Aug. 19, 2022

DM48 interview with Erik Lekholm and Jason Keene

Erik Lekholm and Jason Keene join me on episode 67. Where we talk about the innovative DM48 midi chromatic harmonica, designed by Erik initially as a means to practise silently. He posted his creation on a harmonica forum and it soon gained interest, with people eager to purchase it. So Erik and his father started building and sold the first ones in 2017, with the updated version, the DM48X, coming out in 2022 . Jason Keene joins me in the second half of the podcast, to provide the perspectiv...

Erik Lekholm and Jason Keene join me on episode 67.

Where we talk about the innovative DM48 midi chromatic harmonica, designed by Erik initially as a means to practise silently. He posted his creation on a harmonica forum and it soon gained interest, with people eager to purchase it. So Erik and his father started building and sold the first ones in 2017, with the updated version, the DM48X, coming out in 2022 .

Jason Keene joins me in the second half of the podcast, to provide the perspective of one of the leading players of the DM48, which he describes as a game changer for his music. Jason talks us through the set-up and the limitless possibilities that this midi chromatic harmonica brings.

Links:
DM48 website:
https://www.lekholminstruments.com

Jason Keene website:
http://www.jasonkeeneharmonica.com/

Reviews of the DM48:
https://www.lekholminstruments.com/press.html

DM48 User forum:
https://groups.google.com/g/dm48-digital-chromatic-harmonica

Millioniser 2000:
https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/09/23/millioniser-2000-tutorial/

Videos:
Millioniser 2000:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRPI_fD0iKQ

Erik Lekholm demos some of the capabilities of the DM48:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpUpvxRfgXM

Erik Lekholm explaining the DM48 at the NAMM show, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKHvvudb1S0

Brendan Power compares DM48 to HM12 and gives overview of DM48 features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCy-0DR6Ikc

HM12 midi harmonica video from Brendan Power:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbD9oRdT3O0

Jason Keene talking about the DM48 being a ‘game changer’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuLcopNVm6Q

Jason Keene demoing using the 8K Controller to combine instruments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI-GpHTKVCQ&t=3s

Laurent Maur playing the DM48 live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_rt70dZY1I

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway

Support the show

01:30 - Erik Lekholm is the creator of the DM48 midi harmonica

01:47 - What is the DM48 midi chromatic harmonica

02:18 - Connects via USB on old version, or option to connect wirelessly in new version

02:34 - Erik initially came up with the idea of the DM48 as a means to practise silently

03:20 - Possibly the first midi harmonica was the Millioniser 2000, which came out in the late 1980s

04:15 - Was interested in electronics when younger, so had some of the skills to develop a midi instrument

04:45 - Worked on a midi instrument for a drum machine as a student

05:25 - Now works as a Professor at the university in Gothenburg

05:40 - Came up with prototype of the DM48 and started the company: Lekholm Instruments, alongside his father

06:34 - Much interest in the DM48 when Erik posted about it on an online harmonica forum Slidemeister

07:17 - First DM48 batch sold in 2017

07:24 - What was the learning curve like for Erik to build the DM48

08:23 - Uses CAD software to print the physical harmonica

08:38 - Most of development is on software side now

08:50 - DM48X model brought improvements to the hardware design, released in 2022

09:32 - Had some experience using piano midi instruments before came up with the DM48

10:02 - Company is a sideline, not planning on making it his full-time career

10:38 - Most satisfying part has been seeing good harmonica players use the instrument

10:58 - The DM48 has 12 breathe sensors across the 12 holes of the chromatic

11:45 - What is a midi instrument

13:00 - DM48 is mainly a chromatic harmonica, but it is possible to use it as a diatonic harmonica too (with some limitations)

14:10 - Bending ability of the DM48

14:39 - Is it more suited to wind instrument sounds?

15:49 - Can store 18 different tunings

16:24 - Slide can be configured to change note in whole tones rather than half-tones, and actually up to 36 half-tones

16:44 - There are effectively three slides on the DM48

17:01 - Speed of slider can be configured and new slider design on X model

17:41 - X model can be played wirelessly and bandwidth issues

19:29 - The DM48 is highly configurable but the default set-up gets you going quickly

20:28 - Set-up of software instruments is straightforward using tablets or phones

21:11 - Hardware synthesisers

21:49 - HM12 midi harmonica has on-board sounds

22:57 - What does the DM48 cost

24:13 - The DM48 is not currently available, with limited stock coming soon

25:07 - How to get hold of a DM48

25:41 - Showcased the DM48 at the NAMM music convention in 2020

26:08 - Meeting Stevie Wonder at NAMM, where he had a play on the DM48

27:50 - The parallel life that creating the DM48 has brought to Erik

28:04 - DM48 can become part of your harmonica arsenal

28:48 - Harmonica sound on DM48 isn’t that great, so unlikely to replace actual harmonica

30:24 - Jason Keene section start, who sees the DM48 as a game changer

30:54 - Jason is now based in Los Angeles and has played the chromatic from a young age, mainly jazz

31:50 - Doesn’t play any diatonic

32:38 - When did Jason first get the DM48

33:28 - Differences between original DM48 and X model

34:08 - Set-up involved with the DM48

34:46 - Use of the Yamaha VL70 hardware module

35:05 - Has some experience using midi instruments before taking up the DM48

35:36 - What are the advantages of the DM48 over a standard chromatic harmonica

36:17 - Brings great variety to your sound when playing live

37:03 - Quality of the sound it produces

37:52 - Can play multiple sounds at the same time, such as different horns, using an additional controller

39:28 - How do other musicians react to the DM48

40:07 - How to transfer the techniques needed to play a different instrument to the chromatic

40:59 - Jason is a lyrical player

41:54 - Demo sounds from the DM48

42:45 - Has released an album where DM48 is used

44:14 - Guitar and piano sounds using DM48

45:17 - Playing single or double notes on the DM48

46:05 - Learning curve of the DM48: Jason gives lessons on the set-up

46:55 - Will Gallison and Mickey Raphael has taken some lessons on using the DM48 from Jason

47:35 - Cost of buying the software instruments

49:13 - Cost of the whole package

49:51 - Jason’s current live set-up

51:16 - Newer iPad needed to run multiple instruments and more advanced set-ups

52:03 - Uses Bose L1 amp

52:20 - Uses DM48 wired (not wirelessly)

52:56 - Volume level is all good

54:08 - Don’t need to use a mic with the DM48

54:16 - Other external accessories that can be used with the DM48

55:49 - 10 minute question

56:50 - Plans to release an album where Jason is playing only the DM48

57:13 - Community of DM48 players, including Laurent Maur

58:09 - What does the future hold for the DM48

WEBVTT

00:00:00.417 --> 00:00:12.550
Eric Lecombe and Jason Kean join me on episode 67, where we talk about the innovative DM-48 MIDI chromatic harmonica, designed by Eric initially as a means to practice silently.

