Incredibly Useful to anyone to who is comparing EWI's and other windcontrollers, esp patches for real wind and brass. It's much better than those built into the EWI-4000s. Isn't it amazing that Akai never makes this type of demo available ? It's a good thing that a really helpful person (Peter Climie) is willing to put the effort and time into making such an extraordinary demo. Thanks a lot !
Glorious. I had to take the risk and purchase it a month ago strictly on faith and a TH-cam presentation. What you did Akai should have done. I love how expressive I can get on this axe and I keep finding new ways.
Dude, thanks for this demo. I've been looking all over and, finally, someone has done all of us EWI enthusiasts a great service. Really appreciate it. My favorites are the winds.
Thanks for going to the effort of putting this together Peter - very useful for my decision-making. Sadly the sounds are even more dated in 2020 than they already were in 2014. I know I'm extremely fussy about sounds but even trying to keep an open mind there wasn't a single must-have sound and none I'd be seen using in public except perhaps the harmonica so it means I'm looking at this as a silent practice alternative to my sax and as a MIDI controller for my synths.
I have just bought an EWI USB because I want to be able to source my sounds elsewhere. It's a Christmas present to myself but for a measly £29 I bought Mainstage 3 which has a lot more sounds than any of the EWIs with built-in sounds. Since none of the EWIs except the Solo can be used without additional equipment, I'm distinctly puzzled as to what the benefits of the 4000 and 5000 are.
Thanks for the great demos. I've been patiently waiting for someone to do this. Wish Akai would have included it on their site. They should use your link on their site. I'm impressed, especially compared to the built-in sounds of the 4000. No tweaking could get you much out of it. A synth module was always needed for me to use it. Sounds like the 5000 has the guts to make some great sounds, especially after tweaking them. There should be some interesting custom banks available soon.
Thanks for the kind comments. Hopefully they do some upgrades to the instrument firmware and/or the the sound editor. As it stands now there isnt much editing that can take place. I am not much of a sound tweaker but am hopeful Matt or someone else will figure something out. Its still early.
If we're not exaggerating, a lot of these are of much higher quality than your standard digital keyboard sounds of that era. If you're talking higher end synthesizers and the like, then yes, they're similar.
@@MegaMacTV I'd actually be very curious to see a video of a keyboard from that era that matches these sounds. My first pro level keyboard was a Kurzweil K2500SX which was introduced in 1996. I think it was the top keyboard available from any manufacturer at the time, retailing at $8000 when I got mine, and I'd be lying if I said it could compete with these sounds in this video. You can hear some of its wind/string instruments here: th-cam.com/video/utNUAMrrBl8/w-d-xo.html . The real breakthrough in sound quality, as I followed the progression, came later with software samplers like GigaSampler.
Nice job! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I wonder why they didn't group all similar instruments together? Some of the sounds are pretty good. Others are poor and some are completely useless.
The hardware looks great. I own an EWI USB and this looks like a nice step up. Bought the EWI USB second hand a good while back. I was thinking of buying the 4000 but then came across the 5000. I was looking into the differences between the 3. I was trying to determine if the hardware plus the software sounds that it comes with, is worth paying 600 bucks for an upgrade. It would in the end come down to doing that upgrade for hardware and mobility solely. The factory sounds that it comes with are in my opinion not cutting it. I own Reason, Reaper and various Sample Modeling instruments. While the synths resemble some sounds I could recreate in Reason, the various woodwinds and brass absolutely don't. To get back on the synths, I wouldn't use most of the factory sounds recreated in Reason either. Probably with some effects it could play a minor role in a track. It leaves me with a handful of factory sounds I would use. The woodwinds and brass instruments, are really not cutting it in my opinion. Maybe this is because Sample Modeling delivers such realistic professional sounding instrument. But honestly, some Reason refills will also give you better sounding horns. The saxophones almost all sound kazoo like. Alt being the worst of the bunch. The trumpet sound better but here and there, again, kazoo quality. With the alternative having set the bar so high, namely Sample Modeling Sax brothers, trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, etc. and the alternatives in for example Reason, the software sounds are not professional enough to use, in my opinion, except for a handful. Other then that, I'm already in love with the EWI USB and this is a major improvement.
Yes Sir. Thank you and bless you indeed for taking the time to do this. Forget the sounds for now...man you can play. Very creative presentation representing the sounds available on the instrument in melodic fashion. You can't beat that it's wireless and don't need a sound module, but missing strings as a voice is not good. The synth sounds cheesy or not are what they are, as far as sax, I've got real saxes, I am more interested in getting a sound that makes people say....what is that? (In a good way) Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you.
I totally agree! The 4000S is a much better instrument because it is synth based not sample based. The key to the 4000s is that you have to tweak your own patches & it is very easy to do with the software from Akai.
thank you so much! (what a relief after the 1st 20 on the 4000! gave up at that point!) shame there are no strings or recorders. liked the 'rite of spring' bit!! :-)
I wanted one before I heard this. Really fab playing but... Yes, I KNOW it's a synth but I expected the quality of sounds to be so much better on a relatively recent instrument.
Nice listing, that answers to my doubt of buying such instrument or not, thanks! In fact, as a "wind" instrument, I find that there is quasi none of flute sounds (same for EWI Solo), I was expecting to have a set of flute sounds though. This one would be useful for saxo musicians. For me, out of sax, trumpet, and MIDI feature, other instruments are almost useless, as I would prefer to play them on keyboards though. Would be nice to have wireless microphone/connection included too (although there are now such separately). AKAI, please create a variant that can load custom sounds :)
The thing with the EWI (with is basically a controller, not a very good sound source) is that you should connect it to various outboard synths. I once saw Michael Brecker in the The Hague Conservatory, where he used two Oberheim XPanders as sound sources. Massive sound!
