Akai's EWI USB wind instrument now shipping, to reveal your inner Kenny G.

We've certainly seen no shortage USB-friendly MIDI devices lately, whether they be instruments or hacks, but it's been a long, long time since one caught our eye that brought your breath into the equation. Akai's latest, the EWI (that's "eee-whee" if you can dig it) USB is now shipping for $499, enabling you to simulate anything from a flute to a trumpet at a price about $200 less than the company's other electronic wind instruments. It even comes with a complete software recording suite, meaning getting this EWI installed should be easier than playing a chromatic scale on a slide flute. Mastering the sweet, soulful strains of "Silhouette," however, might be a little more complicated.

Update: Rollins wrote in to let us know these things are going for just $299 online. Those "Sentimental" fantasies just got that much more accessible!

[Via musicradar.com]

[eiki @ Nov 14th 2008 11:00AM]

.......................__ ............
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.\\...............|'-|--| .\\....\.....
..\ \_...........|--|---|..\\ ....\....
../ L \____,/-------\___\___\
.|LOL|-------------O----- ----,\..
..\ L /______,---''-----------, /...
../ /.............\_________ ,/....
.//.............____//___ __\\__/.

[Joe @ Nov 14th 2008 11:03AM]

ROFLcopter

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 14th 2008 11:13AM]

want to play with my eee weee.

[Gadgetlike @ Nov 14th 2008 11:03AM]

Cool--from an admitted USB gadget-a-holic.

[Dopefish @ Nov 14th 2008 8:43PM]

I dunno, kinda looked like a pregnancy test to me....

[the tif @ Nov 14th 2008 11:04AM]

I smell Saxophone Hero: Kenny G edition!

[Yuri @ Nov 14th 2008 12:31PM]

I honestly don't see this working too well for anything actually.

There's not enough keys. All of the side keys for the typical saxophone are gone, the same with the flute, and obviously everything.

I guess I've never been into electronic wind instruments, but I don't see any instrument being able to be played well at all with that.

[Bman21212 @ Nov 14th 2008 3:31PM]

God I hope not. Kenny G is the bane of all good musicians.

http://www.jazzoasis.com/methenyonkennyg.htm

[absinthe party @ Nov 14th 2008 11:06AM]

Trumpet =/= wind instrument.

[Ouch @ Nov 14th 2008 11:14AM]

Nah Its a wind instrument. It's not a woodwind though. Because you need air to play it.

This post has been brought to you by a certified Band Geek.

[Remmy @ Nov 14th 2008 11:18AM]

Well, not "wind" in the normal sense. My director never called us trumpets "winds", we were part of the "brass" section. Winds was normally the short for wood winds. That aside, a trumpet is a wind instrument. Must have "wind" to produce a note. However, that is totally different from making noises because you have the winds. Ask my wife.

[monkfishbandana @ Nov 14th 2008 11:17AM]

@ Ouch

All sounds need air to work.

[Steve @ Nov 14th 2008 11:19AM]

Sonar

[absinthe party @ Nov 14th 2008 11:20AM]

Ah, hell. I was thinking woodwind. I saw what looks like a fake reed and put it all together.

[RVSpinX @ Nov 14th 2008 12:26PM]

@Monkfishbandana

Try telling that to whales.

Sound mearly needs a medium for it to travel in order to be heard.

I believe in this case the intent is that wind, aka breath is needed to produce the sound, as opposed to a percussion instrument, or a stringed instrument.

[happy_penguin @ Nov 14th 2008 11:15AM]

Wow. That really blows.

[Rynth @ Nov 14th 2008 11:18AM]

daboom-tish

=D

[StalematE @ Nov 14th 2008 11:18AM]

Kenny G Blows...

see what I did there?

[Larry @ Nov 14th 2008 11:22AM]

Too pricey to give to the grandkids. I'll stick with the drum set...

[BobDobalina @ Nov 14th 2008 11:27AM]

Cruel!

