Why Your Aerophone Doesn't Sound Like a Real Cello
🌐 Read this article in Japanese（この記事を日本語で読む）
Hi, I'm Shuko. I started playing the Aerophone in 2022, with no wind instrument experience.
One of the Aerophone's biggest attractions is its wide range of built-in sounds. My AE-20 has more than 260 of them.
Of all these sounds, I will never forget how moved I was the first time I played with a string sound, such as the violin or the cello.
I cannot play the violin. But on the Aerophone, I can make music with a violin sound.
And it is not only the violin. The Aerophone lets you experience what it is like to play many different instruments. This is what makes it so wonderful.
But then I noticed something. I played a song with the cello sound, but it did not sound like someone playing a real cello.
In this article, I share how I found out why.
Contents
Something Felt Wrong at the Recital
I keep trying different things to play with more expression. One of them was singing the melody before playing it. I tried it and wrote about it on this blog.
At a recent recital, I played "Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing" by Kenshi Yonezu. It is the theme song of Final Fantasy XVI. I used the sound P07-04 Cello Vib.
The practice paid off. My range of expression grew little by little, and I could hear the progress myself.
But something felt wrong, even while I was still practicing. I recorded myself and listened back. The dynamics were there. The expression was there. But it did not sound like someone playing a cello.
The impression was this: I was playing a wind instrument that sounds like a cello.
I did not understand it.
The AE-20 comes with a book of sheet music in Japan, the Song & Guide Book, and it includes demo recordings. "Air on the G String" (Violin Vib), "Merry-Go-Round of Life" from Howl's Moving Castle (Cello Vib), "Jonetsu Tairiku" by Taro Hakase (Violin Vib). All of them sound like real string instruments.
It is the same with the professional performances I hear at events. When I close my eyes, I hear a string instrument.
So I had always assumed that my own playing would sound that way too. I never questioned it.
Then a thought crossed my mind.
Maybe I need to play it the way a string player plays.
The recital was close, so I set the thought aside. I focused on what I could do and decided to come back to it later.
Roland Aerophone AE-20
See full specs and details on the official page:
Roland Aerophone AE-20 — Official Product Page
The Seminar Gave Me the Answer
The recital went well. But the thought I had set aside came back sooner than I expected, and I got my answer.
It happened at the Aerophone seminar I wrote about in my last article.
A Breath in a Place I Did Not Expect
The seminar was given by Masahiko Fujimoto, a saxophone and Aerophone player. He played "Jonetsu Tairiku," a piece by the violinist Taro Hakase.
Again, when I closed my eyes, I heard a violin.
But I noticed something while he was playing. He took a breath in a place I did not expect at all.
It felt strange, and a thought crossed my mind. Surely not...
Then, in the part of the seminar where he explained playing technique, the answer came.
Every Instrument Has Its Own Way of Being Played
- The Aerophone can produce the sounds of many instruments. But you have to study how each of those instruments is played.
- He studies what is distinctive about string playing, and he plays in a way that reflects it.
That is what Mr. Fujimoto said.
He gave "Air on the G String" as an example. It is in the Song & Guide Book, and it is a familiar piece for saxophone players too.
Listen to it played on a violin or another string instrument, and the notes are almost all connected. So to play it the way a violinist does, you cannot take a breath lightly. Sometimes you find a way to play without breathing at all.
It hit me hard.
At the same time, I thought: so that was it. The idea I had set aside before the recital was right.
Part of me thought it sounded very difficult. But before I could feel discouraged, I felt excited.
Music runs deep.
There is still so much about the Aerophone I don't know.
I want to try it!
Listening Again at Home
I went home and listened closely to "Air on the G String" from the Song & Guide Book.
Listening without thinking about it, and listening while knowing that the playing reflects what is distinctive about the instrument, are two completely different things.
Until then, I had been taking a breath wherever I wanted to.
But listening to the demo recording, I found that you cannot breathe where you want to. And when you do breathe, you have to keep it as unnoticeable as possible, and make your air last a long time.
In the demo recording there were very few breaths, and every single note carried the dynamics of a bow.
Mr. Fujimoto was right. "Air on the G String" is a difficult piece.
I finally understood why my playing did not sound like a string instrument, even with dynamics and expression.
I wrote about the whole seminar in this article.
Summary
Improving your expression and sounding like the instrument are two different things.
I had always believed that choosing the sound was enough to sound like that instrument.
In fact, every instrument has its own way of being played. You cannot get close without studying it.
- Changing the sound is not enough to sound like that instrument
- Every instrument has its own way of being played
- In string playing the notes do not break, and every note carries the dynamics of a bow
Starting from this, I tried things out for myself: how to start a note, how to end it, and more. I will share that in the next article.
I learned a new side of the Aerophone, and it lit up my curiosity.
