WARBL electronic penny whistle MIDI controller - is it for you?

[@warbl335]

Thanks for this comprehensive review, Paddy! I'll see if I might be able to tweak the mouthpiece design to deal with the moisture issue a bit better. In response to your question about vibrato on the R3 hole, what's happening there is it's triggering the F-natural cross-fingering when you completely cover that hole. You can play vibrato by partially covering the hole, or if you'd like to turn off the F-natural you can use the new custom fingering option in v. 2.0 (select "custom" from the dropdown menu and then click "Configure custom fingering...". For saxophone sounds on iOS, you could look at Roland Sound Canvas. Also, SWAM instruments are gradually being released in iOS versions. They sound fantastic and are reasonably priced. I believe they've released brass and strings, and saxophones and flutes should be forthcoming.

[@cjadams7434]

yeah if you ever get a V2… love another of these full reviews. and what has changed

[@BigDuke6ixx]

Fantastic review, Paddy, thanks so much.

[@berniarmstrong]

Great review. I had never heard of the Warbl and stumbled on this video while looking at another possible candidate for a wind controller.

[@timothywalker801]

I just purchased one a couple of hours ago. In US the grand total is $258 with priority. Kind of obvious if you've visited the website for more than 5 seconds, but I'm just confirming the final price that I paid. I'm counting on your review here, Padds.

[@sacredreflect]

Love the Iona song.

[@thtpst7827]

Thank you for this video I just found out about this im so getting this ....

[@Poopick]

I think the cat agrees with you at the end

[@celticdistortion]

The other great thing, is it's a midi controller...so when connected to a computer...you can use it for any VST. So if you want to play guitar etc...you can use this to do so. My question is, can you reach more octaves with this? Irish whistle had 2.5 octaves!!! Also, uillean pipes can play a full scale including half notes without half covering holes..can you play these half notes? If so, that will be awesome for playing jazz sax etc

[@kentaccordionist]

You can supposedly set the warble to overflow so you can easily reach the second octave.

[@creative-media]

Yes, I tried using the overblow setting to reach the upper octave but I couldn’t control it like I can on my acoustic whistles, so I use the back-button instead.

[@folkorchestraukuleleoxford6374]

I've watched dozens of videos about the Warbl, but not one tells me how to put the sound through an actual PA system. I assume (?) that I need another lead that goes from the i|Pad or phone into the PA system, but many phones have just one USB input (used for the Warbl) and a headphone jack. So how can I use the Warbl for a live show through a PA system? I'm sorry if this is an ignorant question - there's probably a simple solution!

[@creative-media]

Yes, it’s a pain, isn’t it?! I made sure I got an old ipad with the 3.5” jack. But there are splitter gadgets available which give you both a Lightning and a 3.5” audio socket. You’ll need to check if the Lightning socket is for charging only or if it’s a full Lightning interface.

[@folkorchestraukuleleoxford6374]

@@creative-media Many thanks for the advice.

[@TijuanaBorderJumper]

Im thinking of getting one...🤔💸

[@billp5292]

I didn't know there was a electronic penny whistle.

[@creative-media]

I discovered the Warbl after some browsing about electronic wind instruments and the e-corder recorder. I'm glad I got one!

[@camelCased]

WARBL is so much more than that. It's the most configurable open-source software/hardware USB MIDI wind instrument out there. So you can play any synthesizer you want. It's even much more customizable than big brand products (Akai EWI Solo and Roland Aerophone Go) which cost much more. However, brand products have more keys and built-in sounds (which usually are not as good as standalone hardware / software synths anyway).

[@traumkapitan]

can it be used to control any synth in any random DAW?

[@creative-media]

Yes, it's a MIDI controller, so can work with anything that's MIDI compatible. But some instruments don't work well with breath pressure and the pitch control via half-holing.

[@folkorchestraukuleleoxford6374]

I'm struck by the fact that you didn't actually play up the scale beyond the first octave. When I play penny whistle, I have two octaves. I understood that the back button shifts the octave, but isn't this a negative issue, especially if you have to do it every time you cross the octave?

[@creative-media]

It can do the second octave ok - I’m switching octaves at around 18:45 I use the back hole because the overblowing wasn’t feeling right for me.. Some of the Celtic Sounds instruments have a smaller range because the instrument they’re based on doesn’t have that range. My approach is to transpose the Warbl so all-fingers-on plays the lowest note of the Celtic Sounds instrument, then I use the transpose on the app to play in the key I want. That gives me the fullest range of notes.

[@folkorchestraukuleleoxford6374]

@@creative-media Very good of you to reply, thank you. I hope you don't mind if I ask just one more question. Because I play the whistle, I'm used to overblowing when going to the next octave. Is this workable, rather than having to shift the back hole each time?

[@creative-media]

No worries. Yes, it can be set up to work with overblowing, and I’m told the newer firmware and software works better for overblowing than the version I was demoing. But I found the digital nature of the warbl didn’t jump in the way I was used to with my traditional whistles; I kept bouncing up and down the octaves unexpectedly. The back hole works a lot like a recorder, so I’ve got used to it.

[@folkorchestraukuleleoxford6374]

@@creative-media Thanks very much for this. I think I'll go for it!

[@camelCased]

This device has a huge potential to become the best MIDI USB EWI out there. It has no integrated sounds unlike Akai or Roland (which cost 200 $ more), but it is much more configurable and also is open-source (again unlike Roland and Akai which cost 200 $ more).

[@kentaccordionist]

I love my ewi usb. And the many ipad apps that work perfectly with it. But if I had the money I would definitely consider purchasing a warble.

[@Barmy50]

have you the links of where I can purchase please

[@creative-media]

You can buy direct from warbl.xyz

[@lorenzobro6115]

@Barmy50 ever heard of a search engine kid?