Wind Controllers: WX7, WX11, WX5 by Yamaha

[remmet]

Funny - I've been talking to a number of people who really love the Ewi USB, and having read quite a bit regarding the pros and cons of the Yamaha and Akai models, listened to YouTube videos of expert performers, and checked out the capabilities of 3rd-party sound sets, I think I'm going with the USB. I hope my experience turns out to be more positive than was yours, MH. Wish me luck!

Richard

[mhschmieder]

I owned the EWI USB for awhile and couldn't get on with it. I thought it would be interesting to have a differently-featured wind controller, but in practice the "bite" feature didn't seem to offer as much as the WX-series in terms of expressivity and control.

Furthermore, the EWI series works against years of training as a wind player (though I also play Baroque Recorder). The electrical sensitivity of the "keys" seems to trigger them not only if resting in preparation for a run (e.g.), but even when you are just barely off the surface.

Finally, the included software was garbage: difficult to get working, buggy (at the time, at least), and not very inspiring sound-wise. Yo9u don't have to use it, of course, but they do list it as a major selling point.

Of course, it's cheap, and that could be a plus for many people. For pure inspiration and longevity, I'd still recommend the WX-series, even paired with the Patchman Turbo-boosted VL70m physical modeling sound module (which I sold after the Sample Modeling libraries came out).

The Morrison Trumpet might be of more interest to me as an alternate wind controller, as it operates like a trumpet and thus would provide for a different sort of interaction with sound sources. But they're expensive and I think they have to be custom-ordered (maybe a wait).

[mhschmieder]

Okay, so TEControl revived (and improved upon) the Yamaha BC3A Breath Controller concept (for use with keyboards, even if playing multiple notes, as sort of a mouth-driven expression generator).

Now, a French crowd-funded source has come up with a new Wind Controller:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sylp ... ent#/story

This is more akin to the canceled Yamaha WX5 (not sold anymore due to EU regulations on electronic gear that might contact moisture while being played), than to the AKAI EWI (which I hated as it had no tactile feedback and triggered too easily from electrical impulses of the human body vs. direct physical contact).

In other words, it appears to have actual keys vs. contact points.

I'll have to read the details later, as I can't get my head around the scale yet (it appears quite small, like a musette, so might be hard to play due to finger spacing).

At 400 euros, it's a bit cheaper than the WX5 was. They claim to have pushed the technology forward, so it will be interesting to investigate.

[mhschmieder]

Shooshie, since this is a topic of interest to you, and I am reviving it years after the forum split, maybe you could move it to wherever you think is appropriate, so the right audience sees it.

[daniel.sneed]

I am interested in the *finger contact* side of the Sylphyo instrument. Perhaps more trustful than EWI.
I've always considered the EWI as a recorder (flute) design. And I've been playing flute for years, so EWI is just fine for me.
But thru the only short demo, I'm not amazed yet about expression.
I would like to hear some more from the developers team and early adopters.