Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software Review
Purchase the Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software. This popular stuff is currently in stock. For this reasonable price, the Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software comes highly respected and is always a popular choice for most people. With so many available recently, it is great to have a name you can recognise. The item is certainly that and will be a superb purchase. The manufacturer have provided some great touches and this results in good value. You can believe this review, i hope you can try to buy this product if you want know this product. I am more than 30 years removed from my previous experience from playing clarinet - not technically, but essentially a beginner. For the price, this is just about what I expected, perhaps even better. The installation is simple and there's no enormous amount of practice building peri-oral muscle strength to get a decent sound.
The built in sound generator (REQUIRES usb connection to a Mac or PC, which actually plays the samples) is decent. I wouldn't describe the samples as outstanding, but they are a good value. There are some basic controls for reverb, panning, etc. as well as some control over sensitivity to air pressure, pitch bending, and the like.
You are not required, however, to use the software provided. The EWI USB serves as a perfectly good controller for GarageBand and, presumably, any other sequencing software.
Bottom line - I'm quite pleased, but the rest of my review will focus on the niggling issues that limit the star rating by one.
A previous reviewer is correct that you need to use a strap (which does not lock in place) to play it effectively. The left thumb controls the octave register and right thumb controls the pitch-bending, so using it as a support point, like on a clarinet, doesn't work. I imagine a more experienced player might be able to hold it comfortably without the strap, but definitely not a beginner.
It's a bit much to expect a $300 instrument to provide authentic vibratory feedback, particularly since it emulates many classes of instruments (woodwinds, flutes, brass, etc.). However, there is no tactile feedback on the keys (i.e., they do not move) - if you are brushing them even slightly, they are activated. So there's no way gently to preposition your fingers for the next note, then press harder to play it.
I think the manual is inadequate in terms of explaining the fingerings for various instruments. My recollection of the clarinet is that if you don't have the main holes closed on the left hand, fingering holes the right hand produces a sickly sound. With this device, every fingering seems to "mean" something. Doubtless, this reflects the effort to provide different key mappings for different instruments. (For the ignorant, like me, EWI and EVI refers to Wind and Valve instruments, respectively.) I'm still not sure if all the key mappings at the back of the manual coexist simultaneously, or the device has various "modes" that are set through USB.
*** To correct myself, I've found that the fingering mode (along with several other useful settings like air pressure and bite sensitivity) can be selected or edited from the "EWI USB" application under the Configuration menu item, which is different from the preferences. The sax setting - there is no clarinet option - behaves similarly to a clarinet in terms of right and left hand fingerings. The default "EWI" setting is presumably designed to provide greater playing flexibility, as there is often at least two different ways to produce the same pitch.
I assume these settings are "sticky" - remain on the device until changed - but haven't tested it. Even if not, you should be able run the application with zero volume and still use it as a controller in a sequencer application. This is something which should be better documented. There are only two pages or so of instructions, in microscopic print, but in a dozen different languages. ******
I just discovered the akaipro web site has a video intro. The site is a little buggy - it's easy to end up playing the default sound track simultaneously with the video intros.
I also had a problem with the volume of the first note that I played - too soft, regardless of pressure. The next note would be responsive. I downloaded and installed the most recent drivers from the akaipro web site. Seemed to fix the problem. So far (3 days), I have not been able to master the vibrato-via-biting; that doesn't seem so easy.
Overall, if you're a nut like me for having various options for MIDI expressive potential (I have a MIDI Strat, touch pads, home-made electronics, a stack of keyboards), then I would recommend this device with considerable enthusiasm. I cannot speak to the authenticity of the experience for those who are already expert at acoustic versions of such instruments, but I suspect (despite the lack of tactile feedback) they would find it easier, rather than harder, than I do.
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Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software Price
| List Price: | $499.00 |
| Price: | $264.00
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| You Save: | $235.00 (47%) |
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Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software Overview
Akai Professional is the first name in electronic wind instruments. For over 20 years, Akai Professional has studied the art of playing saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and other traditional winds, and developed electronic wind instruments that enable wind players to enjoy the same expressive control as in an acoustic instrument. Akai designed EWI USB to give wind players the expressive musical capabilities previously found only in much more expensive instruments. EWIs are the only choice for serious wind players looking to make music electronically. While EWI USB is easy and fun to use, it's also powerful, flexible, and most importantly reliable enough for use on stage and in the studio by professional musicians. EWI USB is the most flexible EWI because it harnesses your computer to generate its sounds. Its USB interface means that all you need is nearly any Mac or PC and the included EWI USB software, and you're ready to practice, perform, create, and record with a full collection of wind instrument sounds. Aria Player software was produced specifically for use with EWI USB, providing wind players with an unprecedented level of expressive control.
Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software Feature
- Electronic wind instrument controller
- Plug-and-play USB connection to Mac or PC
- Custom Garritan Aria Player software, contains wind instrument sounds
- Multiple fingering modes: sax, traditional EWI, flute, oboe, and EVI brass
- Removable, dishwasher-safe mouthpiece
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Akai Ewi Usb Usb Wind Instrument With Garritan Aria Player Software Detail
- Item Weight: 4 pounds
- Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- ASIN: B001L0XUG4
- Item model number: EWI USB
