We are Aodyo Instruments, creators of the Sylphyo, an electronic wind instrument meant to replicate the expressivity of acoustic musical instruments

Your presentation video has not a single moment where the person we see playing is making the sound.

Is the soundtrack all this thing?

I feel like something is being hidden when nobody can be heard playing it.

Hey thanks for the feedback! Yes actually the entire soundtrack of the presentation video is made on the Sylphyo. Let me send you another video where you can see it better.

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Here is Pedro Eustache playing it

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Here is a video of a cool meditative improv on the Sylphyo

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edit: I found the original video for the music heard in the presentation video :) One of our team members made it. Here is the link!

I added an edit to put in another more technical video which is meant to show what you can do on the Sylphyo :) Go check out our youtube channel we have a lot more videos there, showing off the latest sound updates, or some videos of different artists using it!

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Link to youtube

Is there a place in Paris where I can test it? (like 'sax machine'). This is very interesting!

I'm a saxophone player and electronic music producer based on Paris

You can test it in Woodbrass in the 19th arrondissement! Ask for the salesperson Lily, she knows the Sylphyo well :) Send me a pm otherwise I will be in Paris this weekend I can do a demo for you!

Is this offer open for someone who won’t be in Paris til August?!

Send me a message I am sure we can work something out!

As a mechanical engineering student, I’m really interested in helping create electronic instruments as a career, probably at a company similar to Aodyo. That said, none of my professors or advising staff at my university have given me good advice on how to pursue such an industry nor have any experience in that field.

So my question is, what are some good skills to develop as a student to enter the electronic instrument field? What are some ways to begin learning how to build such instruments?

Thanks!

Other redditors seem to have answered much better than I could have! :)

What are some features separating your product with wind controllers of other brands, such as Yamaha or Akai?

Thanks for the question :) The Sylphyo is a lot more naturally expressive due to a much wider airflow (to make it feel more like a normal wind instrument)

The Sylphyo also allows players to use natural techniques such as staccato, legato, etc.

OUr instrument can be played wirelessly through the link receiver, and it also is much more customisable than the WX or EWI lines.

Furthermore, you can play it completely autonomously with a built-in headphone jack.

Probably the thing that differentiates it most is that we've added movement controls through roll, elevation and compass control so you can modulate different parts of your sound in that way, as well as a shake-vibrato feature (which everyone is sceptical of at first, but works super well!)

The Sylphyo also has a built-in screen so you can tweak settings on the go and change practically whatever you want :)

You can use it as a MIDI controller and change MIDI CC settings for 9 different parameters, including recently released keybend MIDI CC

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Let me know if this helps :) If not then feel free to ask anything else!

Other than porn soundtracks, what musical genre do you see the Sylphyo best suited for? And have you thought about hiring Kenny G to demo the instrument? If so, don't. Nobody likes Kenny G.

As for Kenny G, we would consider working with him, but apparently no one likes him...

Kenny G is a cult legend in China, so if ever you want to expand operations there...

We will definitely keep that in mind!

Hey! The great thing about the Sylphyo is it is really suited to every style of music, we have videos of anything from classical music to drum and bass to meditative music being played with it. There is also a jazz video which hopefully I can find the link to and send your way!

I find this interesting; I remember playing on an electronic sax back in middle school and finding it terribly unrewarding because it was essentially binary in operation. Do you guys actually measure air speed in the horn, or does a mic capture the signal, the amplitude of which determines the output?

This would certainly have more potential at parties than my clarinet currently does, haha. The chameleon bass settings were wild.

Way too expensive for me to afford, but downright reasonable in terms of musical instruments; our clarinets and strings all cost more than that.

As an aside, I regret not getting to visit through your part of France when I was living there; I spent most of my time in Montpellier.

We measure air pressure in the body of the horn, and the more you blow, the louder the sound. You can also use common techniques like staccato, legato, etc!

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Here is a video showing off a bit of what you can do on the sylphyo

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Come by next time! We'd love to have you test one out

THIS should be in your presentation video... so people can hear it.