00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:18.896
He posted his creation on a harmonica forum and it soon gained interest, with people eager to purchase it.

00:00:19.335 --> 00:00:28.644
So Eric and his father started building and sold the first ones in 2017, with the updated version, the DM-48X, coming out in 2022.

00:00:29.538 --> 00:00:39.406
Then Jason King joins me in the second half of the podcast to provide the perspective of one of the leading players of the DM-48, which he describes as a game-changer for his music.

00:00:40.048 --> 00:00:45.954
Jason talks us through the setup and the limitless possibilities that this midi chromatic harmonica brings.

00:00:46.374 --> 00:00:48.957
This podcast is sponsored by Zeidel Harmonicas.

00:00:49.377 --> 00:00:58.405
Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.zeidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zeidel Harmonicas.

00:01:25.218 --> 00:01:27.221
Hello, Erik Leckholm, and welcome to the podcast.

00:01:27.561 --> 00:01:29.504
Hello, thank you for inviting me.

00:01:29.765 --> 00:01:38.819
You're here today to talk about the very innovative product that you've come out with, which is the DM48, and now the DM48X MIDI harmonica.

00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.522
But first of all, you're based in Sweden, yep?

00:01:41.802 --> 00:01:44.486
That is correct, in Gothenburg, southern Sweden.

00:01:44.847 --> 00:01:51.457
Can you tell us maybe about the product, give us an overview of what the DM48 MIDI chromatic harmonica is?

00:01:52.058 --> 00:01:53.180
So the DM48 is...

00:01:54.081 --> 00:01:55.123
a MIDI controller.

00:01:55.143 --> 00:01:56.703
So it's a controller.

00:01:56.743 --> 00:01:58.426
It's not a complete instrument.

00:01:58.525 --> 00:02:00.787
It doesn't have any sound synthesis.

00:02:00.867 --> 00:02:01.629
It's not like that.

00:02:01.668 --> 00:02:04.811
It's just a MIDI controller, same as you can buy a MIDI keyboard.

00:02:04.850 --> 00:02:09.235
You would use that to trigger sounds from synthesizers.

00:02:09.294 --> 00:02:12.397
And these days, that would often be a software synthesizer.

00:02:12.418 --> 00:02:13.998
And this is exactly the same.

00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:17.701
So it's like a MIDI keyboard, but it's in the form of a chromatic harmonica.

00:02:18.103 --> 00:02:32.353
You connect it by USB or in the new version that we have now, the DM-48X, you can also So play wirelessly over Bluetooth and use it together with a laptop or an iPad or hardware synthesizers or whatever you want, really.

00:02:32.835 --> 00:02:33.295
So great.

00:02:33.355 --> 00:02:33.597
So...

00:02:34.145 --> 00:02:42.473
You're a chromatic player yourself, and I understand you came up with this as a means initially to be able to play silently and for practice purposes, is that right?

00:02:42.772 --> 00:02:45.175
Yeah, that was definitely one of the motivations.

00:02:45.295 --> 00:02:52.442
It all started with me getting a chromatic harmonica for my birthday for my wife some years back.

00:02:52.822 --> 00:02:57.126
And I've always been playing primarily piano and also drums way back.

00:02:57.346 --> 00:03:02.911
When I was younger, at least, I played instruments and played in bands and all of that, but I haven't done too much of it in recent years.

00:03:02.950 --> 00:03:19.929
But then I got this harmonica my wife started playing and somehow this idea came about to make an electronic harmonica and yeah that was one of the main motivations harmonicas make a lot of a lot of noise and we lived in a quite small apartment at the time also so i figured that would be nice to have an electronic one you can play with headphones

00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:27.036
so there are other and there have been other midi harmonicas did you sort of help draw inspiration from those were you aware of those

00:03:27.676 --> 00:03:38.596
i wasn't really aware of of any of the other attempts some you know after we we started selling the dm I've been contacted by a few people who have tried to do similar things.

00:03:39.177 --> 00:03:43.729
The one similar instrument that I was aware of was the Milunizer 2000.

00:03:58.274 --> 00:04:02.781
believe that came out in the sort of late 1980s didn't it so it's quite a long time ago that one

00:04:02.961 --> 00:04:26.485
yeah yeah i saw some videos some old promotion clip about this millionizer 2000 i felt like this is amazing that that would be such a cool thing to have and i even looked into trying to buy one but eventually i ended up trying to develop my own you know i used to be when i was younger sort of an electronics tinkerer i loved playing with electronics and also i started programming, coding very early when I was like 13, 14 years or something.

00:04:26.644 --> 00:04:29.307
But I haven't done a lot of that in recent years.

00:04:29.346 --> 00:04:32.029
So this was sort of a back to basics hobby project.

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I had a lot of fun putting this together.

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I never had any intentions selling it or anything.

00:04:37.334 --> 00:04:39.355
It was purely for my own pleasure.

00:04:39.475 --> 00:04:42.259
Mostly, I think the pleasure of designing it and building it.

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I didn't really know how it would turn out.

00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:47.142
So I studied engineering many years ago.

00:04:47.403 --> 00:04:53.007
And during that time, I was quite active with music, making music at home with my synthesizer.

00:04:53.007 --> 00:04:57.952
So I ended up doing a project, kind of a master's project at a small company.

00:04:57.992 --> 00:04:58.973
It's called Electron.

00:04:59.134 --> 00:05:01.276
They make electronic musical instruments.

00:05:01.516 --> 00:05:05.440
And one of their first devices was a drum machine called a machine drum.

00:05:05.721 --> 00:05:10.747
So I was part of developing some of the sound synthesis algorithms for the machine drum.

00:05:10.966 --> 00:05:15.232
Many, many years ago, this must have been like 1999 or something like that.

00:05:15.271 --> 00:05:19.656
So I have actually been part of developing another electronic instrument.

00:05:19.836 --> 00:05:21.458
That's kind of in the distant past.

00:05:21.678 --> 00:05:23.500
I left all of that behind me.

00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:25.723
What I do now, I'm a researcher.

00:05:25.783 --> 00:05:29.509
I work at the university here as a professor in bioinformatics.

