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Akai Professional EWI USB Electronic USB Wind Instrument
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Price:
£125.00
Free postage
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14 days return. Buyer pays for return postage. If you use an eBay delivery label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.
Condition:
- Buy it nowAkai Professional EWI USB Electronic USB Wind Instrument
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About this product
Product Identifiers
BrandAkai
MPNEWI-USB
UPC0825213002364
ModelEWI USB
eBay Product ID (ePID)1605165291
Product Key Features
TypeWind Controller
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Ratings and reviews
Most relevant reviews
- 06 Apr, 2020
Good deal, but it is an instrument in its own right, so it requires practise and specific tecnique.
It is a very good instrument, and I would highlight "instrument", in the sense that it does require practise to get good, but it does reward a musician with good expressivity. Some technical skills are required though to have it all run smoothly and the sound banks which come with it are not great. They can be tweaked, but compared to expensive sound banks and models, like SampleModeling and similar, there is simply no comparison. I use it on Windows 10 with Reaper, and I strongly suggest downloading a free program called EwiUSB, which allows to change all parameters and a free virtual midi interface such as LoopMIDI, which is required to use EwiUSB. I was uncertain about getting this or the more expensive models which allow for playing without a computer and have direct midi ports. I am quite happy with my choice. The only thing I miss from the more expensive options are an additional expression control, which would come useful, and perhaps the various toggles to change sensitivity and so forth. Given there are several recurring questions about this online, here is my take: - It is not a relacement for a saxophone, or a way to practise saxophone embochure. The fingering can be set to be somewhat similar to a sax, but it certainly does not feel the same and honestly there are millions of fingering combiantions which would not work on a sax and are very useful on this instrument. - A main difficulty with the instrument is that the octave rollers is tricky to operate when moving between octaves. The keys are touch sensitive, so you cannot rest your fingers on them like you would on a sax. However, because of the way the ewi fingering works, there are sometimes ways around that, just, not with a conventional woodwind fingering. Also, one need sto get used not to touch the side keys accidentally. For these reasons, even if the instrument is very light, using the provided neck strap is quite necessary to avoid straning. In terms of tecnique, probably the most useful resurces are recorder related, because in the end it is more similar to a recorder than to brass or reed instruments. Tonguing is possible, but in it's own way, I am not an expert but I do not think that it is as responsive to that as an actual woodwind. Vibrato can be achieved biting lightly, by breath control for amplitude vibrato, or even through the pitch bending controls. But it requires setting things exactly and for the moment I am not achieving the ability to control it the way I can on string and wind instruments. The usual breathing exercises raccomended for wind instruments are beneficial, as it is practising scales and arpeggios across the break. I have to say that using it with a good virtual instrument, better than the provided ones, is quite necessary to sound expressive. I would like that akai provided at least one excellent instrument with it, instead of a ton of so and so samples. Also, using this with instruments designed for keyboard will require some technical change to make them behave with a wind controller. As for the specific refurbished instrument I received, it is as good as new, only the box was a bit tattered, it comes with all the accessories.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Refurbished
- 11 Sep, 2020
I recommend buying if the disadvantages listed below are not important to you.
I bought that AKAI EWI USB because I long watched some tools that would allow my playback to be saved to a computer and later re-played, perhaps after editing. I’ve been using Ableton Push 2 and other good MIDI keyboards for a long time, but was looking for ways to enhance the artistry of my performance. I also thought about the need for physical exercise for my breathing. Before, I haven't played any musical instrument at all - just a MIDI keyboard. After playing with this EWI for a couple of weeks, I can say that I really need physical capacity - just like with conventional wind instruments. I believe there is a possibility to configure the system for higher sensitivity of the blowing sensors, but then I would think the artistry would be lost. The item is nice to take, but not light. Made seriously and neatly. I recommend buying if the disadvantages listed below are not important to you. Disadvantages: The note height manipulator is very disturbing. I don’t know how long it will take for the fingers to get so strong that they won’t accidentally touch those manipulator pitches. The blow nozzle slides out of the lips, and if it is bitten too hard by the teeth, the vibrato effect begins to work. Hands hurt due to the unusual required order of fingers and hand layout. The sound of the instruments in the included software is very poor and unpleasant. Okay so I have a good sounding clarinet sound from the vst accessory Xpand! 2. I have to unplug the USB cable often because the device or Windows USB drivers or Ableton Live are often unprepared to receive signals from this instrument - unlike other MIDI controllers I have. I can't trust the reset button because the click effect is poorly visible. There are typographical errors in the attached EWI key layout document.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New
- 25 Jun, 2020
High quality EWI
Very well built and of high quality. It may take some time to get used to all the possibilities.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- 02 Jan, 2020
Sounds great and easy to plaay!
Easy to play. Easy to learn to play. Quality buildVerified purchase: YesCondition: Refurbished
- 17 Mar, 2021
Great MIDI controller
Great MIDI controller if you plan using VST sounds. built very simply as no moving partsVerified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
- 01 Jan, 2020
If it could work i guess it would enthral me
I cannot get it to workVerified purchase: YesCondition: Refurbished
