Trumpet MIDI Controller Blows, In A Good Way

Instruments where you are required to blow surprisingly strongly into one end have always entertained me, so it's with curiosity that I look at Thomas Craig and Bradley Factor's Trumpet MIDI Controller.  Built as part of a Cornell University project, the device allows trumpeters to control either musical input from the trumpet itself, or control other devices such as synthesizers, by natural playing.

"Our primary goal is to create a functional MIDI controller that unlike the MDT and the EZ-TP can be played the same as a typical trumpet. This means that it must be capable of playing every note within the standard range of a trumpet based on the same user inputs given to a normal trumpet" Design brief

It's not so easy as sticking a microphone in the end, though.  Craig and Factor needed to take into account lip movement, resonance between the mouthpiece and the rest of the instrument, and other factors.  They've ended up with a combination of a Yamaha Silent Brass pickup mute together with custom-designed software and hardware.

Although it shows some latency and the occasional note glitch, the controller does recognise every input to the trumpet itself – including the keys – and pass that as pure MIDI data to the computer.  More information, and sample files, at the project site.