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OT: Wind Contollers, anyone got experience with them?


miden

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Thinking of getting one, but asking if there are any experienced users, or even folks who just know about them, can pass on any recommendations or tips, "gotchas" or anything else?

 

Thanks

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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I've owned and played several wind controllers - Yamaha WX (now ancient), Aerophone AE-10, Akai EWI Solo. There's a newer model of the Aerophone called the AE-30, Aerophone Pro. It's expensive at $1500 and very complicated to set up and edit with the app. My Akai EWI Solo was $500. I'd be happy to answer questions, but a lot depends on what you want to do with one, have you played a wind instrument at all before, etc. My suggestion is to start with videos on Youtube. Search on Aerophone Pro AE-30 videos by Alastair Parnell. They're very good and may answer a lot of questions. Also search on Aerophone AE-10 and Akai EWI Solo for more videos. There's even some videos of me with my AE-10 and my Akai EWI Solo on Facebook.

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3271093279595604

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3819769834727943

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3812105625494364

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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Thanks - yes I read a review about the solo, which I was looking at that said it was too long, and that the speaker can barely get above normal talking level and cannot reach the lower notes of a Sax range, not sure which, probs a bari...I can link if you like??

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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I've owned and played several wind controllers - Yamaha WX (now ancient), Aerophone AE-10, Akai EWI Solo. There's a newer model of the Aerophone called the AE-30, Aerophone Pro. It's expensive at $1500 and very complicated to set up and edit with the app. My Akai EWI Solo was $500. I'd be happy to answer questions, but a lot depends on what you want to do with one, have you played a wind instrument at all before, etc. My suggestion is to start with videos on Youtube. Search on Aerophone Pro AE-30 videos by Alastair Parnell. They're very good and may answer a lot of questions. Also search on Aerophone AE-10 and Akai EWI Solo for more videos. There's even some videos of me with my AE-10 and my Akai EWI Solo on Facebook.

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3271093279595604

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3819769834727943

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3812105625494364

Thanks for all that...I can sorta kinda play Clarinet, well at least a few scales haha...I had just taken it up again as a bit of a hobby (did it in the school band too many years ago to recall fully ) that was what got me thinking about it. That instead of going andy buying all this stuff, mebbe get a controller...software samples are so good these days.

 

What is the fingering style like? Is it exclusive to the controller, does it follow a Sax or Clarinet fingering etc etc?

 

I would be looking, I think, for one with no "fake" reed, rather just one that reads your air pressure...something that is a bit lacking for me these days, again age I suppose...I mean I have enough air to blow a full scale plus 3 legato'ish but it's a bit of a struggle toward the end.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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If you played clarinet, you can play any of these wind controllers. They all do sax fingering, and all play like a flute with straight up and down fingering (don't need side keys at top or bottom) and all have a 7-octave range. The EWI has octave rollers, which some people have a hard time getting used to, and Aerophones have octave "keys" (really buttons) that some people also have a hard time with. I've played both and they both have different pros and cons.

 

Re: this comment: "yes I read a review about the solo, which I was looking at that said it was too long, and that the speaker can barely get above normal talking level and cannot reach the lower notes of a Sax range, not sure which, probs a bari"

I don't understand. The EWI range of 7 octaves makes it well beyond the lower notes of a bari sax. I get that it's too long -- that's also my criticism ââ and also that the speaker isn't very loud. This is also true of the Aerophones. I play these instruments through external speakers. One of the links I gave above on Facebook is the EWI played with just the built-in speaker, no amplification, which I was doing on purpose to demonstrate for a friend.

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3819769834727943

If you're just playing for yourself or playing along to recordings or backing tracks, it's loud enough. You can also play it with headphones so it's silent to other people. If you want to play it live with other musicians, or even play loud with something like backing tracks, you'll need some amplification. I use a wireless guitar transmitter/receiver pair to go from my EWI to a Samson 6" battery powered speaker. Plenty loud enough.

 

"I would be looking, I think, for one with no "fake" reed, rather just one that reads your air pressure...something that is a bit lacking for me these days, again age I suppose...I mean I have enough air to blow a full scale plus 3 legato'ish but it's a bit of a struggle toward the end."

All the Aerophone models have the fake reed. The EWI is the only recent wind controller model that doesn't try to fake a sax mouthpiece, it just has a flexible tube that you blow into. You can bend the note, get vibrato, etc. by bending or biting the tube.

 

I think all of these can be used as controllers for software samples. The EWI has 200 internal sounds, the Aerophone Pro has 300. Some sax players swear by the SWAM sound banks for playing sax software sounds via computer or however they do that. To real sax players, ALL of the synthetic sax sounds are terrible. I like the muted trumpet sound on my Aerophone AE-10 but I'm sure a real trumpet player thinks it's awful.

