An updated version of the Chinese designer’s handheld stereo resonator proves to be a unique instrument. Greg Scarth finds out more.
Meng Qi is a true pioneer. The Beijing-based musician and designer was responsible for China’s first ever Eurorack module, the Voltage Memory, released back in 2014. Since then, his output has included further Eurorack modules and the cult classic Wing Pinger, an analogue instrument based around resonant filters rather than traditional oscillators. With the Meng Qi Wingie MkII, Qi’s eponymous brand delivers an updated take on a previous project, refining the Wingie into a uniquely creative little instrument, combining resonance and reverb-style effects to create distinctive tones, drones and textures.
The Wingie is a small, lightweight unit designed to be held in the hands. Power is required via a USB-C socket (there are no internal batteries) and connections are limited to a stereo line input, stereo line/headphone out and a MIDI input over TRS, with an adapter included. It’s refreshing to see a Chinese instrument wearing its origins proudly; all text on the Wingie appears in both Chinese characters and English. Controls are incredibly simple, with the most important being the toggle switch to choose between line input and built-in microphone. From there, you’ve got octave switches for the left and right channels, plus sliders for mix, decay time and volume. That’s the lot. What’s more important is the choice of modes for left and right, with four independent options for each: polyphony (white LED), string (yellow), bar (red) and cave (purple).
It would be easy but lazy to assume the Wingie is a weird, mysterious instrument, perhaps prompted by the quote on the back panel: “For what breaks out in tongues of silence, the note resonating with love will not be unheard.” Documentation appears limited at first, with nothing much included in the box to guide you through using the device, but there’s a thorough and informative manual available via Meng Qi’s website, spelling out the different ways you can use the Wingie to process and generate sound via the built-in stereo microphones or the line input. It’s those four modes which really determine the character of the Wingie and the type of sounds you get out of it.
It’s well worth listening to some sound demos here because trying to explain the sound of such a unique instrument in writing is a thankless task at best. Across the four modes you can create tonal, ambient-style melodies, percussion sounds, atonal drones or a variety of ambiences which sound like unusual twists on reverb and echo effects. You can play melodies, trigger patterns using an unusual sequencing mode, or generate accompaniments to other sounds. The back panel includes a warning that there’s a chance of feedback, which is of course inevitable if you’re using the microphone inputs, but this shouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, balancing the mix control, decay time and output volume can become part of the playing process in its own right, like a bizarre, handheld, electronic take on Jimi Hendrix’s mastery of feedback.
Using the built-in stereo microphones seems like the logical starting point – and there’s lots of fun to be had from picking up the Wingie, plugging in some headphones and interacting with the ambient sounds around you – but inserting a stereo signal to the line input offers a slightly more controlled experience. In fact, there’s a bit more depth to the Wingie than you might first realise once you start to explore the controllability and repeatability of processing line inputs while triggering the Wingie over MIDI; you can create effects which are less improvised but more measured, using the Wingie as part of a composition or performance rather than an off-the-cuff experimental tool. It’s worth noting that there’s also a Wingie Tools editor available as a Max patch for those who want to get their hands dirty. If you’re particularly keen, the whole project is open source, allowing you to use it as a development platform.
If you’re looking for unique and distinctive character, it’s hard to think of many instruments which fit the bill better than the Wingie; the way it interacts with your audio source gives it a connection to other sounds, but its unique twist on them pushes you into new creative territory. In an interview with Cycling ‘74 earlier this year, Meng Qi described his design philosophy: “Some instruments are built for meeting the needs or answering the questions of musicians. But I am way more interested in raising questions than in answering them – what would you do with the instrument? And what kind of musical expressions will a new human-machine relationship yield?” The Wingie 2 truly leans into that approach, delivering something which prompts new ways of generating sound, interacting with environments and making music.
Greg Scarth
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