Electronic Wind Instruments (EWIs)—sometimes called digital saxophones—are exploding in popularity, being pitched as the perfect silent practice solution for saxophonists.

In this video, I explore whether these digital saxes really stack up against the real thing. We’ll dive into why they’re booming in the market, how they actually work (hint: they don’t replicate a real saxophone), and the common pitfalls beginners face if they rely on them for full-time practice. We’ll also look back at how the EWI was developed for performance, popularized by legends like Michael Brecker, and hear from a modern player who continues to push these instruments’ boundaries.

If you’re considering an EWI as a silent practice tool or just want to experiment with futuristic wind synthesis, this is the video for you!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

There’s something incredible happening in the sax world right now, but you could be forgiven for missing it entirely: electronic wind instruments (aka digital saxophones) have become massive.

I got a reminder of this a few months ago when I released a video reviewing a cheap, no frills EWI from Amazon, one of the many being sold on there.

As fate would have it, the company who made this EWI happened to discontinue it within days of me releasing my video, leading to some rightful confusion and frustration from my audience.

But that didn’t stop this review from becoming easily One of the most, if not the most successful video I’ve ever released - amassing over 200k views (?) in a little over a week.

So, should I simply trade in this old pile of junk and go all digital from here on out?

No - I’m never going to do that.

But that does still leave a major question - why are EWI’s becoming so popular, and is there a risk that some sax players - especially beginners - could be sabotaging their own technique just by practicing on one of these instruments?

If you’ve purchased or are thinking of purchasing an EWI this video is going to be a must watch so get comfy and lets dive in

THE PRACTICE DILEMMA (shhhhh!)

So, I ran a poll a couple of weeks ago to my YouTube subscribers asking those who had purchased or were thinking about purchasing an EWI what their primary motivation was.

Can you guess the number 1 answer?

Ok the title card probably gave it away, but it was practicing silently - and I gotta say, it wasn’t even close, with nearly 3/4 of respondents choosing this answer.

And of course that brings us to the central dilemma so many sax players face - how do I practice this instrument I love without annoying the neighbours?

(Guitarists and pianists just have it so easy, don’t they?)

Well the first, most obvious solution would be to find some sort of saxophone mute - after all they work great for brass players, so they should work for us right?

Well, don’t be so sure.

The reason why these bell mutes work so well on trumpet and trombone is because these instruments channel all their air out the bell.

A saxophone on the other hand, channels it’s air through it’s tone holes, which are located up and down the body of the sax. 

Therefore, putting a mute down the bell of the sax is going to do practically nothing to mute the tone, except for a couple of the very lowest notes.

It’s a topic I covered in detail in this video a few years ago - but unfortunately, there’s still enough of a misconception out there that these useless sax mutes still get sold widely on Amazon and eBay to poor, unsuspecting customers.

But fear not, because as it happens there is one kind of sax mute that does work, although it’s also not the kind of contraption most people will get too excited about.

These case style mutes have existed for quite some time, and they work by literally encasing the entire body of the saxophone as you play.

They come fitted with arm holes of course and you can either play with the mute around your neck, or fit the entire thing to a stand, if the weight and bulkiness become too uncomfortable.

Make no mistake, these mutes will work to reduce the volume of the sax - but at what cost?

So if we can’t mute the saxophone itself - at least, not easily - and we’re not keen on installing a purpose built practice booth in our house either - that leaves us with perhaps one other option…

A new type of sax entirely - a digital sax.

Yes, best as I can tell, the lure of silent saxophone practice is why these electronic instruments have become so popular - well that, and the cost of these instruments steadily becoming cheaper.

And I gotta say, I understand the impulse here.

When we face a challenge in our modern life, it’s natural for us to turn to technology - I mean, surely someone would have figured this problem out, right?

Well that brings us to our next topic:

Are digital saxophones, saxophones?

ARE DIGITAL SAXOPHONES SAXOPHONES?

The short answer is no - the term digital saxophone is just a marketing term to describe a MIDI wind controller, often referred to as an EWI - which have been commercially available since the 1980’s.

How they work is fairly simple - they register your finger inputs and pair them with your breath input to create a midi signal.

Your fingerings determine the pitch of the note, whilst your breath determines the attack, duration and volume of the note.

That midi signal containing that essential musical information can then be used to drive sounds out of a sound library turning it into virtually anything you like - a saxophone, a string ensemble, a synthesiser, the list f]goes on.

Let’s listen to the late, legendary saxophonist Michael Brecker talk about the EWI and the advancements that have been made to these instruments, remembering that this was recorded before his tragic passing all the way back in 2007.

