Breath controller?

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:23 pm

This says its class compliant...anyone have one of these to report if it works with the Kronos? It's less than half the price of the one with the midi out and built in synth:

http://www.akaipro.com/ewiusb

KevinH · Post by **KevinH** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:32 pm

My wife plays clarinet and I just showed this to her. She thought it was pretty interesting and we're now thinking about getting her one. If we do, I'll try hooking it up to my Kronos and report back about it. Just to set realistic expectations, it could be a few months before we would buy it for her. Perhaps someone here already owns it and can answer your question more quickly.

mm-pro · Post by **mm-pro** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:55 pm

Yes, the USB EWI does work right out of the box. I have been playing around a bit with one and Busch's Kronos breath controller programs.

What is a mystery to me at this point is the behaviour of the Kronos when the EWI's reset button is pushed. Let me try to explain...

When first connected to the USB port the EWI triggers the Busch programs in a similar way to how my MidiSolutions BC box does...the programs sound a little without any BC pressure added, but open up more as BC is applied. However, if I hit the reset button on the EWI, the Kronos goes into a different mode where all the program's level is controlled by breath pressure. This will last until you move to a new program or reload the present one. I actually prefer this "total control" mode, but don't know how to get there through the Kronos interface and I would like to make the programs respond that way to BC input as well.

Can anyone shed some light on what might be going on here?

TIA!

Regards,

MM

mm-pro · Post by **mm-pro** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:36 pm

Still hoping to get some clarification on how the EWI changes the response to BC on the Kronos....Busch, Dan?

TIA

Regards,

MM

shawnhar · Post by **shawnhar** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 4:16 pm

I would try to work out exactly what MIDI controllers this button sends.

If you have the MIDI implementation chart for the EWI, it should document that.

Otherwise, hook the EWI up to a sequencer, record what happens when you press reset, and look at the individual MIDI events to see what control values were sent.

yatrg · Post by **yatrg** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:50 am

Anyone have any idea where I can get breath controllable programs for the Kronos? Did it come with any? I am looking for programs that are fully controlled by breath, so I can leave my VL70m at home on small gigs.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:04 am

yatrg wrote:Anyone have any idea where I can get breath controllable programs for the Kronos? Did it come with any? I am looking for programs that are fully controlled by breath, so I can leave my VL70m at home on small gigs.

It's possible to use a dynamic modulation source for a lot of MIDI messages, so probably those are sent by a breath controller also can be used.