[Rollins @ Nov 14th 2008 11:45AM]

For the record, $499 is the MSRP. The street price is actually $299, as seen here: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EWIusb

No, I don't work for Sweetwater, they were just the first store I found with it in-stock.

It's a shame this doesn't have a traditional MIDI-out, but I suppose for the price you can't complain too much.

[Brazell @ Nov 14th 2008 11:51AM]

Friend of mine as something similar, though much more basic, for the bagpipes.

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 14th 2008 11:58AM]

Thats just an electric chanter. They also make practice chanters which are more like a recorder.

[paul-engadget @ Nov 15th 2008 5:59PM]

electric bagpipes? at least you cam turn the volume down, like to zero. "bagpipes are best heard from a distance - the further the better"

[Ladderless @ Nov 14th 2008 1:13PM]

No offense to Kenny G, but I can't believe that this entry on the EWI doesn't mention the guy that put the concept on the map...

Michael Brecker started playing an EWI well over 20 years ago. A great musician and a tragic loss to the music world.

Time to give credit where credit is due.

[kojo87 @ Nov 14th 2008 4:21PM]

i will keep my inner Kenny G repressed thank you very much. i think its better for everyone that way.

[Ross Carlson @ Nov 14th 2008 5:04PM]

As a saxophone player who's owned a Yamaha WX7 for about 4 years now I can tell you this thing is crap. The thing that people miss about digital wind instruments (I do NOT call mine an EWI - that's about the lamest name ever) is the tone generator. That's what makes these instruments really shine. My WX7 was built in the late 80's but my tone generator (the Yamaha VL70-M with the Patchman chip) sounds AMAZING. Many of the patches (specifically the flutes, clarinet, guitars) are unreal - the control you get by using your breath means they can be amazingly expressive - you can control pitch bend (vibrato) and volume all from breath just like a real instrument. I've fooled several friends with recordings of mine.

As for the poster that mentioned the lack of side/palm keys they are unneeded - on a sax you need those keys to be able to get higher and lower registers - on this you simply roll your left thumb back and forth to change the octave (which is really tough at first). So really you only need 12 keys plus the thumb (and a few others so you can play your preference keys for Bb for example).

So while this thing is lame, and admittedly so is my WX7 in the wrong context, in the right setting these things are amazingly fun to play. I love putting on the Hendrix sound and shredding a guitar solo while trading with a real guitarist.

Just my (very geeky) two cents...

[Wwhat @ Nov 15th 2008 3:55PM]

Picture of the octave rollers (#2):
http://www.akaipro.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/20/ec05548aa1be40195af22e7d39a830ae/large/ewi_usb_back_diagram.png

#5=pichtbend
#3=groundplate

[MaW @ Nov 16th 2008 5:49AM]

But if you plug an ordinary EWI4000s into a VL-70m you can get the same sounds you get with a WX7 plugged into it. I went for the Akai instrument due to being a recorder player, and it offers an increased level of familiarity compared to the Yamaha wind controllers which are very sax-like.

I also have a lot of fun with the built-in analogue modelling synth, I must admit, although it's awful at realistic sounds. So I'm going to get a VL-70m one day. Physically modelling synth ftw.

[bartp @ Nov 14th 2008 5:55PM]

crap?? yeah right.. maybe you dont know how to play it well.. but is it a great controller. not a toy at all.
Michael Brecker should be mentioned indeed.

[BIGD @ Nov 14th 2008 10:30PM]

Yes, Michael Brecker was the man, and most certainly deserves all the credit.

[DAKH @ Nov 14th 2008 10:42PM]

You sure that's not a Type III Phaser?

[mudn8r @ Nov 20th 2008 6:57PM]

I actually just picked one of these up. It's pretty cool, but I'm going to exchange it for the 4000s. If you are new to the EWI it will be great. I've actually the older model for about 10 years and there are some differences that bugged me. The way the octave rollers work is different, and it's limited to 5 octaves. I hooked it up to Logic Mainstage and it worked great, but just felt limited.

[stoob @ Nov 30th 2008 1:22AM]

heres a good example of the 3k model

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JVp9kmjbzI