
This is the “Expression” setting for the EWI. Without pressing the “SETUP” key again, use the side keys until “EP” is displayed on the screen. You can do this by using the side keys as before and scrolling through the options of “Hr”, “Lr” and “OF”. So, I suggest selecting the “OF” setting here. It’s really for sending volume information to an external sound module when using the EWI as a midi controller. When using the internal sounds you don’t need this function on.

When you release the “SETUP” key your display should show “vo” which is Midi Volume. “B5” is EWI speak for “BS” or Breath Sensor. Hold your “SETUP” button down again and scroll using the “INTERVAL” and “HOLD” side keys untill you can see “B5” on your rear display. To turn your “dp” setting off, press the “trans.” button and the dot should dissappear. If there is a dot showing between the “d” and “p” then this setting is “on”. When you release the “SETUP” button, your display should show “dp”. Use the “INTERVAL” and “HOLD” side keys to scroll through till the display shows “PC”. To do this, turn your EWI on and press and hold the “SETUP” button. The “Direct Program” or “dp” feature isn’t needed for normal EWI playing with the internal sounds. Be careful to follow the instructions below and don’t change anything unless you are sure you know what you are doing! 1 – The “dp” setting You should tread very carefully when making any changes. These can all be accessed on the setup screen on the upper back of your EWI.Ī word of caution: The new EWI5000 is a beast and has all sorts of options available within the “setup” menu. First stepsīefore you even blow your first notes, here are four tweaks I always suggest that will make your EWI respond better.

If you have the older 4000s you can also make these changes although the settings may vary a little. The steps below are for the new EWI5000 model.
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In this article I’ll talk you through what I think are some really important “first setup” steps plus give you some techniques you can use straight away to get the most out of your EWI. But like most electronic gear, there are a few essential tweaks needed to get the most out of it. If my limited time allows, I will eventually post a sample composition created with the help of Synfire and the EWI-USB.The EWI, particularly the latest 5000 model is an amazing piece of kit. The most obvious advantage however was that I could take my laptop and headphones everywhere and not disturb anyone. After two hours of playing, I felt more and more comfortable and the playing techniques burried deep in my memory started to return. Since I am a big fan of the trumpet, soprano sax and clarinet, I thought it would be great if I was able to record melodies with the EWI and have Synfire take care of everything and just preserve the human expression. I once played the flute in my childhood, but never touched a sax or clarinet. Since it would have been a shame to not share it, I invested another day and polished it a bit so EWI players around the world can now use it too. I built this utility, because I could not find anything on the net that would do what I need. If you have any affinity to wind instruments, you should risk a look. Earlier this year, I used an EWI-USB to try out different ideas using a wind controller for melody recording and phrase generation with Synfire (more on this later). Four different key switches can be assigned to individual hardware sensors and trigger specific sound articulations this way.
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This way a player can keep multiple settings for different setups. The tool is available for free.Īkai EWI-USB Control can be chained between the controller hardware and a sequencer or synthesizer software in order to filter the MIDI data stream in real-time. Cognitone has released Akai EWI-USB Control, a utility software for the wind controller hardware EWI-USB from Akai Professional. The tool provides controls for all the hardware's parameters and allows for saving frequently used presets to disk.
