Talk with Yukes——“ Why I Prefer an Electronic Instrument, Instead of an Acoustic One?"

video upload by Meng Qi

"Yukes excels at all kinds of plucked string instruments. He told me His stage name Yukes is derived from the word 'Ukulele,' and when he put his name into Google Translate, it resulted in '玉刻' (Yukes), which means 'Jade Carve' literally in Chinese. In our culture, one well-known adage goes like this: 'Jade needs to be carved to become finest.' This string instrument player from the US seems to have a destined connection with Chinese traditional culture.

Later, he studied the Guzheng at NYU Shanghai and self-taught other Chinese traditional instruments, such as the Xiao and Zhongruan. Just as we marveled at how an American musician could show such extraordinary skills in Chinese traditional instruments, he surprised us once again by expressing his passion for electronic instruments or, more precisely, the electrification of traditional instruments. So, what exactly is it? Is it a corruption or betrayal of tradition? Can traditional instruments and electronic instruments coexist on the same stage? I hope that my interview with Yukes can answer these questions."

Elektron Digitone and Meng Qi Wingie 2 // Starbucks Challenge @Betehatve

video upload by Dexba

"This is what I had to do to earn me some drinks as a struggling psychologist, I mean, musician!
My friend over at @Betehatve challenged me and other people to get creative with a chord progression in order to win some drinks, and I obviously couldn't resist.
Must be noted that I converted that prize into a TocoToco order because that granted me 12 drinks instead of 2 from the already [too many times] mentioned Starbucks.
I think I am also kinda legally obligated to state that Starbucks is not affiliated in any way with this, even though that would have been rad.
Anyway, here it is. Some silly content, with my trusty (now gone 😥) Elektron Digitone and my even more trusty (now I have two, thank you @MengQiMusic ) Wingie 2, used as a surprisingly good microphone!
Enjoy the silliness 🧡"

Improvise jam of Meng Qi + Yukes: Synthesizer, Guzheng and Xiao's Encounter

video upload by Meng Qi

"This was the first time Yukes and I met in person. We initially connected on Bilibili when he created a documentary exploring the development of synthesizers in China and mentioned me in it. We kept in touch online for a long time, and when Yukes visited Beijing, I invited him to my slightly cluttered home, which serves as the backdrop for every episode of Synthesis Minority. I played host to this American Guzheng specialist, along with my two birds and two cats.

During our meeting, we recorded a video of an improvisation jam. I played the Wing Pinger, Wingie2, Magneto, and Steel Tongue Drum, while Yukes played the Electric Guzheng, Xiao, Metal Zone, H9, Blackhole, and Plus. If you have the patience to watch the entire video, you might come across some intriguing footage."

Novel Back 小说背面

video upload by Meng Qi

"I am honored to be invited to compose the music for "Der Einsiedler," a science fiction written by the Chinese novelist Liu Yang. The novel was translated into German and published in the magazine "Kapsel" (Time Capsule). A cassette tape was launched simultaneously, with German reading on side A and music on side B, which I composed with the Wing Pinger, Wingie2 & Magneto, the further experimentation of Wing Pinger + resonators in a feedback loop. I named this piece of music Novel Back.

--from @kapselmagazin--

Kapsel magazine presents »Der Einsiedler« by Liu Yang from Sichuan and a soundtrack composed by Peking-based synthesizer experimentalist Meng Qi. In this story, a successful businessman encloses himself in a deep underground bunker. Disconnected from the world starts a journey leading him to the universe's end and beyond. Berlin-based actor Lukas Hoffmann reads the story. You can find the story in the latest issue of Kapsel, published in March at MaroVerlag. It is the second Kapsel tape on Econore, the first one is still available here: https://kapselmagazin.bigcartel.com/"

Apocalyptic synth jam with PWM Malevolent, Meng Qi Wingie 2, Chase Bliss Mood MkII, Zen Delay, DFAM

video upload by Jay Hosking

"Please support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jayhosking
A song that started as a live, semi-improvised synth jam, and was finished by adding some extra sounds in the box.