Thanks for the feedback. The presentation video is meant as more of a stylized "hype" video :) But we will definitely share this more technical video.

Y’all are burying the lede. I’d suggest changing strategies big time or this thing is going to waste. Anyone interested in it as an instrument is interested in seeing what it’s capable of musically.

Hey check out the original video from the music of the presentation video, here is the link.

This video, from presumably a competitor, is significantly more in line with what I’d like to see.

Here is a list of videos with our sound demos! I hope this helps :)

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The fourteen first sounds of the Sylphyo:

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- MacGuffin: https://youtu.be/suZZZAw0JgE

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- Daphnis Flute: https://youtu.be/bsqhTUeUx84

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- House of Chords: https://youtu.be/Wa2aQv8wid8

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- Meow: https://youtu.be/UDcR4I1zatQ

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- Sync Asset: https://youtu.be/UUpaFfLQTUA

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- Soyuz LT: https://youtu.be/ZAtSYl16lgY

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- Corroboree: https://youtu.be/A0QXvYvitTQ

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- Chalumeau: https://youtu.be/ziSgvwBxDso

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- Chameleon Bass: https://youtu.be/yesMuuxmDSw

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- Electro Fuse: https://youtu.be/m7mziheMLDU

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- Sylphatty: https://youtu.be/-B79N9BFNGY

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- Unreasonable : https://youtu.be/mYuOdHMo7Qw

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- Justin Whistle : https://youtu.be/46QbbpWnPVY

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- Braveheart : https://youtu.be/RcauPBIH904

Also we are currently running a giveaway to win a Sylphyo on our facebook page! Go have a look

edit: link here

Can you ship to the States?

Yes we can!

Did you mean to make the name sound like slang for an STD?

We had not thought of that actually... We based the name off of the sylph mythological air spirits. Wikipedia link

lmao syphilis was also the thing the back of my head said xD

In French it sounds a lot less like that! Very funny though, I told the team and they are all laughing

Not very much like it in English really, anywhere but reddit!

Good to know we do not need to change the name completely ;)

It's really cool mate. No questions. It's just really great. I hope to afford one one way.

Actually, there's a question. How much?

Happy you like it! It is 799€ by itself and 999€ with the Link wireless controller

Hi. What makes this product different from, say, one of Yamaha's midi clarinets?

Hey! The Sylphyo is quite a different instrument in many ways. First, the Sylphyo has more methods of expression (as it is movement and touch sensitive). So for example if you were to tilt the Sylphyo or roll it while playing that could be used to modulate your sound in different ways. The Sylphyo also supports keybend for each individual key by sliding your finger(s) off a certain key.

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The Sylphyo is also a wireless instrument with the link receiver, and can be played as a standalone instrument using headphones.

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The biggest difference might actually be in the airflow (which affects expressivity a lot). The Sylphyo has a large tube modeled on acoustic wind instruments, which allows you to feel like you are actually blowing into a music instrument rather than an electronic flute.

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Finally, the Sylphyo has its own built-in sounds, with 14 currently released and many more in production! There are firmware updates approximately every month that add some functionalities and new sounds.

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I hope this helps!

It does. Thanks a lot

Let me know if you have any more questions :)

can you please describe in more detail the technical/algorithmic methods of sound generation here? Is this an airflow to MIDI device and then the built in sounds are some form of PCM samples or digital synthesis engine? Are you doing some manner of noise excitation of a resonator? I love that kind of stuff and am curious.... One of my all time "one that got away" synths/synths I would so damn love to get my hands on is Yamaha VL 1, that technology looks worlds ahead of so much stuff out there and ... not a religous man but I kinda pray theyd make some new cheaper implimentation of it, I think when paired with a wind controller it could be amazing.... only bringing that up to point out some cool tech, dont mean to take the focus off of your cool/interesting loooking instrument! Edit: Just watched the demo this sounds WAY better than PCM samples, awesome work now im even more interested in what you have going on here! (to the extent you wish to share, not asking for trade secrets/hidden mojo you dont wish to share etc)

I'll get more details about all that on Monday and answer you :) For now, basics. The majority of the built-in sounds are based on a quite well-known open-source modular synth oscillator. Some of the sounds do have noise excitation and/or resonators built-in.

