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haha. I mean exactly what I wrote. Typically, you would take an acoustic electric guitar and plug it into an amp the way you would an electric guitar. But if you want to record your guitar sounds into your computer, you would plug your 1/4in cable from the guitar into a piece of hardware called an audio interface (some people like to use the term "sound card") and on the other end, connect the audio interface to your computer using a usb cable. The signal sent in the guitar-audio interface-computer chain is picked up by the software you use on your computer which we call a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Your DAW will allow you to record the guitar sound at source hence the sound is as close to the guitar soundboard as it gets. So no, in this instance, I am not using an external mike. Now what else is interesting is within your DAW you can host a plugin called Midiguitar 2 www.jamorigin.com/ (the version 3 is soon to be released). Midiguitar 2/3 is a piece of software that takes the signal from the acoustic guitar audio can converts it into MIDI. And because it is MIDI, you can play your guitar like a guitar but it could sound like a piano, a harp, a trumpet, drums, or any other sound you want to play! That's the magic of new developments in music tech! Hope that explanation helps!

@@calvinchong8740 OK, that's a critical clarification - acoustic electric, not acoustic guitar.

@@sasha42196 It's one of those things in life. In some circles, there is really no need to explain beyond what I wrote because it is totally understood by readers. For some other audiences, you need to be more precise and explain with more words. Happy to do that when necessary!

If you accidentally pressed the reset button, then just power off and on again. It will take you straight to the language options. By default it will be in Chinese, but if you press either the + or - buttons on the right middle of the instrument, you will get English. Press the magic button twice and you should be back to English menu. To connect with any DAW via bluetooth, first turn on BLE midi on your R1. czcams.com/video/1HetUsB5dug/video.html After that, you need to search for "Audio Midi Setup" on you Mac and launch it. Once it is launched, go to the top right side and look for the bluetooth symbol and click on it. On the drop down menu, you should see ROBKOO R1-xxxx. Select it and you should be connected. Instead of tenor sax on your R1 menu, you will see 001 or some other number depending on if you press any of the buttons. You then launch Logic and use it with whatever sounds you have there. Native Logic sounds probably won't be the best ones to use for R1. You should consider getting SWAM instruments (which can be stand alone without Logic or you can load them as patches in Logic). Otherwise Bernie Kenerson's Instant EWI Pro for Logic Pro X might be an option. berniekenerson.com/instant-ewi Davidson Carpenter's plugins Eviner, or lyrihorn 1/2 are also great as is Respiro by Rudy Verpaele www.imoxplus.com/site/. You need to play it as a virtual instrument in Logic. My fav would be the SWAM instruments by Audiomodeling though. audiomodeling.com/ Hope that helps.

@@gogyoreol I think you probably need to check the manual for your midi guitar or ask users of the specific midi guitar you use. This here is not a “proper” midi guitar. It’s a Rockband guitar hack and doesn’t have fine control adjustment.

I was using my M1 for the demo. You can load SWAM instruments as a plugin in Garageband on Mac but you can also play them standalone too. You can also play SWAM instruments stand alone on your ipad or iphone but I think you can't load plugins in Garageband iPad. Here's the link to Audiomodeling SWAM site where you can make purchases audiomodeling.com/swam-solo-instruments/. If you are in education, write to them - you can get 50% off audiomodeling.com/category/education/

@@calvinchong8740 thanks for your guides So, it's meaning we can install swam on MacOS (.dmg software) 🤩

@@tsmusics1 YES!!!! Garageband is a digital audio workstation (DAW). Ableton, Logic Pro, Reaper, Presonus, Cubase, Cakewalk etc. are all digital audio workstations. You can load SWAM instruments as a plugin in any DAW but you can also load it independent of DAWS. That's how I use it most of the time. I only use it in Mainstage if I to play many instruments in the same song - then I can do a quick switch from one instrument to another using a footswitch!

@@calvinchong8740 just to provide some clarity on this, you absolutely can load SWAM plug-ins into iPadOS GarageBand! Just bought my SWAM Big Band Pack today ❤️

@@lukebarnes0511 O, I didn't know you could load SWAM plugins in iPadOS.

Haha. Thank you kindly!

Great - you probably noticed Respiro as one of my recently used plugins as I was selecting SWAM Oboe! 😊

Thank you - I'll let him know!

