Learn how to get the best lip response from the Roland Aerophone AE-10 with Alistair Parnell. Join the iSax Academy for the best Aerophone courses, at every level www.isax.academy www.isax.academy/coming-soon
Hi Alistair, I love your videos but since this one I have updated the version on my Aerophone to version 3.11 and the settings are different than the older ones. If possible, please make new videos with the new version. Thank you so much.
Thank You Alistair it is very helpful to get it to play with more sensitivity. I will do the update to 2.0.1 when it will be available. it is not available on the Roland website at this time they only show 2.0.0
Hi Alistair. Every time I try this with setting each patch to PT1 and then setting up bite adjust and sensitivity all my notes go 1/2 step flat. What am I doing incorrectly? Also, can you tell me the difference between patch 1&3 and 2&4?
I was fine with my instrument up until now but for some bizarre reason it’s suddenly harder to blow into! You talked about the breath control not having it too high but I’m not sure where to go now with this one! Where is the optimal number and how do I get there? Is this what I need to adjust? Thanks
The pitch bend worked for the first minute or so. I've set up the changes correctly, but the aerophone doesn't pitch bend anymore. The vibrato works excellently however. I've also reset to the factory settings twice. Any ideas?
I can't seem to bend the tone at all. What might be the problem? I have followed the instructions in the video.. I got the breath pressure right though.
So which wind instrument do you recommend, the Roland Aerophone or the EWI 5000? I've seen videos of you playing both so your opinion does matter. Thanks.
+Tony Harrison Hi. I’m afraid that’s an impossible question to answer. It depends on so many factors. My videos aim to inform the viewer of the differences and possibilities of each so that they can make a more informed choice. For me I use different instruments for different scenarios. Just like a keyboard player chooses different instruments for their needs.
Hi Alastair. Have just revisited this excellent video to check my settings. You describe in detail how to adjust to get a pitch bend down, but don't mention a pitch bend up. Although there are settings which seem to suggest this is feasible, I haven't been able to achieve it other than by the thumb control. Any ideas?
Thanks for the video! I have two questions I haven't been able to solve. 1. I'm putting the Bite Control option in Pit 1; however, this option turns off not only when I turn off the Aerophone but even when I merely change the tone. How can I get the Aerophone to keep the setting modification? 2. What's the difference between the Tenor Sax tone and the Tenor Sax Plus tone? Thanks!
Hi. The Pit 1 setting should remain once set. Maybe try a reset? The tenor Sax tone plus will have some differences. I can’t quite remember, it’s been a while. Usually a slightly different tone or there might be some changes with the way the thumb lever responds.
please help me. im looking to buy its either the roland ae-10 or akai ewi 5000 or ewi 4000s. My main goal is to control my synths coz i have a roland fantom G, korg kronos and roland jupiter. which wind is best for controlling my synths?
Hello Jade, I do have the same kind of midi instruments, the main issue here is the librairie some patches will work better than other on different controller. I use 3 controllers Yamaha Wx-7 WX-5 and the AE-10 so far I find the AE-10 more expressive and watching Alistair's video I can see that I will get even more sensitivity. Sorry I don't know the EW to make any good comment.
Hi Alistair. Discovered your videos while looking at some key tar videos, just because I like watching them. As I watched your videos I became very interested in the instrument and would really like to learn to play something as I am getting close to retirement now. My big concern here is being able to take full advantage of this instrument. I am missing my index finger and some dexterity in my thumb on my right hand. Your videos had me believing that this handicap would not prevent me from playing this instrument given some time to learn the instrument. Could you possibly confirm that my handicap shouldn't be an issue before I decide to go out and make the purchase.
