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Average rating:
4.4 out of 5
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I own two of these things. I bought the first for something like $90 and it never disappointed. But since it SEEMED like it was a toy, when they were closing them out I picked up another for $40. These days they go for a fortune on ebay, and well they should. What a great, funky little instrument.
Originally my intent was to use it as a midi controller. It worked pretty well for this, getting great, interesting sounds out of some of my gear. Quickly, though, I found that that cheesey built-in sax sound was pretty expressive, especially when I over-used the portamento. Besides, I've always been able to emulate horns well from the keyboard.
My secret is massive digital delay. I play DH100 through the speaker into a Shure SM58 and into the delay.
I never really learned much more than VERY basic recorder fingerings. I flubbed everything else by tuning the thing and octive shifting. Those limitation never got in the way of the expressiveness of the thing. I've recorded some incredible solos. The first time I hit a great one I remember being concerned that I wouldn't be able to duplicate it. I ended up doing it over and over, all great.
I'll never part with my DH100s.
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This saxophone is absolutely funky, and it got the looks. As a bonus, the interal sounds are ultimately cheesy..
The obvious use for it is of course as a midi-controller where it sends breath pressure as note on velocity AND channel aftertouch. Note this so when you program your sounds that you don´t change anything depending on the velocity but only depending on the aftertouch. You can the use this to make really mad things.. :)
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If you know this sort of fingering from a real saxophone, flute, clarinet, recorder, and perhaps oboe, this can be one cool MIDI controller. For years I never used this instrument much, the built in sounds are weak. Then, one day, I happen to play the sax sounds in my Prophecy with the DH100 as a controller. Made me stand up and honk out tunes I haven't played in 25 years. Expecting great results I then had it control my FB-383 to make 303 squeals under saxophone control. The results were about a lame as the description sounds. Still, I have found that I can generate pretty expressive MIDI sequences from this toy to be used to control just about any monosynth module. Module polyphony greater than one is not necessary with this controller.
The only complaint I have is the amount of spit that flows out after playing continuously for any amount of time. A real sax collects the spit in the last bend and you dump it when convenient, but this thing just spays it out the bottom as it collects. So, it is best to play standing up. Playing while sitting makes a wet spot on your pants that makes other people believe you got so excited you wet your pants.
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