Re: New EWI 4000s In The House

[Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>]

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