Are you able to layer instruments (samples)? Some instruments, like the first 3 saxes don'tsound good, but the tenor sax 2 sounds nice on the tenor octaves (lower), while the soprano sax 2 sounds really great on the higher octaves. Is it not possible to create one instrument that flows from Soprano to Tenor sax, by assigning the highest 2 or 3 octaves to the soprano, and assigning the lowest 2 or 3 to the tenor, while having either a hard switch on a note, or the center octave as a soft, gradual change between both instruments (going from 100% soprano 0% tenor at eg:c5, to 100% tenor to 0% soprano at c4).?
Trombones are very keyboard sounds on attack and vibrato. A lot of the sounds, tho instrumentally identifiable, there’s no mistaking that synthetic keyboard production.
Peter... Thank you for doing this. Question, since the video was made 4 years ago has anything changed sound wise and are they ready to make a new EWI??? Also: I remember having to get different sound card drivers for my EWI USB running on Windows ...ASIO (open source) that helped with latency on the sound card on my laptop; Will I have to do that again? or no because the sounds are actually on the controller? Would love to hear from other folks on a good live set up: amp, any pre-amp. Volume pedals if I use it with anoter synth on a laptop. Sooo many questions sorry. :)
Akai has not provided ANY updates to the sounds for the 5000S, which I find infinitely disappointing as I wasn't really happy with the default sounds. There is an editor that allows for very basic tweaks, but no real way to design your own sounds or load new ones. As far as what Akai is doing looking forward... I have no idea. I am just a player like most of you and don't have any knowledge of what Akai is working on. I made this video simply to allow others to hear what sounds came on it before they purchased it since Akai had not done any real marketing to demonstrate what it sounded like, and most of the demos out at the time used the same 3 or 4 patches.
So much better than the patches in the 4000. That's great because everyone I talked to hates dealing with that guy at Patchman Music to try and get patch updates!
Thanks a ton for that, Doug. You're a sweetheart. Not sure what the hell that meant. Feel free to email me if you have some sort of problem with anything I've done. The EWI5000 sounds are essentially permanent. They cannot be replaced.
Son Quatsch, This is policy of the companies we represent. We follow the rules. Customers need to contact their local Akai dealer in their country. But thanks for calling me a jerk. If you have a problem with me, call me and talk to me.
except i bought my ewi from YOU, and was in the US at the time i bought it. you even accidentally shipped me two ewis and i shipped the second one back to you. i asked you if you could ship the replacement part locally to someone who would then ship it to me, and you said no and were quite rude about it. so yeah, you are kind of a jerk. and i will be happy to provide you with the serial number in case you do not believe me that i bought it from you.
Eww, you haven't been using Patchman voices? Ever? All Factory? Forget that. No, that's the problem with the EWI5000: you can't import any killer patches by whoever. So, just fake saxes you don't need ever and kazoos, no recorder, no weird wind instruments, No Strings At All. If I stick with a 4000s, it's for the custom patches I can find.
I have wondered the same thing about string sounds on the 5000. The 4000 was actually based on analog synthesis techniques, so no strings. But there weren't any saxes or other "real world" instruments, either.
What were the dials set to for filter, semi, fine, reverb, chorus, and lfo? My EWI 5000 which I have had for 3 weeks do not sound like this and really dosnt sound even close. I have been trying to adjust the dials but seem to make things worse not better.
Thanks for the post. This is actually a good representation of its sound capabilities. Good job! I did actually purchase one but I'm not impressed with the sounds. I play my 4000s live on gigs all the time (with Matt's patches and MIDI'd) to get some really great sounds, but the 5000 is so limited and their choices of samples is not good for professional work in my opinion. Why didn't they include a rhodes or strings or a decent lead synth sound? I'm going to be returning mine after I post a detailed review.
Good afternoon, sorry the English not being the best, but the sounds of the video that post, are the instrument or is a sound example roland box xv20 20? I would appreciate an answer because I'm thinking about getting one ..... thanks
So it sounds exactly the same as my IWI 1000.... Which is 18 years old... the only difference is the appearance and the wireless.... Would I pay $800 for wireless?? They should make a Brecker edition with all of his patches.....
It really doesn't sound ANYTHING like the old EWI1000/EWV2000 to me. The EWI5000 is sample based and the old one is based on a few simple analog waveforms. Also the EWI5000 completely self contained, runs on a battery, has built in effects, and wireless. So many differences.
Seconded. I LOVE Brecker's sounds. I think Akai's synth engine has a fat, expressive,unique sound as demonstrated with their wind synths. I wish they would re-issue a synth featuring all those killer analog sounds Brecker, Judd Miller and Jeff Kashiwa use.
The are two button that can be pressed by the side of the right hand. The top one is the hold button, the other is an interval button. When the hold button is activated the first not played is held while you move around. The held note is determined on each articulation.
