Why you should play A Wind Synth with Alistair Parnell

Do you "digi sax?" Should an Aerophone or EWI be part of your saxophone arsenal? And which is the best one to start with? This week we are discussing all this and more with the guy who consults with Roland on the Aerophone design, Alistair Parnell.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Discovering wind synths
02:50 - What is a wind synth?
03:50 - Different types of wind synth
05:50 - What will you use it for?
07:45 - Learning sax on a wind synth
09:28 - Travel and practice option
11:08 - Big players
13:35 - Roland models
17:00 - Alistair demos the AE30
22:45 - Developing your skills
25:05 - iSax Academy
27:15 - Choosing a wind synth
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[@ginohernandez5143]

Alistair is the Guru of the Aerophone and an amazing teacher. Thank you to both the Sax School and iSax!

[@adamdeem5526]

As a full time airline pilot and sax player, I always take my Aerophone Go on the road and it’s a great tool. It lets me work on patterns and learning tunes whenever my flight schedule allows at the hotel using headphones at any time of day. The other great thjng is changing to different sounds and the way it causes a shift in the mind to work different styles in a flute, trumpet, or synth lead and then bring the result back to the actual horn.

[@beckyn9338]

I know so little about the e-saxes. This was very interesting. Thanks!

[@alphabeets]

Got my AE-30 from Patchman Music in the US. They helped develop it.

[@noosweat7022]

As always Nigel great interview and content covered with Alistair. Keep up the awesome job!

[@larrywarr3954]

Great to see and hear you both. Played tenor for 40 years alongside keyboard. Moving house and practicing sax was out of the question. Now have an AE-20 and love it (apart from the sax sounds!) I agree with the idea of learning on a real sax. All the phrasing, articulation, reading ability, transfer so easily. Great podcast guys😊😊😊😊😊

[@bodhibeats8257]

Great interview and discussion! As a windsynth player who doesn’t play sax, I hope people will consider these things to be their own instruments and not only look to them for “practice” instruments or “doubling” horns, or a novelty. Of course wind synths are useful for these things - but they’re also capable of so much more! It’s unfortunate to me that most people buying these things will never give them their due as a proper instrument and will always think of them as “secondary.”Unfortunately (IMO), virtually all of the windsynths on the market cater heavily to woodwind players, and the result is a bunch of instruments that want to look and sound like a sax but can’t possibly compete with the real thing for learning to play sax. The manufacturers stuff their instruments mostly full of mediocre sample-based emulations of acoustic instruments. Even the synth sounds on most of these instruments are sample-based. I really wish some of the companies would focus on making a truly great *wind synth*, instead of focusing so hard to making something saxophone players will only play after their partner goes to sleep. Wind synths are synths, and synths are awesome. Let them be synths - you’ll be much happier than if you expect them to be a saxophone. 😁

[@45zapatero]

I am a guitarist who has never played a real windinstrument. I love my AE 30 !

[@45zapatero]

I often use it with SWAMsax however and I like the sounds I can get that wzy.

[@bodhibeats8257]

@@45zapatero Yeah, for sure! If you want acoustic emulations, the SWAM VSTs are as good as it gets! 😁

[@rebeccaabraham8652]

Fascinating! Always wanted to play sax - but I’ve been playing trad flute for the last 40+ years. Recently decided to take the plunge with an ‘inexpensive’ chinese instrument (an Irin S56) and within weeks I’d acquired an EWI5000. They’re both great instruments - if you play them for what they are and tremendous fun! Strangely - I still play the Irin S56 more than the Akai - because it’s more ‘accessible’ - pick it up, press one button and I have a breath controlled synth; if I’m really having fun - I connect it to either Dexed or OB-Xd and just ramble for hours!

[@Jaujau933]

Why not it's great fun !!!

[@saxcowboy]

Great info. I have the ae 20 and never used it. I also have 2 ewis. I like thecae 20 the best. I am inspired by this video and I will be trying to use it now and again on gigs. Thanks for inspiring me to get back to it. I play all saxes and flute on gigs and used to use ewi now and again bit the ae20 is my favorite.

[@unclemick-synths]

I love my AE-30 ❤

[@jellewils3974]

Don't forget Travel Sax as a silent practice sax with sax keywork

[@cheknfaks]

I love playing flute and sax but cannot afford one of these unfortunately.. maybe someday if the $$ comes down drastically.

[@rickg6293]

How do keep it from squeaking when changing octaves on the aerophone

[@unclemick-synths]

Practice is the best way though you can tweak some settings to reduce it (at some cost of responsiveness). Playing the AE has tightened-up some sloppy aspects up my sax playing.

[@rickg6293]

Thanks👍

[@45zapatero]

Adapt the key delay settings.

[@rickg6293]

@45zapatero thanks I'll give it a shot..that's the only problem I have with it

[@zabellesax]

Great interview, but there is no love for electronic sax from me I am afraid. There is nothing quite like holding a beautiful sax in your hands, for me its my Selmer tenor and hearing the beautiful sound come out (once your master your tone and stuff). Somehow One step beyond would not sound the same on on wind synth ;-) Its part of what keeps me playing and my love for sax, just picking it up, and the whole feel of it in my hands.

[@unclemick-synths]

I see them as different instruments. I almost never play the "realistic" sounds on my AE and especially not any sax sounds (I always pick up my saxophones instead). I'm a synth fan so that's the kind of sound I play on my AE.

[@bodhibeats8257]

Funny, I get that same feeling when I hold my NuRAD in my hands. 🤷‍♂️ As the previous commenter said, they’re different instruments. Expecting One Step Beyond to “sound the same” on a windsynth is a weird demand to place on it. Do you expect More Than Words to sound the same when played on an electric guitar as it does on acoustic? Probably not. Probably you would just pick the right instrument for the job and not expect acoustic and electric guitars to “sound the same.”

[@zabellesax]

​@@bodhibeats8257yes I understand, they are different and you would not play certain songs on it as they are different. I personally would not like one, as part of the thrill of playing sax is holding this beautiful I strument in my hands and the sound it makes. Many love the synths.

[@bodhibeats8257]

@@zabellesax Makes sense. I’m not trying to convince you that YOU should play a windsynth. You love the saxophone, and I respect that. I think I just want you to know that all the things you feel about your saxophone - the wonderful sound, the feeling of it in your hands, and so forth - are all things windsynth players are capable of feeling for their instruments, too. You say there’s “nothing quite like” holding your Selmer in your hands. But I have held a Selmer in my hands and a NuRAD in my hands and I’m here to tell you it’s possible to feel that kind of connection to both.