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Akai EWI 4000s Quick Start Manual
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Akai EWI 4000s Quick Start Manual

Akai EWI 4000s Quick Start Manual

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Download this manual See also: Reference Manual, Operator's Manual
20 November 2005
UniQuest for EWI
4000s

Quick Start

Thank you and congratulations on your choice of the Akai Professional EWI
4000s Electric Wind Instrument. While the EWI 4000s is equipped with a
sophisticated on-board Analog Modeling Synthesizer, UniQuest expands on
this feature by giving you remote access to all sound parameters from a
connected Mac or PC computer. In addition to complete real-time editor
functions, UniQuest for EWI 4000s also serves as a back-up and
organizational tool to save and catalog your EWI 4000s sound creations. The
editor will also display any notes you play on your EWI 4000s in real-time.
1.0 Getting Ready: Instructions
UniQuest uses MIDI System Exclusive messages to communicate with your EWI
4000s. This means you'll need to make certain connections before you install and
run the software for the first time. Here we will explain the steps you need to take.
Although the illustrations are PC Windows XP based, these instructions also apply
to Mac OS X users.
System Requirements
Minimum requirements are a Mac G4 with 256 MB of Ram, or a Pentium III with
512 MB of RAM. As everybody knows, faster is better.
You will also need a MIDI interface. fortunately, these can be purchased for under
$50 these days.
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Summary of Contents for Akai EWI 4000s

  • Page 1: Quick Start

    UniQuest for EWI 4000s Quick Start Thank you and congratulations on your choice of the Akai Professional EWI 4000s Electric Wind Instrument. While the EWI 4000s is equipped with a sophisticated on-board Analog Modeling Synthesizer, UniQuest expands on this feature by giving you remote access to all sound parameters from a connected Mac or PC computer.
  • Page 2 Here’s where you install the UniQuest software from the CD that shipped with your EWI 4000s. You can also download the software free of charge from the Akai Pro- fessional Website (www.akaipro.com). The download will be archived as a zip file.
  • Page 3 Getting Ready: Instructions You may have noticed that some of UniQuest for EWI 4000s’ dialogs, menu bars and icons have the words ‘Midi Quest’ in them. This is to be expected, since UniQuest for EWI 4000s is built on technology developed by Sound Quest Music Software (www.squest.com).
  • Page 4 Getting Ready: Instructions UniQuest will now open. On Windows XP you will see an Application window that contains the Studio Window: On Mac OS X you will see the Application menu and the Studio Window: The studio window contains the EWI 4000s instrument module: This is the main interface used to transfer sound data between your EWI 4000s and the software.
  • Page 5 Getting Ready: Instructions The Instrument Module (Mac OS X) We’ll now explore the main controls of the instrument module. The Instrument Graphic: More than just a pretty picture, this graphic of the • EWI 4000s can be single-clicked to give the instrument module focus, and can be double-clicked to upload (or get) the currently selected data from the instru- ment.
  • Page 6 Getting Ready: Instructions The AutoSense dialog is shown here: If the AutoSense procedure cannot detect your instrument’s settings, you will need to make sure your Midi Interface drivers are installed correctly and that all cables are connected as per the diagram in Step 2. Make sure the output of your computer is connected to the input of the EWI 4000s (and vice-versa).
  • Page 7 Getting Ready: Instructions This will open the default Settings Dialog for the EWI 4000s instrument module : The Port and SysX (Comm) Channel settings will already have been set in this dia- log by the AutoSense procedure. This means that the Port In and Port Out settings controls will be set to the same MIDI ports that AutoSense discovered your EWI 4000s connected to.
  • Page 8 Getting Ready: Instructions Now you will find out if UniQuest is correctly configured by uploading (or getting) the Internal Preset Bank from your EWI 4000s. This test is also an essential opera- tion since you’ll need to protect these sounds from accidents while you learn to use your new editor software.
  • Page 9 Getting Ready: Instructions 3. The Preset Bank uploads from your EWI 4000s in about 12 seconds. 4. The Uploaded Data Opens As A Bank Editor Window (Windows XP) Congratulations! You have just successfully installed UniQuest EWI 4000s and configured the software to work with your EWI 4000s. Please save the set you have just uploaded by selecting File : Save EWI 4000s Pre- set Bank from the UniQuest application menu.
  • Page 10 Getting Ready: Instructions Exploring the Bank Editor Window You can now explore each of the sounds you have uploaded by clicking on an entry in the bank window. When you do this, the sound data will be downloaded through MIDI to the EWI 4000s temporary editing buffer, allowing you to audition the cur- rent selection.
  • Page 11 Getting Ready: Instructions Selecting a preset by clicking on it loads the Editor into the right side of the split: You are free to experiment as much as you like - Just remember to save the changed bank file under a new name. Otherwise, you will overwrite the backup you just made! In the next section we will explain how UniQuest works in greater detail, and will also explore the Preset Editor’s Virtual Instrument Interface.
  • Page 12 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.0 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Getting the most from UniQuest requires a few adjustments in how you relate to your hardware instrument. In the past you have no doubt worked entirely "in-place" within the confines of your instrument's internal memory, which means perma- nently overwriting an existing sound before being allowed to listen to another.
  • Page 13 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s With UniQuest, you upload your EWI4000s preset bank to your computer, where it can be safely backed up to your hard drive. Then you are free to edit, audition, step between sounds, reorganize your banks and create searchable sound libraries with complete security and ease.
  • Page 14 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Working with Single Presets If you only want to edit a single preset, UniQuest for EWI4000s has two compo- nents designed for this task: Preset and Preset Edit Buffer: When either of these components are selected within the Instrument Module’s Set- List, UniQuest will Get, New, Open or Put a single Preset depending on which mini-button you press.
  • Page 15 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.1 Preset Editor Overview There are 9 sections that make up the EWI 4000s Preset Editor : In the illustration above, the sections have been separated from their normal layout and are shown according to their location in the EWI 4000s synthesizer architec- ture.
  • Page 16 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.3 OSC 1 & 2 SECTION The EWI4000s has two analog modeled oscillators, which are editable independent of each other. Each oscillator outputs Sawtooth, Triangle and Pulse waves and includes a waveform mixer that lets you set how much of each wave is heard. Oscillator 1 &...
  • Page 17 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The following parameters are common to each oscillator: Oscillator Tuning Parameters OCTAVE Range is -2 to +2 octaves. • SEMITONE Range is -12 to +12 semitones. • FINE Range is -50 to +50 cents. 100 cents = 1 semitone, so this parameter lets you •...
  • Page 18 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Oscillator Pitch & Volume Envelope Parameters SWEEP TIME Range is 0 to 100%. Unlike a keyboard controlled synthesizer, the EWI 4000s • does not use a standard envelope generator (ADSR) to control the Oscillator Pitch.
  • Page 19 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s BREATH THRESH Range is 0 to 100%. This is the threshold level above which the Oscillator will • begin sounding. BREATH CURVE Range is -50% to +50%. This parameter sets the mapping of breath pressure to •...
  • Page 20 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.4 OSC FILTER SECTION SELECT Choices are 1, 2 or LINK. When 1 is selected, the block of controls in this • section govern the settings of OSC FILTER 1. When 2 is selected, these controls govern the settings of OSC FILTER 2.
  • Page 21 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Q-FACTOR Range is 0.5 to 12.7. This control sets the Quality Factor of the OSC FILTER, • and is analogous to the RESONANCE control found in typical analog synthe- sizer filter sections. The Q Factor of an audio filter is defined as the cutoff frequency divided by the bandwidth (the 3dB change in level around the cutoff frequency).

