I’ve been doing some research for an upcoming article on the Akai EWI, and I’ve been researching Masato Honda. This is the guy, I believe, who played the famous Cowboy Bebop Tank! Alto Saxophone solo. He is also a master of the EWI, frequently playing it with the group T-Square. Anyhow, I came across this video of him playing four recorders with T-Square. Amazing stuff.
I think the most ingenious thing was the “stand” he had them on, and using a vocal microphone to amplify them. Oh, and running them through an effects processor towards the end.
UPDATE: 1/6/08: BTW, if anyone knows exactly what Masato Honda’s EWI setup is/was, that would be great to know. It looks like a 3020, but most of the youtube clips I’ve seen he has his EWI colored, so…..
I am pretty sure its just a custom model of the EWI3020. even with the EWI4000 out for sale, Honda seems to use the old EWI3020 module and the controller. the rumours say that its due to the fact that the EWI4000 cant emulate the actual analog synth module, therefore sounds thin and dull. thats why honda uses the 3020
That is very interesting. So it is the synth sounds he misses, not the controller? I’d agree that the sounds on the 4000 are kind of lame, but the response of it is way better than my 3020 ever was…..