User Manual

5
4. Play!
Hold the mouthpiece gently between your lips with your teeth, and exhale so your breath passes through both sides
of your mouth. The EWI Solo detects this wind pressure with the breath sensor and expresses the change in sound
volume and character, depending on how you blow. (It should not take much breath to activate the instrument.)
Tips:
• There is a bite sensor in the mouthpiece. You can produce a vibrato effect by gently biting the mouthpiece,
which will bend the pitch up each time you bite, but do not bite too hard.
• You can articulate the notes you're playing by tonguing the mouthpiece for even more expressive control.
• If the EWI Solo's note keys, octave rollers, pitch-bend plate, or glide plates are not very responsive, it could be
because you are playing with dry hands (the EWI Solo works by using the body's capacitance). If this happens,
you can use a very small amount of non-greasy hand lotion to improve the connection between your hands and
the keys. You can also try adjusting the Sensitivity settings of these features in the Global Menu.
Note Keys: The note keys are sensors that let you produce sound with only a light
touch. The EWI Solo has multiple fingering options, so it can feel familiar to
saxophonists, flutists, etc. You can adjust the position of the three lowest keys by
loosening the screws that hold each of them in place, moving them to match your
preferred playing style and then retightening the screws.
Important: Use caution when loosening the screws as they may become separated
from the body of the instrument.
Octave Rollers: Place your left thumb between any two octave rollers (and over the
grounding plate) on the EWI Solo's back panel. Slide your thumb up or down across
the octave rollers to shift its octave range up or down. While playing, keep your left
thumb in contact with the octave rollers. The position between the two knurled octave
rollers indicates the standard pitch.
Glide Plate: While playing a note, move your thumb across the octave rollers (without
rolling them) while touching the glide plate on their right side to create a "glide" effect.
This will smoothly and continuously slide the pitch up or down—a technique known as
portamento.
Pitch-Bend Plate: Touch your thumb to this plate to move the pitch of the note you
are playing up or down depending on your settings, which can be adjusted in the
Global Menu (by default, this is set to pitch down). Before you get accustomed to
using this plate, you may produce unexpected sounds by touching it accidentally. You
can adjust the position of the plate by loosening its screw, moving it to your
preference and then retightening the screw.
Pitch-Bend
Plate
Standard
Pitch
Glide
Plate