Check Out This Brand New Musical Instrument
Last night’s Jeopardy had a clue that involved the introduction of the clarinet and how Mozart immediately wrote a piece of music for it. I thought “That doesn’t happen anymore. All the musical instruments we need have been invented.” Apparently not.
Akai has unveiled the EWI (pronounced “ee-wee”), an electronic (!!) wind instrument. Not only does it come with an orchestra’s worth of built-in sounds (both traditional and, er, esoteric for such a device), but it’s totally wireless–and it’s MIDI-compatible.
There’s no pricing yet, but Akai says information is coming soon. More at Gizmag.
This is actually an updated product. The EWI has been around since the mid-80s, most famously played by the late, great Michael Brecker. Here’s a clip of his band Steps Ahead from 86. youtube.com/watch?v=xYiwZYGokdQ Of course, the wireless thing is new.