.

[John the Savage]

Thank you, hariossa, I appreciate you reaching out with your understanding and your perspective on this, before the conversation gets out of hand, and for considering my other posts in the process. I've been an active member of this community (and other online forums) for a long time now. People know me. I like to think that I've been helpful and encouraging, more often than not, when asked for my opinions or my advice. I try to inspire people to be better musicians, because music has given me so much. I've also stood up to many a troll and bully around here, especially when they're picking on the more modest among us.

That said, admittedly, I am a rock'n'roll musician, not a preacher man; which is also to say that I'm a part-time comedian and a bit of a rogue. Hey, it's a living, and necessary for survival in this business. In all seriousness though, this job has taken me around the world. Along the way, I have met and entertained countless people of all walks of life, class, colour, creed, and sexual orientation. I consider it a blessing and a privilege. Life on the road has made me a pretty good judge of character, and helped me to develop a savvy sense of humour. Sufficed to say, I always try to choose my words carefully. Hence why the joke I made above was hinged on such an old cliché, as to not be misunderstood. To that end, I only lashed-out at waraukaeru because I think he/she did understand the sentiment of my joke, but chose to complicate the matter anyway.

That's not to say that I don't ever stick my foot in my mouth, and I'll be the first to cop to my edgy, somewhat peevish personality. Words are easy enough to misinterpret without the benefit of facial expressions and tone of voice, so it can be a gamble to crack a joke in mixed company online. But I don't see you guys as being particularly vulnerable when it comes to your aesthetic choices as musicians; quite the opposite really. So, I thought I'd take the liberty, and take advantage of Roger's words, to poke a little fun at the breath controller in the most PG-13 of ways. Hell, in a separate thread, a while back, I even gave Roger himself a ribbing over strapping the LinnStrument to his chest like a washboard... It got a laugh, as it should.

At any rate, I love you guys. Don't ever forget it. We're all geeks here, despite whatever disparities may exist between our respective jobs and lifestyles. Hey, if it's any consolation—amidst the hard-ass rockers that I drink with on a regular basis, I'm the nerd.

Cheers!

P.S. We experience this world with all of our senses. In essence, we do hear with our eyes, as much as we see with our ears, and taste what we smell. The bottom line is, what we see does matter. Now, with regards to how that pertains to the SynthAxe, well... Even the laymen can tell the difference between what is necessary for function (the shape of a saxophone for instance) versus what is purely a stylistic design choice, be it for the sake of novelty or personal whim. This is why we judge the SynthAxe (or the Keytar, or the likes) so harshly. Mr. Holdsworth surely understood this, and is only defending the choices of his inner-geek. We have to be honest with ourselves about these things, if we're to understand how we are perceived by others. That's not to say we have to be self-conscious about it, but... Why does Slash look cool with his guitar slung low? The answer to that question is undoubtably deeper than I care to dive here, but there's no denying that it's true.

[hariossa]

Well of course, but eyes belong to people and people have different tastes... anyway, I did worry about my look as a younger man, but right now I just care about the music. I know it does not work for a live situation not caring about the show, I learnt that once in the early 90's, I did an instrumental all originals gig alone with my guitar, rack of gear, an amp and my old trusty Atari 1040ST with a big fat black and white monitor, imagine how boring was that to look at.

[John the Savage]

An Atari 1040... Oh man, and here I won't even bring my phone onstage with me.

Cheers!

[Tj Shredder]

An Atari 1040... Oh man, and here I won't even bring my phone onstage with me.

Though its about 50000 times more powerful than the Atari...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerkay/2 ... -iphone-6/
Imagine 50000 Atari 1040 on stage... And some still use Ataris for their Midi stability...