Some players thankfully strive for more control. One synth that truly requires active participation is the Yamaha VL1. It’s loaded with realtime controllers, but no one should consider playing it without a breath controller. It came with a BC2, but Yamaha’s state-of-the-art model is the BC3a ($119.95). Experienced woodwind and brass players might forgo the keyboard entirely and control the VL1 — or its spinoff modules, the VL1-m or still-in-production VL70-m — with a wind controller such as Yamaha’s WX5, Akai EWI400s, or Steiner MIDI EVI.
According to Avery Burdette, a product manager who’s been with Yamaha for 19 years, the VL1 faced a challenging entry into the synthesis market. “It was expensive, it was duophonic, and it was released into a market where — for lack of a better term — ‘ROMplers’ were the rage. The VL1 is an instrument that actually — like its acoustic counterparts — requires some practice. You really have to develop some technique with the breath controller, three wheels, pedals, aftertouch, and realtime sliders to extract the maximum expressiveness from the technology.
“The rage at the time,” he continues, “was playing big eight-part layered presets in workstations where one note would make you sound glorious. Then you would walk over to the VL1, play one note, and it’s very much like picking up a clarinet for the first time. It isn’t in any way, shape, or form as rewarding as the big, huge sound you can get out of a ROMpler, and it was a really tough sell because of that.”
Adds devoted wind-controller player Matt Traum, who runs Patchman Music: “Physical modeling is currently the only acceptable way to synthesize realistic wind instrument sounds that are playable in real time and that can change in an instant depending on the player’s input. Those who perform and try to interact with a sampler or sample-playback module quickly hit the wall — even with the best and largest sample libraries that offer intricate crossfading and velocity-switching schemes. A physical modeling synth responds dynamically like an acoustic instrument.”
Not only is the VL1 tricky to play, but programming your own patches is extremely difficult. “The problem with programming sounds based on physical modeling is that timbre and pitch are interrelated,” Avery explains. “You can take a great sound and, by the time you tune it, the sound goes away. Or you can take a sound that’s in tune and if you want to modify the timbre, it will go completely in an untunable, unplayable direction.” Avery highly recommends the VL Programming Guide written by Manny Fernandez and available online at windsynth.org/iwsa labs/patch programming/prog techniques/VL1 Guide.
How does Avery respond to detractors who get upset because the VL tries to duplicate an acoustic sound so perfectly? “What I’ve always said is, ‘This is just another tool for musicians. It isn’t meant to replace acoustic instruments, it’s meant to be an option when the real instruments aren’t available, or to give that type of expressivity to a non-brass or non-woodwind player.’”