00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:34.074
So I do research and teaching, working on human genomics.

00:05:34.555 --> 00:05:38.721
So this is sort of, the DM48 was a bit sort of reviving my old interests.

00:05:40.384 --> 00:05:41.425
But that's how it started.

00:05:41.464 --> 00:05:49.896
So then finally I had, actually rather quickly, I had this prototype and I realized it worked pretty well and there was nothing like it on the market.

00:05:49.937 --> 00:05:53.382
So that's That's when we started this company.

00:05:53.423 --> 00:05:56.189
Actually, it's together with my father, Håkan.

00:05:56.228 --> 00:05:58.694
So he's the other half of Lekholm Instruments.

00:05:59.194 --> 00:06:09.454
I would say more than half because he's the one who does all the daily work, all the economy, the sales, manufacturing, ordering components, taking care of

00:06:10.317 --> 00:06:10.617
daily

00:06:10.637 --> 00:06:10.718
work.

00:06:10.850 --> 00:06:11.269
business.

00:06:11.711 --> 00:06:15.934
Is it right that he's the one who actually constructs the MIDI harmonica?

00:06:16.134 --> 00:06:17.315
Initially, that's how we did it.

00:06:17.415 --> 00:06:19.637
And we never imagined selling too many of these.

00:06:19.737 --> 00:06:26.783
I had this prototype and Håkan, he also has a lifelong interest in music and playing instruments.

00:06:26.963 --> 00:06:30.387
So he got pretty excited about it and he recently retired also.

00:06:30.747 --> 00:06:33.990
So we said, let's try and see if we can sell a few of these.

00:06:34.350 --> 00:06:39.954
Also because there was quite a lot of interest posted on this harmonica online forum, SlideMeister, I think.

00:06:40.055 --> 00:06:42.798
And quite a lot of people were interested, were saying, I want to buy one.

00:06:42.838 --> 00:06:58.576
So we decided, let's give it a try.

00:06:58.615 --> 00:07:01.899
Let's build a small series of 20 instruments, whatever it was.

00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:03.120
Was it even 10 initially?

00:07:03.141 --> 00:07:03.581
I can't remember.

00:07:03.874 --> 00:07:05.096
And then it just sort of took off.

00:07:05.137 --> 00:07:08.303
And then initially he did, yeah, he even built all of them by hand.

00:07:08.343 --> 00:07:11.129
At some point I got too much.

00:07:11.509 --> 00:07:16.360
So now it's being done by this kind of subcontractor here in Göteborg.

00:07:17.463 --> 00:07:20.009
So I think we sold the first ones in 2017.

00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:23.997
So we should be on the fifth year now selling DM-48s.

00:07:24.641 --> 00:07:25.903
But that's pretty amazing, isn't it?

00:07:26.023 --> 00:07:34.050
That you can come up with, it sounds like not a real expertise in this area and then go and build a MIDI harmonica or a MIDI any instrument.

00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:40.295
So, you know, what was the learning curve like to build and develop that and then get them out so you're able to get them to a quality to sell?

00:07:40.555 --> 00:07:42.637
I mean, in fact, it was quite easy for me to build it.

00:07:42.757 --> 00:07:50.785
And it is a bit weird that this happened at all, that I now have this company together with my father selling a strange instrument.

00:07:50.824 --> 00:08:58.495
You know, I never would have imagined that like seven years ago, because this is very far from my normal daytime occupation but like I said I have a lifelong interest in electronics and especially when I was younger also I actually have an engineering background so I am an engineer so I do know these things the electronics isn't too complicated and programming is something I've been doing forever basically so it wasn't too hard I happen to have the right combination of skills also I've played around with CAD software like 3D CAD software and you can do 3D print thing very easily you know you draw something in your CAD software and then click a button basically and then it arrives in the mail a few days later so technically this wasn't too hard for me but of course the first prototype was fairly simple but most of the development has been on the software side since then and I don't have a lot of time for this so that's happened sort of incrementally I've added a few functions here and there and now five years later it's something completely different there was a big bump on the hardware side with this new X model that we launched a few For a long time, I felt that I won't ever have time to develop the hardware very much.

00:08:58.596 --> 00:09:00.599
But then suddenly got some inspiration.

00:09:00.698 --> 00:09:07.085
Also, some of the components in the initial DM48 were getting closer to sort of the end of their life cycle.

00:09:07.125 --> 00:09:08.966
So we wouldn't be able to buy them anymore.

00:09:08.986 --> 00:09:11.669
So it was a good time to redesign the hardware.

00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:18.317
And then I took the chance to also add some sort of much requested features like Bluetooth, MIDI and some other things.

00:09:18.697 --> 00:09:23.802
Yeah, so you came out with the DM48X, as you say, this different hardware model.

00:09:23.822 --> 00:09:24.464
What year did you get it?

00:09:24.464 --> 00:09:25.264
Did you release that one?

00:09:25.524 --> 00:09:28.668
The new one came out this year, the DM-48X.

00:09:28.928 --> 00:09:29.649
So it's fairly new.

00:09:29.730 --> 00:09:31.010
We started selling it early this

00:09:31.230 --> 00:09:31.410
year.

00:09:31.871 --> 00:09:35.375
So again, as you mentioned, you were a piano player and a drummer.

00:09:35.416 --> 00:09:41.081
So you'd had instruments of playing piano MIDI instruments, had you, for recording purposes?

00:09:41.341 --> 00:09:46.807
Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't call myself a piano or any player, but I mean, I played the piano.

00:09:46.827 --> 00:09:49.990
I'm not particularly good at it, but yeah, I do play piano.

00:09:50.071 --> 00:09:55.576
And when I was younger, I was quite interested in synthesizers and I had some home studio stuff.

00:09:55.636 --> 00:09:57.740
I still have, but I don't use it a lot.

00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:01.222
So I've played around a lot with synths and studio stuff.

00:10:02.303 --> 00:10:02.764
Great.

00:10:02.825 --> 00:10:04.267
So it's a sideline for you.

00:10:04.326 --> 00:10:08.291
It sounds like your father is devoting all his time to it, as you say, as he's retired.

00:10:08.471 --> 00:10:14.798
Have you got dreams of this turning into a company that you could just do as your sole occupation?

00:10:15.158 --> 00:10:15.739
Not really.

00:10:15.778 --> 00:10:17.520
I think we're happy the way it is.

00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.125
The motivation was never really to make a lot of money or anything like that.