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I'll let you know more if you wish on Monday!

:-(

Oh, one of the things I love about the WX-7 is that you don't need very much air to play it, so you can play long, sustained parts and use circular breathing.

Is there any way to stop down the breath?

Hey! Yes we have a lot of users that partially plug the hole in order to slow down airflow. I myself use a small plug in order to lessen the airflow. And not to reveal anything but just yesterday we had an email from a quite famous saxophonist asking how much of the hole he could safely plug! So yes the Sylphyo does allow you to be quite flexible with the amount of air you let through. We see it as a win-win, for those used to recorder-like instrument, they get that airflow. For those used to saxes and trumpets and such, you can customise it to be like that :) Hope this helps!

Yamaha's not making them anymore for starters.

It’s just odd that they’re pitching it as if it’s a brand new invention and are completely sidestepping the well accepted term of “wind controller”. Seems like they’re trying to bamboozle investors or early adopters or something.

Hey let me clarify a bit for you.

The brand new invention is not the product itself, it is the way in which the air pressure is calculated, which simulates a real acoustic wind instrument in terms of feel :)

As for pitching it, we do describe as an electronic wind instrument (or ewi for short) because it is not just a controller, it has built in sounds and can be played completely autonomously.

Have you tried playing Epona's song to summon a horse?

We tried... But there seems to be some magic which we can't seem to get!

You need to learn the song from Malon, otherwise it won't work.

So that is what we have been doing wrong. We'll try again and give an update

why do you need to blow into it?

You don't actually ;) There is a movement only mode which allows you to play without blowing into it at all. But the reason for blowing into it is that it gives you the same feeling and expressivity as blowing into an acoustic wind instrument!

Will be taking a break now, I need to go catch a train! I'll answer more on the train

I’m curious of how flexible the settings are on the fly. Is the Sylphyo able to quickly change to different instrument ranges without stopping? Or would you have to pause playing to adjust the sound yourself?

Hey! If by range you mean octaves then yes it is completely flexible on the fly.

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However, if you mean changing to different sounds, then you do have to pause and take about 2 seconds to switch to your preferred sound, there is a quick menu for that, where you just press the aodyo key in the front of the instrument, press the middle octave key to select the sounds quick menu and then use the slider or the two bottom octave sliders to select the sound you want! It is quite simple and intuitive once you have a sylphyo in your hands :)

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We refer to each sound as sonic universe because it is fully mapped to all the different ways of using the Sylphyo, so each sound has usable features using the various movement controls, the slider and the breath control.

you can do crazy things on a windsynth:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt2TkhQLPhs

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and theres a sub here for them:

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r/windsynth

We have tried posting some things on that sub but it is sadly not very active! Would be cool to start it up again :)

What is the fingering methodology used for the Sylphyo? Is it modeled after recorder, sax, clarinet, flute, etc? How many “tone holes” does it have?

Hey! The Sylphyo has over 50 different fingering types, suited for all types of wind instruments, from recorder to trumpet to ewi.

As for tone holes, we have technically 8 tone holes (2 of which are sharp and flat keys). We also have 5 dedicated octave keys on the bottom of the instrument

Thanks! My wife is a classical clarinetist and I’d love to get her to play with my rock band sometime. But it’s almost impossible to mic a clarinet in a stage setting.

Awesome product! Keep up the innovative work!

One mic in the middle and one underneath the bell is how we mic our Clarinetists.

Be careful when you put a mic in the middle that you don't pick up unwanted key sounds! This happens all the time when I mic flutes and saxophones

What's the fingering system like? A recorder? It seems like it would be hard to play without G#, bis Bb, and Eb keys.

Hey! There are over 50 different fingering options, which closely emulate anything from a recorder to a trumpet or even an ewi. So there is a G# key and an Eb key, but no dedicated Bb key (like on a flute). I personally play the flute and it took me just a few hours to get used to the fingering of the Sylphyo.