Yes, I love my R1 alot. SWAM is a great partner! You don't need to load SWAM in GarageBand. You can use SWAM instruments independent of GarageBand - just connect your midi windcontroller directly to your SWAM instrument!

like yourself, i have been a wx-5 player for many years. i also owned & played a Lyricon 2 for many years before that.@@calvinchong8740

As you can see, I am using an acoustic guitar but getting midi sounds as output is where it becomes interesting because you can play the most unexpected sounds. There is value if you need a certain sound but don't play keyboard for example. I don't quite get what you mean by "why use a hard instrument to play"? Do you mean playing guitar is hard? If so, it is hard for keyboard players who don't play guitar but it's obviously natural and easy for guitar players to play guitar!

@@calvinchong8740 By "hard" he meant a "solid" guitar, which is what you said midiguitar recommended... But when you mentioned that an electric or silent guitar is better, you probably meant to say that it is better to connect it with a direct cable line (from pickup), rather than from a mic... Or doesn't acoustic pickups work as well as electric pickups with midiguitar2 either? ...

Yes the housing is made of plastic. Its one of the lightest midi windcontrollers I’ve held which you will appreciate after playing your instrument for some time. The aodyo sylphyo is another very light high performance plastic instrument. I’ve had my R1 for over a year already. Still looks pretty good. It has a matt finish which doesn’t scratch easily. Robkoo is now kickstarter launching their new Clarii which is even smaller than the R1. I’ve ordered mine but don’t hv actual playing experience on it to make comments. My guess is it’s a smaller version but still big on features like it’s big brother.

@@calvinchong8740 Thank you kindly for your reply! 🤗

O I wish I could help you better but I'm not very familiar with the WX5. It was a gift from someone but I passed it back to him as I was persuaded that I wasn't going to use it much. I remember there was a rubber cover on the WX5. Underneath that are some manual settings you can play with (p6 in the manual) mybreathmymusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Yamaha-WX5-Manual-English.pdf . I think if you follow the instructions on p22, you might be able to make some adjustments and hopefully address the issue. Best wishes. O by the way, are you using SWAM on your computer or on iPad? In SWAM, you have your midi mapping presets which have all the current major windcontrollers. So in my case, I just select Robkoo and everything works just fine. Unfortunately, they don't have a WX-5 there. I think you just have to select the generic Wind Controller default as the preset (just my guess).

Hello Patrick. You would know from my videos that I do have access to the VL70 with the Patchman patches installed. I've actually moved away from relying on external hardware soundbanks because of the advances on the software side. My opinion is that software is much more affordable but more importantly, more responsive allowing for more authentic expression in music making. It's not so much which DAW is better because I find DAWS sounds quite unnatural. For orchestral sounds, my best pick would be Audiomodeling's SWAM instruments which allow you to play really nice expressive winds, brass, and string instruments. My absolute fav among them would be the English Horn, Oboe, and Cello sounds. (incidentally, their summer sale ends August 2023 audiomodeling.com/) For more experimental synth type sounds, I would go for Rudy Verpaele's Respiro www.imoxplus.com/site/ or Davidson Carpenter's Evi-Ner or Lyrihorn 2 www.davidsonaudioandmultimedia.com/ All these use physical modeling which allows more dynamics and expression over samples and midi. Note that they can be used as plugins in most DAWs (hence my comment about it not being the DAW that matters since the DAW only serves as host). SWAM and Respiro are also standalone so you just connect directly to your windcontroller either via BLE-midi or with a USB-C to USB-C (or A depending on your computer) cable. SWAM also has their full range of sounds in iPad for much lower price and Respiro has an app you can download for free (they only have a limited number of sounds and parameters can't be played around like the computer version). Again, these need to be connected via BLE-midi if you are using the WX-5 (see below) Of course, the old yamaha windcontrollers only have 5 pin midi ports. To overcome that, you can connect your WX5 to these sounds using the CME widi master which helps older instruments to bypass cable compatibility issues. If you really want to stick to hardware soundbanks like the VL-70, I hear good things about Ingo Scherzinger's Xpresso soundbanks. Alot more expression involved in the newer hardware which makes playing more pleasurable. www.dynasample.com/ Hope that helps!

