Xylosynth

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Xylosynth is a digital percussion instrument that was invented in 1986 by the Englishman William Wernick . The name is made up of the Greek word xylos , "wood", which also occurs in " xylophone ", and the Greek sunthetikós , from it synthetic , "composed, artificial", contained in " synthesizer ". The Xylosynth is a synthesizer that looks like a xylophone. It has a range of 2 to 5 octaves . In contrast to the xylophone, the sound bars all have the same dimensions. The instrument is mainly used in jazz , where it serves as a replacement for vibraphone , marimbaphone and glockenspiel , or in new music , where it is used as an extraordinary effect instrument . The Xylosynth has built-in sounds ex works, but in practice it is mainly operated with external samplers or notebooks . The Xylosynth has no built-in speakers, it has to be operated with an external combo amplifier or a power amplifier as a sound source.

history

Xylosynth MK6

In the early 1980s there was great interest among percussionists and composers in combining acoustic stick playing with modern MIDI technology and the possibilities it offers. Englishman Gerry McCavana , originally a metrology engineer, quit his job to help William Wernick develop the software and electronics for the Xylosynth. At this point in time, William Wernick had already designed the basic concept of the xylosynth. The first xylosynth, the MK1 model, came onto the market in 1986 in very small editions by the newly founded company Wernick Musical Instruments Limited . This was followed in the further development of the models MK2 to MK5, whereby the initially very large volume of the instruments was further reduced through constant revision of the electronic components. In 2004, Wernick released the Xylosynth XS6 with a significantly flatter housing and improved sensors. The model XS7, which was released in March 2017, represents the mature final version in terms of hardware and software and it is now being produced for the first time in two versions, Standard and Special Edition. The difference is mainly in the storage capacity.

Well-known xylosynth players

David Friedman , Safri Duo , Orphy Robinson , Anthony Kerr , Manu Delago , Thomas Preissler , Stage Entertainment , Izabella Effenberg , Berliner Philharmoniker .

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