EwiUsb

Akai Midi Wind Controller

I bought one to substitute for a Baritone Sax.

http://www.berniekenerson.com/?section=art_of_the_ewi_tips__techniques

Old notes

• Mac or PC
• comes with Garritan-Aria software and large bank of wind instrument sounds/samples
• http://www.ewiusb.com/
• commenters here complain about the software - might be an MsWindows issue
• http://my.opera.com/deathshadow/blog/2009/02/08/akai-ewi-usb

Hmm, does this only cover 2 octaves? Should be at least double that - the rollers don't seem to be working right. Ah, it's probably that the samples just cover that much. But I could really use another few notes on the high end...

• Nope, dealer says should get wider range
• Jan05'2011 - try again, still no luck - contact various non-dealer support folks
  • also run Midi Monitor app, confirm that I'm only sending D1 or D2 regardless of thumb position variations (sitting between 2 rollers, on any single roller alone, completely off rollers).
  • emailed them. A week later got a "we got busy, if you still need help try calling us".
• Feb'2011
  • called after hours, left message
  • called again during day, bot said "wait time is 67 minutes". Luckily it was only 20min. Once I said I had already done a reset, they said there was nothing else to do (it's such a simple device), so I should send it back.
• Mar30'2011 - needs part back-ordered until July, they'll just send a total replacement unit, but even that is backordered until May!
• yay got working replacement. Hrm breathing technique is way different from "real thing"
• picked it up again a year later, and it wasn't working again. Garbage time.

Downloaded different skin for the Aria software GUI, to get slider controls.

Instrument gives lots of air resistance, which gets written about a lot. But I haven't found a single video that demonstrates/explains things.