NAMM: Akai EWI USB

You've seen the videos and prior posts. Here is the latest press release including price.

"NEW EWI BRINGS WIND-INSTRUMENT EXPRESSION TO ANYONE

EWI USB Delivers Full Electronic Wind Instrument Functionality at Attractive Price

Cumberland, R.I. (Jan. 15, 2009) – Akai Professional, the leader in music technology for wind players, announces shipment of the EWI USB, its latest wind controller. EWI USB and its new operating system will be on display at the 2009 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif., January 15 – 18, 2009 at the Akai Professional booth, number 6400.

EWI USB enables anyone, regardless of wind instrument-playing experience, to perform with the expressive capabilities of the wind instrument of their choice. The wind controller features a plug-and-play USB interface for use with the included Aria software, with Garritan and Akai Professional samples as a sound source. EWI USB is Mac and PC compatible.

Professional players will find EWI USB fully capable of performance for stage and studio with a five-octave range, breath modulation with adjustable threshold, pitch bend, adjustable vibrato, transposition and octave shifting capability, and fingering modes to emulate various electronic and acoustic instruments. Further, the Garritan/Plogue Aria software enables instrumentalists to perform with up to four instruments selected from the full collection of more than 75 orchestral, band and synthesizer sounds.

While EWI USB has full professional capabilities, its attractive price point and easy-to-play design make it a perfect choice for wind students. With a removable, dishwasher-safe, interchangeable mouthpiece that works well regardless of embouchure, EWI USB is excellent for introducing students to the world of wind instruments. Former wind instrumentalists who would like to return to playing will find EWI USB easy to adapt to, eliminating much of the embouchure-building time required with a traditional instrument.

Thanks to multiple fingering modes, EWI USB perfectly emulates saxophone, flute and oboe, as well as traditional EWI and EVI trumpet. The result is completely intuitive performance, even for players who have never picked up an electronic instrument.

“With EWI USB, we are delivering an incredibly expressive instrument to a whole new world of wind players,” states Gregg Stein, Director of Marketing, Akai Professional. “Traditionally, electronic wind instruments have fallen into two categories: very expensive professional instruments, and inexpensive instruments of low quality. EWI USB is the first instrument to offer professional quality at such an affordable price.”

EWI USB is now shipping to musical instrument and pro audio retailers at an MSRP of $499."

New Akai EWI USB

"NEW EWI BRINGS WIND-INSTRUMENT EXPRESSION TO ANYONE

EWI USB Delivers Full Electronic Wind Instrument Functionality at Attractive Price

Cumberland, R.I. (November 5, 2008) – Akai Professional, the name synonymous with music production, announces EWI USB, its latest wind controller, is now shipping.

EWI USB enables anyone, regardless of wind instrument-playing experience, to perform with the expressive capabilities of the wind instrument of their choice. The wind controller features a plug-and-play USB interface for use with the included Aria software with Garritan and Akai Professional samples as a sound source. EWI USB is Mac and PC compatible.

Professional players will find EWI USB fully capable of performance for stage and studio with a five-octave range, breath modulation with adjustable threshold, pitch bend, adjustable vibrato, transposing and octave shifting, and fingering modes to emulate various electronic and acoustic instruments. Further, the Garritan/Plogue Aria software enables instrumentalists to perform with up to four instruments selected from the full collection of over 75 orchestral, band and synthesizer sounds.

While EWI USB has full professional capabilities, its attractive price point and easy-to-play design make it a perfect choice for wind students. With a removable, dishwasher-safe, interchangeable mouthpiece that does not require a perfect embouchure, EWI USB is excellent for introducing students to the world of wind instruments. Former wind instrumentalists who would like to return to playing will find EWI USB easy to adapt to, eliminating much of the embouchure-building time required with a traditional instrument.

Multiple fingering modes make EWI USB model saxophone, flute and oboe, as well as traditional EWI and EVI trumpet for intuitive performance, even for players who have never picked up an electronic instrument.
· “With EWI USB, we are exposing the world of wind-instrument expression to a whole new world of players,” states Gregg Stein, Director of Marketing, Akai Professional. “Traditionally, electronic wind instruments have fallen into two categories: very expensive professional instruments, and inexpensive instruments of low quality. EWI USB is the first instrument to offer professional quality at such an affordable price.”
· EWI USB is now shipping to musical instrument and pro audio retailers. Available for $499.00 MSRP.
· Garritan/Plogue ARIA is a registered trademark of Garritan Corp.

http://www.akaipro.com/ewiusb

Akai Introduces the New EWI Solo - Electronic Wind Instrument

Introducing EWI Solo AkaiProVideo

"EWI Solo is the new Electronic Wind Instrument from Akai Pro. Featuring 200 sounds, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a built-in speaker, your playing never sounded better."