Dd ya'll have a conversation about this video at 1:33? Not trying to be a jerk, but I found that part pretty funny, possibly meme potential.
https://youtu.be/xkxQCrePbeM?t=92

Ha! Beautiful, definitely make a meme! As long as it is not too innapropriate we might even share it...

Hey! Keep asking questions, get your friends to join in, all that! We'll be here for a few more hours :)

Do you have any other plans for the future?

We are working on a ton of new sound universes coming very soon! We are also continuing the development of new control features for the Sylphyo.

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The last update allows the keybend feature to be mapped to send MIDI CC messages instead of traditional keybend (video coming up for that soon!)

Any immediate plans on developing a holophonor?

The holophonor is next on our list, right after the cantina instruments from Star Wars /s

Hi, fellow musician hacker here. I really appreciate your desire to give musicians the expressivity of natural instruments while having access to the endless possibilities of synthesized sounds. When you say built with 21st century technology, could you elaborate more on what you mean? For example how are you monitoring airflow, and what microcontroller is doing the processing and sound synthesis?

Hey! We are very passionate about this, as we believe it is the future of music!

The microcontroller is a Cortex M4.

When we say built with 21st century technology, we mean that we have really changed the way that wind controllers were made until now, so we have a proprietary system to control airflow that is a sensor measuring air pressure passing through a large tube that gives the feeling of blowing into a real wind instrument (which had not been done in electronic wind instruments until the Sylphyo!)

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Let me know if you need more info!

Is this cloud based in any way? I have a musician friend who might be interested but I don't think normal people like having products that are (completely) dependent on some server somewhere.

This is not cloud-based at all. It is all stored on the device itself :) The updates for the system are on our website though, so you have to download them and install them when/if you want to update your Sylphyo. But the Sylphyo and Link don't connect to the internet at all.

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So basically, no, it is not at all dependent on some server somewhere

Did you guys put in any initial work before the indiegogo campaign, like how did you convince people that you were capable of producing the product?

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Also, have you ever looked to get into accelerators/acquire venture funding, or did you want to bootstrap the whole thing?

Hey! A lot of research was done before the Indiegogo campaign and there was a functional prototype.

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We currently have investors that have put in some money to help us. Hope this helps?h

Interesting, does it have Midi In? Can I use it with VSTs with it/load my own sounds?

Hey! The Link receiver does have a midi in and a midi out port. You can definitely use it with VSTs through a usb cable. As for loading your own sounds, you cannot yet do that!

Hi! I've followed sylphyo for a while now, and am excited to see this AmA! I'm curious:

What sort of challenges did you face in taking this product from concept to final product? Is there anything you wish you knew beforehand?

How do you answer the "what is it?" question to laymen who don't know that much about electronic music?

What sound generators have you found most rewarding to use with sylphyo?

Can I find them in stores in Canada?

Hey! One of the big challenges was delivering the product we wanted while managing to keep costs at a relatively affordable level.

Hmm good question! I'll have to ask our founder about that one and get back to you.

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For the "what is it?" question, I usually answer that it is a way to completely revolutionise a musician's possibilities while retaining the expressivity of acoustic wind instruments!

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I am quite partial to proper modular synth setups, and I love some of the built in sounds (#11 Sylphatty is my current favourite). If I had to choose a software, I would go with Respiro by ImoXPlus. Link to their site

Hi, I really like the idea behind it. Have you considered branching out into products that are not typically accessible or normalised to westerners/in western culture?

E.g. Eastern bamboo flute sounds, like a Dizi or Xiao. This would be super cool. Awesome job though- can you add new sounds to existing flute products or would you have to release new models to integrate new sounds?

Thanks for the question! We do release new sounds quite frequently that users can easily install through their computers :) And yes we are currently working on a lot of sounds, some of them not being normalised in western culture!

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You can also use it as a MIDI flute to control any kind of synth/VST you want so technically you can play any sound you can find!

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I hope this helps

Not sure if OP is still around, but anyone know if this interfaces well with DAW software such as Ableton Live?