Guess you liked the kungfu swordfight scene! I use this for my R1 shopee.sg/Promotion-Foldable-Digital-Wind-Instrument-Stand-Adjustable-Metal-Aerophone-Holder-Musical-Instrument-Stand-i.261596770.19135174636?xptdk=2e5bc2a6-63ff-4aea-b24e-324573a9c978

Yes, they have a campaign to launch the little Clarii Mini. I was just chatting with one of the guys from Robkoo about it. I'm planning to get one. It's a smaller version of the R1 and even though I haven't seen the specs, it looks similar with some firmware upgrades. They have upgraded the R1 firmware for the Chinese domestic market but haven't upgraded for the International market yet. I expect there will be a few new cool sounds and tilt and roll midi triggers in the upgrades. Check out the CZcams link and the links in the description. Mind you - i wish they wouldn't do those shiny gold/silver trims - too much blink for musicians who want to focus on the music! czcams.com/video/QqGfWqGmUsw/video.html

@@calvinchong8740 I did hear back from RobKoo today. I am not sure why I was so weirded out with them asking for my credit card info this time. I think I fell for a couple of sales scams on Facebook so now I am questioning a little more these days. Since they now have a movable thumb hook I wonder if they will produce a new physical version of the R1. Thanks for checking. Kickstarter is schedule for launch in a few days so maybe more technical information will be available.

Hmmmm. If you want to get the sound out of the 1/4" jack, you could use a 1/4in wireless transmitter like the ones we use to substitute 1/4 in guitar cables. One end to the R1 and the other end to the amplified or even your audio interface if you are recording on your computer. I'm curious why you would want to hv a 1/4in bluetooth connection? Blue tooth audio one form or another is very prone to latency!

@@calvinchong8740 Thanks Calvin. I'm aware of potential latency issues, but I watched another YT video in which a BT transmitter was being used on a Robkoo R1, and I wondered if it was indeed possible to have such a setup. Unfortunately, the video was in Vietnamese, so I couldn't understand what he was saying about the transmitter. Here is the link where he demonstrates the transmitter at about the 9:30 mark. Thanks again. Tim. czcams.com/video/l0bsUuEz7y4/video.html

@@user-ml9pd6ct7l Ah, thanks for that reference. I know Viet - we chat alot and I even did a Zoom session with him and his team. We somehow manage to communicate using Google translate or live translators! haha. What he demonstrates is what I was referring to earlier. It's NOT a bluetooth transmitter/receiver. It's a wireless transmitter/receiver that guitarists use a lot. I've seen a people use that in live concerts with confidence (well - just keep in range). The latency on that is not very noticeable. You could get the same effect with a 1/4" guitar cable but wireless is nice. The transmitter/receiver can be very inexpensive depending on what you get. If you do an Amazon search like I did, you will find many options. Perhaps search for reviews to find which one works for you. www.amazon.com/s?k=wireless+guitar+transmitter&crid=CQNZIZ792QCZ&sprefix=wireless+guitar+transmitt%2Caps%2C638&ref=nb_sb_noss_2. I personally own this. It works fine for me, but you do your own research and find something that fits you. www.amazon.com/LEKATO-Wireless-Transmitter-Receiver-Rechargeable/dp/B08MF7Q9RW/ref=sr_1_24?crid=CQNZIZ792QCZ&keywords=wireless+guitar+transmitter&qid=1689864069&sprefix=wireless+guitar+transmitt%2Caps%2C638&sr=8-24

@@calvinchong8740 Hi Calvin, I ordered the Robkoo R1 and the Swiff WS-50 transmitter. Can't wait to get started! Thanks for your help -- keep featuring the R1 in your videos, please!

@@user-ml9pd6ct7l Best wishes! I've been a little busy with work so haven't posted much but I play it daily. I mainly use it as a windcontroller with SWAM instruments from Audiomodeling. audiomodeling.com/ It's an extra expense but I get really lovely orchestral sounds which allow so much expression played through the R1 or any other windcontroller! I use other sounds too but the SWAM instruments are my daily go to!

Hi - there are two keys on the left side for sharps and flats. That’s one way besides crossfingering. Techinically, you can use any fingering you are most familiar with and work with those parameters. You can find the user manual and fingering charts here store.robkoo.com/pages/support

Thanks for your kind words. I wonder if you can ask the Robkoo folk about Jamkoo? I don’t use it at all except to update firmware. I use the R1 purely as a windcontroller paired with sounds from iPad or my Mac. Sorry I’m just not knowledgeable enough to guide you through your questions. What fingering are you trying to customize? I would like to have the Chinese xiao fingering but the R1 doesn’t have a back hole sensor like the Warbl windcontroller does. Not sure how to overcoming that…

Ah! Thank you so much for your reply. May I ask what’s your age , because you look so cheerful and so lively and I can sense the child in you is still intact in this maddening world. By the time you replied , I figured out the custom fingering option. But still the master tuning I am not able to figure out. Do you know anyone from Robkoo who I can write to ? Or do they have a helpdesk mail id? Also could you pls guide me on what best sound banks like swam are available for robkoo apart from their custom sounds. I am much younger to you and I am inspired by your simplicity, modesty and liveliness at your age😊regards

@@sarahasaraha1057 You can write to them here store.robkoo.com/pages/support They would be the best people to help you with your answers. Best wishes!