[Brecker Interview]

Make no mistake - EWI’s can do some pretty incredible things, and we’ll hear some examples of that a little later on, but one thing they can’t do is replicate the true feeling of a saxophone.

Saxophones after all, are woodwind instruments and crucial to the saxophone is the interaction between your embouchure - your mouth shape - and the mouthpiece.

How you shape your embouchure and oral cavity drastically affects how the reed responds to your breath, which determines the sort of buzz that the mouthpiece creates, which in turn affects the tone and intonation of your saxophone.

Just to be absolutely clear - this is something that no manufacturer has yet been able to replicate in a EWI - making it impossible to use one of these instruments to practice your embouchure.

Yes, even the digital saxophones that look a bit like real saxes with brass bells, real saxophone keywork, or lookalike sax mouthpieces - even those don’t scratch the surface of replicating the feel of a real saxophone.

Believe me when I say that not just my opinion, its a plain fact. 

Of course, this leads to a major problem - of all the techniques most crucial to a sax players development - it is the embouchure and breath control - that is the most important - and that’s precisely what’s missing on an EWI.

Can that lead to some bad habits being formed? Absolutely - and we’ll talk about that in just a moment.

But its here where the brands themselves have quite a bit to answer for, because they’re doing everything they can to convince you that the EWI is in fact the perfect stand in for a saxophone when you want to practice silently. 

Take a look at these statements from Roland about their Aerophone line:

"The sound of the saxophone, has captivated music lovers of all ages, and many people would love to play one—although it’s not always easy.

Noise levels make it difficult to practice at home, particularly at night. And staying motivated is hard when your practice time is limited or you can’t find a place to play. Roland’s Aerophone GO is a digital wind instrument that solves all these problems."

The paragraph goes on to talk more about the instruments features, before concluding: 

"If you’ve always wanted to play the saxophone (or flute, clarinet, and many more) Aerophone GO gives you everything you need to start…and keep on going."

Although this serves to illustrate my point, at least Roland stops short of convincing you that their instrument feels and responds as if you were playing an acoustic instrument.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Yamaha. Let’s hear their pitch for the YDS-150

"Blowing into the mouthpiece resonates through the entire instrument—a vibration you can feel in your lips, fingertips, and even your heart. An Integrated Bell Acoustic System, created by the fusion of acoustic and digital technologies, delivers an incredibly authentic, gorgeous sound that even feels and responds as if you were playing an acoustic instrument."

In fact, the entire product page for the YDS-150 seems to be at pains to convince you that it can accurately replicate the sound and feel of a real acoustic saxophone - a claim that Jay Metcalf completely blew out of the water during his review over on the Better Sax channel.

With wild claims such as this by some really trusted brands in the industry, as well as online stores flogging saxophone mutes which they know can’t possibly work by design - it’s no wonder that beginners are left bewildered by what their options are for silent saxophone practice - if there  actually are any.

Now of course there might be some people watching right now thinking I’m being a little bit harsh towards digital saxophones.

As long as we’re aware of their limitations,what if there actually can be a place for digital saxes in a sax players practice arsenal?

Let’s find out.

PRACTICING SAX… DIGITALLY

As a professional sax player and teacher for almost 20 years I sometimes have to just take a second to just put myself back in the shoes of a beginner.

Make no mistake, mastering your embouchure is absolutely key to playing the saxophone, but alongside that are also a range of other important skills that you’ll also need to develop.

Things like reading sheet music, playing rhythms accurately, learning fingerings, reading pitches - all of these aspects of playing the saxophone also require attention.

And perhaps its here, where a digital saxophone can really shine.

To dig in more I invited SaxTuition student Brodie to chat about his experience using the travel sax alongside his “real” saxophone and how that helped him to both practice silently and still take his sax practice on the road when we was travelling for his job.

[Interview]

Quick plug here guys - having a portable instrument is only half the solution to being able to practice on the go, if you really want to learn the saxophone on your schedule whenever or wherever that is, you also need to take your lessons with you - and that’s where the courses at SaxTuition.com really come in!

If you’re starting the sax from scratch and you want to learn all of the essential techniques, like every note across the normal range, how to get a great tone and how to read sheet music effortlessly, check out the Beginner Series - which will teach you all of this and more in only 12 lessons.

Or, if you’ve got the basics down pat already and you’re stuck in that frustrating zone we call the intermediate trap, where no matter how much you practice you can’t seem to sound like the legendary sax players you love - check out my latest course Supercharged Saxophone.