HELLO PETER, I also have a new EMI 5000 but my sounds are not as nice as in your video. Can you tell me your settings of the parameters? Ciao WOLFGANG from Germany
David Floyd after hearing this, I'll stick with my Patchman turbo setup....I wore the hell out of my WX5 and will buy another! no need to invest in this thing
The TURBO VL70-m is indeed very special. Hard to beat its bang-for-the-buck. It can also be controlled from the EWI5000 VERY well... www.patchmanmusic.com/turbovl.html
How exactly are the sounds created? Does the EWI create midi values based on the way you blow air into it/what notes you play? If so couldnt i just record the midi and use any other sample library? Or does it function completely different? Also is there a difference in what sounds i get when I use the EWI 4000 instead of the 5000? sorry if i bother you, but Im considering buying an EWI :D
Can someone a few questions I have about the ewi? I'm doing orchestral reductions for a musical, and I want to know ... Can you download new sounds? example, xylophone? There are parts in the music where xylophone and flute play chromatic runs in unison, can both of those instruments be layered together in the ewi? Can you control separate octaves? How quickly can you switch from one instrument sound to the next? Can you program a patch sequence like the how they do on keyboards on Broadway? Thanks!
+accompanist603 Not with this instrument by itself. By using midi and hardware and soft synths you can get almost any sound you want, although by their nature wind controllers don't handle percussive sounds well, although it can be done. You can use something like Main Stage to pre program patches and put them in order, but only for outboard synths and softsynths. Once the patches are in order in order main stage can handle program change commands sent from the EWI. An EWI wont be the perfect solution for all situations but as a controller it is quite extensible.
So basically with external software, I could have it playing a clarinet solo for a few measures, and have it switch to piccolo/xylophone in two beats for a fast chromatic run and then go to oboe a few rests after that? (For example)
There is an alternative way) If you work in the Editor with Hard Soprano Sax (36 program) you can make the chanter and 1 drone add by a Hold Button. And playing the circular breathing. something like this)))
I´m considering buying one. But hesitate, as I have been unable to find out, if til is possible to make a "setting" where the fingering is the same as on a "real" flute. Does anybody know that? And also, if it is possible, witch octave is the fingering in?
Fingerings cannot be end user customized, as far as I know. There are several fingering modes available, though. I would suggest downloading the manual from Akai's website and checking out the available fingering sets to see which is closest to what you are used to on flute.
I think they may have better spent their development on reproducing a wider range of emulated wind instruments, particularly ethnic types. Scottish and uilleann bagpipes could be possible, as well as many of the flute variants in folk styles. Most of the secondary samples here are better handled by keyboard, and were designed for keyboard initially. This is just padding out with substandard and not so useful sounds!
One of the reasons I decide to buy an EWI 5000 is watching this video. However, after getting one, I'm very disappointed with those crappy syth sounds. All the 100 patches sound like from a cheap keyboard. Could you please suggest how I can get nice sounds as you? What is your line-up? What DAW you use? Thanks a lot.
Good video...thanks for making it. I wish ewi manifactures would up their game re: the included synth engine. I know you can't compare this to a $2,000 stand alone synth but....man....to my ears this thing sounds like a high end casio keyboard. They can certianly do better....
I definitely agree. They went with a sample based system on this and I was totally disappointed. The 4000s (the prior model) had an analog type engine was MUCH better, but then people botched about it now having saxes, trumpets, etc…. Can win for loosing I guess. I had high hopes for the Solo but they went with a synth engine that was no better. I have since moved on to a Berglund Instrument NuRAD EWI and a soft synth rig and am not looking back. The 5000 makes a GREAT controller for soft synths, though.
I attach my 4000 to midi drums and shred all the time! its sick and you can play in different innovative ways, i like that they added traditional instruments like sax, but you know that a midi sax will always sound cheap and an never replace a real sax, i personally use the Ewi more for already synth sounds like in EDM or i really like the B3... i guess i could talk to patchman and get whatever i need.. its a good novelty to have sax and trumpet and whatnot. As a clarinet player and sax player i would never use those patches... a couple is cool but i think they could really include more cool synths and even arpeggiators, and things of that sort... ya leaving out string or harp for example, some of the instruments that really sound good on midi like some guitars etc.
I got it off this site. www.acclaim-music.com/ It's $799. Don't spend anymore than that. They sell out quick and there's always only limited stock. They make them in waves about every 3 - 4 months. My local music store only had 16 units nation wide. That's why I turned to that site, the store isn't as popular I guess. Look to buy at the smaller stores.
What a useful demo a real Public Service and no doubt a lot of work to put together. A million thanks Peter. I'm quite familiar with the older EWI wind controllers (EWI-USB & EWI-4000s) playing samplemodeling sounds, and I've got a few questions: 1 How responsive is the EWI-5000 compared to the older EWI's ? 2 Is it easier to configure ? (I suspect the EWI-4000s analog settings threshold, vibrato etc drifts w temperature changes/over time) 3 Any other differences with respect to any other playability feature ? Thanks much, Dan soundcloud.com/dstong
Peter Climie Sounds like some customers would like an ensemble of patches for this instrument? I gotta say, having a real (pro) alto and tenor sax, the EWI 5000 doesn't approach their sound or intonation flexibility. amicuscuria.com/wordpress
I'm just a customer too. Overall I have been extremely disappointed with the sounds and don't use the 5000 live too much. I am a sax player myself and didn't expect much from the sax patches. I was hopeful some of the other emulations would be been more usable. I still prefer using analog synth sounds over emulative ones so the 4000s is still my go to for EWI playing.
If you work on the sounds in the editor, it is possible to get decent sounds, but anyway the imitation of real acoustic instruments is still very poor. For better sounds you have to connect to hardware. But the sounds from 50-99 are very interesting and with those I can really achieve something.
@Iwan Roth yo man! What do you mean by being able to get better sounds for imitating real instruments via connecting to hardware? I'm new to the digital music world but am crazy eager to get good at making music. I want to invest in one of these and while the synth sounds are definitely going to come in clutch I am worried about what you mentioned with the acoustic instrument sounds being lackluster.