I don’t notice it much when I play but if you’re playing in a live set, you should use a wired set up. I think most of the pros do it that way.

hi, I'm not sure. I've never done it before because I use the R1 purely as a midi controller. I don't use the onboard sounds at all. I know they have an app called Jamkoo which you can download for free here. www.robkoo.com/en/jamkoo-en You will need the Jamkoo app to update your firmware etc anyways so it's good to get it. You might be able to add your sounds from you computer to the R1 using the Jamkoo. I think best to reach out to the developers to ask them if you need a definitive answer.

I’ve considered tuning it to DADGAD. Need to find time to experiment. I think it should be ok with finger style. Strumming can be more challenging for the guitar in any tuning.

The magic is in the sounds you use!

There ought to be a law about what products can be sold to what people, LOL!!! Actually the Jamstik is a guitar. It just seems the MIDI is more integrated and part of the instruments design. Well at least you have some guitar playing background. It seems like a very good instrument. Just curious whether you had already committed to getting this model before knowing about of the new one? Enjoy!!! - fellow R1 owner

@@rjones1357 haha. I’m trying out as many sounds as I can to see what works well with my playing style. There are many great sounds that work well with finger style playing but the challenge is to find great strumming realistic plugins. Coming from an acoustic guitar background, I don’t have too much love for electric guitars and their sounds. Hence my love for a more mellow gentle sound that caresses the soul. It’s similar to my fav instruments for the R1. I love the SWAM double reeds and cello and play ballads and popera with them. The JS studio was always my choice. I like small guitars because I have short fingers. It fits me better and IMHO looks better than the new one. The NAMM show offered 20% off! 😄

Hello, the connection is via midi cable so it should be quite stable. The other factor is that the Warbl uses light sensors which I think is quite sensitive. The last factor would be the sample rate of the app you are using. These would factors affecting latency. Having said that, i'm more a ballads player so I wouldn't be able to answer from any experience playing fast songs. I rarely play the Warbl these days - have switched over to other windcontrollers

@@calvinchong8740 could you recommend me some superior wind midis? Im a tin whistle player

And thank you so much for the reply

@@a-fox1394 Hello, hello. I started off as a whistle player too. Can totally sympathize because many in the wind controller community come from strong sax backgrounds or have grown up using keyed wind instruments. For that reason, their recommendations are very good for musicians from that background, less suitable for those who come from traditional ethnic flutes background. From trying out several, I would say go for either the Aodyo Sylphyo or the Robkoo R1. They are very easy to adapt if you come from a tinwhistle background. Because the instruments allow you to transpose keys, you can play just one wind controller to cover all keys - unlike the traditional diatonic whistle where you have to buy different whistles to cover the range. With the same instrument, you can play high D or or low D whistle and any other key/octave. You can also play many different instruments. Plus, your instrument is always in tune! Aodyo Sylphyo is really nice but the price is a little steep and the display is really small. My current fav is the Robkoo R1. I've made several videos of the R1. They are a relatively new company but I've played it for almost a year now and really love it. More info about my fav two picks here. Aodyo Sylphyo aodyo.com/sylphyo/ Robkoo R1 www.robkoo.com/en/?fbclid=IwAR0WvAjWRyF3XDUODEBOwGSUFNKnB5xpkhAZYVlqaLVFmNwYzotigEtUA3

@@calvinchong8740 thank you sir~~~

Great question. The R1 is a midi windcontroller. It stands in a line of many other windcontrollers and as a general answer to your question, yes, windcontrollers are serious instruments which you can use in public performances. I think the general rule for performance is to use the wired connections rather than the bluetooth over midi (BLE) wireless connections. That would eliminate connection drop off issues. You can use it as a solo performance instrument, in a band, or in my case, to make home studio videos. My videos focus more on introductions and helps on how to set up and to pair the R1 with your computer/ipad/iphone patches. Hope that answer helps!

Best wishes on your learning/playing journey. I don't think you'll regret it. It has become my favourite windcontroller now!

