Chiff and Fipple Forums

Anyone play EWI? If found some really old threads, but none seem to get at what I'm interested in.

First off, I'm interested in the EWI primarily to use it to control a Moog synth. I'm primarily interested in using it for blues and prog rock, so having 8 octaves of chromatic notes is appealing (once I learn the scales...) but I'm sure I'd play some trad tunes too.

Here's my concern. The fingering chart gives D as the bell note (xxx xxx), with typical simple-system notes in two sharps (just like whistle) but this fingering:

xxx xoo is F natural, while this fingering
xxx oxo is F#.

I'm worried that since all the rest of the whistle fingerings (including oxo ooo) yield notes consistent with whistle that I'll end up getting mixed up on both instruments between the two fingerings. I do play both highland pipes and whistles and I don't get confused on the fingering when switching between the two, even when playing the same tune, so maybe it's just an easy thing to learn?

PS The "flute" fingering, as opposed to the "ewi" fingering uses both xxx oxo and xxx oox for F#. Most of the notes are the same between them, but ewi fingering has more notes below and above the basic scale. It seems to have more versatility, but maybe the flute fingering is more intuitive.

You might consider the WARBL: it's a new whistle-like midi controller under development. I don't know when it will be out, the website say he's aiming for the Spring

https://warbl.xyz/

There are some impressive demos of it on YouTube. I'd want to use it as a wind controller to trigger sampled instruments as well as a silent practice whistle

I suspect that you will adapt fairly quickly. The standard EWI mode gives you more options than either the flute or sax modes and didn't seem to add anything significant to my learning curve. I had a background in tin whistle and clarinet. (EWI fingering is far more logical than clarinet.)

I noticed in my manual that the labels on the sax and EWI fingering modes were switched. I am not sure if this has been fixed in later releases, so be aware.

Note too that there are many more fingering options than shown directly in the charts. I find myself almost always using the keys under the pinky fingers to go sharp or flat as needed. Take a look at https://bretpimentel.com/flexible-ewi-fingerings/ for an in depth overview of the EWI key design.

swizzlestick wrote:Take a look at https://bretpimentel.com/flexible-ewi-fingerings/ for an in depth overview of the EWI key design.

Thanks! It makes perfect sense when explained that way.