+Terrence Lemire Hi Terrance. Thanks for watching and commenting. As far as I can see you might be limited trying to use the standard fingering system but there is a left hand only mode. Your limitations should not be a problem in terms of getting all the notes. Your left thumb is more important. Your right hand would really only act as a support to hold the instrument. I’ve only tried this system briefly but it is possible to play with just one hand. Like everything else it will take practice but perfectly possible. Did you see the Aerophone GO? Smaller, lighter and less expensive bit that will also do left hand only mode. Not so many onboard sounds though. Best of luck and please let us know how you get on.
Alistair, Thanks so much for the quick reply. I have considered the GO model as well but as far as I can tell it doesn't have the erhu sound available which I would really like to have. Since I am currently living here in China, it would be nice if I could teach myself some tunes using this voice. I'm not very good at reading music but I have had experience learning to play by ear as I taught myself to play harmonica when I was a child. So apart from learning the fingering I should be able to pick it up fairly quickly. Sax is really what I wanted to play when I joined my grade school band but my music teacher stuck me with the trumpet and later the tuba. Still I am a bit nervous attempting to learn a new instrument so late in life. But I still think it would be cool to be able to go out to the local square and play some music like so many Chinese people are doing.
Hello,Alisteir!) I choose midi-saxophone,and I have 2 options:akai ewi 5000,or Roland ae-10.You played on these midi,and:what is the best?(I play on saxophone too).Thanks.
Hi. Key delay can be helpful to help you play neatly between finger changes. It just slow the response down very slightly which can be helpful. Too much though and you might start to notice a lag on fast passages.
Hi! I've recently acquired an Aerophone, and I'm exploring the setup part. Something is bothering me though: the setting recommendations in this video don't work on my instrument. In fact, to get a proper response from the aerophone, I have to set the bite adjustement and the bite sensitivity up to ~40. Is this normal? Is it because the software update, or is it just me struggling with my embouchure? If anyone can bring me some answers, I'd be thankful.
hi i just bought an ae10. im a beginner so i'm doing something wrong i think .. i cant get to change for saxophone bend by doing bend ctrl and select saxophone and save. when I press save it says. save to u: 001. is this right? when I want to change the bend on another instrument. my other settings disappear. i have the latest update and it is not so easy for me to understand coming from norway :-) i have the newest uppdate
Hi. Yes make your changes to the settings and save to a user patch. So U:001 is use patch 1. Then go to that patch when you want to recall those settings. The sounds start with P:001 to P:129. Then you’ll see it go on into U:001 etc.
Hello Alistair! I have a question about lip response, I hope it's relevant. I play sax and recorder, enjoy fiddling with synthesizers, and I am excited about getting into either EWI or Aerophone. It is clear from this video that the Aerophone, using lip pressure, has a pretty natural continuum between gentle vibrato and deeper pitch bends, as on a sax. Forgive me if I haven't watched the EWI videos carefully enough, but I can't tell if the EWI can get full pitch bends by bite alone (without the thumb control), and crucially, I can't tell if relaxing the bite on the EWI lowers or raises the pitch! I suppose my question is: I have heard some lovely vibrato from the EWI and also some pitch bends, but I'm very curious whether or not one can achieve it on the EWI by embouchure alone, as one clearly can do on the Aerophone. Breath vibrato is wonderful (I love that aspect of the recorder) and the EWI seems to have excellent response to breath pressure, but I'm curious whether you have found the lip response on the Aero to be more versatile. Thanks for your videos, and for being a great educator!
Hi. Good question. You are right the EWI used lip pressure to control vibrato and the thumb for larger bends. The Aerophone can do the same actually but you have the option on the Aerophone to use the lip for larger bends as well. Having said that it's probably the sort of thing you'd be better to try before you buy. I know that's not easy. Remember that the EWI also uses touch sensitive keys which is a very different experience to the Aerophone that has mechanical moving keys. The EWI sadly now is not supported for any future updates or enhancements but the Aerophone is. My reply has probably given you more questions than answers I'm afraid but the truth is they are really quite different instruments.