Thank you. I'm discovering stuff from other CZcams posts and experimenting for myself! It would be nice to get a nice midi guitar like the Jamstik Studio but this is a much cheaper way of getting a similar thing done!

No, I believe you have to purchase it. I vaguely remember seeing a $40 price tag to it!

@@calvinchong8740 Okay, not bad. Thanks

Maybe this will address the gurgling effect I sometimes get when playing the R1.

@@rjones1357 Would that be the gurgling sound of liquid? If so, I get that too - just need to put some tissue at the end of the spithole and blow it out! Now you got me curious if the gurgling is from the top end or the middle/bottom end...

@@calvinchong8740 If I remember correctly it seemed like it was effecting the top part of the instrument. I need to play with it some more.

Yes yes. I am a tinwhistle player and use the Whistle+ fingering. The most recent firmware updates have five fingering options: Whistle+, Sax, Hulusi (a Chinese instrument), dizi (a Chinese bamboo flute - similar to the whistle except that the root note begins with the fourth note), and the EVI+. Press the two buttons below the thumb rest, scroll through the menu screen till you get to "Advanced." Press the top button once, then scroll till you find "Fingering mode." Press the top button once again, and you will get your fingering options. Select Whistle+ and you're in tinwhistle finger! Hope that helps!

yes. You can adjust both breath and finger (or key) sensitivity. Press the two buttons above your on/off button at the same time and you will get "Volume". Scroll up or down to get to "Advanced" and then press the magic button (the top of the two buttons) once. You will see "Patch Bank". Scroll down once and you will get "Key sens". Press once and you have 1-8. That's where you adjust for finger sensitivity. I think 1 is least sensitive and 8 is most sensitive. Select the number of choice, press once to save.

Really appreciate your immediate reply Calvin. Now Im excited to have my R1 Robkoo:) Thanks again

czcams.com/video/dzOHq5WbQ8k/video.html

doctor emoto. very important you know 👍🏻

Haha. I’m not a big fan of too much reverb. There is a certain purity in double reed instruments which is better preserved with less applied reverb/echo/delay effects. But I totally agree that reverb with NAFs make them sound nicer. I’m not sure how you are using the term harmonics/overtones. It’s quite a different thing from reverb. You can’t do that with electronic instruments the way you can with acoustic instruments. I’m playing a midi windcontroller here.

@@calvinchong8740 not familiar with these terms....use them in a loose way...all I appreciate is the impact to listening pleasure and therefore lean towards echos/reverb/overtones/bass

@@calvinchong8740 dude . young man. have you seen the works of doctor emoto . ?

@@kahwahtan2420 ya. A lot of it comes down to taste. Some like their food salty and some prefer without salt. My position is a little salt is good. That works well for me!

Ya, I've tried it. Maybe I'm missing something but i can't get the control I want with that pairing. I'm not too fond of motion control for vibrato too. Too much effort and not very subtle!

Please can you do a video on Robkoo R1 mapping with SWAM? I wanto know how to use contol expressions and Growl from R1 and how to change what controls vibrato

Yes, I have been learning how to get a more natural vibrato and listening to lots of sounds to pick ones that sound nice!

Thanks KW. Not so difficult to set up if you have someone to guide you and if you practice. It's interesting that the person who created the Respiro sounds reached out to me to leave me tips on how to improve the sound! So grateful for that kind gesture.

@@calvinchong8740 That cuts out a lot of learn/experiencing time....great

You would need an Apple Camera Kit to connect the Warbl to the ipad via USB. But you can easily connect a 3.5mm jack to your ipad which has on the other end of the cable a 1/4 inch jack and then plug that into your amplifier or your audio interface. Like this www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Bidirectional-Theater-Devices-Amplifiers-Red/dp/B081H317LH/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3ILOAM0N67B1A&keywords=3.5mm+to+1%2F4+cable&qid=1665155008&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjQ2IiwicXNhIjoiNC4yNCIsInFzcCI6IjQuMDUifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=%2Caps%2C539&sr=8-3. (or are the new iPads missing the 3.5mm headphone jack???) But I now play a larger windsynth which I can connect to my computer or ipad using bluetooth midi (BLE midi) Like this czcams.com/video/5o5NqHRDY-Y/video.html I still retain the Irish tinwhistle fingering so it's easy to cross over!

Thank you.

Thanks KW. The sound patch was a choice. I'll try out sounds over time.

Haha! "Miyako Bushi" also called the "sakura scale" because it's what the famous Japanese song "Sakura" is played in.