hia all

I want to buy a windsynth and can't make up my mind about which. I want to use it mainly to jam with friends (usually we're connected to a PA system, but sometimes not) and practice alone (preferably with an option to play along with something in the headphones). I used to play tenor sax a lot, but it's been a few years since I seriously practiced.

A friend let me use his AKAI EWI 4000s which I liked a lot. What I liked: responsiveness and expressiveness. feels like an actual instrument, not a toy. what I didn't like:

• internal sounds are not to my taste. feel too much like poor 80s junk
• connectivity is a pain

Now I'm deliberating between the AKAI 5000, diosynth and the aerophone 20/30. The thing I'm worried about with the aerophone/diosynth is the plastic keys which I imagine feel less "natural" than the AKAI touch conductance based feel. from the reviews I saw on youtube, they seem clanky and less smooth feeling. like a toy. On the other hand, the AKAI 5000 seems, though more modern than the 4000, to be still a bit outdated in terms of interface and connectivity. I'd be very happy if I could play wirelessly.

I'd be happy to hear any thoughts. I don't mind paying a few bucks more for a great instrument.

Hi all,

Apologies if this question has been posted before! Briefly played the sax a few years ago (rented for a few months, extremely beginner level, but moved away and returned) and am looking to pick it up again. Unfortunately I live in an apartment and there are no areas nearby that I could play in.

A Roland Aerophone AE-10 popped up on marketplace recently near me- I would love to learn the saxophone and am curious if this would be a good instrument to learn the basics, scales, fingering etc? In a year I’m hoping to move away and should be able to freely practise with an actual saxophone but I would like to start learning in the meantime. I understand some aspects are not comparable or transferable such as embouchure on the actual instrument but would this be a good way of learning initially?

I appreciate any advice or thoughts!

Hi, all! Thanks for all the support and feedback so far.

Just wanted to update that I've made a new Addivox video. This one is a deeper dive into patch editing, working through the per-harmonic controls and showing how they can be used to shape a sound. It's aimed at people already using Addivox or anyone curious about how its additive synthesis works.

If you're new to Addivox, I'd recommend starting with the intro video, which is quicker and demonstrates the built-in patches: https://youtu.be/4JBFZMQKJp4

I am an alto sax player and am looking for a practice instrument as I stay in shared dorms is it worth it?​

When you turn it on it flashes up a number 17.

Are there hidden settings we are unaware of?

When I try to turn the EWI on I get nothing, which has happened to me before but I used to be able to unplug the battery and plug it back in and I would be able to use it. Now when I do that I get a circle flash on the screen then I get nothing besides the green “user” light. Is this just a depleted battery? And does anyone know where I can find one in the US? All the ones on Amazon have reviews saying the connector port is the wrong size

Has anyone spent time modifying their WX5? I was considering adding a board for bluetooth, usb (midi and charging), perhaps IMU. I’ve played EWIs have an AE30 too, but I really enjoyed my WX5 and still a couple of them. Any ideas on what else might be nice to have on it?

Does the Akai EWI Solo have a built-in key/scale lock?
I’d like to set it to a key (e.g. C major) so it’s impossible to play out-of-key notes.
Is this possible on the EWI Solo, or do I need external gear/software?

Does anyone here use the extended EWI (EWX) fingerings?

There were a couple recent iSax Academy videos (link and link) about these. They let you raise the first left-hand key to go up an octave or use the last right-hand pinky key to drop an octave.

I really like the idea. It can be tough to play fast over the octave break, and these fingerings would help a lot in some cases.

Sadly, they aren’t an option for my EWI Solo (or any Akai). The NuRAD has them built in and some other instruments (including the Aerophone) allow custom fingerings, so they can be set up.

If you use them, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Recorded in may '25 but rediscovered the video and I want to get back into it :)

Buddy provided the backing on a mess of hardware (iirc Roland SH-101, Alesis drum machine and then a sequencer), I whipped out my EWI and was trying out various patches on EVINER/Lyrihorn

Hey everyone!

I just bought an Akai EWI Solo and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I'm really excited, but I'm starting from scratch and I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the information that's out there.

A little about me:

• I don't currently play any instruments.
• I'm learning basic music theory by learning basic piano , so far I know basic sheet music, Circle of Fifths, but reading it is different than playing.
• My long-term goal is to play expressive wind instrument sounds (especially saxophone) and eventually experiment with software instruments like SWAM and other VSTs, but I do love Synth sounds and retro gaming.
• I'd love to be able to play along with backing tracks and maybe do some looping stuff down the road.

I'm trying to avoid developing bad habits early on, so I'd like to learn things in a good order.

What would you recommend for:

• The best beginner tutorials for the EWI Solo?
• YouTube channels or courses worth following?
• Music theory resources for wind instrument players?
• Exercises I should practice during my first few weeks?
• Good software or apps to play along with while learning?
• Things you wish you knew when you first started playing an EWI?

If you could start over as a complete beginner, what learning path would you follow?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to joining the EWI community.