 

There's also extensive discussions of these on Sax On The Web. You don't need to be a member to see them. Here are 2 threads started by me:

https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads/new-roland-aerophone-pro-ae-30.380621/#post-4241331

https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads/new-akai-ewi-solo-with-some-comparison-to-roland-aerophone-ae-10.377172/#post-4201758

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I can't believe I forgot to pack my Yamaha WX5 in the car when I did my 2900 mile drive east last week. But I haven't used it in a few years anyway, as I am trying to reduce my use of artificial sounds. Nevertheless, it still has a few advantages over recently released models from Roland and Akai, but I expect within the year that both companies will consolidate their technical gains into new high-end models that include ALL of their best features.

 

I can't get on with the Akai mouthpiece, but I'm a clarinetist who doubles on other winds, so it just feels invasive and without enough control and nuance, plus the non-contact "keys" are too much for me to get past. Yet their two latest models might be a more positive experience for me, than the EWI USB that I owned and sold. I haven't yet tried one of the Roland models but would be tempted by the new pro model if not $1600(?).

 

As we discussed last year, it was a bit of a surprise when Yamaha came out with arguably the best ergonomic design yet, but crippled it MIDI-wise and seemed to draw inspiration from Casio's ancient DH model (1980's).

 

I never bought any of the newer breath controllers, so I don't know if any of them can be as good of an experience as a full-on wind controller, when playing monophonic vs. polyphonic sound sources.

 

ANY of these designs is superior in my mind to an expression pedal or a mod wheel, or even a ribbon controller. The only thing that comes close in my experienced, is aftertouch, when well implemented. And come to think of it, I probably have never tried the combination of aftertouch with a modern breath controller.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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For anyone who does buy one, Matt Traum's Patchman Music site remains your best bet, for good service and setup, and in the case of the new Roland, I think he was instrumental in its design.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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If you played clarinet, you can play any of these wind controllers. They all do sax fingering, and all play like a flute with straight up and down fingering (don't need side keys at top or bottom) and all have a 7-octave range. The EWI has octave rollers, which some people have a hard time getting used to, and Aerophones have octave "keys" (really buttons) that some people also have a hard time with. I've played both and they both have different pros and cons.

 

Re: this comment: "yes I read a review about the solo, which I was looking at that said it was too long, and that the speaker can barely get above normal talking level and cannot reach the lower notes of a Sax range, not sure which, probs a bari"

I don't understand. The EWI range of 7 octaves makes it well beyond the lower notes of a bari sax. I get that it's too long -- that's also my criticism ââ and also that the speaker isn't very loud. This is also true of the Aerophones. I play these instruments through external speakers. One of the links I gave above on Facebook is the EWI played with just the built-in speaker, no amplification, which I was doing on purpose to demonstrate for a friend.

https://www.facebook.com/peter.loeb.5/posts/3819769834727943

If you're just playing for yourself or playing along to recordings or backing tracks, it's loud enough. You can also play it with headphones so it's silent to other people. If you want to play it live with other musicians, or even play loud with something like backing tracks, you'll need some amplification. I use a wireless guitar transmitter/receiver pair to go from my EWI to a Samson 6" battery powered speaker. Plenty loud enough.

 

"I would be looking, I think, for one with no "fake" reed, rather just one that reads your air pressure...something that is a bit lacking for me these days, again age I suppose...I mean I have enough air to blow a full scale plus 3 legato'ish but it's a bit of a struggle toward the end."

All the Aerophone models have the fake reed. The EWI is the only recent wind controller model that doesn't try to fake a sax mouthpiece, it just has a flexible tube that you blow into. You can bend the note, get vibrato, etc. by bending or biting the tube.

 

I think all of these can be used as controllers for software samples. The EWI has 200 internal sounds, the Aerophone Pro has 300. Some sax players swear by the SWAM sound banks for playing sax software sounds via computer or however they do that. To real sax players, ALL of the synthetic sax sounds are terrible. I like the muted trumpet sound on my Aerophone AE-10 but I'm sure a real trumpet player thinks it's awful.

 

There's also extensive discussions of these on Sax On The Web. You don't need to be a member to see them. Here are 2 threads started by me:

https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads/new-roland-aerophone-pro-ae-30.380621/#post-4241331

https://www.saxontheweb.net/threads/new-akai-ewi-solo-with-some-comparison-to-roland-aerophone-ae-10.377172/#post-4201758

 

Excellent, thanks much for the detailed reply...That helps believe me :)

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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For anyone who does buy one, Matt Traum's Patchman Music site remains your best bet, for good service and setup, and in the case of the new Roland, I think he was instrumental in its design.