00:10:22.525 --> 00:10:23.726
We don't really do that either.

00:10:23.866 --> 00:10:51.616
I think the main main satisfaction is that people are actually using it of course it is also a little bit of a side you know an income on the side these days but i don't think you can motivate it if you think about all the time that that went into it in the end especially for for my father but i think the most fun about this has been just you know seeing it take off seeing really you know world-class players using it and i guess making some sort of a little mark on the world of music that that's been the main satisfaction for us

00:10:51.876 --> 00:10:57.907
no it's a tremendous thing you come out with and And I'm sure lots of people are very interested in buying one if they haven't already.

00:10:58.107 --> 00:11:01.916
So again, let's get into a bit more detail about what it actually is.

00:11:01.995 --> 00:11:06.544
So we've explained that it's a MIDI instrument that doesn't generate any sound itself.

00:11:06.565 --> 00:11:08.369
It needs synthesizers to play.

00:11:08.428 --> 00:11:10.833
So how this works is it's got basically...

00:11:11.138 --> 00:11:17.263
12 holes just as a normal chromatic and it's got these breath sensors on it yes where it detects the breath of the plane

00:11:17.724 --> 00:11:45.174
exactly same principle as these you know eewees or midi saxophones so you might have heard like Michael Brecker or someone playing you know playing a midi saxophone so it's exactly the same principle and probably the same type of sensor basically but just that in the DM-48 there's 12 of them these sensors can measure positive as well as negative pressure so you can do blows and draws obviously So basically 12 wind controllers in one box.

00:11:45.857 --> 00:12:00.431
And so because it's a MIDI instrument, which if people, I'm sure most people are familiar with what a MIDI instrument is these days, but basically like on a piano MIDI keyboard, which most people, you know, that's the kind of default MIDI instrument, right?

00:12:00.451 --> 00:12:06.576
You press the key and then you're able to generate whatever sound basically you connect it up to software-wise, right?

00:12:06.615 --> 00:12:07.976
So this is the same principle.

00:12:08.177 --> 00:12:17.506
When you blow on the harmonica, you can generate any sound, obviously typically instrument sounds by connecting up to the software or hardware.

00:12:17.966 --> 00:12:18.368
Exactly.

00:12:18.408 --> 00:12:29.004
For those of you not familiar with MIDI, it's a standard of communication between synthesizers that's been around since around 1980 or something.

00:12:29.065 --> 00:12:30.606
And it's fairly simple.

00:12:30.827 --> 00:12:37.099
It's simple messages passed along, like basically press C with a certain velocity or something like that.

00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:41.004
And then on top of that, you can transmit more information with MIDI.

00:12:41.024 --> 00:12:45.749
Like within harmonica, obviously a very central thing is the breath modulation.

00:12:45.769 --> 00:12:53.798
You need to continuously modulate the intensity of the sound based on how hard you're blowing or drawing in the harmonica.

00:12:54.058 --> 00:12:59.966
But it's simple messages that will tell a synthesizer to trigger a sound or to turn off a note or something.

00:13:00.066 --> 00:13:15.868
and it is just a chromatic harmonica at the moment it's got 12 holes blow and draw and it's got a slide so there isn't a diatonic version and you're not planning to make one I take it for the reason that it kind of works better with a chromatic because it's you know blow and draw the available notes yeah

00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:47.881
yeah I mean it works pretty well as a chromatic I think also I mean I've heard a few people trying to play blues on the dm48 and it's definitely possible and you know brendan power this amazing player he was actually the first harmonica player to try out the prototype he even designed a diatonic mouthpiece that you can fit onto the dm48 so you can convert it with his accessory into basically diatonic harmonica but I think blues players, they rely a lot on bending and doing all kinds of things.

00:13:48.283 --> 00:13:50.664
That doesn't work so well with the M40.

00:13:50.705 --> 00:13:53.746
You can certainly bend notes, but you have to do it in a different way.

00:13:54.148 --> 00:13:58.831
So for a blues player, they will lack a lot of the expression that they want.

00:13:58.892 --> 00:14:05.037
So I think it sort of works better with chromatic type of playing, which isn't as bending intense.

00:14:05.658 --> 00:14:07.558
Yeah, so it's more clean notes, isn't it?

00:14:07.619 --> 00:14:08.559
Clean single notes.

00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:09.941
Exactly.

00:14:09.961 --> 00:14:19.150
There is the ability to do somewhat bending, as you say, and I think you said Brendan's come up with this where you can change the pitch with this add-on and there's various accessories.

00:14:19.410 --> 00:14:39.873
Absolutely and now with our new model there's actually a built-in little pitch bender ribbon that you can drag with your finger on top of the instrument and you've always been able to bend with using pressure also on the DM-48 but it just works in a different way you know you can't know that you're shaping your tongue in a certain way or something it's just blowing a little bit harder basically and then you can get the note to bend.

00:14:39.993 --> 00:14:42.355
I guess it's more suited to wind instruments is it?

00:14:42.635 --> 00:14:43.777
Yeah Definitely.

00:14:43.797 --> 00:14:48.744
Sort of plucked instruments are a little bit incompatible with this type of control.

00:14:48.803 --> 00:14:50.485
I mean, you can certainly do it if you want to.

00:14:50.567 --> 00:14:58.857
And actually, Jason Keen, who I know will be part of this episode also, he did a fantastic video where he played piano sounds with the DM-48.

00:14:58.878 --> 00:15:19.323
piano plays But wind instrument sounds are, of course, a more natural fit because with a piano, everything happens when you trigger the note and then there's nothing you can do.

00:15:19.745 --> 00:15:24.052
You either trigger it with high velocity or low velocity and then you let the sound decay.

00:15:24.153 --> 00:15:30.525
But with the DM-48, the sound which is meant to be continuously modulated, that works much better.

00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:54.261
yeah and as you say i'm speaking to jason keen as part of this episode as well so we'll get much more deeply into the playing side with jason but yeah so basically again you know it allows you to play pretty much any instrument that's available via the synthesizers that are available of which there are lots these days top of this it also you can have different tunings can't you so you can have i think is it up to 18 different tunings on the x model

00:15:54.785 --> 00:15:55.506
Exactly.

00:15:55.746 --> 00:15:59.789
You can, by just pressing a button, you can change to any tuning you like.

00:15:59.830 --> 00:16:01.871
You can edit tunings, add new tunings.

00:16:02.513 --> 00:16:05.735
So I think there can be many reasons to get one.