I recently bought the Malevolent and Wingie 2 from the same friend, and thought it might be fun to get such different pieces of hardware in the same song. The Malevolent really can get monstrous with its drive/distortion, whereas the Wingie 2 reminds me of MI Rings, bright and ringing, but with tons of playability. From there, I filled out what I needed to quickly improvise, some effects on the synths, and some drums to play with. Finally, I added some extras like guitar and a little more synth after the live performance was captured. Notes below. It's fun to have no sequencers on the table and to just make music by playing the devices.

Meng Qi Wingie 2 via Chase Bliss Mood MkII - stereo plucks
PWM Malevolent via Erica Synths Zen Delay - bass synth wildness
Moog DFAM (x 2) - kick (on one DFAM), hats and snare (on another DFAM) - the DFAMs also had compression, a little stereo delay, etc. in the box (see the Patreon walkthrough vid)
Godin Stadium 59 via Elektron Analog Drive and Strymon Iridium - guitar
Reason Europa - synth pad
Reason Thor - additional bass emphasis on kick drum
XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2 - ride cymbal doubling one DFAM for last chorus

Thanks for listening.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com"

Meng Qi Wing Pinger

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"One-of-a-kind instrument, the Wing Pinger. Unlock a world of sonic expression and experimentation. Stored in a non smoking studio and trying to clear out some space. Very small mark on the wood (came that way) otherwise gorgeous. Power source not included."

You can find demos of the Wing Pinger in previous posts here.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Clockwork Infinite Deep-space Rhythms - Great Conjunction, Wingie MKii & Dirtywave M8

video upload by Arman Bohn

"Development of the Great Conjunction hit a rough spot about a week ago when I changed microcontrollers from Promicro to Teensy 4.0. I had to rewire many pins on the board, but I think I’ve sorted most of it out, and I actually got MIDI running earlier this evening.

The M8 is primarily a mixer here, adding reverb and random delay. It’s also controlling the Wingie with a couple of LFO‘s set to vary the mix and decay rate of the resonators.

The Great Conjunction is the primary sound source. It’s producing FM sounds with three sequencers running.

This is my second M8 + Wingie jam with the Great Conjunction. This one’s a little more straightforward(?).

I’m still having some trouble locking the eight parameter knobs down when changing screens, so that’s on my to do list this week, along with sorting out a huge number of MIDI controls."

What a Synthesizer Designer learned from a Neuroscientist?

video upload by Meng Qi

"I made a calculator based on the concept of Critical Bandwidth. It returns the percentage of tonal pitch intervals given base pitch and ranges of numerator and denominator. It's to aid the decision-making for the ranges of controls on a musical instrument. As musicality lies in a range, experimentation lies on its edges, and controllability is better when the range is smaller. We do want a healthy balance of all three elements.

get it: https://github.com/mengqimusic/tools"

Forwards by one

video upload by UncertainMusicCorps

"Longform transmission from the Drone Table.

Radio reception from WebSRD.
Participants: Norns (Dronecaster script), Drone Commander, WIngie, Aurora, Strega and RetroVerb"

Bifurcate

video upload by UncertainMusicCorps

"Continuing to explore the Wingie Blippoo firmware, this time trying to find a slightly more restrained way of working and allowing something to develop over a bit more time.

Paired with a BC9 on the line input for extra unpredictability. And sending it all out via a QuBit Aurora (standard firmware) for atmospherics.

I am loving the soundscapes this thing creates. Really regret not picking up an original Blippoo when I had the chance years ago."