Most are mere approximations of what they’re named after. None of the voices really left me thinking: “DAMN !!!” The B3 and drawbar organ sounds made me smile a bit.
0:13 Alto Sax 1
0:18 Alto Sax 2
0:22 Tenor Sax 1
0:27 Tenor Sax 2
0:32 Baritone Sax 1
0:37 Baritone Sax 2
0:42 Soprano Sax 1
0:46 Soprano Sax 2
0:54 Jazz Clarinet
0:57 Jazz Flute
1:05 Harmonica
1:15 Panpipes
1:20 Piccolo Trumpet
1:25 Harmon Trumpet
1:34 Trumpet
1:45 Cup Mute Trumpet
1:52 Ballad Trombone
1:58 Trombone
2:04 Cup Trombone
2:13 Pop Brass Section
2:20 Classical C Flute
2:28 Classical Oboe
2:34 Classical English Horn
2:44 Classical Clarinet
2:53 Classical Bass Clarinet
3:00 Classical French Horn
3:08 Classical French Horn Bell
3:16 Classical Basson
3:30 Trumpet Ensemble
3:37 Trombone Ensemble
3:44 Hard Alto Sax
3:52 Soft Alto Sax
3:57 Hard Tenor Sax
4:03 Soft Tenor Sax
4:11 Hard Baritone Sax
4:17 Soft Baritone Sax
4:26 Hard Soprano Sax
4:31 Soft Soprano Sax
4:37 Sax Section 1
4:46 Sax Section 2
4:52 Muted Brass Section
4:56 Woodwinds Section 1
5:06 Woodwinds Section 2
5:12 Woodwinds Section 3
5:18 Trumpet n mute
5:27 Wide trumpets
5:34 Classy Brass Section
5:45 Classic Square
5:51 Classic Triangle
5:56 Reece
6:01 Organ Thin
6:03 B3 Pinball Wizard
6:17 B3 Hard Attack
6:28 B3 Classic
6:38 Rock Organ
6:47 Drawbar Organ
6:57 Raunchy Lead
7:05 Raunchy Lead 1
7:10 Angry Organ
7:14 Raunchy Lead 2
7:24 Triangle to pulse
7:28 Happy Organ Wide
7:34 Square MW Growl
7:42 Saw MW Growl
7:47 Bubbler
7:53 Partial to you
8:00 thick octaves
8:10 Mono edge
8:21 Aggro pluck
8:30 Accordingly
8:38 Big Brasser
8:54 Fat and Foamy
9:20 foment Bass
9:27 Mod Sinker
9:36 Ye old brass
9:42 Duck Quack
9:49 Square Stack
9:57 Ducky
10:02 Try me
10:08 Spectral Move
10:15 Vocal Oh Brass
10:24 Electro Rezo
10:31 N-Sync
10:39 Classic Rez Saw
10:46 Classic Sine
10:54 Blade Runner
11:01 Ana Synth
11:11 Big Whoop
11:20 FM Synth
11:27 Vowel Synth 1
11:39 LFO Square
11:46 Thin pulse
11:51 Stereo Filters
11:57 Fifths Saws
12:04 Twisted Flute
11:12 Wide fuzz
12:22 Vowel Synth 2
12:32 Feed me
12:37 Mono Brass
12:47 Brassy Synth
My hero!
Thanks, man. It takes a village!
wow thanks!!
You’ve earned enough positive karma through this good deed to be a jerk for the rest of your life and still have good things come to you.
Bought one! Thanks!
Incredibly Useful to anyone to who is comparing EWI's and other windcontrollers, esp patches for real wind and brass. It's much better than those built into the EWI-4000s.
Isn't it amazing that Akai never makes this type of demo available ? It's a good thing that a really helpful person (Peter Climie) is willing to put the effort and time into making such an extraordinary demo.
Thanks a lot !
Glorious. I had to take the risk and purchase it a month ago strictly on faith and a TH-cam presentation. What you did Akai should have done. I love how expressive I can get on this axe and I keep finding new ways.
Yeah... not sure why they didn't do one of their own.....
Dude, thanks for this demo. I've been looking all over and, finally, someone has done all of us EWI enthusiasts a great service. Really appreciate it. My favorites are the winds.
Thanks for putting this together. Now we (finally) get to hear what this instrument sounds like!
yes, and it sure was disappointing - the EWI USB came with better sounds, by far
Very fake sounding. Are these samples or models?
Peter, thanks for taking the trouble to make this video - very useful.
Very cool. Seems like a really good summary of what this instrument can do.
Wow, great work! It's a fantastic upgrade over the EWI 4000s. I never got any good results using MIDI, so this will be fantastic.
Thanks for going to the effort of putting this together Peter - very useful for my decision-making. Sadly the sounds are even more dated in 2020 than they already were in 2014. I know I'm extremely fussy about sounds but even trying to keep an open mind there wasn't a single must-have sound and none I'd be seen using in public except perhaps the harmonica so it means I'm looking at this as a silent practice alternative to my sax and as a MIDI controller for my synths.
I have just bought an EWI USB because I want to be able to source my sounds elsewhere. It's a Christmas present to myself but for a measly £29 I bought Mainstage 3 which has a lot more sounds than any of the EWIs with built-in sounds. Since none of the EWIs except the Solo can be used without additional equipment, I'm distinctly puzzled as to what the benefits of the 4000 and 5000 are.
