AeroSynth Electric Wind Instrument

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Playing music is an activity enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. Studies have shown that playing music at any age can enhance the mind, improve social life, builds self-confidence, teaches patience and discipline, enhances creativity, reduces stress, and is a lot of fun.

Whether playing purely for enjoyment or professionally, learning to play well is often frustrating and physically challenging.

What is needed is a universal musical instrument that has familiar fingering, is versatile, expressive, portable, great sounding, connects to the internet, affordable, easy to play, and easy on the body. One such solution is a wind synthesizer, an electronic analog of a small wind instrument that is controlled by breath and fingering. AeroSynth is such a device.

AeroSynth is affordable with anticipated pricing start at around $100. It is far more expressive and easier to play than any other product of its kind. It is small, light weight (under 11oz), can be played without bothering others, can reproduce virtually any instrument, connects to a smartphone or tablet, has a disposable mouthpiece, and is user configurable. Breathing into AeroSynth takes little effort and doesn't leave the player "winded.” It sounds great no matter what instrument is selected whether it be a flute, oboe, trumpet, drums, guitar, strings, or thousands of other sounds.

Music education is a target market. AeroSynth is a fraction of the cost of traditional band instruments. The connectivity feature allows many people to participate in the joy of playing and learning music from anywhere in the world.

Technical Features:

Sound is generated by an advanced wave-table synthesizer. This is the same technology used in computers and professional synths. It uses small bits of a digital recordings to create the instrument. What makes AeroSynth special is that the signal processing is accomplished by a low power 32-bit processor. Sounds can be downloaded over the Internet or created by the user with available open-source software.

Fingering is similar to a standard woodwind instrument. The touch-sensitive keys are configurable to suit the end user so it's easy to emulate a saxophone, clarinet, flute or trumpet. Custom fingering is also supported. The bottom keys under the left thumb control up to a nine octave range. The right thumb controls a unique haptic 2-axis controller that can control pitch bend, vibrato, or dynamic filtering.

Breath is sensed using a sensitive pressure sensor resulting in a wide dynamic range and frequency response. The instrument responds to subtle breath output that allows for a variety of tremolo effects.

A built in 6-axis motion sensor provides additional user input and control.

AeroSynth connectivity features include BlueTooth Low Energy (BLE) to send and receive MIDI data, an analog line out jack, a headphone jack, and a USB jack. Instrument sounds and patches can be downloaded from a PC or hand held smartphone. It also supports firmware updates.

A rechargeable Li-Ion battery provides many hours of continuous use. AeroSynth also has a built-in speaker with volume control.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Brad Stewart
  • Type of entry:
    individual
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Brad is inspired by:
    Wanted an instrument that is easier to play than an oboe. Existing solutions are too expensive, bulky, and are not Internet friendly.
  • Software used for this entry:
    C and Javascript
  • Patent status:
    pending