00:16:05.775 --> 00:16:12.500
Some people are interested, like Brendan Power that we talked about in alternative tunings, and he's not the only one.

00:16:12.541 --> 00:16:16.024
Of course, this is an excellent tool to try out your new tunings.

00:16:16.304 --> 00:16:20.668
You don't have to spend an enormous amount of effort to retune an actual harmonic.

00:16:20.869 --> 00:16:23.850
In seconds, you reconfigure it and tune it the way you want.

00:16:24.392 --> 00:16:44.089
Brendan's done an excellent video I'll put a link on to and he's showing that with the use of the slide you can actually configure it so that the slide changes it by a semitone or a tone or even up to I think 36 semitones so the fact that it's so customizable to do what you like you know and to have those say for example whole tones on the slide instead of semitones

00:16:44.428 --> 00:17:00.977
and you can have actually there's basically three slides on the m48 and you can have them all do different things you know one semitone down or whatever you want so it's quite unlimited what you can do And also there's a lot that you can do outside in your music software also that would expand the possibilities.

00:17:01.841 --> 00:17:07.295
Yeah, and also the slider actually can be configured to how quickly it reacts to the pressure.

00:17:07.336 --> 00:17:10.503
So if you think it's too slow or too fast reaction, you can change that.

00:17:11.298 --> 00:17:15.161
Yes, you can introduce a slight delay because it does have a different feel

00:17:15.342 --> 00:17:16.362
from a normal one.

00:17:16.762 --> 00:17:21.006
And the X model did have a different slider design, didn't it?

00:17:21.346 --> 00:17:21.967
That is correct.

00:17:22.126 --> 00:17:23.909
It can also be retrofitted on the

00:17:23.969 --> 00:17:24.589
old instruments.

00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:27.652
We had some criticism, but some people also liked it.

00:17:27.711 --> 00:17:32.916
But the initial slider was a bit, well, I would say very different from a normal chromatic harmonica.

00:17:32.957 --> 00:17:36.380
And what we have now has action that is somewhat more similar.

00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:41.263
It's still different, but it's, I think, easier to get used to if you have played a normal chromatic harmonica.

00:17:41.263 --> 00:17:41.344
I

00:17:41.364 --> 00:17:42.005
think so.

00:17:42.025 --> 00:17:51.596
And also, as you mentioned, the X model, you can now play wireless because the original model, the DM-48, you needed to be wired in, but now you can play wirelessly with the X model.

00:17:52.497 --> 00:17:52.896
Exactly.

00:17:52.916 --> 00:18:05.786
A lot of people have been asking about this since day one, basically, and some have also solved this using third-party accessories that will transmit the MIDI data wirelessly and So it can be received somewhere.

00:18:05.806 --> 00:18:07.088
But now it's built in.

00:18:07.189 --> 00:18:10.238
So there's built in support for Bluetooth,

00:18:10.478 --> 00:18:12.182
low energy MIDI.

00:18:12.723 --> 00:18:16.094
Is there any issues with latency with using Bluetooth while playing?

00:18:16.642 --> 00:18:21.326
There's a slight difference, less latency and more kind of bandwidth.

00:18:21.645 --> 00:18:26.671
Depending on what you're doing, a lot of data can be generated by the DM48X.

00:18:27.131 --> 00:18:36.940
So in certain playing situations, like let's say you do some tongue fluttering or something like that, there can be a slight noticeable difference in the response.

00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:39.241
And it also depends on distance.

00:18:39.362 --> 00:18:45.567
When you go further away from your iPad or your computer, then latency can become an issue.

00:18:45.846 --> 00:19:05.821
Yeah, a slight difference but it's fairly unnoticeable I think I think demanding players will notice maybe they won't even notice right away but sooner or later they will notice some kind of difference but I think it's surprisingly good and you know MIDI over Bluetooth is used by many professional sort of accessories these days.

00:19:05.862 --> 00:19:08.924
There's MIDI keyboards and everything that run over Bluetooth MIDI.

00:19:08.944 --> 00:19:10.747
So that works pretty well.

00:19:11.446 --> 00:19:18.032
I would say for my own part, I would use it definitely as a very convenient thing when you're just playing or practicing.

00:19:18.333 --> 00:19:24.057
If I would then do studio recording and I want the absolute best response, then I would probably wire it up.

00:19:24.397 --> 00:19:28.821
But it's not noticeable in most playing situations, I would say.

00:19:29.303 --> 00:19:50.704
You know, kind of a barrier for some people as well might be the whole setup and again I'll speak to Jason about that in the next section but I've read through the manual which is available online and you know there's a lot of parameters a lot of customization a lot of configuration so what would you say to people about the setup you know I guess it works out of the box fine and it's just configuring it is mainly

00:19:51.205 --> 00:20:28.025
yeah there's a lot you can do but I would say usually you don't really need to bother too much about it because there's a few presets and you can store global set settings and then recall them whenever you want and it comes pre-loaded with a few different settings that they will work for most normal playing situations they're going to be just fine and then as you get more familiar with instrument you may want to customize the response a little bit you know the the breath response curve or the sensitivity or things like that and then there's also a bunch of things you can do with the midi configuration and i'll say most of it is for for advanced users and you don't really need to know too much to use it

00:20:28.546 --> 00:20:45.604
yeah but obviously what you do need is a uh is the synthesizer and then the software to run to make the sounds right so absolutely you know again i'll get into that with jason but from a basic setup if you've got like an ipad or or an iphone that sort of thing you're able to play it through there at least for practice purposes yeah

00:20:45.903 --> 00:21:02.001
absolutely some of the best instruments you can use with the dm48 are are available for ios and particularly i want to make i could mention these swarm virtual instruments from an italian company called audio modeling they're just amazing wind instruments that are like perfect match for the DM48.

00:21:02.542 --> 00:21:07.050
And they're now finally available on iOS, on iPads and iPhones also.

00:21:07.311 --> 00:21:10.597
So even a small iPhone is all you need to get started.

00:21:10.617 --> 00:21:15.626
And then there's also some interesting hardware synthesizers from like back in the day.

00:21:15.666 --> 00:21:24.957
Yamaha used to make a synthesizer module called VL-70M, which was made specifically for MIDI, saxophone, EWI players.

00:21:25.137 --> 00:21:27.362
And that's just amazingly good.

00:21:36.834 --> 00:21:47.022
I haven't made these in a long time, but you can get them on eBay and they're quite expensive, sort of sought after around 500 euros or something.

00:21:47.042 --> 00:21:48.584
That works really well with the M48.