The official press release:

"AKAI PROFESSIONAL® INTRODUCES EWI SOLO – THE FIRST STANDALONE EWI WITH A BUILT-IN SPEAKER

A built-in speaker, an on-board rechargeable battery, multiple playing modes and premium sound content make EWI Solo the most portable EWI to date

Ft Lauderdale, FL USA (August 25, 2020) — Akai Professional, a leading manufacturer of music equipment for performers and producers, today announced the latest addition to their Electronic Wind Instrument family, EWI Solo. This next-generation wind instrument is primed for any setting, fusing all the expressive musical capabilities and control found in traditional acoustic wind instruments with the versatility of an electronic instrument and a go-anywhere specification.

Standalone Performance
Woodwind and Brass instrumentalists will appreciate EWI Solo’s completely untethered performance capability. New to the EWI Series is EWI Solo’s built-in speaker, calibrated for the most natural sound reproduction experience to recreate every subtle nuance of the instrumentalist's performance. When fused with an internal, rechargeable long-life lithium- ion battery for 12+ hours of uninterrupted play time, EWI Solo is perfect for practice and impromptu performances alike.

Hundreds of Sounds Included
Akai Professional’s EWI series has a reputation for sounds that inspire creativity and guarantee multi-genre application right out-the-box. EWI Solo is no exception, primed for any performance with 200 premium onboard tones that react immediately to even the most subtle of inflections. From luscious, evolving synth pads to an authentic, sultry jazz clarinet, every genre is covered with an expertly curated catalogue of exclusive tones. EWI Solo’s ultra-responsive mouthpiece, with an air-pressure level sensor and bite sensor, precisely controls volume and pitch dynamics for uncompromising response. Combine this with dedicated FX controls to add Reverb, Delay and Chorus, plus editing facilities for Pitch, Tuning and Dual LFOs, and EWI Solo provides everything musicians need to shape thier signature sound.

Connect for More Control
Whether it’s practice, live performance or studio recording, EWI Solo’s arsenal of connectivity options provide complete hookup flexibility. Delve into a world of software instruments with EWI Solo’s USB-MIDI connectivity. Connect directly to PA systems with the 1/4-inch output. Practice privately, at any hour, with the 1/8-inch headphone output. Users can even connect a playback device to the EWI via the 1/8” aux input to play along with a backing track. Whatever your needs, EWI Solo delivers.
Building Upon a Legend

EWI mainstays from Akai Professional’s flagship EWI5000 are also thoughtfully included for optimal performance capability. Octave rollers instantly shift the note key’s range, effortlessly changing the playable register. Users can add portamento using the conveniently located glide plate. Get exactly the expression needed with an adjustable pitch bend plate. Musicians can even save any program edits and recall them on the fly with the handy favorites feature.

Familiar Technique
For Woodwind and Brass instrumentalists, no additional fingering technique is needed. EWI Solo adapts to all main fingering styles at the twist of a dial, offering flute, oboe, saxophone and EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) fingering modes.

EWI Solo Highlights
• Authentic wind-instrument performance and response for the digital era
• 200 onboard premium acoustic and synth sounds
• 12+ hours of play time using the rechargeable lithium-ion battery (charging adapter
included)
• Built-in speaker calibrated for the most natural sound reproduction experience
• OLED display to easily view presets and parameters
• USB port for USB-MIDI connection and battery charging
• 1/4" audio output, 1/8" headphone output
• 1/8" auxiliary input

“EWI Solo represents the true evolution of our EWI line, fusing the response players demand with complete versatility for any performance or practice setting,” says Dan Gill, Senior Product Manager for Akai Professional. “For the seasoned instrumentalist, EWI Solo lets you expand your sonic pallet without compromising the technique you have honed over years of practice. For beginners seeking the perfect blend of versatility and convenience, EWI Solo is the ultimate starting point. No matter your skill level, the EWI Solo is the world’s most versatile, go-anywhere wind instrument.”

EWI Solo is available immediately and ships with a US Retail price of $499 For more information visit akaipro.com.

CLICK FOR MORE »

AKAI PRO Introduces The EWI 5000 Wireless Electronic Wind Instrument

EWI 5000 Wireless Electronic Wind Instrument

Authentic wind-instrument performance and response for the digital era
3GB of stunning acoustic and progressive sounds created by SONiVOX
Automatically calibrates and adapts to the player’s style
Wireless audio for on-stage freedom, receiver included USB port; MIDI output; 1/4" audio output, 1/8" headphone out
Includes neck strap, charger, USB Cable, wireless receiver

The press release:

"HARNESSING THE POWER OF WIND: AKAI PROFESSIONAL INTRODUCES THE WIRELESS EWI 5000

With an entire orchestra of sounds built in, EWI 5000 gives wind instrumentalists a new level of expression and includes the latest in wireless connectivity plus a 12-hour rechargeable battery.

