Akai EWI 1000 Electronic Wind Instrument

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The EWI 1000 and the EWV 2000 are part of a series of electronic wind instruments developed by saxophonist Nyle Steiner. In 1975, he launched the first model, the Steiner EVI for brass players, which was simply a controller with a connection to other instruments. The instrument was further developed in 1980 in collaboration with Crumar. Steiner also built the woodwind version EWI and developed a MIDI interface around 1985. In 1987, Akai licensed Steiner's designs and released the Akai EVI 1000 wind controller and the EWI 1000 woodwind controller together with the corresponding EWV 2000 sound module. 

The EWI 1000 in combination with the EWV are a hybrid digital-analog system. Analog signals are derived from the various sensors (key, bite, bend, glide, etc.) of the control unit, converted to digital signals by a front-end microprocessor in the EWV 2000, and modified by the microprocessor and converted to internal analog control voltages for the analog synthesizer IC's. The EWI has no bell like the original EVI, and the keys have been replaced by touch-sensitive switches. The instrument also has roller octave switches and pitch bend and glide sensors. The mouthpiece detects the air pressure when blowing and the mouth pressure for expression and uses this as a vibration sensor.  (Source: muzines)