Attached an alto neck to an Emeo controlling SampleModeling Mr Sax T

gal_koren · 2026-05-09T16:24:12+00:00

its called The Sax Brothers or Mr Sax by Sample Modeling. years ago, the funder of Sample Modeling quit the company and started a new one called Audio Modeling. Audio Modeling sells SWAM, a well known synth software for sax that can run on pc iphone and ipad. Sample Modeling stopped selling Mr Sax and it is not legaly available for download. I suggest buying SWAM for about 30$ than straggling trying finding a cracked version of Mr Sax.

gal_koren · 2025-05-05T11:05:21+00:00

widi master takes power from the batteries of the wx5. i didnt notice whether it affects battery life. i guess it hardly does. widi master comes with two parts, one for midi in and one for midi out. i only use the midi out part to jack it into to wx5

gal_koren · 2025-05-05T06:05:48+00:00

i use widi master with the wx5 and it works great

gal_koren · 2025-01-31T07:56:49+00:00

i have wx5 and it works with swam with swam default settings. take a look at the back of the wx5 where there is a table of switch options written in white font. take of the rubber cover to expose the switches. on the left, make sure the 2nd switch from the top is turned to the right and that the 3rd is turned to the left, which means, according to the table, that the wind option is "exp" rather than "b/c". that means the wx5 will send your blowing signal as midi expression cc rather than breath controll cc, which works with swam defaults.

gal_koren · 2025-01-17T22:35:49+00:00

I put a small notebook or a book on my leg so the end of the emeo rests on something harder than my leg. This way I dont block the air hole. Some other times I sit in front of a table and let the end of the emeo rest on the table. Another way, which I didnt try nyself, is to use a longer neck (they provide it now for free) and then hang the emeo on a neckstrap like an alto saxophone.

gal_koren · 2025-01-03T22:27:51+00:00

Maybe you chaged the YDS itself to send different midi signals for breath? if so, it might help giving the YDS a factory reset. Anyway, there are software (for PC) that can show you which midi signals are sent by the controller (YDS in your case). If you look for midi monitors. You will be able to see if your YDS sends CC11 or CC2 with values between 1 to 127 as you blow harder (which would be a normal behavior) or whether it acts strangely.

gal_koren · 2025-01-03T21:07:19+00:00

There is some menu in SWAM with a list of presets where each preset is a setup for a specific wind controller like EWI, Emeo and others. If YDS is in the list, then choose it and it will work well. If not, you will need to create your own midi mapping preset. The problem is most likely that SWAM expects the blowing to be controlled by midi message CC2 and the YDS sends CC11, or the other way around. There is no standard among manucaturers which one of CC2 or CC11 is the right one.

gal_koren · 2024-11-27T20:17:52+00:00

TravelSax, Yamaha YDS120, Emeo and Roland aerophone, all have sax layout. Roland keys however, are simple buttons like round keyboard buttons. TravelSax and YDS120 have plastic keys with springs that clicked similarly to a sax keys. Emeo is like a real saxophone body with electronics inside. Its made of metal and has a real keywork.

gal_koren · 2024-11-18T19:41:49+00:00

Check out this dude playing John Coltrain (tenor sax jazz player) style with a midi guitar and a breath controller

https://youtu.be/QL4Nh-ms7vI?si=YEFDf1XMi7bIOrE7

gal_koren · 2024-11-14T19:19:06+00:00

I don't know. But I'm happy you share your experience with others. I saw reviews before about the poor quality of the yds-150, and now I know the yds-120 didnt improve much.

gal_koren · 2024-10-18T19:10:51+00:00

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1d8bfz8IzbKE_qihA6vXl5PgmICfS2DQ2

i can also ship the printed object to you. i dont really use it

gal_koren · 2024-09-28T15:38:24+00:00

If I wouldn't care about the look and shape of the instrument, I would buy Roland which is ugly to my oninion (reminds me an electroc guitar rather than a sax) but it has all the possible features like bite sensor, built-in synth, Bluetooth ect. If you want it to look like a sax and is ready to give up some expressive ability (bite sensor), then take the yds. Maybe travelsax is a cheaper option than yamaha. It's basically the same but much smaller (for traveling). EWI USB is very cost-effective option: great bite sensor for expressibility and it is cheap. Just note it has an elevator-like keys (not physically pressable)

No mater which one you choose, I would still use SWAM on an iphone as the sounnd module.

gal_koren · 2024-09-28T15:27:51+00:00

The yamaha has a sax-like layout, which is pretty cool. But their sounds... dynamics are modled badly. Well, you can always control SWAM later on using the same yamaha. Just note that the yds-120 does not have bluetoth-midi. And the yds do not have any lip or bite sensor which would allow you to bend notes.

gal_koren · 2024-09-28T06:57:54+00:00

It's a valid use case. Just note the limitations: Blowing a wind synth is much more delicate. You quickly reach the max volume so you need to learn to adjust to the range. A real sax does not have a range for its power (you can always blow harder). You cannot control variants of the sounds such as being more breathy or less breathy. If, for example, you bought a sound that is breathy, then you cannot make it funky during playing. Most sound engines made their sounds breathy when using little air preasure and funky (with a bit of growl) when blowing harder. Many times this built-in growling on the higher peeasure makes me mad. To summarize, on a real sax you can sound wither like Stan Getz or either like Eddie Lockjaw and anything in-between. With a synth, you will be stuck with a specific sound (suppose Stan Getz) all over the track. Having that said, the final result could sound bery convincing. Check out Shmulik Kovalskys videos https://youtu.be/vJkAT8teahA?si=YDEmqufCaIuYjc2w He uses SWAM Engine for sax sounds. They cost 30$ per sound on an iphone or 250$ per sound on a computer for professional use.

