We attended our third James Morrison jazz concert Saturday – at St. David’s Park in Hobart. Wonderful – and fortunately jazz singer Emma Pask was part of the ensemble. Morrison and Pask together make for the most legal fun I know of — even though it rained right up to concert start time.
This is the second Hobart Summer Festival/Jazz in the Park concert we’ve attended where Morrison played at least one set on the MDT [Morrison Digital Trumpet]. The MDT is a remarkable innovation, outlined here at Gizmag:
The Morrison Digital Trumpet, or MDT, is a new brass-style MIDI wind controller invented and designed by Steve Marshall and international virtuoso multi-instrumentalist James Morrison.
Using entirely digital technology, there are many new and important capabilities of the Morrison Digital Trumpet beyond the normal wind instrument, the most obvious being that it offers the sound of an entire horn or string section from one person – because it interfaces with a MIDI it can effectively “play†any instrument. The MDT is also easier to play as there is no embouchure to be maintained in order to produce a professional quality tone – some people find they simply do not have the time to maintain their “chops” on an acoustic instrument and an MDT is more in tune with their lifestyle.
You really have to hear it to understand what it is all about. There are several MP3s on the MDT site in the Multimedia section. E.g.,
Demo created using the MDT, Garageband and the Yamaha VL70
Soprano sax
Pan flute
Mouth harp
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