[MartinMusicMan]

Oh noooo. I just got an Akai EWI Solo to add to my collection of Aerophone AE-10 and Yamaha WX. I'm a sucker for these things. I'ma maya hafta gonna getta Yamaha thingamajig.

But this site https://newatlas.com/music/yamaha-yds-150-digital-saxophone/
says "available from November for a suggested retail price of US$1,078."
Yikes. That's a bit rich for my blood. Unless the reviews are ecstatic and the videos of the sounds give me GAS.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Substantively, and getting to the heart of the bell's function . . . Is it a one or two-piece bell? Is it annealed? Is it hand hammered? Is it yellow brass or French brass? Once those questions are answered, we can determine the true quality of this instrument.

And can you attach a Klangbogen?

 

[MartinMusicMan]

2. It uses a saxophone mouthpiece.

It may look like a sax mpc but it doesn't function as a sax mpc. The reed doesn't produce the sound and your embouchure and mouth don't affect the sound either. Like all wind controllers, your breath is triggering a synthetic sound, one that is not produced by the mouthpiece. The Aerophone AE-10 also has a sax-like mouthpiece with a reed.

Available for pre-order on WWBW for $799. So not a grand, but damn close.

I took the time to read thru the manual. They have restricted the range to that of the "standard" saxophone - Low A (with a thumb key, like a bari) to high F#. Every other wind controller I know of has a 5 to 7 octave range.

And the onboard sounds (73 - count 'em, 73!!!!) are mostly saxophone based. Like "Pop alto" and "Funk alto" ... you get the idea. 50 saxophone sounds, plus a few bagpipe / harmonica doodads. I wonder what the underlying synthesis technology is...

I could deal with the $799 cost, but the lack of the 5 to 7 octave range and the primarily saxophone sounds are both deal-breakers for me. Synthetic or sampled sax sounds on a wind controller are notoriously awful. And my Aerophone has 120 sounds and my new EWI Solo has 200 sounds.

So no altissimo range .... But alto, tenor and bari on a soprano sized stick is very cool, assuming the sounds are halfway decent.

No altissimo range is a deal-breaker. And "assuming the [sax] sounds are halfway decent" is a huge assumption. I guess we wait for video review.

It's definitely NOT a regular wind controller.... A proper wind controller does a helluva lot more than that. This new product isn't even really a competitor for any other wind controller.

That's my take on it, too.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

This is true but looking through their manual this is the closest to an actual sax mouthpiece+reed design, with the table window, ligature, a loose reed that you need to position and align with the tip, ensure it doesn't leak air, plus all same hassles of care/cleaning that come with it. Wonder why they made it this way given the reed doesn't really vibrate and embouchure makes no difference.

This is a reasonable question. It made me look at the manual again to see what it says. This is all it said:
"How to Play Sound
Put the mouthpiece into your mouth and blow. Blow strongly for a higher volume, and softly for a lower volume. There is no need to vibrate the reed like an acoustic saxophone.
NOTE
• Unlike an acoustic saxophone, changing the degree to which the mouthpiece is inserted into the neck will not change the pitch of the sound."

So the manual acknowledges that the reed/mouthpiece doesn't function as on a real sax, it's essentially a lookalike but fake mouthpiece. I've been playing my EWI Solo which makes no attempt to simulate a sax reed/mouthpiece. However, I find that it's more natural for playing an electronic wind instrument. For instance, vibrato is easily and naturally achieved with your jaw by biting and loosening your bite. Similarly, hard attack and soft-tonguing are naturally achieved with your tongue and breath. The sax reed/ligature/mouthpiece set-up is necessary for playing a saxophone; I don't think it's necessary and may not even be the best way to play a wind controller.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Which one do you like the best?

That's the question I'm asking myself. The answer is that the Aerophone and the EWI both have different things about them that I like and different things I don't like. For the EWI solo, I like that there are 200 sounds compared to the Aerophone's 120, but I like the sound of some of the Aerophone's sounds better. I like that the Aerophone has upper left hand palm keys where the EWI doesn't. But the EWI has a 7-octave range compared to the Aerophone's 5 octaves. I like the EWI's rechargeable battery compared to the Aerophone's 6 AA batteries. Some people don't like the clicking of the keys on the Aerophone which you have to press down compared to the EWI on which the "keys" are contacts which don't move. I can play fast on the Aerophone but it seems like I'm faster on those contacts that don't move. The Aerophone is louder unamplified, but I play them both through a QSC powered speaker. The Aerophone is stereo so I can run it out to 2 stereo speakers. The EWI is mono. I've far more playing time on the Aerophone so right now I prefer it, but the more I play the EWI, the more I like it. I just wish it had those upper left hand palm keys. Old muscle memory dies hard.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

The thing that disappointed me most in that first Mindi video is when she mentioned her husband. Well, I'm too old for her anyway ...

 

[MartinMusicMan]

After seeing the Thorsten clip above, this thing may do altissimo after all. At 0:26 he clearly plays the same lick starting on G#4 then G#5 then G#6 which wouldn't be possible unless the octave key went multiple octaves.