Cumberland, R.I. (January 23, 2014) – Akai Professional, creators of the original EWI, announce the EWI 5000, the most expressive and versatile wind instrument in the world. EWI 5000 includes an array of advanced features, including digital 2.4GHz ultra-low-latency wireless connectivity, a built-in rechargeable battery that lasts up to 12 hours, and more than 3GB of built-in traditional and progressive sounds from SONiVOX, a leading creator of premium virtual instruments and software synthesis technologies.

“We’ve created EWI 5000 to address the needs of today’s modern wind players, and we’re especially excited to see what modern musicians can do with it to push the boundaries of wind instrument performance,” said Dan Gill, Akai Professional Product Manager. “Calibration is automatic and setup is easy. EWI 5000 is a smart instrument. It automatically adjusts to your playing style and offers authentic sounds, wireless convenience, rechargeability, and the expressive freedom EWI is known for.”

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.
Akai Professional will unveil EWI 5000 in Hall A, Booth 6700 at the 2014 NAMM Show, January 23-26 in Anaheim, California. For more information, visit akaipro.com/WNAMM2014."

Akai EWI USB

YouTube via audiomidicom
"audioMIDI.com's Tom Luer demos Akai's amazing new EWI USB wind controller. Free extra EWM1 mouthpiece while supplies last!"
Previous posts on the EWI USB. It was announced on November 13.

How to use a breath controller on the Novation PEAK (Akai EWI USB)

Floyd Steinberg

"How to use a breath controller on the Novation PEAK - table of contents below. Using a breath controller makes your synth much more expressive. Here, I'm using my Akai EWI USB with the PEAK and walk through some sound parameters you can adjust to create breath controlled patches.

Table of contents
00:00 demo
00:43 usb midi host needed, perhaps
01:40 initialising a patch
01:57 adjusting all oscillator's volume
02:22 mod matrix: volume control for all oscillators
03:29 selecting waveforms
03:53 FM
04:42 noise level
05:14 filter frequency control
06:19 filter drive & distortion
07:41 effects (reverb, delay, chorus)
08:36 conclusion
09:07 bye-bye"

Get 7% off on DistroKid with this link http://distrokid.com/vip/floyd

Support: https://www.paypal.me/alexselck

Expert Sleepers FH-1 Demos

Alesis SR-16 clocked from modular synth via Expert Sleepers FH-1

Published on Jul 13, 2015 Expert Sleepers

"An Alesis SR-16 drum machine clocked via MIDI from a modular synthesiser, using an Expert Sleepers FH-1 to convert an analog clock pulse to a MIDI clock."

Akai EWI USB modular synth connection via Expert Sleepers FH-1

Published on Jul 13, 2015

"An Akai EWI USB wind controller is directly connected to a modular synthesizer via an Expert Sleepers FH-1 module."

Tocando com o Akai EWI USB

YouTube Uploaded by mvpadrini on Dec 20, 2011

"Experimentando o controlador Akai EWI USB."

Akai EWI USB XPression Rotator Improv

Published on Dec 13, 2012 by Bernie Kenerson

"An impromtu afternoon improv using my Akai EWIUSB into my XPression by www.dynasample.com with the new Rotator feature. My audio and MIDI/thru from the XPression are going into my MacBook Pro with Live 8. Live 8 has the jazz drum loops on a track, an XPression audio track, and a MIDI thru playing a Live factory preset with Instant EWI on a MIDI track. I change from the Rotator patch to a Synth Trumpet patch (still mixed with the Live Analog Synth) on the XPression from the Programmer 3 & 4 buttons. I can't wait to do this live with a real drummer! XPression is a must have for any EWI (wind/breath controller) player and it just keeps getting better!"

Moonlight Serenade / EWI One-man Quartet

Published on Feb 24, 2018 mkirino01

"Windsynth Quartet with AKAI EWI-USB, YAMAHA WX5 and IFW
Equipment: AKAI EWIUSB, YAMAHA WX5, and MacBookPro(2011)
Software: IFW, and Apple Logic Pro 9
Song Title: "Moonlight Serenade"(G. Miller)
Arr. by Naoki Suzuki
Sheetmusic: http://amzn.to/2or7tv7
Baritone part: YAMAHA WX5 with IFW
Other part: AKAI EWIUSB with IFW
Drum part: Sequence with EXS24(Logic Pro 9)


ウインドシンセでのリアルタイムマルチレコーディングです（ドラムのみ打ち込み）。バリトンパートはWX5、他はEWIUSBで演奏しています。音源はIFWです。"

Native Inst Band

YouTube via PXE02321. "VST DEMO for EWI USB"
Native Instruments Band with Akai EWI USB.

