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I just registered in this forum, after lurking for a few days. My main concern is precisely what this topic is about: how to use an Akai EWIUSB to play the sounds in the Nord (in my case, an Electro 6HP). I have 40 years of saxophone (& flute, & clarinet, etc.) and two of piano, so the reason why I want to do that is quite obvious.
I just bought a USB Midi Host (a small box with USB Midi In and regular Midi Out din jacks) so I can bypass the PC and just plug the instruments together. I haven't made many experiments for health reasons, but I can't figure out how to make the Nord recognize the EWI's breath control and bite sensor.
Could some gentle soul in this forum enlighten me?
The point is to understand which MIDI CCs are being generated by the EWI for breath control and bite sensors and if they can be changed on the EWI to match a parameter of NE6 that is controlled by a given CC (see NE6 manual Appendix with the MIDI Controllers List).
For example to control NE6 volume with the EWI breath control sensor, it must send CC#7, to control Expression (CtrlPedal) it must be CC#11, to control Velocity instead the EWI must use breath sensor to determine Note velocity...
Bottom line, it has more to do with working on the EWI configuration, based on NE6 possible CCs, than doing anything on the NE6 itself.
Last edited by maxpiano on 09 Sep 2021, 17:13, edited 3 times in total.
These users thanked the author maxpiano for the post:
Bad news, then; the EWI is a VERY simple controller. Absolutely no knobs, buttons, LCDs, whatever apart from the keys themselves and the RESET button. I was thinking whether I could tell the NE6 to interpret a given CC provided by the EWI as another, as it is quite the opposite of the EWI in terms of complexity and resources. I know the EWI transmits (standard) Key-Velocity and Aftertouch, and I dreamt of telling the NE6 to read Aftertouch as Volume, or something like that.
You might want to have a look into the possibilities of MIDI solutions Event Processor or the Breath Controller. http://midisolutions.com/products.htm
Be sure you get those little black boxes powered via the EWI controller (5 V!). Or look elsewhere. Even a computer with a DAW connected in between might do the job.
These users thanked the author FZiegler for the post:
As Fziegler said, if EWI USB is limited in its own configuration (which makes sense being a USB model, so designed for use with a computer), the best option is to keep the computer as part of your setup, with a MIDI app that can do the required routing+remapping (not necessarily a full DAW, there apps like Camelot Pro, Mainstage and even other smaller and freeware )
If you want to avoid the computer then you need a box such as the MIDI Solutions Event Processor or the Bome Box or Lab4Music Sipario (to mention the most popular, the last two also have USB MIDI input so you don't need an additional USB MIDI Host box)
Last edited by maxpiano on 10 Sep 2021, 09:47, edited 5 times in total.
These users thanked the author maxpiano for the post:
Oy, oy. Bad news indeed. I really wanted to keep the computer out of the EWI-NE6 circuit, in order to avoid the lag and unnecessary complications that forcefully come with so many comings and goings of data *before* the DAW gets the sound.
Fziegler's suggestion of the Midi Solutions Event Processor seems to be on the spot, though:
<<The Event Processor can be programmed to map any MIDI event to any other MIDI event. Multiple settings of the same MIDI event are accepted, enabling a particular incoming MIDI event to be mapped to multiple outgoing MIDI events>>
The other two boxes, Bome Box & Lab4Music Sipario, would be quite a bit of overkill for such a simple need.
As Brazilian taxes are so high even the cheaper US$150 Event Processor would cost me around US$500(!), I think I'll try to get in touch with the guy who made the USB Midi Host I bought, and ask him whether he can modify the firmware somehow in order to remap the EWI CCs into stuff the NE6 can understand. I haven't opened it (warranty issues), but it probably has an Arduino inside, and the maker (a one-guy shop) has excellent after-sales service.
If it doesn't work, I'll just buy a second-hand Windows tablet and put it to dedicated use between the EWI and the NE6. :/
I'll keep you guys informed of the next steps of the EWI saga; may you all always make wonderful music!
Prof Carlos wrote:As Brazilian taxes are so high even the cheaper US$150 Event Processor would cost me around US$500(!), I think I'll try to get in touch with the guy who made the USB Midi Host I bought, and ask him whether he can modify the firmware somehow in order to remap the EWI CCs into stuff the NE6 can understand. I haven't opened it (warranty issues), but it probably has an Arduino inside, and the maker (a one-guy shop) has excellent after-sales service.