Thanks for the great demos. I've been patiently waiting for someone to do this. Wish Akai would have included it on their site. They should use your link on their site. I'm impressed, especially compared to the built-in sounds of the 4000. No tweaking could get you much out of it. A synth module was always needed for me to use it. Sounds like the 5000 has the guts to make some great sounds, especially after tweaking them. There should be some interesting custom banks available soon.
Thanks for the kind comments. Hopefully they do some upgrades to the instrument firmware and/or the the sound editor. As it stands now there isnt much editing that can take place. I am not much of a sound tweaker but am hopeful Matt or someone else will figure something out. Its still early.
Well done and concise. Thanks Peter!
Thanks Peter, great demo!
Lovely sounds - if you like 80's digital keyboard sounds.
which, I do!
If we're not exaggerating, a lot of these are of much higher quality than your standard digital keyboard sounds of that era. If you're talking higher end synthesizers and the like, then yes, they're similar.
I never could have done these articulations with anything in the 80's or 90's.
I agree, the morrison digital trumpet is what is wanting here. What a shame they discontinued it. The AKAi is 2nd placer ... way so sorry
@@MegaMacTV I'd actually be very curious to see a video of a keyboard from that era that matches these sounds. My first pro level keyboard was a Kurzweil K2500SX which was introduced in 1996. I think it was the top keyboard available from any manufacturer at the time, retailing at $8000 when I got mine, and I'd be lying if I said it could compete with these sounds in this video. You can hear some of its wind/string instruments here: th-cam.com/video/utNUAMrrBl8/w-d-xo.html . The real breakthrough in sound quality, as I followed the progression, came later with software samplers like GigaSampler.
Nice job! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I wonder why they didn't group all similar instruments together? Some of the sounds are pretty good. Others are poor and some are completely useless.
Thanks Peter- great job!
MERCI beaucoup pour cette vidéo tout à fait complète et très agréable à écouter !
Thanks for sharing. It was amazing 13 minutes for me.
1:05 Don't think you're slick with that classic Stevie Wonder
Isnt she lovely
what song is it?
The hardware looks great. I own an EWI USB and this looks like a nice step up. Bought the EWI USB second hand a good while back.
I was thinking of buying the 4000 but then came across the 5000. I was looking into the differences between the 3. I was trying to determine if the hardware plus the software sounds that it comes with, is worth paying 600 bucks for an upgrade. It would in the end come down to doing that upgrade for hardware and mobility solely. The factory sounds that it comes with are in my opinion not cutting it. I own Reason, Reaper and various Sample Modeling instruments. While the synths resemble some sounds I could recreate in Reason, the various woodwinds and brass absolutely don't. To get back on the synths, I wouldn't use most of the factory sounds recreated in Reason either. Probably with some effects it could play a minor role in a track. It leaves me with a handful of factory sounds I would use. The woodwinds and brass instruments, are really not cutting it in my opinion. Maybe this is because Sample Modeling delivers such realistic professional sounding instrument. But honestly, some Reason refills will also give you better sounding horns. The saxophones almost all sound kazoo like. Alt being the worst of the bunch. The trumpet sound better but here and there, again, kazoo quality. With the alternative having set the bar so high, namely Sample Modeling Sax brothers, trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, etc. and the alternatives in for example Reason, the software sounds are not professional enough to use, in my opinion, except for a handful.
Other then that, I'm already in love with the EWI USB and this is a major improvement.
Wow this is wonderful instrument. Thanks !!!
Yes Sir. Thank you and bless you indeed for taking the time to do this. Forget the sounds for now...man you can play. Very creative presentation representing the sounds available on the instrument in melodic fashion. You can't beat that it's wireless and don't need a sound module, but missing strings as a voice is not good. The synth sounds cheesy or not are what they are, as far as sax, I've got real saxes, I am more interested in getting a sound that makes people say....what is that? (In a good way) Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you.
Thank you
Some presets almost remind me of soundtracks from Wii games (expecially Wii Sports Resort)
Sounds great. Instrument sleek design is very interesting..
Thanks ! I listened to every one !
Thank you. Well done and needed.
I like the flute and pan flute.
I think I'll hang onto my 4000s.
+AlexTheTradGuy Absolutely. The sounds leave a lot to be desired on the 5000.
+Peter Climie I wish Akai would make an analog sound module for EWIs again. Thanks for the quality video!
The 5000 isn't without it's merits, but the 4000 is much stronger.
That's good to know cause i have a 4000s. and was jealous when i saw the 5000.
I totally agree! The 4000S is a much better instrument because it is synth based not sample based. The key to the 4000s is that you have to tweak your own patches & it is very easy to do with the software from Akai.
Thanks,I got a sweet tune on EWI.
use this thing for some serious vaporwave
Haha that's exactly what I was thinking!
thank you so much! (what a relief after the 1st 20 on the 4000! gave up at that point!) shame there are no strings or recorders. liked the 'rite of spring' bit!! :-)
i only have the EWI USB but i am still having great fun with it
Seems a bit heavy on sax patches. Cool and useful demo! Thanks.
Great video!
I wanted one before I heard this. Really fab playing but... Yes, I KNOW it's a synth but I expected the quality of sounds to be so much better on a relatively recent instrument.
I agree. I use the 5000 as a midi controller for my laptop rig running softsynths, but still prefer the 4000s with Patchman patches.
If you want really good acoustic instrument sounds you need to hook to a computer and use samplemodeling sounds:
www.samplemodeling.com
@PeterJClimie How do you do glissandos on EWI?