00:21:49.545 --> 00:21:52.086
We mentioned some of the other MIDI harmonicas.

00:21:52.106 --> 00:22:03.017
So there's one out at the moment, isn't there, a Chinese one, which is the HM-12, which does have onboard sound, so you don't need to connect it to an external source like an iPad or a computer to get them.

00:22:03.076 --> 00:22:06.799
So is that something you'd ever consider doing with the M48?

00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:07.280
Not

00:22:08.040 --> 00:22:08.682
really, never.

00:22:08.701 --> 00:22:17.270
I knew from the start that you can't do everything, you know, and making a good software synthesizer is a huge thing in its own right.

00:22:17.490 --> 00:22:31.526
So I always felt that a serious player is not going to be interested in some built-in sounds that are never going to be up to the kind of standard that you can get with the best software virtual instruments that are available in the industry.

00:22:31.546 --> 00:22:42.059
So it's perhaps you could imagine for just practicing or something that would be nice to have some simple sound But on the other hand, it's so easy now to connect it to your iPhone or iPad or something.

00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:43.502
So I didn't consider it.

00:22:43.883 --> 00:22:47.729
I felt that would be too challenging technically if it's going to be good.

00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:49.813
Yeah, and I think you made the right decision.

00:22:49.853 --> 00:22:54.220
As you say, there's lots of amazing software instruments now which sound incredible, right?

00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:57.263
So if you want to perform with this thing, you want to be using those, don't you?

00:22:57.284 --> 00:22:59.989
So that gets us on to the million-dollar question, of course.

00:23:00.869 --> 00:23:03.114
What does the M48 cost?

00:23:03.586 --> 00:23:19.599
So the cost at the moment is about 1,000 euros or 1,050 within Europe because then you pay VAT and it would be a little bit less if you buy it from outside of Europe, but then you might have to pay import taxes in your own country.

00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:21.882
It might sound expensive.

00:23:21.942 --> 00:23:28.508
The sad truth is that we're going to raise the price because we don't have enough profit margin with this price.

00:23:28.567 --> 00:23:35.034
They're pretty expensive to make and the most expensive component are the pressure sensors And there's also 12 of them.

00:23:35.295 --> 00:23:38.799
And prices have gone up a lot on these pressure sensors and also other components.

00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:42.865
And also the new model is more complicated to manufacture.

00:23:42.986 --> 00:23:48.073
And that's done in a very craftsmanship kind of way, all by hand here in Göteborg.

00:23:48.554 --> 00:23:50.395
So they are quite expensive to make.

00:23:50.757 --> 00:23:55.483
And we will need, unfortunately, to raise the price even further.

00:23:55.584 --> 00:24:06.074
And we are aware that that puts it sort of out of reach for many players who would probably like it, who would have a lot of use for it for silent practicing or like expanding the expression sort of.

00:24:06.334 --> 00:24:09.317
But unfortunately, we can't really lower the price.

00:24:09.696 --> 00:24:12.538
On the contrary, the price will go up, unfortunately.

00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:16.021
But on top of this, as you say, you know, the components are going up.

00:24:16.082 --> 00:24:19.204
As we know, there's lots of component shortages all around the world at the moment.

00:24:19.224 --> 00:24:20.665
So this is a problem everywhere.

00:24:21.047 --> 00:24:23.669
So they're actually not currently available, are they?

00:24:23.868 --> 00:24:25.170
You're low on components.

00:24:25.190 --> 00:24:28.386
So when are you expecting the next batch to be available.

00:24:28.865 --> 00:24:28.986
So

00:24:29.006 --> 00:24:33.192
we've been out of stock for, might be almost three months or something now.

00:24:34.012 --> 00:24:39.599
And it's in part because of components and also some issues with manufacturing.

00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.925
They've just been very busy working for other customers here.

00:24:44.666 --> 00:24:46.829
But the components is a major problem at the moment.

00:24:46.890 --> 00:24:50.815
But we should have a few in stock within a week or within weeks now.

00:24:50.835 --> 00:24:53.199
So finally, we're getting there.

00:24:53.278 --> 00:24:57.064
But unfortunately, we'll be quite limited and I think we'll run out very quickly again.

00:24:57.183 --> 00:24:58.566
But then hopefully we'll get some more.

00:24:58.882 --> 00:24:59.826
within a few months.

00:25:00.631 --> 00:25:06.780
So there's been a lot of demand for the new X model and we haven't been able to keep up with that demand.

00:25:07.425 --> 00:25:11.108
Yeah, so if people want one, what's the best way they can do that?

00:25:11.229 --> 00:25:13.330
They can contact you via your website, yeah?

00:25:13.351 --> 00:25:15.113
I'll put the link on the podcast page.

00:25:15.472 --> 00:25:24.861
Yeah, the best would be to email us and say that I want to buy, put me on the waiting list, and then we'll send out an email to everyone who's waiting once we have them in stock.

00:25:25.662 --> 00:25:30.286
And then after that, it's going to be first come, first serve, so you just have to be quick then.

00:25:30.346 --> 00:25:41.259
But it's unfortunate because we're happy that there's been so much interest in the new model, and it's a bit frustrating to not have an of instruments to sell, but hopefully we'll catch up.

00:25:41.659 --> 00:25:50.074
So you went to the NAMM convention in 2020 in California, and there's some nice videos you did there, and you made quite a splash there.

00:25:50.094 --> 00:25:52.198
I think then you got quite a lot of attention, a lot of interest there.

00:25:52.481 --> 00:25:53.785
Yeah, that was fantastic.

00:25:53.845 --> 00:25:57.333
It was such a nice experience going there with my dad.

00:25:57.373 --> 00:26:04.830
Just a fun trip and just meeting everyone in the industry and fantastic musicians and all of that.

00:26:04.871 --> 00:26:07.698
That was such a fun experience, I have to say.

00:26:08.193 --> 00:26:17.481
Yeah, one of the most amazing things about NAMM was that early on, right after I had this first prototype, I thought about, you know, I really like Stevie Wonder and his harmonica playing.

00:26:17.501 --> 00:26:20.404
So I thought that this could be something that he might appreciate.

00:26:20.644 --> 00:26:23.887
So we sent him an instrument and we didn't really hear much.

00:26:24.188 --> 00:26:27.810
I did hear a little bit that, yeah, he might have, he has tried it or something.

00:26:27.830 --> 00:26:33.496
And then at NAMM, we were standing there by our booth and we heard some rumors that Stevie Wonder might come by.

