Products of Interest

Morrison Digital Trumpet MIDI Wind Controller

The Morrison Digital Trumpet (MDT) from Marshall Instruments is a MIDI wind controller designed with the shape and playing style of a trumpet in mind. It provides beginners with the ability to easily play across the full range of the instrument, and offers extended techniques to experienced players.

The MDT is designed in the shape of a trumpet, using similar hand positions to a trumpet, using standard valve movement for notes, and with a normal trumpet mouthpiece (see Figure 1). It also features a number of extra controls to extend the note range and playing techniques of a regular trumpet. The mouthpiece of the MDT uses a piezo pressure transducer to detect changes in air pressure, so that the volume of the sound is linked to how hard the user blows. Unlike a normal trumpet, the player does not have to "buzz" or use a tight lip embouchure for jumping octaves. This means that perfect pitches can be played for extended periods across all notes in the ten-octave range. The Breath Sensor can be used to control any combination of Breath, Volume, Expression, or Channel After-touch.

The three valves provide the same note fingerings as on a standard trumpet, and buttons controlled by the left hand change the register. The MDT trumpet valve mechanism is built to avoid the maintenance usually associated with such parts on a standard trumpet. The stainless steel shafts fit into an Acetal block, which is frictionless and does not need lubrication, and the position sensing is done by light sensing to avoid the use of additional moving parts.

Figure 1.

Morrison digital trumpet MIDI wind controller.

The MDT is mainly supported by the left hand while each finger on the right hand has an associated position and controller. The little finger of the right hand fits beneath a hook and has access to a button which can be used to control trills, sustain, and MIDI controller switches. The right hand thumb is positioned in a hole in the instrument that gives it access to three controllers. These are programmed as vibrato, and pitch bend up and down, but can be set to any controllers the user wishes. These four controllers of the right hand allow for various kinds of expression to be added to the bare notes produced by using the valves alone. The pitch bend levers use rare earth magnets to give a smooth torque feedback. All settings can be saved and reloaded from memory.

Ten buttons are available for changing the register of the instrument using the left hand. These do not have to be held down as the last selection is remembered. Eight of these buttons control a range of four octaves with the C and G from each octave available for selection. The player then uses the valves to play the chromatic notes. A further two buttons for octave up and down are provided to enable the player to have access to a range of ten octaves in total. A number of LEDs are located on the bell of the instrument to indicate the current octave and volume.

A 12 × 2 backlit LCD screen is available for use with the Edit mode of the MDT. An advanced Expert Mode of editing is available for detailed programming of the instrument. A MIDI Out connection is used to transmit MIDI on channels 1–16. The instrument measures 506 × 180 × 45 mm and weighs just 950 g. A dedicated power supply and aluminum case is included.

A range of performance and tutorial videos, audio examples, and images of the MDT are available from the Marshall Morrison Web site.

The MDT is listed for US$ 2,495. Contact: Marshall Morrison Instruments Pty. Ltd., 4 George Street, Belmount, New South Wales 2280, Australia; telephone (+61) 249-450 495; fax (+61) 249-450-495; Web www.morrisondigitaltrumpet.com/. In North America, contact: Patchman Music, 1600 Saint Charles Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio 44107, USA; telephone (+1) 216-221-8282; electronic mail matt@patchmanmusic.com; Web www.patchmanmusic.com/.

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