HUGE improvement to the original. I was thoroughly disappointed with the old EWI, I mothballed it a month after I got it.
Hala çalisiyor ve raftaysa alabilirmiyim..?
すごい種類豊富……‼︎
これは欲しいですね👍
good instrument
Devoice Samson Ogunbanjo j
Nice listing, that answers to my doubt of buying such instrument or not, thanks! In fact, as a "wind" instrument, I find that there is quasi none of flute sounds (same for EWI Solo), I was expecting to have a set of flute sounds though. This one would be useful for saxo musicians. For me, out of sax, trumpet, and MIDI feature, other instruments are almost useless, as I would prefer to play them on keyboards though. Would be nice to have wireless microphone/connection included too (although there are now such separately). AKAI, please create a variant that can load custom sounds :)
The thing with the EWI (with is basically a controller, not a very good sound source) is that you should connect it to various outboard synths. I once saw Michael Brecker in the The Hague Conservatory, where he used two Oberheim XPanders as sound sources.
Massive sound!
nice music upload.
Are you able to layer instruments (samples)?
Some instruments, like the first 3 saxes don'tsound good, but the tenor sax 2 sounds nice on the tenor octaves (lower), while the soprano sax 2 sounds really great on the higher octaves.
Is it not possible to create one instrument that flows from Soprano to Tenor sax, by assigning the highest 2 or 3 octaves to the soprano, and assigning the lowest 2 or 3 to the tenor, while having either a hard switch on a note, or the center octave as a soft, gradual change between both instruments (going from 100% soprano 0% tenor at eg:c5, to 100% tenor to 0% soprano at c4).?
+Muranaman No on all counts. Unfortunately it is one sound at a time.
Thank You 🙏🥰
it sure does sound like those 80s/90s synth sounds
Trombones are very keyboard sounds on attack and vibrato.
A lot of the sounds, tho instrumentally identifiable, there’s no mistaking that synthetic keyboard production.
These samples can download and use?
Is it my sound system or is there an audible chorus-like thing affecting most, if not all of the tones throughout this video?
Weldon. please how can i get this tool in Nigeria.
I have big interest in it.
Peter... Thank you for doing this. Question, since the video was made 4 years ago has anything changed sound wise and are they ready to make a new EWI???
Also: I remember having to get different sound card drivers for my EWI USB running on Windows ...ASIO (open source) that helped with latency on the sound card on my laptop; Will I have to do that again? or no because the sounds are actually on the controller? Would love to hear from other folks on a good live set up: amp, any pre-amp. Volume pedals if I use it with anoter synth on a laptop. Sooo many questions sorry. :)
Akai has not provided ANY updates to the sounds for the 5000S, which I find infinitely disappointing as I wasn't really happy with the default sounds. There is an editor that allows for very basic tweaks, but no real way to design your own sounds or load new ones.
As far as what Akai is doing looking forward... I have no idea. I am just a player like most of you and don't have any knowledge of what Akai is working on. I made this video simply to allow others to hear what sounds came on it before they purchased it since Akai had not done any real marketing to demonstrate what it sounded like, and most of the demos out at the time used the same 3 or 4 patches.
Thanks so much for the video!!! i would have never seen this anywhere else. Is there anyway to dial in two patches at once?
Anyway thanks again!
Saw one of these at the local music store, wish I picked it up :(
So much better than the patches in the 4000. That's great because everyone I talked to hates dealing with that guy at Patchman Music to try and get patch updates!
yeaeh he's a jerk and wont sell me a replacement part because i don't live in america. now u see why.
Thanks a ton for that, Doug. You're a sweetheart. Not sure what the hell that meant. Feel free to email me if you have some sort of problem with anything I've done. The EWI5000 sounds are essentially permanent. They cannot be replaced.
Son Quatsch, This is policy of the companies we represent. We follow the rules. Customers need to contact their local Akai dealer in their country. But thanks for calling me a jerk. If you have a problem with me, call me and talk to me.
except i bought my ewi from YOU, and was in the US at the time i bought it. you even accidentally shipped me two ewis and i shipped the second one back to you. i asked you if you could ship the replacement part locally to someone who would then ship it to me, and you said no and were quite rude about it. so yeah, you are kind of a jerk. and i will be happy to provide you with the serial number in case you do not believe me that i bought it from you.
Eww, you haven't been using Patchman voices? Ever? All Factory? Forget that. No, that's the problem with the EWI5000: you can't import any killer patches by whoever. So, just fake saxes you don't need ever and kazoos, no recorder, no weird wind instruments, No Strings At All. If I stick with a 4000s, it's for the custom patches I can find.
Thanks for the demo. How come there are no string instrument sounds? I'm sure the 4000 had violins?
I have wondered the same thing about string sounds on the 5000. The 4000 was actually based on analog synthesis techniques, so no strings. But there weren't any saxes or other "real world" instruments, either.
For hard sax is nice I like that one
What were the dials set to for filter, semi, fine, reverb, chorus, and lfo? My EWI 5000 which I have had for 3 weeks do not sound like this and really dosnt sound even close. I have been trying to adjust the dials but seem to make things worse not better.
