Instead of closing or opening a hole, each EWI key acts as a pitch modifier that can change note values by plus or minus a half step or whole step. Nyle Steiner’s EWI fingering was quite novel because it does not operate like an acoustic instrument. the player's fingers don't rest on the keys). The instrument feels somewhat like a soprano saxophone or clarinet, except that its keys are activated by touch rather than being depressed (i.e.
However Akai also offers the EWI USB, a five octave MIDI controller that connects directly to a Mac or Windows computer via USB and uses software for control.ĮWIs, depending on the brand (Akai or Berglund the latter referred to as NuRad), can use the Boehm fingering system used by most woodwind instruments, or other fingerings, like that of recorder or tin whistle. The current Akai models EWI5000, and EWI SOLO contain built-in sample based digital synthesizers and don't strictly require an external box. Today Akai only make designs based around the EWI, having dropped the less commercially successful EVI. The once Japanese company Akai took over the EVI and EWI instruments from Steiner and released several models (with his design help).
The early models consisted of two parts: a wind controller and a digitally-controlled analog synthesizer in a rackmount box (which also houses the instrument's electronics). These instrument designs first working models appearing in the 1970s. Steiner then went on to develop both the concepts of the EVI (brass style fingering) and the EWI (closer to woodwind style fingering). It was invented by Nyle Steiner, who actually originally conceptualized the idea of a brass style analogue wind synthesizer instrument in the 1960s, later to become known as the EVI. EWI (from electronic wind instrument, pronounced EE-wee) is a type of wind controller, an electronic musical instrument.