Yes it interfaces really well with any DAW you use! I have used it with Studio One 4, Ableton and Logic and it works flawlessly :)

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You can use the Sylphyo itself with a USB cable or use it wirelessly with the Link receiver

What inspired you to create this, and when will you make a one man band version?

Hey! So the inspiration really came from a desire to bridge the gap between traditional acoustic music and electronic music. We felt that we could make something better than the current offerings on the market (EWI and Aerophone) that would more closely emulate a wind instrument, while using 21st century technology to do so!

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As for the one man band version, we have a video of that somewhere which I will find and send you! ;)

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edit: here it is!

Does this have any kind of device api for the raw sensor data coming from the internal microcontroller? Any thoughts on OSC? Midi is nice but limited.

Hey we do have a diagnostic mode built in which gives you raw sensor data on the Sylphyo screen!

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There is no OSC built in to the Sylphyo or Link, you would need to use a MIDI to OSC converter.

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What I have done (which is not the same but related), is use a MIDI to CV interface to control a modular synthesizer rig using the Sylphyo, which works flawlessly!

It looks like you don't have an videos where the instrument is showcased by a professional playing a single cohesive song. Have you considered creating a demo video where the wind synth is used to create music in a way similar to a keyboard synth?

Hey I am not sure what you mean! I have posted quite a number of videos above which show some professionals such as Pedro Eustache and Florian Becquigny playing the Sylphyo. Let me know if you need anything specific!

Does the Sylphyo use any of the work that went into the Continuum Fingerboard? It seems similar in expressiveness...

Nope we don't have any relation with the great Continuum team!

Have you considered working with Sam Greenfield of the band Thank You Scientist? I know he's hugely into the electronic wind instruments, it may be worth looking into and reaching out to him!

Thank you for the tip! We will definitely reach out to him.

Hey that's it for me here! I hope I answered some of your questions! Please keep asking questions and I will get to them in the next few days when I can. You were all fantastic :) See you next time!

This looks seriously impressive, and my ears pricked up (as it were) when earlier you answered a question saying that you can play it with different fingering, e.g. trumpet. Forgive me for maybe being a bit thick. I'm a brass player, where the pressure/size of your embouchure dictates the octave you're playing in. If you're playing it in trumpet mode, i.e. three keys, how does the Sylphyo recognise what octave you want to play? Is the mouthpiece pressure sensitive? Is it fingering combinations?

Let me send you a link to our manual and you can check out the trumpet fingering yourself :)

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https://www.aodyo.com/user-manual-page-en-21.html#section-fingerings.evi

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Let me know if you need more details

pineapple on pizza?

Only in the proper occasion. But you do you... We sell instruments, not pizza ;)

So how much does it cost?

£799 or £999 with the link. So it's a proper investment.

Slight correction. 799€ or 999€ with Link.

We are also currently running a giveaway on our facebook page! The link is in the title post

Let me know if you need more info

First of all, how did it all start?

It all started with an Indiegogo campaign trying to bridge the gap between traditional acoustic music and electronic music. Our founder, Laurent Pouillard, is originally a clarinet player but got into synthesizers at an early age. He wanted to bring clarinet and electronic music together, and was unsatisfied with the offerings available on the market and decided to make his own wind controller! So the Sylphyo was born!

Are you aware the name of your instrument reads like a sexually transmitted infection?

See an above comment about this ;)

Is playing your instrument as cool as reading a Nicolas Comic?

cooler ;)

Or just save $1000 and use a wind instrument?

The Sylphyo can be thought of like a lot of wind instruments in one, and allows you to do a lot more than just a wind instrument, as it is an instrument and a midi controller all in one!

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So while it may be an investment, we and many others think it is really worth it to take your music to the next level, or even to just step into the world of wind instruments.

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We are currently working with many conservatories who have purchased Sylphyos in order to teach wind instruments to beginners!

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That being said, it might not be for everyone, and that is okay. We would like it to be and we think one day it really will be! But some people just love their traditional wind instruments :) I personally play both the flute and the Sylphyo extensively, and I could never do on my flute what I do on my Sylphyo