Non keyboard MIDI devices

This is the 2nd article about the MIDI setup in my studio. Keyboards can be very versatile used with various MIDI sounds; but sometimes just to have a totally different way to play the notes can provide some new inspiration for creativity

Casio Digital Horn DH100 breath controller
This is played like a saxaphone and looks rather like a toy sax. I had to brush up on the fingering. I never played sax before but I did play flute as a teenager, inspired by watching and listening to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. 
The in-built sounds are awful. When connected to MIDI, I was able to get a better sax sound but still without live character; needs a few squeals in there (not the one that had to be engineered out of the original design of this instrument) rather like you get the extra sounds in acoustic guitar sampling when you hear the fingers moving on the strings. 
In fact the best and more innovative results are obtained by using this instrument to drive synth leads or even atmospheric pads.

I also have a Yamaha BC3A breath controller that can be used in conjunction with a MIDI controller keyboard such as my CME but in fact I have never got it to work - although I have seen the MIDI signals change on the computer MIDI monitor.

Digitalent Hand-Controlled Midi
This is a device triggered by two optical sensors. The sound/pitch changes depending on the height of your hand away from each sensor. It has been compared to a theramin. The effect is MIDI output created somewhat chaotically and can also be great fun on percussion.

Percussion
Digital Drums
My digital drum kit is a Roland HD1. In fact I bought it just for visiting drummers to rehearse. The drum sounds are not at all satisfactory. Not always wanting working to work with MIDI through the iMac, but in fact wanting just to have a simple audio out, I upgraded the drum brain with an Alesis DM5. This is clamped on to the front of the HD1 kit. I got the Alesis DM5 second hand and in fact bought the full kit so I have added additional pads and cymbals to the kit. With the Roland pads, I did a quick fix by just taking a MIDI cable from the original Roland drum brain to the MIDI in of the Alesis DM5. The extra pads are then linked directly to a couple of trigger channels directly to the DM5 as designed.
While mostly played in the studio with its own audio, I also have this Frankenstein linked by MIDI out into my synthesizer suite as described in another page. Logic Pro environment can then be used to make the drum kit an input for any of the synthesizer modules or any of the soft syths on the iMac and of course record either as an audio or as a MIDI track (or both)
Yamaha DD-10
Tried to sell this some time ago but nobody bought, now i see them selling on e-bay for more than I paid for it years ago. Strangely it has a MIDI in but no MIDI out. The sounds are really retro. I think badly retro and the rhythms are very dated but in fact this little thing has been used on 2 demo recordings in the past year and so has a reprieve from being sold.

Roland Pad 5
I also had this for sale for a while and it did not go either. I just bought an old E-Mu World synth module that used to belong to Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The world instruments in it are covered by my other synths too but I am using this to have some dedicated world percussion available. Something to shake a stick at, you could say

Korg Nano Pad
Great for some quick percussion and I use its "Kaoss" pad with my atmospheric synths to modulate the synth settings while being played