Thanks for the post. This is actually a good representation of its sound capabilities. Good job! I did actually purchase one but I'm not impressed with the sounds. I play my 4000s live on gigs all the time (with Matt's patches and MIDI'd) to get some really great sounds, but the 5000 is so limited and their choices of samples is not good for professional work in my opinion. Why didn't they include a rhodes or strings or a decent lead synth sound? I'm going to be returning mine after I post a detailed review.
i use my ewi 5000 controlling my roland ax synth. its great
Good afternoon, sorry the English not being the best, but the sounds of the video that post, are the instrument or is a sound example roland box xv20 20? I would appreciate an answer because I'm thinking about getting one ..... thanks
The sounds are the factory preset sounds of the Akai EWI 5000
hi Peter may i know what are the difference with the sound quietly between 4000s and the 5000? thanks in advance
So it sounds exactly the same as my IWI 1000.... Which is 18 years old...
the only difference is the appearance and the wireless....
Would I pay $800 for wireless??
They should make a Brecker edition with all of his patches.....
It really doesn't sound ANYTHING like the old EWI1000/EWV2000 to me. The EWI5000 is sample based and the old one is based on a few simple analog waveforms. Also the EWI5000 completely self contained, runs on a battery, has built in effects, and wireless. So many differences.
Seconded. I LOVE Brecker's sounds. I think Akai's synth engine has a fat, expressive,unique sound as demonstrated with their wind synths. I wish they would re-issue a synth featuring all those killer analog sounds Brecker, Judd Miller and Jeff Kashiwa use.
@@trevorwoodley3897 Brecker's sounds were made by Patchman sounds
Is there any delay when changing from one patch to another patch?
How can multiple notes be played at the same time at 6:43?
The are two button that can be pressed by the side of the right hand. The top one is the hold button, the other is an interval button. When the hold button is activated the first not played is held while you move around. The held note is determined on each articulation.
Do you know, if there’s a Vibraphone’s sounds?
Thanks
Nope
Peter Climie I got the Patchman sounds to my Korg iM1, got nice sounds. Thanks
@@juana.velazquez9286 Good deal. Mat at Patchman is the MAN! All his patches are great.
are all these pitches preloaded on the ewi
Yes. This is a demo of all the patches that come pre-loaded on the EWI.
HELLO PETER,
I also have a new EMI 5000 but my sounds are not as nice as in your video.
Can you tell me your settings of the parameters?
Ciao WOLFGANG from Germany
This was straight out of the box with no setting changes. Not sure why yours would sound any different.
Wolfgang Stehr it's all about the player.
I soooo want this
I sooo do not
The EWI 4000s is still the one to have if you are a pro. I need to be able to add and delete banks which you can't do with the 5K
Oh my.... I need a instrument like (I'm drooling right now) I play clarinet and trombone.... but this!!!!!
Hello fellow clarinetist 👁👄👁
No tuba patch?
The emulative sounds don't even come close to VL70m with patchman turbo chip! But, the controller is nice.
David Floyd after hearing this, I'll stick with my Patchman turbo setup....I wore the hell out of my WX5 and will buy another! no need to invest in this thing
The TURBO VL70-m is indeed very special. Hard to beat its bang-for-the-buck. It can also be controlled from the EWI5000 VERY well...
www.patchmanmusic.com/turbovl.html
How exactly are the sounds created? Does the EWI create midi values based on the way you blow air into it/what notes you play? If so couldnt i just record the midi and use any other sample library?
Or does it function completely different? Also is there a difference in what sounds i get when I use the EWI 4000 instead of the 5000?
sorry if i bother you, but Im considering buying an EWI :D
Can someone a few questions I have about the ewi? I'm doing orchestral reductions for a musical, and I want to know ...
Can you download new sounds? example, xylophone?
There are parts in the music where xylophone and flute play chromatic runs in unison, can both of those instruments be layered together in the ewi? Can you control separate octaves?
How quickly can you switch from one instrument sound to the next? Can you program a patch sequence like the how they do on keyboards on Broadway?
Thanks!
+accompanist603 Not with this instrument by itself. By using midi and hardware and soft synths you can get almost any sound you want, although by their nature wind controllers don't handle percussive sounds well, although it can be done. You can use something like Main Stage to pre program patches and put them in order, but only for outboard synths and softsynths. Once the patches are in order in order main stage can handle program change commands sent from the EWI. An EWI wont be the perfect solution for all situations but as a controller it is quite extensible.
So basically with external software, I could have it playing a clarinet solo for a few measures, and have it switch to piccolo/xylophone in two beats for a fast chromatic run and then go to oboe a few rests after that? (For example)
I don't see why not.
What's the song on number 96?
E.T. theme song
a want a bagpipes samples!(( why no?
There is an alternative way) If you work in the Editor with Hard Soprano Sax (36 program) you can make the chanter and 1 drone add by a Hold Button. And playing the circular breathing. something like this)))
Is it compatible with Proteus modules that have excellent studio sounds? if it sends midi signals it should right?
Absolutely. It has MIDI out, so connect your favorite synth.
I´m considering buying one. But hesitate, as I have been unable to find out, if til is possible to make a "setting" where the fingering is the same as on a "real" flute. Does anybody know that? And also, if it is possible, witch octave is the fingering in?
Fingerings cannot be end user customized, as far as I know. There are several fingering modes available, though. I would suggest downloading the manual from Akai's website and checking out the available fingering sets to see which is closest to what you are used to on flute.
Thanks. That was usefull, and I found what I was looking for.
I think they may have better spent their development on reproducing a wider range of emulated wind instruments, particularly ethnic types. Scottish and uilleann bagpipes could be possible, as well as many of the flute variants in folk styles.
Most of the secondary samples here are better handled by keyboard, and were designed for keyboard initially. This is just padding out with substandard and not so useful sounds!
One of the reasons I decide to buy an EWI 5000 is watching this video. However, after getting one, I'm very disappointed with those crappy syth sounds. All the 100 patches sound like from a cheap keyboard. Could you please suggest how I can get nice sounds as you? What is your line-up? What DAW you use? Thanks a lot.