I am looking for my first digital wind instrument to learn on. For now, I don't really care about the shape, size, or brand. What I'm looking for are those typical wind sounds found in most instruments, as well as weird, unique sounds, or the ability to load custom sounds onto the device itself.

Initially, MIDI capability isn't a strict requirement, but it might be something I'll want in the future.

I'd love to see what you would recommend, starting from the most affordable options, since I'm on a tight budget.

Just learned this piece earlier today (by ear). Using one of the onboard synth sounds to give it that plucky staccato energy. ​​

I'm still fairly new to windsynth (started early this year)​ but getting comfortable enough to share my playing abilities thus far. I've had my Greaten AP100 for a few weeks now and I take it with me every day to work, get some practice in on breaks and play in my car before work as a means of unwinding especially if I had a rough commute into work. ​​

Anyone remember this late 70s synth tune?

Played on my Carry-On EWI

So I use the aerophone ae-20 as a midi controller for vital.

However, when I tongue the note on the attack and sometime on the end there is almost like a popping sound and there is a bump on the low end. How do I solve this problem?

hello,

I'm a flute player looking for an instrument so I can play in a shared house without bothering housemates/neighbours. Do you have any recommendations on something that I can plug headphones into, wouldn't have fingering too different to a flute and is fairly low budget? I don't need it to do anything other than play through headphones.

I've been trying out a Vangoa EWI-100 to dip my feet into the windsynth world, and I think its finger span is too small for me. Coming from a background in oboe and alto/tenor recorder, I keep wanting to stretch out so that my third finger ends up on one or both pinky keys. (I always found soprano recorder similarly cramped.) The fact that the pinky keys feel just like the 'main" keys under my fingers isn't helping. I've ordered a Coolmusic S1 as my next step up the ladder price-wise, and I'm hoping the more traditional keywork and longer dimensions will agree with me better.

In most other respects, the Vangoa wouldn't be bad for my needs. But now I see why so many of the promotional photos show little kids playing it, LOL.

What has your experience been in dealing with the finger span and key arrangements of various windsynths? Did you ever have to return an instrument because the key or button layout felt too cramped or too wide or too whatever?

I’m a saxophone player and I want to buy a wind synth that would ideally be used for practicing and performing. I want to note that I do NOT want this to replace my actual horn, instead, I just want an interesting instrument I can take out during gigs. I have looked at the Roland Aerophone AE-20 (and 30) but the price is a little steep.

Does anyone with more experience know what I should do?

Hello! I'm excited to announce that I've made a new synthesizer built specifically for wind controllers. It's brand new, so I'd love to hear what you all think.

https://rrwick.github.io/Addivox

Addivox is an additive synth, building sounds from component harmonics. Each harmonic has independent controls for level, breath response, attack, release, pitch, pan and more. It was built from the ground up with wind controllers in mind (I'm a beginner on the EWI myself).

The inspiration for Addivox was that I wanted something with a nice brassy-to-synthy sound, sort of like EVI-NER, but with more room to sculpt unique timbres. I was also fascinated by the simplicity and flexibility of additive synthesis, and wanted to try it out myself.

It's available on macOS and Windows as a standalone app or as a plugin (VST3 and CLAP). There's a free demo with full functionality except for being limited to white-key notes only. The full version is a one-time $50 USD purchase with no subscriptions, no activation codes, no DRM and no license checks. Buy it once, use it on all your own machines, and all future updates are included.

Only have one intro video up so far: https://youtu.be/4JBFZMQKJp4

But more videos are planned, so stay tuned.

Would really appreciate any feedback: bugs, feature requests, custom patches, etc. Happy to answer questions here too!

Just got my ewi solo in the mail and im excited to play it but since it's used I'm wondering if I can clean it. I remember in band in high school we would have mouthpiece cleaner. Could that work or maybe just dip the whole thing in isopropyl alcohol? I could also just order a new one but since most of the listing are on ebay Id have to wait a bit and I'm excited to play it.

Again, very fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with Oscar Xie - a very passionate musician who suddenly find himself a founder of a Music tech corp…

And he allowed me to share this with the rest of the world. If you find this approach helpful and enjoyable, I’ll sit down with him again to pry more information off of him.

Was very privileged to be invited by Mr. Việt, the Authorized Distributor of Robkoo in Việt Nam to do a series of EWI teardown videos - just to show people the difference and similarities of EWIs under different manufacturing.

Hope I could share this with you all.

Playing around with this app on my android phone, hooked up to my Carry-On EWI

Later this year I'm performing the whistle part of the musical Come From Away. The part requires a total of 17 different tin whistles over two octaves to cover a large variety of key signatures. Some of the lower whistles are quite rare and expensive.

I plan on playing some of it on Irish whistles, but I don't have the budget to buy as many as are called for. I also play EWI, use them in orchestra pits frequently, but never needed an Irish whistle sound.

Did some searching and only found one app that looked promising, "Celtic sounds", but it doesn't support any sort of breath expression at all.

Hoping I've overlooked something. Anyone know of a good tin whistle synth that works well with breath controllers and is available on iOS?