I went back and listened to this clip again. It sure sounds like he gets 3 octaves. We need some explanation of how he does that.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I'm interested in it precisely because it doesn't appear to require learning a completely different instrument (i.e., one with electrical contacts instead of keys or one with a different fingering system) ...

I just got the Akai EWI Solo and I find I get used to the key contacts pretty quickly. I have an Aerophone and because the button key layout is very sax-like, I could play it right away, although I had trouble landing cleanly on the extra up and down octave keys. I own a WX and VL70m from way back in the day but it sits on a shelf. I even had a Casio DH-100 back in the day. This new Yamaha looks like it has similar keywork to the WX and also very sax-like so it might be very fast to pick up. But ... but ... but ... dammit, I'm such a sucker for these things. I may be getting GAS again ... and I just got my EWI Solo and still getting used to it. Good thing this Yamaha doesn't appear to be available in the US at any of the usual online places. I'll be forced to wait until I can make a more rational decision. Hold me back ...

 

[MartinMusicMan]

So this means some mope like me does not have to spend years on getting a good tone and can sound just like any pro Yamaha sax and have brighter or darker tone at the touch of a button?

Well, so far all the physically modeled, sampled, and synthesized sax sounds that any of these instruments have produced make most sax players ill. I heard the sax sounds in the Mindi and other video linked in a previous post and I remain unconvinced that these things are good for sounding like a real sax. It's the other sounds that you play these things for. But I'll withhold judgement on this new Yamaha until I hear some more videos ... or get one myself. :mrgreen:

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Demo by G-SAX, using Square Lead 3 - line-recording (mini stereo phone plug)

This video is a good example of what I meant when I said:

... It's the other sounds that you play these things for. ...

not the sax sounds.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

It seems apparent that the manual needs some updating for topics such as how many octaves range and how to access, and MIDI implementation.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

You nailed it. Thorsten said he reprogrammed the low A just like you said.

I loaded up the iPhone app to see what it could do, but you can't see anything without having an instrument connected. At least the screen shots on the app page give a few clues.

Even more evidence that the documentation needs to be improved. I'm not interested in acquiring one of these until the questions that have been posed in this thread are answered by Yamaha.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I just learned that there's yet another one in the works by Emeo, that (similar to the Synthophone) is actually built into (part of) the body of an actual saxophone.

From the web site: "The price of each Emeo is US $1550."

 

[MartinMusicMan]

From the web site: "The price of each Emeo is US $1550."

:shock:

this concept makes no sense to me.

Makes no sense to me either. Price is too high for what is offered as a "practice sax" only, not a performance instrument. I've played live in a band with my Aerophone AE-10 and will probably try out my EWI Solo on Friday with a band. The Aerophone was half the cost of the Emeo and the EWI Solo was one third the cost. The new Yamaha Digital Saxophone YDS-150 is supposed to reach the US in November with a street price of $800.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

... the Yamaha will be hard pressed to beat the satisfaction I get the from a cheap old usb EWI. The flat prong "keys" have the same fingering, but i tap and even slap them, which is kind of an interesting tactile experience. and while i use it for some digital sax sound emulation (bass and bari from the cheapo software that came with it) for me the instrument comes alive playing some of the "classic" synth vsts. jumping octaves and all that. just a whole 'nother dimension to the sonic palette. ...

rzzzzz, if you like your old usb EWI, you will love the new Akai EWI Solo. I'm enjoying mine. Got to play it in a band yesterday. Hella fun. Lots of great internal sounds, especially synth sounds. Haven't even gotten to them all yet.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

... and, in general, synthesized tones only sound good in a limited frequency range. so, again, why would someone complain if the octave keys kept them within a 5-octave range?

Because when you can have more, you want more. That's why they invented oreos with double stuff. I suppose you could have a 9-octave range, but you wouldn't be able to hear the sounds at either end of the range.

Actually, the lowest 2 octaves on my EWI Solo sound pretty great on some synth sounds and also on the acoustic and electric bass sounds.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Thanks. You got me checking it and other AKAI ewis. I tried googling "AKAI EWI Bluetooth", and all I get is a video of a guy attaching a battery and a Yamaha transmitter to the EWI "usb: model. Do get bluetooth/wireless connectivity with the 500?

I don't know about other EWIs, I only know about my EWI solo. It's self-contained with rechargeable battery and 200 internal sounds, speaker, etc. I just got a guitar wireless system yesterday and hooked it up. Small transmitter plugs into line out on the EWI, receiver in my QSC K8 powered speaker. Sounds good. Sitting on my deck playing wirelessly to my speaker in the living room. Have to turn the volume on the speaker almost all the way down. EWI is freakin' LOUD.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

double post deleted

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Thanks for that very valuable summary Notes_Norton. Now I know which unit/s to buy.

You can't buy any of the WX's new because they're all discontinued. You can find some used. I have one ...

 

[MartinMusicMan]

I see them on e-bay a lot and Patchman Music usually has some for sale. He buys, repairs and resells. He does good work too.

https://www.patchmanmusic.com/yamaha.html

I have no business affiliation with Patchman, I'm just a customer.

I'm a customer of Patchman too. I was just letting soybean know that if he was looking to buy new, that was not possible. Yes there are used WX's around and VL70m modules too. I have one of each. And I'd sell them if anybody is really looking for them.