Sample Modeling beats all so far.
Good video...thanks for making it. I wish ewi manifactures would up their game re: the included synth engine. I know you can't compare this to a $2,000 stand alone synth but....man....to my ears this thing sounds like a high end casio keyboard. They can certianly do better....
I definitely agree. They went with a sample based system on this and I was totally disappointed. The 4000s (the prior model) had an analog type engine was MUCH better, but then people botched about it now having saxes, trumpets, etc…. Can win for loosing I guess. I had high hopes for the Solo but they went with a synth engine that was no better. I have since moved on to a Berglund Instrument NuRAD EWI and a soft synth rig and am not looking back. The 5000 makes a GREAT controller for soft synths, though.
i cant believe not even one drum patch! it would be nice to have guitar or piano also
Those are percussive instruments. To me it makes perfect sense not to have them. Now the lack of string sounds is a HUGE oversight on Akai's part.
I attach my 4000 to midi drums and shred all the time! its sick and you can play in different innovative ways, i like that they added traditional instruments like sax, but you know that a midi sax will always sound cheap and an never replace a real sax, i personally use the Ewi more for already synth sounds like in EDM or i really like the B3... i guess i could talk to patchman and get whatever i need.. its a good novelty to have sax and trumpet and whatnot. As a clarinet player and sax player i would never use those patches... a couple is cool but i think they could really include more cool synths and even arpeggiators, and things of that sort... ya leaving out string or harp for example, some of the instruments that really sound good on midi like some guitars etc.
nice video though thanks for posting! i had know idea the 5000 was out until like 2 days ago! haha
Classic Sine is the only usable sound out of those IMO.
Trumpet doesn't sound terrible imo
Any idea where I can get one for retail price? Sold out every where it seems like. And im not paying an extra $400 to some ass hole on amazon or ebay.
Never mind I found one.
I got it off this site. www.acclaim-music.com/
It's $799. Don't spend anymore than that. They sell out quick and there's always only limited stock. They make them in waves about every 3 - 4 months. My local music store only had 16 units nation wide. That's why I turned to that site, the store isn't as popular I guess. Look to buy at the smaller stores.
What a useful demo a real Public Service and no doubt a lot of work to put together. A million thanks Peter.
I'm quite familiar with the older EWI wind controllers (EWI-USB & EWI-4000s) playing samplemodeling sounds, and I've got a few questions:
1 How responsive is the EWI-5000 compared to the older EWI's ?
2 Is it easier to configure ? (I suspect the EWI-4000s analog settings threshold, vibrato etc drifts w temperature changes/over time)
3 Any other differences with respect to any other playability feature ?
Thanks much,
Dan
soundcloud.com/dstong
Super, ;-)
Hello how many sounds can be played simultaneously?
Just one at a time.
Peter Climie how many octaves can be achieved?
Onde posso comprar... no Brasil?!
Esquece...
Peter, did you change any of the out of the box settings for the sounds?
No. I didn't even change breath sensitivity. This demo was created straight out of the box.
Peter Climie Sounds like some customers would like an ensemble of patches for this instrument? I gotta say, having a real (pro) alto and tenor sax, the EWI 5000 doesn't approach their sound or intonation flexibility.
amicuscuria.com/wordpress
I'm just a customer too. Overall I have been extremely disappointed with the sounds and don't use the 5000 live too much. I am a sax player myself and didn't expect much from the sax patches. I was hopeful some of the other emulations would be been more usable. I still prefer using analog synth sounds over emulative ones so the 4000s is still my go to for EWI playing.
amusant , mais sans plus !!!
classical bass clarinet sound like a instrument on spongebob XD
Bonsoir par erreur j'ai rejeté la proposition de vente du lap steel svp aidez moi à la retrouver . Amicalement votre
anyone go through this and find all the songs/ references? just got to final countdown~
I have the 3000. I dumped the preloaded patches & replaced them with the ones from patchmanmusic.com. Much, much better.
Thanks Fenix! The EWI3000m is definitely a beast in its own right. 4 analog oscillators! Huge dynamic range when it has good patches loaded in it.
If you work on the sounds in the editor, it is possible to get decent sounds, but anyway the imitation of real acoustic instruments is still very poor. For better sounds you have to connect to hardware. But the sounds from 50-99 are very interesting and with those I can really achieve something.
@Iwan Roth yo man! What do you mean by being able to get better sounds for imitating real instruments via connecting to hardware? I'm new to the digital music world but am crazy eager to get good at making music. I want to invest in one of these and while the synth sounds are definitely going to come in clutch I am worried about what you mentioned with the acoustic instrument sounds being lackluster.
Are you saying it's possible to get better acoustic instrument sounds that could be played on this ewi?
The point of these instruments shouldn't be imitation of real wind instruments, right....?
Do they use this for Nintendo music ?
Does anyone know the song on number 35? It sounds familiar
"If I Only Had A Brain" form The Wizard of Oz
What song is that on number 94
That's the theme song to "The Andy Griffith Show".
0_0 some of these are spot on, but, so many are SOOOOOOO far off... oh goodness.
Most are mere approximations of what they’re named after. None of the voices really left me thinking: “DAMN !!!” The B3 and drawbar organ sounds made me smile a bit.
The WX5 with a vL70m sound module is superior in every patch.
se me borraron los 100 sonidos que puedo hacer
wow so many are garage lol definitely getting a 4000s instead
Esta bueno. Cuanto cuesta