Meng Qi Wingie 2 // Unattended Under the Rain 🌧️

video upload by Dexba

"PLEASE - DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK
[it is specifically recommended to keep the instrument away from moisture, let alone leaving it under the rain]

You'll probably have noticed that already: I really like the Wingie 2.
The microphone especially was a new spark for creativity and curiosity, the sheer joy of messing around with gear.
Combine that with my fascination for rainy days, and I couldn't waste the opportunity to try it under some watery plic ploc.
This was just a first attempt: I will try again, implementing midi, for a broader variation, but the "ambient-feeling" from the ambience sounds turned out to be lovely, and I've listened to this literally for hours, hidden behind the camera, peeping the world through my new resonator.
Hope you'll enjoy it! 🧡"

70s electric piano jazz lofi beats simulation - Meng Qi Wingie MKii, M8 tracker and Phantasmal Force

video upload by Arman Bohn

"Stumbled into some lofi retro electric piano jazz this week when sending MIDI and audio from the M8 to the Wingie. Phantasmal Force doing some channel mutes and sending transport commands. 30 or so hours of this going at work last week.

Feelin’ all right."

Meng Qi Wingie 2 // Blippoo Box New Firmware Demo

video upload by Dexba

"What a fantastic addition!
As a beautiful homage to Rob Hordijk's legacy, Meng Qi has just released a new firmware, featuring a recreation of the Blippoo Box.
It sounds incredible, it will provide hours of sonic exploration in the ultra-compact, battery-powered Wingie form factor, what could we ask for more?
Can't wait to see what other firmware will come for the Wingie platform!!!
In this video, you will find a bit of a demo and a rough tutorial.
Hope you'll find it useful! 🧡"

Blippoo for Wingie: a Wingie2's alternative firmware

video upload by Meng Qi

"Blippoo for Wingie is an alternative firmware for Wingie2. The new firmware is inspired by Blippoo Box, a genius instrument created by Rob Hordijk (1958-2022), who contributed a lot to synthesizer design. May his spirit lives on in his instrument designs, thoughts, and influences.

get it: https://github.com/mengqimusic/bfw/re...

The new firmware could turn your Wingie2 into a self-contained instrument capable of producing a variety of sounds and patterns. As a great companion, it will help you in your music-making practice especially when you want to applicate controlled chaos to your music."

Wing Pinger /\/ Sisters

video upload by Meng Qi

"Smooth and slick as the two generate this analog sound.

One smart way to play Wing Pinger is to form feedback loops with other devices by utilizing Wing Pinger's operation method which extracts trigger information from the audio and then generates new sound events through filter pinging."

Wing Pinger tuning tutorial

video upload by Meng Qi

"You can make its note pitches more accurate by tuning."

Mcdonald's song, modular synth

video upload by Meng Qi

"Chinese singer Eason Chan playfully changed the words of his love song to 'Mcdonald's is fantastic' @mcdonalds in a concert 16 years ago just for fun, and no-one-know-why it's suddenly gone viral recently, with many singers of varied styles imitating and recreating it online but none of them representing synthesizer players! That's why I made this to get involved in this exciting game."

Mello 106 degrees

video upload by Brian Comnes

"Something to drink iced tea with - Spektro ACDGEN into O-Coast and then off to Wingie2 and on to an H9 resonator ..."

The Golden Rabbit Welcoming Spring Synthesizer! 金兔迎春，但是合成器

video upload by Meng Qi

"Happy new year of the Rabbit! 🐰 Best wishes from the not-far-away Horizon!

Features:

Dual osc per voice, cross and self phase modulation;
Keyboard-triggering sounds;
Low to high and tonal to firecracker by just one parameter.
Gaussian-distributed pan modulation simulates a real-life situation when a few firecrackers in a string fly sideways to explode separately ;
Blessings from the dancing Golden Rabbit!

Download: https://mengqimusic.com/2023

Sound FX at the end: Wing Pinger"

Rhythmic Pulses w/ Mengqi Wingie MKii + Bastl Kastle Drum & Phantasmal Force

video upload by Arman Bohn

"Another exploratory resonant jam sendingbthe @bastlinstruments Kastle into the @mengqimusic Wingie MKii. Everything sounds good through the Wingie. Chords for the left and right resonant filters are once again being sent from the Phantasmal Force controller I’m finishing up. I just realized the chords offset wasn’t saving to presets on the Phantasmal Force. Fixed it but there is still more to double check."