That course is all about developing the perfect practice routine to give you the maximum transformation from every minute you have on the sax.

You’ll unlock advanced techniques like overtones and altissimo and most importantly of all - play great jazz, blues and R&B tunes with a live band.

If either of these courses sound right for you, I’ll leave links with more information in the description below, or you can simply head on over to www.SaxTuition.com

UNLEASHING THE EWI

Now I know from the stats that most people watching this video are clearly not looking to use an EWI as a performance tool - but I couldn’t make a video about EWI’s without sharing what I think is still at the heart of these instruments, what inventor Nyle Steiner had in mind when he designed the EWI in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Remember, the 70’s was an incredible time for music production and synthesisers were at the forefront of this revolution - creating some wild and unearthly sounds that frankly, no one had heard before.

Steiner, who by his own admission was not a strong keyboard player - wanted a way to tap into this sonic power using his skills on the trumpet - so the EVI was born - an electronic instrument that used the same 3 valve design of the trumpet.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before woodwind players wanted in on the action - and that’s why Steiner’s next invention was the EWI.

After Steiner licensed the design to AKAI the EWI was suddenly in the hands of sax players, and one in particularly who was arguably the single most important proponent of this instrument - none other than Michael Brecker.

Brecker, who was known for pushing sonic boundaries with his group the Brecker Brothers and the jazz fusion Superband Steps Ahead, introduced the EWI to these groups, as well as his own solo albums which brought the instrument much closer to the mainstream - pairing his unparalleled virtuosity with a deep interest in the instruments capabilities - let’s take a listen:

[Brecker clip]

Now casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that the EWI simply had it’s day already - but in fact, even now, saxophone artists from all over the world are continuing to perform and record on this instrument, and look for new ways to harness its full sonic potential.

Let’s listen to Australian based saxophonist and my personal friend Gemma Farrell talk about her journey on the EWI, and also - some of the incredible music that’s being made on this instrument - even today.

And by the way if you’re interested in checking out Gemma’s latest album “Electronic” which features the EWI thoughout I’ll put a link in the description below:

[Gemma package]

FINAL THOUGHTS

So until now, I’ve not really shared too many of my personal thoughts on the EWI - so here they are.

If you’re an absolute beginner and you want to learn the saxophone silently - the EWI is not a perfect solution despite what some companies will tell you - but the truth is, there is no perfect solution.

The saxophone, by design, was never meant to be muted, so if you do want to use an EWI for silent practice, make sure you’re aware of it’s limitations and that you regularly check in with a real sax, to ensure that you’re still developing your embouchure and breath support as you go along.

In terms of the specific models to look out for, I would try to get something that has the closest key layout and ergonomic feel to a real sax that you possibly can.

On the more affordable end of the scale you’ve got the Yamaha YDS-120 (which in many ways is superior instrument to the more expensive 150) and the Roland Aerophone Go. Each of these will set you back around $500 USD.

For a couple hundred more, you can look at the ultra portable Travel Sax 2 - or, for the ultimate replication of saxophone ergonomics, the EMEO - which features real saxophone parts - springs, rods, pads and all.

That instrument will set you back around $1500 USD.

Of course, this is all to say nothing of the dozens of low cost EWI’s currently flooding Amazon.

In my review of the Vangoa S55, an EWI you could pick up at one time for only $66, I remarked that while you could never use this simple instrument as a practice tool, it was a fun and inexpensive way to dip your toes in the MIDI waters and just go wild with experimentation.

Plus, if you count yourself as a MIDI composer and you needed a breath sensor to breathe some life into your orchestrations, this inexpensive little EWI could do just the trick - potentially saving you several hundred dollars.

With all the renewed interest in EWI’s, I hope newcomers to the sax world take a moment to really understand how these instruments work, and what their capabilities and limitations truly are.

Plus, this is also a great opportunity to dive into the often overlooked world of EWI performance.

With all the movies and tv show soundtracks out there that feature the EWI, chances are these little known instruments have been under your nose for a very long time.

So what’s your experience of EWI’s been like, or do you have a burning question that wasn’t answered in this video?

Make sure to leave those thoughts and questions in the comments section below.

Now - do you want to check out that review of this ultra-budget Amazon EWI? You can watch that right here.

Or, are you new to the saxophone world and wondering what you need to know before you start your first lesson? 

You’re going to want to check out this video.

Don’t forget I’ve got great courses on learning the saxophone over at SaxTuition.com so head on over because chances are we’ve got the perfect course just for you.

Well thanks so much for watching guys, and I’ll see you all again soon!