Earlier EWIs require the external box unit, while the discontinued (as of 2019) EWI4000s and current EWI5000 have built-in MIDI outputs. EWI USB and EWI 5000 also have pitchbend up and down plates (EWI SOLO has pitchbend down plate only) all operated by the right thumb.ĮWI models can control external synthesizers or other MIDI instruments, either simultaneously or instead of the synthesizers that come with the instrument. Touching a plate next to the rollers sends portamento by default. The current octave is determined by putting your left thumb between any two of the four to eight rollers (*depending on model), and also by rolling the thumb to the ends of the EWI USB roller track to achieve a fifth octave from just the four octave rollers on that model. Unlike acoustic wind instruments, the fingering is identical in every octave. It also requires substantially less breath control than an acoustic instrument breath sensitivity is one of the parameters that can be adjusted to the player's preference.
Owing to the touch capacitative switches and breath and bite sensors the instrument is very agile, however the sensitive nature of the touch capacitative switches does not appeal to all players some of which may prefer electronic wind instruments with mechanical buttons on which they can rest their fingers, more similar to a saxophone. Because the EWI keys do not move (instead, they sense when fingers are touching them by body capacitance). The EWI has a silicone mouthpiece with sensors for air pressure (sending MIDI Breath Control by default) and bite pressure (which sends vibrato, more specifically a quick pitch up-down "blip" by default). Like a straight soprano saxophone or clarinet, the EWI is straight with a slight inward bend a few inches below the mouthpiece, and it is held in front of the body with a neck strap. The EWI 5000 and EWI USB also have a special electronic valve instrument (EVI) fingering mode that allows brass players to play the EWI. Modern EWIs can be switched to flute, oboe, and saxophone fingering modes. the player's fingers don't rest on the keys). The instrument feels somewhat like a soprano saxophone or clarinet, except that its keys are activated by touch rather than being depressed (i.e.
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However Akai also offers the EWI USB, a five octave MIDI controller that connects directly to a Mac or Windows computer via USB and uses software for control.ĮWIs use the Boehm fingering system used by most woodwind instruments, or they can be played with a simpler fingering system very similar to a recorder. The current Akai models EWI5000, and EWI SOLO contain built-in sample based digital synthesizers and don't strictly require an external box. Today Akai only make designs based around the EWI, having dropped the less commercially successful EVI. The once Japanese company Akai took over the EVI and EWI instruments from Steiner and released several models (with his design help). The early models consisted of two parts: a wind controller and a digitally-controlled analog synthesizer in a rackmount box (which also houses the instrument's electronics). These instrument designs first working models appearing in the 1970s. Steiner then went on to develop both the concepts of the EVI (brass style fingering) and the EWI (closer to woodwind style fingering). It was invented by Nyle Steiner, who actually originally conceptualized the idea of a brass style analogue wind synthesizer instrument in the 1960s, later to become known as the EVI. EWI (from electronic wind instrument, pronounced EE-wee) is a type of wind controller, an electronic musical instrument.