  • Page 22: Lfo Depth

    A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s BREATH MOD Range is 0 to 100%. This control allows you to change the filter cutoff frequency • with your breath pressure. Higher values apply more modulation to the cutoff frequency. BREATH CURVE Range is -50% to +50%.
  • Page 23 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s LFO THRESHOLD Range is 0 to 100%. This control sets a point in the breath pressure range that • acts as a trigger for LFO Modulation to begin or end: When used in conjunction with the LFO DEPTH and LFO BREATH parameters, LFO THRESHOLD can be used to create a variety of sophisticated filter modula- tions.
  • Page 24 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.5 FORMANT FILTER SECTION FILTER The Formant Filter applies the formant characteristics of two physical classes of • instrument: String or Wood Wind. 2.2.6 NOISE GENERATOR SECTION The Noise Generator allows for the creation of various white noise effects such as wind, breath and surf sounds.

  • Page 25: Amp Section

    A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.7 NOISE FILTER SECTION The NOISE FILTER’s operation is identical to the OSC FILTER, with the exception that it filters the output of the NOISE GEN instead of the OSC SECTION. This section consists of 2 multi-mode filters that are connected in serial with each other.

  • Page 26: Effects Section

    A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.9 EFFECTS SECTION The EFFECTS SECTION consists of high quality chorus, delay, and reverb effects connected in serial: Each digital effect will now be examined in the order of their connection. Chorus Effect Parameters The chorus effect combines two short delay lines with LFO modulation to apply a swirling doubling effect to the input signal.