00:26:33.536 --> 00:26:34.916
He really likes NAMM.

00:26:35.136 --> 00:26:39.502
And then amazingly, he comes in through a back door, like 10 meters from our booth.

00:26:39.784 --> 00:26:46.199
This is an enormous convention, but he just comes walking there right where we are with all his security and everything.

00:26:46.378 --> 00:26:56.769
So I held up DM48 and caught the attention of one of his studio guys, probably the same guy that that had helped set it up and unpack it in his studio or something.

00:26:57.089 --> 00:27:00.532
So then he kind of waved me over there past the security.

00:27:00.732 --> 00:27:05.436
And so we both had a little chat with him, with Steve there for a few minutes.

00:27:05.656 --> 00:27:07.358
And he was very, I would say, polite.

00:27:07.398 --> 00:27:09.580
He said, yeah, I really like it and everything.

00:27:09.641 --> 00:27:11.301
And clearly he has tested it.

00:27:11.582 --> 00:27:13.223
It's obviously not his favorite instrument.

00:27:13.784 --> 00:27:15.586
We would have seen him play it somewhere.

00:27:15.685 --> 00:27:20.650
But for me, it was enough to know that he has tested it at least.

00:27:20.829 --> 00:27:22.791
And just to meet him there was fantastic.

00:27:22.832 --> 00:27:27.999
So that's another example of how this can be much more rewarding than just selling a product.

00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:30.741
This is the kind of thing that makes it worthwhile.

00:27:30.842 --> 00:27:33.726
That was a fantastic thing that I will never forget.

00:27:33.786 --> 00:27:36.249
Not me or my father, Håkan.

00:27:37.170 --> 00:27:37.611
Amazing.

00:27:37.990 --> 00:27:49.185
That's been one of the most rewarding things about this, is all the people that we have gotten to know, like Brendan and Jason, for example, just to mention these two that we already talked about.

00:27:50.082 --> 00:27:53.684
It's like a parallel life now because it's so far from what I normally do.

00:27:53.785 --> 00:28:02.252
And then we can go to LA or Anaheim and just talk to two harmonica people for a week and have a lot of fun.

00:28:02.272 --> 00:28:03.794
So that was fantastic.

00:28:04.054 --> 00:28:04.473
Yeah.

00:28:04.494 --> 00:28:09.338
So did you have a sense going to NAMM that, you know, these kind of MIDI instruments, are they the future of music?

00:28:09.499 --> 00:28:16.924
You think we're going to abandon the old style physical reeds and things like this and move to, you know, more electronic generated music?

00:28:17.266 --> 00:28:17.625
I don't know.

00:28:17.665 --> 00:28:19.366
But I mean, NAMM has everything.

00:28:19.406 --> 00:28:48.326
It's the biggest music convention in the world so I mean I think there's room for everything and this is just you know another tool in your toolbox if you're a harmonica player and I don't think that many will band on their acoustic harmonica and well Jason I think is almost doing that but if I just think about myself I still enjoy a lot playing my normal acoustic chromatic harmonica so it's just two different things so no I don't think that's true with the M48 and I don't think that's true in general there's a place for for everything.

00:28:48.488 --> 00:28:48.708
Yeah.

00:28:48.907 --> 00:28:59.230
And so the DM-48 as well, you wouldn't necessarily replace it as a harmonica because the harmonica sound, there aren't the greatest harmonica sounds available at the moment for it compared to some of the other instruments like saxophone.

00:29:00.011 --> 00:29:02.317
Yeah, and honestly, it's not going to feel the same way.

00:29:02.376 --> 00:29:04.501
You won't get the same type of expressions.

00:29:04.541 --> 00:29:06.326
You know, if you want to play...

00:29:07.041 --> 00:29:39.616
harmonica then you should play harmonica i think if you want to do something else then then you can play the dm48 so thinking now about coming back to nam we had these amazing players coming by our booth they might have heard of it or maybe even never even heard of it and then you know they start playing this and all their life they've been having the same sound the harmonica sound you know same way as a saxophonist will always play the same sound and then you know suddenly they can do something completely different with the same technique that they already have just see their faces there sometimes was fantastic.

00:29:39.938 --> 00:29:41.383
It's such a surprise to them.

00:29:41.604 --> 00:29:50.739
And I don't think any of them would contemplate changing their old harmonica for a DM-48, but I think Many of them were tempted to get it as a compliment.

00:29:50.798 --> 00:29:52.861
So that's fantastic, Erik, then.

00:29:52.901 --> 00:29:53.741
Thanks so much for talking.

00:29:53.761 --> 00:30:03.134
So we're going to move over to talk to Jason next to talk through more from a kind of harmonica player's perspective and what it brings to their arsenal of harmonicas you've just mentioned.

00:30:03.173 --> 00:30:05.856
So thanks so much for talking to me today.

00:30:06.136 --> 00:30:06.357
Sure.

00:30:06.397 --> 00:30:08.760
Thank you so much for inviting me to your podcast.

00:30:09.801 --> 00:30:09.981
Thank you.

00:30:17.922 --> 00:30:26.699
So hello, Jason Keane, and welcome to the podcast.

00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:27.820
Thank you so much.

00:30:28.702 --> 00:30:30.286
So hi, thanks for joining, Jason.

00:30:30.306 --> 00:30:35.797
So you're here as more of a player and probably one of the most prolific users of the DM-48.

00:30:36.377 --> 00:30:38.742
You've definitely seen it as a game changer yourself,

00:30:39.002 --> 00:30:39.223
haven't you?

00:30:39.243 --> 00:30:40.226
Oh, absolutely.

00:30:40.673 --> 00:30:49.161
I mean, I was playing quite a bit just sort of locally and people appreciate jazz harmonica, but this definitely causes jaws to drop a lot more.

00:30:49.882 --> 00:30:53.545
Yeah, we'll get into all that and then the reaction and then how you use it.

00:30:53.585 --> 00:30:55.366
But first, a little bit about you.

00:30:55.406 --> 00:30:58.869
So you're based out and now in Los Angeles, yeah?

00:30:59.170 --> 00:30:59.509
Yes, sir.

00:30:59.810 --> 00:31:04.755
But you've been playing harmonica, chromatic predominantly, for many years before you picked up the DM-48.

00:31:04.994 --> 00:31:07.557
Well, I mean, I had one in my hand when I was really young.

00:31:07.616 --> 00:31:11.760
The first harmonica that my dad gave me when I was about 12 was a chromatic.

00:31:11.961 --> 00:31:14.242
That's one of the reasons why I play chromatic.