 

 

Thanks - bit far from Oz, but might be worth checking out stuff there :)

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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..........Re: this comment: "yes I read a review about the solo, which I was looking at that said it was too long, and that the speaker can barely get above normal talking level and cannot reach the lower notes of a Sax range, not sure which, probs a bari"

I don't understand..........

 

I think he was talking ab out the inbuilt speaker range, not the actual instrument. I'll need to watch again to make sure

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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@ El Lobo The AE30 is a bit too much down here, the EWI Solo is about the money....Ummm, if you HAD to go used what model/brands woudl you recommend?

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Oh and a final (?) question....I'd be wanting to use this with either an iPad, or even a PC4 or Montage, wirelessly - will that be possible?

 

EDIT: managed to find an EWI5000 wireless on a short term rental so I"ll give that a go â¦.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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... I can't get on with the Akai mouthpiece, but I'm a clarinetist who doubles on other winds, so it just feels invasive and without enough control and nuance, plus the non-contact "keys" are too much for me to get past. ...

 

I meant to say something about the EWI contacts and the Aerophone keys. Some people can't get used to the EWI contacts instead of movable key switches. It took me a little bit of time to adjust, but once I did I really liked them. They're great for speed â you can zip up and down scales or through solos with no resistance because you don't have to press any keys down. Also, it's completely silent compared to the Aerophone Pro. Many people have complained about the key click noise on the Aerophone Pro. The "key" buttons do make noise that's distracting if you're just using the onboard speakers; if you're playing with amplification the key click is much less of an issue. The advantage of the key buttons over the EWI contacts is that there are fewer glitches or unintended notes because the keys are switches that you have to press down. Right now, I guess I prefer my EWI. I'd get an Aerophone Pro because I'm a sucker for all these things, but the Pro is too damn expensive for what it is and I have the EWI which I'm not playing much. I just got a Casio CT-S1 board which I'm having fun with and I should get a JBL Eon One compact speaker by the end of the week. I admit it â I'm a gear freak, a GAS-head.

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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I have a Casio DH100 and an Akai EVI (trumpet-style).

 

One important aspect to consider is which synthesizer you plan to control (if internal sounds are not available or if you want more sounds). You want a synth that has deep programmability.

Standard patches on most synths are not set up to respond well to a wind controller.

I program my own sounds on Roland XP-50 (keyboard with same engine as JV-1080 module) and Fantom FA-06. Both are flexible enough to mostly ignore velocity (useful for many but not all patches) and be driven by the amount of wind control.

You can buy patch sets from Matt Traum's Patchman Music. I've never bought any so that is not an endorsement, but I assume his are good.

 

Mike.

Mike Kent

- Chairman of MIDI 2.0 Working Group

- MIDI Association Executive Board

- Co-Author of USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices 1.0 and 2.0

 

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I play in a Klezmer band with a guy who plays an Akai EWI with some Sample Modeling Kontakt instruments. It's quite impressive. We have a real Trumpet player, and I'm also a Trumpet player by training. Honestly, except for the fact that the horn is coming out of an amp at his feet, it sounds like the real deal! It's uncanny when he and the other trumpeter play duets. Wind controllers and wind VIs have come A LONG WAY!

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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... I can't get on with the Akai mouthpiece, but I'm a clarinetist who doubles on other winds, so it just feels invasive and without enough control and nuance, plus the non-contact "keys" are too much for me to get past. ...

 

I meant to say something about the EWI contacts and the Aerophone keys. Some people can't get used to the EWI contacts instead of movable key switches. It took me a little bit of time to adjust, but once I did I really liked them. They're great for speed â you can zip up and down scales or through solos with no resistance because you don't have to press any keys down. Also, it's completely silent compared to the Aerophone Pro. Many people have complained about the key click noise on the Aerophone Pro. The "key" buttons do make noise that's distracting if you're just using the onboard speakers; if you're playing with amplification the key click is much less of an issue. The advantage of the key buttons over the EWI contacts is that there are fewer glitches or unintended notes because the keys are switches that you have to press down. Right now, I guess I prefer my EWI. I'd get an Aerophone Pro because I'm a sucker for all these things, but the Pro is too damn expensive for what it is and I have the EWI which I'm not playing much. I just got a Casio CT-S1 board which I'm having fun with and I should get a JBL Eon One compact speaker by the end of the week. I admit it â I'm a gear freak, a GAS-head.

 

After listening to a few of the demos, that clacking would get to me as well...I think I'd prefer the touchpad system tbh...anyway time will tell...I ordered an EWI5000 Wireless that I found on a short term rental (3 months) so that should be a good trial period to help make a final purchase in the future.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Sax will be my next instrument. I have half a mind to get an EWI... but NO, I think it's healthy for me to get away from tech as much as possible these days!

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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