Hi DG,
I'm not that good yet either, but after only about 1 hour of total time spent on it so far I'm starting to get a good response and decent control.
I just checked out a website that provides steps to cirrcular breathing. I want to try to learn it. Will definitely take a while but I think it is well worth the trouble.
Right now everytime I take a breath the controller value falls to the default setting, zero, which is set on the side of the unit. I would like to be able to create long, sustained notes with cres and dims throughout without the velocity setting falling to 0 unless thats what I want.
At this point I am convinced that programming music into a computer and getting a realistic sound almost requires a breath controller. Although the best among us can do without one the amount of manual labor that the breath controller with allow you to circumvent is staggering when you take into consideration the amount of time it takes to get everything to sound just right in a large orchestral piece.
Once mastered, the breath controller will shave hours off painstaking task of creating those realistic crescendos and diminuendos and will shape your melodic lines more like a real player.
I'm starting to sound like an info-mmercial so I'll stop here and say if you have one use it and you don't then go out and buy one ASAP.
Thanks,
David