Tag Archives: Akai

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Hello from New User!

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Hi, this is Steve Scheinberg from the Baltimore, MD area. Found this site, and am newly registered. Looking forward to the discussions and sharing of hints/tips/problems/solutions, etc.

I’m a long time jazz sax player, playing pro gigs in this area. I started with a Yamaha WX-11 and Yamaha VL70m with the Patchman chip a little more than a year ago. Just “moved up” to the EWI 5000.

Finding the adjustment to the new horn not too terrible at all. The WX-11 already acclimated me to the concept of multiple octave keys. Just getting used to the rollers.

Couple quick observations:

As expected, I can play “faster” on the EWI than the WX. I currently have the DL (delay) set to 5 to get the best balance of speed and cleanliness. That may change.

I’m more comfortable transposing up and down octaves on the EWI. Since there’s no thumb rest, it’s less awkward to “re-home” my thumb on the fly.

Gotta stop hitting the left hand bis key when playing a C!!!!

In general, have to learn to not touch keys I don’t mean to touch.

Vibrato still more difficult to get right on the EWI than the WX. With the WX, it’s more natural for a sax player.

I’m really not wild about the built in sounds on the EWI at the moment.  I’ll have to see if I can come up with maybe 2 or 3 “go-to” voices in the event I don’t want to take my VL70m on a particular gig. Hoping Patchman comes up with a set. The VL70m is still in play! May upgrade that to a Motif Rack XS at some point, but the internal EWI sounds are no match for the VL70m.

I saw an article suggesting the removal of the middle right-pinky key. I’d favor that. I took out the screw, and the key did not just pop out. Did not want to force it! Should it come off without it breaking if I pull a little harder??

I do miss the WX’s alternate fingerings that let you jump to several notes in the next octave without changing the octave key. It’s true what many people say — The WX is more sax-like. But as I mentioned, the EWI can be adjusted to with practice.

Looking forward to trying the computer-based editor to maybe tweak some of the internal voices. Might like them better once I doctor them. Seems kind of stupid the way some are voiced in the “wrong” octave, and you have to “home” your octage key thumb up an octave from the default home rollers. I think I can fix that with the editor… right? The VL70m voices are MOSTLY set in the right “home” octave.

Thanks for letting me post, and I look forward to joining the discussions.

— Steve

Akai EWI, News

EWI 5000

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EWI5000_angle_1200x750For the Winter 2014 NAMM show, Akai has announced a new EWI.

EWI 5000 comes loaded with more than 3GB of top-quality sounds, including traditional horn, brass, woodwind, and string sounds, plus progressive synths, leads, and other non-traditional sounds. EWI 5000 includes 12 touch-sensitive metal keys on its top and an eight-wheel thumb- controlled octave roller on the bottom. An EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) Mode is included for brass players, and EWI 5000 also includes eight control knobs for tweaking Filter, Reverb, Chorus, LFO, Breath Amount, Bite Amount, Semitone Tuning, and Fine Tuning. Both USB MIDI and 5-pin MIDI are onboard for controlling software synths or traditional MIDI modules. A 1/4- inch output to connect to an amplifier or PA and an 1/8-inch headphone output for silent practice are included. EWI 5000 charges via USB or wall power and also includes a USB cable, wall adapter, wireless receiver, and a neck strap.

So, basically, an Akai 4000s with USB, a built in rechargeable battery, and some sounds.

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REVIEW: EWI Case

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I first published this in 2012 on Jazz-Sax.com.

Rittercase

I have had an Akai EWI4000S for a while now (5 years? More?) I should probably at some point do a review of it and why you should get the 4000S instead of the crippled USB only version (or maybe that is the review?). But what I can say is that I saw on Amazon the case that I totally love for it, which I had a HELL of a time getting from the Woodwind and Brasswind (backorder hell basically).

 

The Ritter Soprano Saxophone case works great for an EWI. It’s stylish, has enough compartments for your iRig, 1/4″ cable, and power supply. The current cases have a large RITTER logo on them (mine is several years old and doesn’t have that), but the basic design is the same. Check it out.

Ritter Soprano Case 1

Ritter Soprano Case 2

Side note…..if anyone has a line on where to get the clip in battery thing for an EWI 4000S….I need one. Mine is lost.

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Learning EWI…..What Fingering Mode To Use

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Someone asked me about this recently, and I honestly totally forgot that the Akai EWI 4000S has different fingering modes. If you too forgot, refresh yourself here (reference manual).

I suppose if you are coming from another instrument, say Oboe, flute, clarinet, saxophone, or trumpet, switching the EWI into a mode that emulates the fingerings from the instrument you are coming from makes the most sense. So, obviously, if you play flute, switch the EWI into Flute Fingerings mode. But what about if you play something else, or perhaps you play nothing at all.

The EWI 4000 does offer an EWI Fingerings Mode, which looks pretty much identical to the saxophone fingering mode with a couple of differences. First, the revision D manual I think has a misprint on the EWI Fingerings. G and G# are the same fingerings. I think the meant to color in the next key, K5 for G#. The second thing I noticed when I printed off the two fingering charts (yes, I had to print them off and cross out the fingerings that were the same) was the the EWI fingerings were basically the same exact fingerings as the saxophone mode fingerings. The FOUR differences I noted was that the saxophone fingerings offered 4 alternatives that are absent in the EWI Mode fingerings. These alternates are:

  • Low B Alternate
  • Low C Alternate
  • Low C# Alternate
  • Middle Bb Alternate

If you are coming from an instrument that isn’t offered as a fingering on the EWI 4000, what mode should you use? That is a tough call. I would say saxophone mode, because it makes more sense to me (cause I obviously play saxophone) and also that having more alternatives is NEVER a bad thing.

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Artiphon

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We live in an awesome age. We have little 4 inch devices that are more powerful than computers that were made less than 8 years ago. Now, there is this very interesting instrument, an Artiphon.
Artiphon

CNN had an article on it:

Is it a guitar? Is it a piano? Nope, it is a crazy iPhone-powered combination of both. Plus it has a built in bass, violin and drum machine to boot. The Artiphon Instrument 1 looks something like a medieval lute, but with a smart phone jammed into its belly.

In 2008 the Margaret Guthman Musical Instrument Competition was established to showcase and recognize the invention of new musical instruments. Commenting on the Artiphon Instrument 1, Gil Weinberg, organizer of the competition and director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, said: “In general, I’m a big believer in using the capabilities of smart phones to power novel hardware. The ‘brain’ of such devices is already in your pocket, so why not use it?

Which got me to thinking….is it possible to take what I think is a severally crippled Akai USB EWI, and use an iPhone as the synth/controller? Hmmm…..

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Getting Missing Parts For An EWI

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Somewhere, I lost the middle piece in the picture. The clip in part where you put the batteries into. I’ve contacted Akai once or twice, and they will send the clip in part, but not the metal connector part. Seems like that is a separate part that screws into it.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get the WHOLE part so I can use the batteries again in my EWI?