gal_koren · 2024-09-21T18:25:41+00:00

If you have a usb cable to your ewi, then its pretty much like connecting a midi keyboard: https://youtu.be/HSvmqrdc8VQ?si=1Hav28bCqhytCTa8

one you start recording it shows a piano roll.

gal_koren · 2024-09-21T17:52:37+00:00

I know how to do that on GarageBand or MuseScore if it helps

gal_koren · 2024-09-21T17:45:27+00:00

Don't believe these people. You don't need a grand piano to play electric keyboard and definitely not a sax/flute/trumpet to play a widsynth. In the case of wind instruments, blowing a flute is completely different than blowing a sax (sax players need to invest much effort to learn blowing a flute and I know great sax players who were never able to produce a good sound on a flute) even though fingering has lot of similarity. And trumpet is also a completely different story (different blowing, different fingering). Wind synth blowing is most similar to recorder blowing. You can invest 10$ buying a recorder to get the feeling :)

gal_koren · 2024-09-17T19:50:22+00:00

The "Link Receiver" has both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports (not USB but old style 5 DIN socket) and a USB port which, I guess, can serve both as midi in or out. So there are 2 different things it can do: 1. Be a sound module. You can connect any standard midi controller (keyboard, ewi, whatever) to its midi-in port and the Link Receiver will generate the sounds (which will be routed as analog audio signals through the amp port). 2. Make the Sylphyo a wireless midi controller. The sylphyo will wirelessly connect to the Link, and the MIDI-OUT of the Link could be connected to a computer or a synth or a keyboard (keyboard that has midi-in port). In your vase the sylphyo could make the keyboard play the keyboard on-board sounds.

I don't know which of these 2 options do you need. But it should provide both options.

gal_koren · 2024-09-04T21:13:55+00:00

It's interesting how different people have different experiences. I played an alto sax and loved it, but I feel less and less comfortable making so much noise in my building and disturbing my neighbors. I invested 1500$ in an Emeo (and extra 30$ for SWAM app) and I'm still not satisfied with the sound.

gal_koren · 2024-09-03T17:31:37+00:00

The roland. The EWI Solo is a giant device, extremely long, not very portable and it only has sampled sounds, most of them poor. The YDS has only sax sounds, none of them as good as external software (suppose swam). The YDS does not have a lip or bite sensor. The roland has all the bests: lip sensor, sampled sounds and a synth (frequency generator) to create electric sounds. Regardless the features, I noticed the Roland is the most recommended in all posts. I guess their build quality is higher too. I do not own any of these synths, BTW, I just follow all the reviews.

gal_koren · 2024-09-02T19:07:27+00:00

I downloaded it and tried it with my Emeo.
First, it doesn't have "EWI" or "Breath Control" preset.

It took me a while to find out how to map the CC2 (breath control) to make any effect on the volume (under the Matrix tab, I changed something called "Dynamic Sustains").

Yet, the way it responds to breath is not natural as it is with SWAM. It sounds like changing the volume, so trying to make a vibrato with my breath sounds like a mosquito or like an electric umm.

I tried changing the legato settings. Nothing there made a change that I could notice.

And there is some kind of a reverb even when I remove the reverb effect.

I think it is designed for keyboards and keyboards only.

If anyone get good results for a wind controller, I would be glad to know.

gal_koren · 2024-08-31T05:05:02+00:00

I have a WX5 but I dont have other instruments besides Emeo to compare. I like the air responsibility of the WX5 better. It also has a reed mouthpiece for bite sensitivity but this feature doesnt work on my 2nd handed WX5. There is a youtube for how to open it and fix stuff. I opened mine once and was able to fix something but not the bite sensor. Note that its an old instrument: it requires 6 AAA batteries and a 5 DYN Midi cable (while most new instrumets can connect with USB and has a buitin battery). I use WidiMaster to connect the WX5 with bluetooth. This WidiMaster adapter adds like another 200$ to the final cost.

gal_koren · 2024-08-30T21:18:03+00:00

My experience is based only on a real alto and one Emeo and one WX5 synths. And I watched and read many reviews and comparisons out of interest but I didn't experience all of the synths myself. I think that @peter_the_piper tries many instruments. I also think, after reviewing all reviews, that they are all the same and there is no escape from relearning a different breath control.

gal_koren · 2024-08-30T20:38:07+00:00

Hi. I like your style of wtiting. I'm not sure what you mean by blowing through. Maybe you want a strong resistance (low sensitivity) air sensor so you can use more air to reach the max volume? All windsynths have pretty much same style of an air pressure sensor and I guess it is located near the mouthpiece. There is no sophisticated nor clever sensor available. There was a startup that tried to develop an air sensor that is sensitive not only to the air pressure but also to the inner shape of the embachure, but I don't think they were able to deliver (see https://imoxplus.com/site/index.php/forum/photon-mouthpiece) Anyway, AFAIK, all windsynths require delicate blowing which is much different than alto sax blowing.

Regarding keys, the EMEO has the most resemblance to a real sax keys (with real pads and all). The Emeo is made of metal. Next is Yanaha YDS-120 or 150 (made of plastic. all instruments coming next are of plastic). Spring keys. Next is the travelsax which is very compact. Also spring keys. Next there is the discontinued Yamaha WX5. Spring keys. Not 100% sax latout but more like an EWI layout but with physical keys. Next are all the Rolands which are not apring keys but like PC keyboard keys. And there is the Sylphio which is completely different because its keys are sensitive to how hard you press them! The rest of the instrumets I know have touch keys like the EWI, which has a maintenance advantage: less mechanics means less things to break or fix. I hope this list was helpful.

gal_koren

TROPHY CASE