Eddie Davis
Electric Wind Music
The Yamaha WX5
Electric Trumpet, Saxophone, Bass, Flute, Trombone, Violin, & virtually ANY other Instrument made or imagined.
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Here's a little history and a brief description of this dream instrument I play and some of the equipment I use to make my music. If you just want to hear the tunes scroll down.
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In early 2005, after many years away from playing music, and while searching the internet for a good keyboard, I read about something I'd never heard of called a "breath controller" that could be used on specially equipped keyboards to allow your breath to control volume while playing. This intrigued me and I began a new internet search for more information about it. That search led me to discover an even more amazing marvel of technology - the electric wind instrument. There are several different models currently available. Yamaha's version of the instrument is called the WX5 wind controller and for various reasons is the one I decided to pursue. I bought it and was instantly hooked.
That was 4 years ago and after struggling through a few brief periods of frustration I now play every day. Most days I'll play hours and hours at a time. The frustration I went through was mostly due to having to learn the saxophone fingering system. I learned to play trumpet back in school so that was the only wind instrument I'd ever played and three valves have very little in common with saxophone keys. I struggled with it for about the first two years and would play for a month or two then not play for six months. On again off again was the way it was for those first couple of years until I finally "got serious" about it and committed myself to daily practice around November 2007.
Since then I've developed many techniques to make my instrument sounds as realistic as possible. I'm primarily focused on playing Trumpet and Saxophone but I've dabbled with many other instruments and they're all so much fun to play and I still can hardly believe I get to play them all with this one instrument. Basically the notes are fingered the same but the playing characteristics are very different for each instrument. The saxophone voice I'm currently playing is such a soothing, relaxing saxophone sound and the trumpet sound I have spent literally hundreds of hours adjusting "just right" is just so saweeeeeet! I used to pride myself on having a very clean but full, rich trumpet tone but I honestly believe I get a much better trumpet sound now than I ever did with my "real" trumpet. This is of course a matter of personal preference but listen to some of the songs below and judge for yourself.
All of the songs below are played on my Yamaha WX5 and a special Yamaha tone generator. I have modified my WX5 in many ways to suit my needs. I've added a large right thumb hook to make it much more stable while playing, spring tension tabs to the keys to give them better force feedback, and a small button on one key to raise it slightly which facilitates special fingering combinations I developed for easier playing. Internally I've removed a small piece inside the mouthpiece which I believe gives much more precise and better control of tonguing as well as a fuller, richer sound across the entire note range.
One thing that used to really annoy me was the appearance of the instrument. Fresh from the factory, right out of the box it just doesn't look to me like the professional musical instrument that it truly is...
so I invented a skin kit which I make in a variety of colors, complete with silver mirror key strips and hand painted pearl finger button decals to make it look better (shameless plug warning - see the main page where I sell them HERE). This gives it a much more traditional instrument appearance. Here's what mine looks like now...
Now more about the tone generator I use. It's a Yamaha VL70-m Virtual Acoustic Tone Generator. Here is what it looks like...
The unique thing about the VL70-m is the way it produces the sound as you play. It doesn't use pre-recorded sounds of instruments being played by other people as many other tone generators do. It actually creates the sound LIVE as you play. It does this by utilizing actual physical models of each instrument to calculate a very precise and extremely realistic sound which changes constantly as you play. It responds to breath pressure, reed pressure (embouchure with which you control up and down pitch bending as well as vibrato), and of course the fingering combination of keys. The control parameters it offers are outstanding and make the sound of the instruments very natural and extremely unique to each individual player when you take the time to customize them. Among the hundreds of editable parameters are Pressure, Embouchure, Tonguing, Amplitude, Scream, Breath Noise, Growl, Throat Formant, Various filters specific to each instrument, Harmonic enhancer, Damping, and Absorption.
The VL70-m is amazing in it's factory configuration but takes on an even greater realism when the professionally programmed Patchman Music TURBO VL Upgrade chip for the Yamaha VL70-m is added. I have it in mine and it makes a huge difference.
In conjunction with the WX5 and VL70-m combination I use a Technics SH-8066 programmable stereo equalizer and an Alesis Wedge reverb unit to further shape my sound. I add no software effects during or after recording and always record audio only, no midi. Most of the songs here I play along with professional backing tracks I have purchased. I also make some of the backing tracks from midi files which I edit out the melody from, adjust the key, instruments, and tempo to my liking then save them as mp3's and import into my recording software which is an old version of Cool Edit Pro.
The first files listed below are a couple of my original compositions. I've just recently started recording some of my original songs (after much procrastination) and have several more "in process" right now as well. I'll also be posting them here when they're ready.
I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoy playing them! Feel free to e-mail me at
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Original Compositions
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These are my original instrumental songs. I wrote all parts, play the melody, harmony, and solos with Saxophone and Trumpet as well as the bass, flute, and a few other instruments here and there, all on The WX5. The rhythm, strings, synthesizer, and several percussion parts I play on a Yamaha DGX-500 keyboard.
Someday We're Gonna' Find A way
If I Could Hold You (For A Minute)
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Saxophone
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Variety...
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
Killing Me Softly With His Song
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Trumpet
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Variety...
February 2009 update...
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
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Classical...
February 2009 update...
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Bach
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Gospel...
February 2009 update...
'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus
All Creatures Of Our God And King
All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
Brethren, We Have Met To Worship
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
I Stand Amazed In The Presence
Jesus Shall Reign Where'er Sun
Praise To The Lord, The Almighty
Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us
We Have Heard The Joyful Sound
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
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Classical...
Ditterdorf - Tournament of Temperaments 1 The Melancholic
Ditterdorf - Tournament of Temperaments 2 The Humble
Ditterdorf - Tournament of Temperaments 3 The Gentle
Donizetti - Una furtiva lagrima
Jupiter (from The Planets Suite)
New World Symphony, 2nd Movement - Dvorak
O For The Wings Of A Dove - Mendelssohn
Pathetique Symphony, 1st Movement - Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3, 3rd Movement - Brahms
Symphony No. 5, 2nd Movement - Beethoven
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Classical - Trumpet & Organ
Charpentier - Prelude to Te Deum
Stanley - Voluntary from Suite No. 1
Handel - Hornpipe from The Water Music
Handel - Air from The Water Music
Handel - Let The Bright Seraphim
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Variety...
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Christmas Tunes for 2008...
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
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Folk Carol Suite 1 - O Du Froliche_Echo Carol
Folk Carol Suite 2 - Noel Nouvelet
Folk Carol Suite 3 - Masters in this Hall
Folk Carol Suite 4 - Coventry Carol
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Believe (from The Polar Express)
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
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Karaoke
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If you made it this far here's a bonus. Me singing! Ha! I've never really thought my voice is much for singing but I really enjoy singing as well so here's one that isn't too awfully bad.
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