@@isax.academy Thanks for that! I would love to try them, in the current environment that will probably mean purchasing one on a trial basis. I'm surprised if Akai is walking away from the EWI. I suppose it's a pretty small market for them. They are both companies that I trust, and I'm sure both instruments have their strengths. The touch sensitive keys do seem pretty quick (and silent, kind of nice sometimes I'm sure). For me, I suspect that not being able to do full lip bends is something I would miss - it's something I love on the sax, and doing it by hand seems a bit like just playing a keyboard! Thanks again for your in-depth talks, they have been crucial to my understanding of these instruments.
@@ksmontanaro For some bizarre reason, Roland decided that the pitch bend should only work for bending down, not up. I can sort of work around it by setting the master tuning higher, but it still doesn't behave as a real reed instrument does - there seems to be some sort of automatic interference, partly overriding what I'm trying to make it do. One explanation I like is that it's what happens when a keyboard manufacturer decides to make an electric wind instrument. Also, the thumb control isn't nearly as useful as it should be, because it's far easier to use it like a switch than as a proportional control. Added to that, it just doesn't feel natural to try to do pitch bends with the thumb, for those of us who are used to playing a real clarinet or sax. Roland have gone through a number of firmware updates and never fixed the problem of not being able to bend up, with bite pressure. One of the major retailers, Matt Traum, of Patchman Music, is among the people who've asked for that to be added as an option, yet they still haven't. That suggests to me that Roland think they know best what we need or want. I definitely would recommend that anyone who is thinking of buying one tries it first, and does some reading to see what problems other people have had - like detuning, and missing out notes in fast passages, or the feel of the clicky plastic keys. For me, the pitch bend from bite pressure response is the biggest issue. I don't play it nearly as much as I thought I would, partly for that reason. It just lacks the human touch, of a real reed instrument, because of Roland's seeming obsession with playing dead on Equal Temperament tuning. If we had the option of free and natural feeling control of the pitch, with bite pressure, the detuning problem wouldn't be an issue - we'd just be correcting, by ear, without even thinking about it.
@@TooSlowTube By the nature of the reed position, open or closed, you can only choose to bend up or down. Doing both would require a center reed position which could not be maintained accurately and you would always be out of tune.
@@rogerredford4010 You could make the same argument about a sax or a clarinet. In tune is when you're applying the right amount of bite pressure to get it in tune, ignoring other factors, which don't apply here, like mouth shape, though that mostly affects the tone.
Aerophone was packed in a bag and the mouthpiece was pushed off The vibrato sensor was pushed and now not working much mostly not at all. What should I do ?
Hi. Make sure the mouthpiece is pushed on all the way correctly. Turn on the unit and don’t touch the mouthpiece while it boots up. Ow do the bite set up procedure. Remember since version 3 the default on many sounds was to have the bite response turned off or be very low, so you’ll need to go and set up each sound and turn on lip response and required.
Hi good mornning, I have two questions all this kind of adjustment you should do to every sound or only one to all and then Im alto Sax player then can I live the aerophone in Eb for every sound Many thanks
+Nachi Guttman You cannot download any sounds to the EWI 5000. You can adjust a sound via software but you can’t save the changes to pass on to anyone else. Above all a sax sound is in my opinion impossible to imitate on an electronic instrument.
+Nachi Guttman Not on my channel. It would have been so much easier if Akai had properly finished the software so we could share sounds. Perhaps someone else reading this could help? The other consideration would be to look at a software instrument like Audio Modelling or a hardware synth like the Xpression.
Just recently I noticed when I change a setting on a patch….for instance if I change octave setting…it changes setting on every patch…what am I doing wrong?
Hi. Some of the settings in the menu are called ‘global’ meaning they affect every sound. If you want to edit just one sound you are best to use the editor app. Hope that helps.
+David Cantoni Hi. The bite control is a global setting. I think you can set the lip up and lip down for each individual sound which is the way it should be.