  • Page 27: Dry Level

    A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s OFF / ON These buttons disable and enable the chorus effect. When the chorus effect is off, • the incoming signal is passed through unaffected. FEEDBACK Range is -50% to +50%. This control regulates the amount of chorus output sig- •...
  • Page 28 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Delay Effect Parameters The delay effect consists of a long delay line coupled with a lowpass filter for tonal control over the delayed signal. Useful for simulating echoes and other repeating effects. TIME Range is 0 to 1.27 seconds.
  • Page 29 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.2.10 COMMON SECTION The common section contains a number of miscellaneous parameters that control the EWI 4000s’ general behavior when the preset is loaded. KEY TRIGGER SINGLE: The envelope is only controlled by breath articulation. •...
  • Page 30 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The Editor Controls in Closer Detail Each of the Preset editor sections is made up of various controls such as toggle switches, knobs and sliders. These are now explored in greater detail. Knob UniQuest’s knobs are rotary entry controls that are edited whenever the mouse is clicked and dragged in a circular motion around the knob’s center.
  • Page 31 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s On the Mac platform, Direct Mode entry operates as follows: Instead of a multi-column pop-up menu, the direct mode menu is a single scrolling column, and the previous control selection is not shown as a checked entry (A con- sequence of the current OS X architecture).
  • Page 32 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The Preset Bank Windows Whenever you get, open or create a new Patch Bank in UniQuest, a Bank Window will open. The entire memory space of an EWI 4000s Preset Bank is represented in this win- dow, and the dynamic tab control ensures you'll never have to scroll around to find the patch you want.
  • Page 33 Editor Window by performing a right-click (Windows) or Alt-Click (Mac) over the bank editing area as follows: On selecting ‘Save Akai Pro EWI 4000s Preset Bank As...’ a Save dialog will be launched. This dialog can save to many useful formats besides native .Bnk: SMF: Exports a standard MIDI File that can be played with any sequencer to dump the bank back to any connected EWI 4000s.
  • Page 34 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Automatic Patch Generation Tools UniQuest also features four very powerful tools for creating new EWI 4000s presets automatically. Simply select 2 or more existing presets in your current bank and click on one of the following buttons: The Mix button creates a new Bank of Presets by randomly picking param- eters from 2 or more selected presets.
  • Page 35 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The Set Window Components like Presets, Edit Buffers and Preset Banks do not have to be edited in separate windows: UniQuest also lets you upload, open or create a combined data file called a Set. The entire memory space of your EWI 4000s is represented in the Default Set, which includes the preset bank, the preset edit buffer and the individual preset 01.
  • Page 36 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The Collection Window The Collection window is used to create and edit unstructured groupings of what- ever EWI 4000s components you like. Just like the Set and Bank windows, the Collection window will split to show the relevant editor window whenever you select a member of the collection and click on the Collection’s Editor Split button (as shown here).
  • Page 37 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The Library Window Since the Bank window is never larger than the maximum size of the your EWI- 4000s’ internal memory, UniQuest is equipped with a virtually unlimited type of storage: The Library. Each library you create can be as big as you like, but can only store one type of data: This is perfect for creating an EWI 4000s Preset Library.
  • Page 38 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s The result of this Query is now shown: You will see that there seem to be duplicate results in this query. A new Query can be run on the results, set to remove these duplicates. This involves pressing the button again and checking the ‘Duplicates’...
  • Page 39 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Transferring Presets Between Windows It is easy to transfer presets between any open editor window in UniQuest. In most cases where the source is a bank window, you need only drag and drop the entry to a new location such as another bank window, a library window (of the same type), a collection window, or an open preset editor window.
  • Page 40 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.11 The ‘MIDI Thru’ Feature By default, UniQuest’s MIDI Thru feature is turned off. If you wish to create EWI sounds for layering with external synthesizers and samplers, however, you will need to enable this feature.
  • Page 41 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Next, open the UniQuest Preferences dialog (UniQuest for Akai EWI4000s- >Preferences on Mac, or Options->Preferences on Windows). Now select the MIDI Tab of the dialog: Turn on MIDI Thru and then select the MIDI Port Out to route the MIDI Thru sig- nals to.
  • Page 42 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s 2.12 Transferring Data Files Between Different Computers There are a few facts to keep in mind when transporting Preset, Bank and Set data created by UniQuest between different computers. If you plan to email these files or move them between Mac and PC computers, you should be aware of the following facts.
  • Page 43 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s Mac OSX’s Automator utility can be applied to the task of converting UniQuest files from the PC version relatively easily. You will need: Mac OSX Tiger (which includes Automator) • The Change File Type and Creator Action from •...
  • Page 44 The processed bank files are now showing the correct icon and document type. 3.0 Conclusion This concludes the UniQuest for EWI 4000s Quick Start. You are encouraged to read through the complete PDF owner’s manual for Midi Quest XL (found on the installation CD) to master UniQuest’s deeper capabilities.

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