midi saxophone

[flat5]

A friend who is a professional saxophonist and runs a woodwind repair shop wants to alter a saxophone to also produce a midi output. Not use a Lyricon or other electronic wind instrument.

He has no electronics background and has envisioned very small switches on all the "keys" and a piezo element on the neck just below the mouthpiece.

The switch signals would go to a micro controller to determine the note being played. The piezo sensor would determine when a note plays and how loud.

My thinking is the switching will be a nightmare to design and keep in regulation. Even finding suitable switches may be a big problem.

I have suggested using a dynamic microphone suspended and shock mounted over the bell of the sax and using a micro controller to do all the work.

Would a micro controller be fast enough determining the frequency and loudness of a note to do the job?
I'm not suggesting it will be that simple. There will be other problems.

Anyone have something to say? please?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Can't you just buy midi saxaphones?.

 

[flat5]

No, unless you know different. He does not want a toy or a midi synthesizer using a sax "keyboard".
He has good reasons for using a real playing saxophone but I can't go into those reasons.

First I would like to know if a micro controller can do what is required fast enough.

 

[john1]

WIND CONTROLLER FAQ (UPDATED)

 

[flat5]

How can I make it clearer? We don't want a synth. We have to adapt a saxophone.

Will a micro controller work fast enough if a conditioned analog signal is presented to it to output a midi signal pretty much right away?

 

[flat5]

I may have found a solution.
YouTube - Sonuus G2M (Guitar to MIDI Converter) Demo with Theremin, Mic, and Guitar - Sweetwater