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Looper's Delight
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On 18 dec 2007, at 20.54, HarryEsq@aol.com wrote: > Anyway, does anyone have any words of wisdom for me as I begin my > exploration of this instrument? I've checked out a couple of EWI- > centric websites but know there are some fine EWI players on this > list who must have some pearls they can drop my way. Wow, congratulations! Nice to have yet another EWI-ist on this list! The EWI is amazing, given you trim it well. There are two sides to trim; the side where it reads your physical movements while playing and the other side where it implies those gestures into different parameters of the sound. My advice is to work on the settings until they are optimized at both ends. There you have an awesome instrument! When using the built-in synth I prefer to play mine through effects like filter banks, distortion... generally the kind of stuff you warp an electric guitar tone with. I've understood, by reading on dedicated EWI lists, that many users want to play with a "jazz-like" sound, as in copying a trumpet or trombone sound. That's cool too, but not of my interest. . As a MIDI controller it is also good, but you really have to program the sounding device to answer to all parameters sent. I have had best success with the software synths that comes as part of Apple Logic. Kontakt can also be tweaked to answer expressively on your playing. I also have an old (physcical) Oberheim Matrix-1000 that gives quite expressive EWI tone, but it lacks portamento on/off, which is a drag. I always use that with the Logic synths, controlled by CC#5 that is activated by touching the glide bar with your left thumb. I also prefer to have the "sustain pedal" function set up in a classic way, as when using an ordinary CC#64 pedal (as opposed to the EWI default way of sustaining all notes played during a slur, or as legato). I always fix the pitch bend range to 2 semitones and use a little cut- off for the vibrato (biting the mouth-piece. also generating PB). And I prefer a bit more sensitive vibrato setting than in most default sounds. The air sensitivity is another factor you have to work on and find the setting the works well with your own playing style. I went for a pressure that lets me do circular breathing by "ballooning my cheeks" (don't know if that is cheating or if Eric Dolphy did it that way, anyway it works for me). Finally, do not play the EWI in the shower and remember that its MIDI freaks out if playing barefoot (touch sensitive controls getting grounded or something). Greetings from Sweden Per Boysen www.boysen.se (Swedish) www.looproom.com (international) www.ilike.com/artist/Per+Boysen