rtucker55
 
I also played trumpet back in the stone ages, still remember the fingerings, so I will try to set it up that way to give it a test. Hmmm, that is a Bb instrument isn't it... midi transpose may come in handy here at first.

You will not need to transpose.  The EWI-USB is a C instrument even though you can play it with modified trumpet fingerings.  Thus you can read straight out of a C fake book!

MarioD
Jim, those are very bad reviews for sure!  Fortunately I did not have any of those problems. But I have had mine for a few years now and I wonder if they haven’t cheapened the product so much that it is now a toy?  I hope not as it is a good instrument, at least mine is.

You may be right, the way quality control, [or lack thereof], has been diminished all to squeeze out that extra few dollars these days.

rtucker
I have an EWI USB coming from Sweetwater Thursday so I will let you know what I find out. It should be, well, interesting at least.

Great - can't wait to here how you do with it.
Myself, I don't actually remember the B flat Coronet fingering.
When I ask to be shown any fingering these days, I seem to get only one - and the same one over & over again.  

Great Rick! Post more a few days onward, whenever you get a moment.

Ah, MarioD my friend, That was what I was doing wrong. I kept thinking I needed to Save it when I really needed to Load the configuration!
 
I think this works fine now. I should try to read the instructions more as I was also not holding the correct keys for the EVI mode. Everything was +1...
 
Thank you again MarioD. I will return with more progress later.
 
Kind regards,
Rick

You can't go wrong with Sample Modeling, at least my products. I started w/Mr. Sax T (outstanding IMO) but I also use the sax brothers. You need a controller with a lot of cc code controls, if you work with it, you can really get some outstanding results.
 
Here's one of the guys from SM demonstrating..
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs1rk6M-n60
 
And a tune I did with it... It met and exceeded my expectations.
 
http://www.reverbnation.c...t-a-lie-reimaged-timbo

Well, where should I start and forgive me if I start rambling...
 
I have spent some time with the EWI USB and the Saxphones Vi, at least the alto and tenor. I have probably spent more time just trying to get the EWI instrument set up to work best for me. There are a few parameters that can make the instrument work completely different. Note that the EWI USB does seem like a solid and quality piece of gear for the money and the support guys (email and phone) have been great.
 
I still have not yet found a way to make the vibrato sound realistic just by using the bite sensor. A wind player will change vibrato depth and rate depending on the phrase or note being played. If you are satisfied using just the vibrato depth that the Saxophones Vi provides then it is easy to set the EWI bite sensor up to provide that. It would be just like using the default mod wheel when controlling the Vi with a keyboard. In theory, you can set the EWI bite sensor up to bend pitch and this would probably be the right way to do a realistic vibrato but a technique not easily learned by this Old Dog...
 
I also have not found a consistent way to do a scoop-up or 1/2 valve to slur up into a note but again this is probably just a setting/learning curve thing for me.
 
I think they would make a Great combo if a guy is willing to spend the time learning the techniques to play a new instrument but if I had to use this live it would take me months of dedicated practice.
 
For just playing a few bars while recording the midi and then doing some edits it would work Great in a short amount of time but you could probably do the same thing using a keyboard and a few CC controllers as The Band19 suggested above. A breath control or even an expression pedal would work fine or you could just draw the midi events in Sonars PRV albeit time consuming.
 
Also, the genre would really come into play as far as the learning curve. I'm looking for something to perform/solo modern jazz to fusion and it will take a while for this Old Dog to learn some of those new tricks although I am not giving up yet and am trying to keep an open mind.
 
So at this point, other than the above points, I have not come to any concrete conclusions yet except I am not the least bit sorry that I made these purchases and I think it will open new avenues that I otherwise would have never explored.
 
If you have any specific questions I will try to answer them using my still limited experience. Hope this helps just a little.
 
Kind regards,
Rick
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sounds like a good plan! 

Thanks for the tips MarioD!
 
Kind regards,
Rick