00:31:14.723 --> 00:31:16.664
After that one died, I killed it, I'm sure.

00:31:16.704 --> 00:31:19.647
Went to a diatonic and it's like, well, where's the button?

00:31:21.009 --> 00:31:23.451
So I just always appreciated those little half steps.

00:31:23.912 --> 00:31:26.473
And so you've been predominantly a jazz player then, have you?

00:31:26.493 --> 00:31:28.434
It's really my main interest.

00:31:28.494 --> 00:31:34.701
You know, I play bass in the rock world with a band named Kyle Gasband, but my interest has always been jazz.

00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:41.750
I've been listening to jazz since I was really young and I rated my dad's records when I was about nine years old.

00:31:41.810 --> 00:31:43.051
He had all this Chet Baker.

00:31:43.092 --> 00:31:44.713
He was really into West Coast jazz.

00:31:45.054 --> 00:31:50.057
Sort of my general interest is more cool jazz and less the hardcore stuff.

00:31:50.479 --> 00:31:53.800
And so now you are only playing chromatic, not diatonic.

00:31:54.122 --> 00:31:56.304
I'm just the worst diatonic player ever.

00:31:56.364 --> 00:32:02.348
I mean, I wouldn't say that, but it's like so much respect for what diatonic players do.

00:32:02.729 --> 00:32:04.270
It's quite a different technique.

00:32:04.310 --> 00:32:07.933
There's so much more bending and it's just a whole nother instrument.

00:32:08.233 --> 00:32:11.157
Whereas the chromatic, as soon as I heard two Stillman.

00:32:11.238 --> 00:32:12.461
It was like, okay, wow.

00:32:12.923 --> 00:32:16.773
If you can do that on that, then that's where I want to go.

00:32:28.193 --> 00:32:38.153
And again, my influences were less harmonica and more guys like Chet Baker and Jerry Mulligan and all these real lyrical guys.

00:32:38.933 --> 00:32:42.662
So you played a normal chromatic for several years.

00:32:42.721 --> 00:32:47.651
You must have been excited to see the DM-48 come out and the jazz possibilities.

00:32:47.671 --> 00:32:48.913
When did you get one of those?

00:32:49.506 --> 00:32:53.849
Well, I got one of those, I would say the first month it was released.

00:32:54.109 --> 00:32:56.192
I saw that and my eyes popped out of my head.

00:32:56.231 --> 00:33:02.497
I was touring at the time as a bass player and desperately trying to practice all hours of whenever.

00:33:02.537 --> 00:33:07.161
And of course, the harmonica definitely penetrates every wall in a hotel.

00:33:07.181 --> 00:33:11.025
I saw that and thought, oh my God, this is the solution.

00:33:11.085 --> 00:33:15.648
But as soon as I started playing it, I realized, okay, this is actually a real instrument.

00:33:15.729 --> 00:33:18.611
This thing is not just a sort of a practice device.

00:33:19.112 --> 00:33:23.155
I had enormous potential for expression and everything else.

00:33:23.556 --> 00:33:27.941
And it's only gotten better since Eric continues to update it.

00:33:28.340 --> 00:33:30.182
Do you now play the X model?

00:33:30.663 --> 00:33:31.444
I do, yes.

00:33:31.884 --> 00:33:32.965
They're both pretty similar.

00:33:32.986 --> 00:33:37.151
The X has that little ribbon in it that allows you to do these cool slides.

00:33:37.411 --> 00:33:39.512
The possibilities are sort of endless.

00:33:39.834 --> 00:33:47.541
I keep expecting some 19-year-old kid to finally figure out just how cool this is and just become the next YouTube genius on this thing.

00:33:48.042 --> 00:33:48.883
Well, at the moment, that's

00:33:49.023 --> 00:33:49.223
you.

00:33:49.304 --> 00:33:54.634
So You're holding on until a young person, as you say, comes and takes your crown.

00:34:08.802 --> 00:34:17.650
One thing I want to talk with you about is all the setup and what's involved with that and how complicated it is and how quickly did you sort of take on, you know, connecting it to the software instruments and that sort of thing?

00:34:17.949 --> 00:34:18.831
Almost immediately.

00:34:18.871 --> 00:34:21.193
You can plug it straight into an iPad.

00:34:21.253 --> 00:34:26.396
And of course, in terms of flexibility and mobility, that was just amazing.

00:34:26.436 --> 00:34:32.161
You know, you plug it into the iPad, put on your headphones, and then you can play it flying on a plane to wherever.

00:34:32.202 --> 00:34:40.269
That was just so much fun because I'm sort of a chronic practicer, you know, whatever I could do to enable more time was great.

00:34:40.610 --> 00:34:46.797
Right off the bat, there was a lot of, you know, Korg makes an M1 module, which sounded pretty good with that.

00:34:47.036 --> 00:34:55.746
And then for more serious applications, I was using a VL70, which is a Yamaha module that a lot of the EWI users play with.

00:34:55.806 --> 00:34:57.847
And that was pretty amazing.

00:34:57.907 --> 00:35:00.311
Like that's modeled rather than sampled.

00:35:00.570 --> 00:35:05.175
That also was like, oh my God, this thing is, it's sort of limitless how much you can do with it.

00:35:05.516 --> 00:35:08.179
So were you into, you know, playing MIDI instruments before?

00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:10.722
Is that something you had to learn about when you got this?

00:35:11.121 --> 00:35:11.521
Sort of.

00:35:12.483 --> 00:35:20.130
I used to sit at home and be the mad scientist and literally punch in chords on the piano like one at a time.

00:35:20.150 --> 00:35:23.753
My first MIDI setup was an Atari ST.

00:35:24.373 --> 00:35:32.059
So I was somewhat versed with MIDI, but not to the degree that I sort of needed to understand it a lot more.

00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:35.782
And plus MIDI capabilities have increased enormously over the years.

00:35:36.184 --> 00:35:40.027
So the obvious question for a harmonica player is, you know, is it a harmonica?

00:35:40.047 --> 00:35:41.487
And it kind of isn't a harmonica, right?

00:35:41.507 --> 00:35:44.530
Because it sounds like other instruments and that's the whole point of it, right?

00:35:44.570 --> 00:35:52.958
So, you know, what would you say are, you know, besides the fact that you can sound like lots of instruments, you know, what do you see as the main advantages of it over a standard chromatic?

00:35:53.318 --> 00:35:55.480

DM48 interview with Erik Lekholm and Jason Keene

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