Akai EWI Wind Synth Stand by SAXRAX

via this auction

"We decided to launch our new SAXRAX "E Stand" on Ebay as this is probably the best medium to inform everyone worldwide of the features of this unique stand. We have been developing this stand for over a year and now its ready for public release on 1st September. For those who do not know of SAXRAX stands, We are a UK manufacturer that specialise in making saxophone stands to the worlds greatest players. What you see today are the stands from our pre production build. That means they are exactly as you will see in the shops from 1st September. We just made a batch to prove out the tooling etc. They are brand new untouched and in the boxes. The E stand is desgined to hold the Akai Ewi 4000s model OR the USB model. It comes in a SAXRAX travel bag. This is the ONLY wind synth stand designed especially for the job. Its not a modified bassoon stand. This auction is for one E stand only.and does NOT include the instrument. As you can see in the picture we will be manufacturing a combo stand to hold a sax and an Ewi. you will need to email for this option. This combo stand is not included in this auction. If you buy it now you wil be one of the first people to own this stand in the world. They go on sale in the US in October."

Alesis iO Dock Requires Separate Adapter for iPad 2?

via Ryan:
"I've pre-ordered the Alesis Studio Dock for my ipad 2, so it's encouraging to see some retailers now shipping. One is Sweetwater.

Now, alarming to me, is the 1st review at that retail site from someone who claims to have received one of these already...and finds it is not compatible with ipad 2 out of the box:

'The box is huge, and the dock is well packed. Includes power supply, a really skimpy manual...basically a quickstart guide that briefly explains the buttons, knobs, ins and outs, and so on, the I/O dock itself, and sadly enough, for you iPad 2 owners, a slip of paper telling you how to contact Alesis to order an adapter. Luckily for me, I have the iPad 1!'

WTF. Nowhere on the Alesis site does it say there is an adaptor required...or even available!

Consider my pre-order cancelled until I know more about this adaptor and its availability."

Quick note: remember to support the shops that support this site. See the DEALERS section on the right. Sweetwater gets a free ride on this one.

The full review:
"Alesis I/O dock arrived on my doorstep today! Sweetwater shipped yesterday. Thanks Matt, you guys rock!

CLICK FOR MORE »

Using a EWI USB breath controller on the Elektron Digitone

Floyd Steinberg

"Using a breath controller on a synthesizer can unlock a whole new world of sounds. Here's how to set up the Elektron #digitone, a 4 operator FM #synthesizer, to work with a AKAI #EWI breath controller. Table of contents below. The demo in the beginning is one take, no external effects, Digitone only. Track 1 is reserved for the EWI, the other 3 tracks use parameter locking and program switching.

Table of contents:

00:00 demo
02:25 hello
03:10 hardware setup
03:48 choosing an algorithm
04:16 X|Y setup
04:34 amp setup
04:54 breath controller setup: amplitude control
05:49 adjusting modulator amplitude
06:40 breath controller setup: modulator levels
07:49 fine tuning modulator levels
08:08 feature request to #elektron :-)
08:49 low pass filter setup
09:30 breath controller setup: filter frequency control
10:36 portamento
10:53 overdrive
11:01 amp envelope attack
11:17 effects (chorus, delay)
12:00 bye bye"

Snow! (Yamaha EX5, Akai EWI USB)

Published on Mar 21, 2018 Alex S.

"Just when you thought winter is finally over... Well, the best thing to do is improvise some relaxed music on your synthesizer. This was recorded in two steps: first the piano, EWI afterwards. the EWI is plugged into the EX5 via MIDI cable."

Akai Professional EWI USB

YouTube via AkaiProVideo
"Demonstration and history of the sounds produced using the Akai Professional EWI USB with ARIA Garritan software."

"North" - ambient drone (DAWless, PEAK, EX5, Digitone, EWI, ZOOM R24)

Floyd Steinberg

"Here's a #DAWless #ambient drone I improvised on the Yamaha EX5, Novation Peak and Elektron Digitone and Akai EWI USB. Some happy mistakes in there, but oh well. :-) Recorded on a ZOOM R24. Videos from www.pexels.com"

Support: https://www.paypal.me/alexselck

Waldorf Blofeld Keyboard + Akai EWI USB Breath Controller Demo II

Published on Mar 8, 2018 Alex S.

"I thought I'd give my virtual analog clarinet sound another spin. The other sounds are preset patches, recorded one after the other onto my R24."

NAMM: WNAMM09:Akai EWI USB - Give Your Horn Some Wind

see the write-up on Sonic State.
And that's it for this round of Sonic State posts. Be sure to see their News feed for more not posted here.

Transmission #1 from Soleri Mansions

Published on Aug 29, 2017 iotar

"Session with Akai EWI-USB, Axoloti & Roland Super JV"