Most synthesizers are built to be played by a keyboard instrument, with the shape and volume of the note determined by an envelope and velocity. Wind controllers are built to replicate the playing style of wind instruments, and therefore have to control the note volume in a fundamentally different way. Unfortunately, some synths have a hard time handling the MIDI breath data that wind controllers output. If a wind controller is plugged into a synth with no programming done, it will sound clunky and inexpressive because it is still playing a patch designed for a keyboard. However, once a synth is adjusted to use MIDI breath data in the right way, it can sound extremely expressive and authentic.
I usually prefer dedicated software synths over the built in sounds that most wind controllers come with. Soft synths are more powerful and versatile, as they rely on a computer’s processing power instead of the wind controller’s. They also allow the user to see and edit every parameter of the synth on a screen. Many wind controller players want to plug a sound source right into the instrument with nothing else in between; this makes the portability of wind controllers attractive. These days however, laptops are capable of handling just about any sort of MIDI processing needed by soft synths. I believe the added benefit of using external synths is well worth the small price in portability. My standard setup these days is Akai EWI and Behringer FCB 1010 MIDI pedalboard connected to my laptop by MIDI - USB cables, and Laptop into an audio interface or sound source.
Some of my favorite soft synths to use with the Akai EWI are Native Instruments “Massive” and “Kontakt.” I often want to recreate acoustic sounds, especially when playing film scores with Synth Dinner Theatre. For this, Kontakt is a powerful and flexible sampler that allows me to adjust samples to respond to a wind controller. The stock Kontakt samples can be turned into realistic wind controller patches with the right adjustments. For most other synth sounds, Massive is more than capable. Sometimes the most interesting sounds and textures are a matter of fine tuning the response and/or layering multiple patches in a unique way instead of just getting the latest new software. That being said, there are many excellent synths out there that deserve to be tried with wind controllers, and more are coming out every year.
I teach lessons on various aspects of wind controller playing, including Patch adjusting / sound design, technique, and Logic Environment programming.