Compared to a real Sax the key noise is probably less. Some recordings you will hear have been done using the internal speakers which aren’t very loud so the mic has exaggerated the key noise I think.
First thing is to make sure the mouthpiece is securely fitted. There is a small notch that lines up the mouthpiece to the neck that sometimes, if the mouthpiece isn’t on correctly causes the mouthpiece to not seat all the way.
MP is fine. A few things going on here that are suspicious. UPC symbols on box are marked through in black marker. Unit was not in the plastic bag as in others units. Rod is clearly no where near the reed and would need to be bent over to touch it. Hence, no vibrato. I think I have a repacked lemon here. No confidence.
@@isax.academy Yes. It seems that the mp vibrato sensor is not well. I do want to have a good one as I could play well on this in half an hour. Saves my right ear from tinnitus and my neighbors from repetition!
@@isax.academy After having received my second Aerophone AE-10g I have to say I'm still disappointed. The quality control is terrible. Also there are only a few responsive sounds in it. The first few sax's are good but the altissimo is almost useless. It's too harsh and blowing less doesn't change that. Also, modern sax's have a high F# key. Why didn't they include a regular sounding F#? This is worse if you transpose to C (A-la C-melody sax) because you lose the high F! I got this expecting the Bass clarinet to be useful. The 2nd E (I believe) has a defect in the sample which sounds like the tone is fading in. Not much change in timber with breath either. There is no alto flute. You can play lower on the supplied flute but it is not the sound of an alto flute and I would not use it as such. The muted trumpet also is not dynamic in timber and you can't play some notes mellow. So why would I keep this expensive plastic thing? Well, it is quickly playable if you play sax but you must use outside VST's to get it to be satisfying. As a doubler I probably would not use this on a gig unless they fixed the Bass Clarinet, no Alto flute and bad muted trumpet issues. I don't think their quality control is very good or they just can't get even samples (or good players) collected. I also would not trust the buttons on this without a good insurance policy. If I keep this I have until Aug 10th to purchase an extended warranty. After having checked the instrument out I would highly suggest it. Alistair, have your buttons and screen held up so far? Sorry if critical but I'm being honest. Roland needs to learn from their mistakes. All the best and cheers.
I think upgrade 2.2 makes this adjustment more difficult. I hope you can make another video with firmware version 2.2. It seems we cannot do pitch bend and vibrato together anymore.... thank you.
+Jerrod Shack Did you make sure your mouthpiece is fully onto the instrument? Also you might need to increase the lip down setting on the Aerophone. I have mine around 64 with version 3 software.
@@isax.academy I can get the pitch bend to work, but it isn't even across the movement of the reed. With my normal embouchure, there's sort of a dead zone where I can move my lip down a fair bit and nothing happens. Then, when I get low enough for it to register, the pitch drops very quickly and uncontrollably. It makes it really hard to do vibrato that isn't super huge and wonky. The automatic bite control adjuster using the two octave key doesn't give me a very wide range between as tight as possible and as loose as possible. If I just blow air with 0 lip pressure, it'll set to about 50. When I set it with my embouchure as tight as it can get, I get about 58. Is that normal?
esse instrumento ainda precisa ser aperfeiçoado,na aparencia, precisa parecer um sax original em forma de um cachmbo,não um brinquedo do star wars.,a parte mecânica é horrivel, e os sons teria que poder fazer misturas,para o usuário criar os próprios timbres,ainda deixa muito a desejar.....
Hi Thomas. Please understand this video was done a few years ago and the AE-10 has had several huge updates since then. The version 3.11 does have the PitDown and Pit Up its after the EwndSens in the menu. However the way to set the bite sensor is now even easier than before. Have a look on the Roland support pages for a document called Notice of Added and Changed Function. You'll see the way to set this is now on a setting called BiteOfSet. You can still adjust the amount of pitch down but you won't get much out of pitch up I'm afraid. I hope that helps.
