You may not see the other side of EWI ──Digital Wabi-Sabi
Not many people know EWI (AKAI Electric Wind Instrument).
EWI is much easier to play than you may imagine. I myself started playing this instrument when I was 57 and a half years old. Though I had no experience of playing real wind instruments like sax or clarinet, after a month I could enjoy some jam session with professional players. It is not too late to start EWI. Yes, this is the most attractive advantage of EWI.
If you...
have been longing to play the SOLO instrument like sax, flute, cello or violin for a long time but gave up...
have searched for some suitable musical instrument that you can start even in mature age...
think you cannot play the instruments that blow up loud sound at home
cannot play the guitar or the keyboards well, but feel you can play the recorder
you should buy and start EWI.
Many of active EWI players tend to think EWI is a kind of loud and ostentatious tools. But it is a shallow preoccupation. We can express the deep and delicate shade of melodies. I call this touch and style 'Digital Wabi-Sabi'.
One of the sample tunes are auto-played in this web page. The tones like violin or violla are played with EWI.
I hope you will find the captivation of this instrument.
You should find the new world of modern music that shows the ambivalence of classical melody and digital possibility in these albums 'Digital Wabi-Sabi'.
Enjoy splendid melodies and 'wabi-sabi' improvisations of EWI that you've never experienced.
Digital Wabi-Sabi -As Easy As EWI-
Vol.2 My Mouse Plays the Piano
Vol.3 When A Soul Inhabits EWI
You can purchase them from digital stores around the world.
Self Liner Note
Each one of us has a unique ear for music.
It means everyone places value in some different aspect.
In my case the most important element is the melody.
Melody is a language in itself and has its own value.
I use digital instruments to translate the melodies in my mind into sounds.
They are merely the means I use to make music.
I hope these albums appeal to your musical taste and that you enjoy listening to them.
Below are some videos of Jin Soda playing the EWI.
Engagé
Some say the EWI is just an electronic toy.
But if I pursue its expressive potential, it might actually be interesting.
...With that feeling, I re-recorded this song.
Escape from Spring
I wrote this song in the winter of 1999, holed up alone in my studio in Echigo.
I remember being in the depths of depression back then, wishing winter would last forever.
Now, having passed 70, I felt the EWI suited this melody well and decided to re-record it this time.
REM
This song was written by me (Takuki) in 1976 while I was in college, for the musical“Golden Bat” by the theater troupe Tokyo Kid Brothers, led by Yutaka Higashi.
I was given about ten sets of lyrics and tasked with composing music for them. This melody was created for lyrics titled “Itsuno manika Shoujo wa (Before She Knew It, the Girl...)” It was a masterpiece. Yamashita-kun, the guitarist who helped me make the demo tape, later praised it highly, saying, “It's such a great song, I can't believe Yoshimitsu-san wrote it!” But unbelievably, it wasn't selected.
Because it was such a good melody, I later recorded it as a guitar instrumental titled ‘REM’ for the album by the guitar duo KAMUNA.
Fifty years after creating it, I wanted to leave behind a recording of myself playing it on the EWI before I die. So this time, I made an EWI version with just guitar and bass accompaniment.
Orca's Song
I wrote this song about 33 years ago (in 1992). I started learning guitar from Do-Re-Mi-Fa at age 37.
I learned chords commonly used in jazz, like m11 and half-diminished (m7-5), and this melody emerged as I mixed and arranged them almost randomly.
Later, I persuaded my guitar teacher (jazz guitarist Hiroharu Yoshihara) to form a guitar duo called KAMUNA, and we released three albums.
This song, Orca's Song, is included on KAMUNA's first and third albums. I believe it's definitely one of the top three songs I've ever written in my life.
Blow EWI SOLO in nature
EWI-SOLO is a very well-made instrument. It has a built-in speaker, so it can be enjoyed outdoors like this.
Song for GORO
Goro is a black rabbit I lived with for 11 years.
June 23 2021 was the eleventh anniversary of his passing away and I played my EWI for him.
This tune is based on that improvisation.
Autumn Leaves
An 8-beat rock-style version of “Autumn Leaves”.
The EWI4000S uses Sound Bank 16 as-is, while the violin-like sound that comes in midway is from the Gullitan (Aria) violin sound bank.
iReal Pro + AppleTV + EWI4000S
'iReal Pro' is an awesome application for iOS, MacOS and Windows.
Thousands of songs can be played as 'minus 1 backing' by MIDI and we can train EWI solo easily on this tool.
Many playstyles are prepared in this and we can even edit almost all parameters and chord itself.
I connect my iPad mini to the TV set in the living room with AppleTV (WiFi networking tool). See it↑
Not many people know EWI (AKAI Electric Wind Instrument).
Jin Soda profile
here