Hi Nerdfighters! I’m Sebastian and today I’m going to be talking about
the Electronic Woodwind Instrument. Which I abbreviate to EWI,
so I’m gonna say EWI a lot. It’s also called an Aerophone.
So funky instrument. Ready? Okay.
So there are two major manufacturers of EWIs,
Roland and Akai. I have an AKAI 5000 which is this model in case you’re looking at them,
and I’ll put some links somewhere if you want to look at some more.
So the basis of the electronic woodwind instrument is that it has fingerings like a woodwind. So I
use oboe fingerings, because oboe was my first instrument, my primary instrument is bassoon.
Um, or you can use alto sax fingerings or you can
use EWI specific fingerings. Some models actually have ones where you can use um
three fingers like a valve instrument like a trumpet or euphonium. Some have flute fingerings.
One of the major things that EWIs have going for them is the price.
I had to give back my bassoon after I graduated and buying a new bassoon was gonna cost like eight thousand dollars,
which is way too much! Uh and this cost 800 but there’s some models that are down to 300 or 500
in that range. Um which is great, because it makes it accessible to a lot more people!
My favorite feature of it is that it has a headphone jack.
So that way when I want to practice really late at night I can play
with headphones on! So I can just be vibing and nobody else knows. [Silent EWI playing]
So now I’m plugged into my amp. [Oboe sound playing an f scale]
But what makes it super different from an oboe, or a bassoon, or a clarinet,
or any of those instruments, is that it can sound like anything!
These are all different settings. Twenty is flute.
[flute noises]
Twenty-one is oboe. [F scale on oboe]
And you’ve got some like alto sax ones - all the different saxophones actually.
[random saxophone notes]
One of the parts that sets it apart from other instruments is that it does have these weird
synth noises! So you can play really funky stuff!
[Cantina Band intro on a synth noise]
My favorite thing to do is play classical music on the weird synth noises, because I think it’s really funny.
[Intro to To a Wild Rose on a synth noise]
And one of the things similar to having all the different sound packs that makes it so versatile
is the fact that it can transpose to any key.
If I was trying to play french horn music on oboe
- because french horn is written in the key of F, that’d be really difficult.
But this instrument can actually transpose for you.
You can kinda click up with the buttons.
D-flat, D, E-flat.
So I can play french horn music in the key of F, I could play sax music in the keys of B-flat or E-flat.
In addition to being able to play concert pitch music for oboe or bassoon or something like that.
And for being electronic, it actually has surprisingly good response both
to the touch of fingers, and the - the mouthpiece
is based on how hard you’re biting it, like you would in a clarinet or an oboe.
Um, as well as how much air you’re blowing through.
So it actually has surprisingly good dynamics.
[Various oboe notes at different volumes]
[oboe trill]
I think also EWIs could have a lot of potential in music education.
Because they’re so much cheaper than like even a beginners saxophone or flute.
Also the kids would be able to choose whatever sound they want to play.
Which makes it a lot more fun to practice in my experience,
because you’re like ‘Oh, I’m gonna play this piece using the oboe,
and now I’m gonna play the piece using a weird synth.
And it’s a completely different experience,
even though you’re still learning those same fingerings.
Also they can be using oboe or alto sax fingerings,
so the switch over from EWI to sax, or oboe or flute, or trumpet can be so easy!
And it would also be easy for music teachers to use because
if they were teaching someone on french horn - great,
I switch to the french horn sound and transpose it down to F,
and then I’m playing exactly what it should be sounding like
when the student is playing it.
Anyway I hope I got you excited about this really cool instrument and as they say (D) (F) “T” (B) (A)