MATRIXSYNTH: Yamaha EW20 Wind Jamm'r - Wind Controller Electronic Saxophone Synth w/ Midi


Sunday, June 30, 2019

Yamaha EW20 Wind Jamm'r - Wind Controller Electronic Saxophone Synth w/ Midi

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

Update via the comments: "WindJammer does not support the sysex implementation of the WT11, and as far as I remember does not have the secret edit menu available in the WT11"

You can find one previous post featuring the EW20 including a demo here.

"Even More Obscure Than the WT11: the EW20 “Wind Jamm'r Electronic Woodwind”

Not too many people remember this one. Released in 1989 and primarily marketed to high school band students, the EW20 was a Yamaha MIDI wind controller and wind tone generator (a.k.a wind synth) combo set. Neither the EW20 tone generator nor the wind controller where sold separately. The EW20 was actually marketed and sold by Yamaha's band instruments division and this probably has a lot to do with the fact that very few remember it.

The combo set was comprised of the Electronic Woodwind tone generator and a wind controller that was setup similarly to a recorder. Many people, including some from Yamaha, state the the EW20 tone generator is just a WT11 in a significantly less cool case. I have no way of knowing this for sure, but i do know that it was a basic Yamaha four op FM synth module.

The EW20 used a special controller cable to communicate with the tone generator. This cable/connector is NOT the same as the Yamaha WX connector (which in itself is a “special” connector), but rather a cable specific to just the EW20 rig. So if you run across one and consider buying it, definitely verify that the cable is working and in good condition. I'm sure the pin-out can be copied by someone but i would not want to go through the hassle. The EW20 tone generator does have MIDI in, out and thru. Because of this, you can certainly use the EW20 tone generator without the wind controller but keep in mind that you cannot hook a WX7, WX11 or WX5 directly into the EW20 tone generator. You would have to go through a BT7 or similar first and then output the MIDI."

2 comments:

  1. WindJammer does not support the sysex implementation of the WT11, and as far as I remember does not have the secret edit menu available in the WT11

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Post updated to reflect this.

      Delete

To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.

PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE HOME


Patch n Tweak
Switched On Make Synthesizer Evolution Vintage Synthesizers Creating Sound Fundlementals of Synthesizer Programming Kraftwerk

© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH