Akai UNIQUEST 4000S User Manual
20 November 2005
UniQuest for EWI
4000s
Quick Start
Thank you and congratulations on your choice of the Akai Professional EWI
4000s Electric Wind Instrument. While the EWI 4000s is equipped with a
sophisticated on-board Analog Modeling Synthesizer, UniQuest expands on
this feature by giving you remote access to all sound parameters from a
connected Mac or PC computer. In addition to complete real-time editor
functions, UniQuest for EWI 4000s also serves as a back-up and
organizational tool to save and catalog your EWI 4000s sound creations. The
editor will also display any notes you play on your EWI 4000s in real-time.
1.0 Getting Ready: Instructions
UniQuest uses MIDI System Exclusive messages to communicate with your EWI
4000s. This means you’ll need to make certain connections before you install and
run the software for the first time. Here we will explain the steps you need to take.
Although the illustrations are PC Windows XP based, these instructions also apply
to Mac OS X users.
System Requirements
Minimum requirements are a Mac G4 with 256 MB of Ram, or a Pentium III with
512 MB of RAM. As everybody knows, faster is better.
You will also need a MIDI interface. fortunately, these can be purchased for under
$50 these days.
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Getting Ready: Instructions
Your computer requires one free MIDI In port and one free MIDI Out port to run
UniQuest. Please ensure that your MIDI interface is installed correctly and that all
filtering options (especially ones that affect System Exclusive) are disabled.
Make sure your hardware instrument is properly connected to your computer. Twoway (duplex) MIDI communication is essential to the UniQuest software's installation & operation. You will need to connect two MIDI cables between your computer’s MIDI interface and your instrument as follows:
Ok, this one is pretty obvious. Still, better safe than sorry...
Here’s where you install the UniQuest software from the CD that shipped with your
EWI 4000s. You can also download the software free of charge from the Akai Professional Website (www.akaipro.com). The download will be archived as a zip file.
When you run UniQuest for EWI 4000s for the first time, you will be prompted to
choose the MIDI In port that the software will use:
Click on the Ye s button to open the MIDI In Ports dialog - Here you will select the
actual MIDI port that connects to your EWI 4000s.
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Getting Ready: Instructions
You may have noticed that some of UniQuest for EWI 4000s’ dialogs, menu bars
and icons have the words ‘Midi Quest’ in them. This is to be expected, since
UniQuest for EWI 4000s is built on technology developed by Sound Quest Music
Software (www.squest.com). This instrument will also available as an included
instrument module for users of Sound Quest’s Midi Quest & Midi Quest XL products in the near future.
You should now see the following choices in the Midi In Ports Dialog:
In this illustration, there are 2 MIDI In ports to choose from - Your system will
show whatever MIDI ports it has available. For best results when you are using
other MIDI processing programs in conjunction with UniQuest, your MIDI interface should have multi-client drivers. If you do not see any ports here, your MIDI
interface drivers are not correctly installed and will need correction before you can
proceed. When you have selected the MIDI In you want, please click ‘Ok’ to proceed.
When you run UniQuest for the first time, you will also be prompted to choose the
MIDI Out port that the software will use:
Click on the Ye s button to open the MIDI Out Ports dialog - Here you will select the
actual MIDI port that connects to your EWI 4000s.
You should now see your connected MIDI interface ports as choices in this Dialog
(your system will have different MIDI ports available): Please select the port you
have connected to your EWI 4000s’ MIDI in and click Ok.
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 3 of 44
Getting Ready: Instructions
UniQuest will now open. On Windows XP you will see an Application window that
contains the Studio Window:
On Mac OS X you will see the Application menu and the Studio Window:
The studio window contains the EWI 4000s instrument module: This is the main
interface used to transfer sound data between your EWI 4000s and the software.
The Instrument Module (Windows XP)
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Getting Ready: Instructions
The Instrument Module (Mac OS X)
We’ll now explore the main controls of the instrument module.
• The Instrument Graphic: More than just a pretty picture, this graphic of the
EWI 4000s can be single-clicked to give the instrument module focus, and can
be double-clicked to upload (or get) the currently selected data from the instrument.
• The Set List: This control allows you to choose the EWI 4000s data component
you wish to work with, such as Preset, Preset Bank or a more complex grouping
of components called a Set. On installation, the Set List will have ‘Default Set’
selected as shown above.
• The Action Bar: This bar contains three mini-buttons labeled GET, NEW and
OPEN. When you click on one of the mini-buttons, it will act on the currently
selected Set List component. For example, to ‘get’ the preset bank from your
EWI 4000s, select ‘Preset Bank’ in the Set List and click on the GET mini-button
within the Action Bar.
• The Configuration Mini-Button: This mini-button sets the MIDI Port, SysEx
ID, MIDI Channel and other properties of the currently selected component in
the Set List. When ‘Default Set’ is selected in the Set List, this button sets the
default properties of all the components.
We’ll get more into the instrument module’s settings later on in this document. For
now, it’s important that you configure the module to use the correct MIDI in and out
ports (if you have selected more than one in step 5) and to configure the module to
communicate on the same MIDI and SysEx channels as your EWI 4000s - If this is
not done correctly, UniQuest will not work.
When UniQuest is run for the first time, it searches for your EWI 4000s and sets the
correct MIDI Ports and SysX channel in the instrument module automatically. This
process is called AutoSense, and it should not take more than a few seconds if you
have selected only one or two MIDI In and Out ports (back in Step 5).
If you have selected a single MIDI in and MIDI out port, you may not see the AutoSense dialog because it opens and closes too fast to you to notice. On the other hand
if you have selected 8 ins and 8 outs (from a multi-port MIDI interface for example), AutoSense could take longer than 5 seconds to complete.
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 5 of 44
Getting Ready: Instructions
The AutoSense dialog is shown here:
If the AutoSense procedure cannot detect your instrument’s settings, you will need
to make sure your Midi Interface drivers are installed correctly and that all cables
are connected as per the diagram in Step 2. Make sure the output of your computer
is connected to the input of the EWI 4000s (and vice-versa). Also ensure that no
SysEx filtering is enabled on your MIDI interface.
Although UniQuest will now have detected the correct MIDI Ports and SysX Channel used by your EWI 4000s, you still need to set the MIDI channel manually:
To open the default settings dialog for the instrument module, make sure that the
‘Default Set’ is selected in the Set List and then click on the Configuration minibutton.
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Getting Ready: Instructions
This will open the default Settings Dialog for the EWI 4000s instrument module :
The Port and SysX (Comm) Channel settings will already have been set in this dialog by the AutoSense procedure. This means that the Port In and Port Out settings
controls will be set to the same MIDI ports that AutoSense discovered your EWI
4000s connected to. Likewise, the Comm Ch will be set to the SysEx communication channel that your EWI 4000s used to respond to the AutoSense message.
By default, the EWI 4000s is configured to use Comm Ch 0 and MIDI Ch 1.
UniQuest is also configured to these values by default, so everything will be set correctly unless you plan to set your EWI 4000s to a different MIDI channel.
The SysEx ID (Comm Ch) used by your EWI 4000s is related to its currently
selected MIDI channel as follows: A MIDI channel setting of 1 equals a SysEx ID
setting of 0, a MIDI channel setting of 2 equals a SysEx ID setting of 1, and a MIDI
channel setting of 3 equals a SysEx ID setting of 2, and so on. You must set the
Comm Ch to be 1 less than the MIDI Channel in UniQuest’s settings for the software to work properly!
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 7 of 44
Getting Ready: Instructions
Now you will find out if UniQuest is correctly configured by uploading (or getting)
the Internal Preset Bank from your EWI 4000s. This test is also an essential operation since you’ll need to protect these sounds from accidents while you learn to use
your new editor software.
1. Select ‘Preset Bank’ with the Set List control...
2. Click on the ‘Get’ mini-button...
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Getting Ready: Instructions
3. The Preset Bank uploads from your EWI 4000s in about 12 seconds.
4. The Uploaded Data Opens As A Bank Editor Window (Windows XP)
Congratulations! You have just successfully installed UniQuest EWI 4000s and
configured the software to work with your EWI 4000s.
Please save the set you have just uploaded by selecting File : Save EWI 4000s Preset Bank from the UniQuest application menu. UniQuest will save this data as a file
on your computer’s hard drive, and you are now free to explore the sounds you have
just transferred to UniQuest by stepping through the bank entries and auditioning
each one.
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 9 of 44
Getting Ready: Instructions
1.1 Exploring the Bank Editor Window
You can now explore each of the sounds you have uploaded by clicking on an entry
in the bank window. When you do this, the sound data will be downloaded through
MIDI to the EWI 4000s temporary editing buffer, allowing you to audition the current selection. This will not overwrite any of the EWI 4000s presets, so it is completely safe to do.
More interestingly, you can also split the Bank Editor window to see the current
preset loaded into the Virtual Instrument Interface editor. This is achieved by pressing the Bank Editor Window’s Editor-Split button, which has the icons of 3 faders
and two knobs on it:
1.1.1 The Split Bank Window
Once the Bank Editor has been split, you can edit the Bank in the left side, and edit
the current preset in the right side:
If you have not yet selected a preset, nothing will be shown on the right side of the
split.
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Getting Ready: Instructions
Selecting a preset by clicking on it loads the Editor into the right side of the split:
You are free to experiment as much as you like - Just remember to save the changed
bank file under a new name. Otherwise, you will overwrite the backup you just
made!
In the next section we will explain how UniQuest works in greater detail, and will
also explore the Preset Editor’s Virtual Instrument Interface.
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 11 of 44
A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s
2.0 A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s
Getting the most from UniQuest requires a few adjustments in how you relate to
your hardware instrument. In the past you have no doubt worked entirely "in-place"
within the confines of your instrument's internal memory, which means permanently overwriting an existing sound before being allowed to listen to another.
In typical hardware instruments, the presets are organized into banks which are
stored in ‘permanent’ memory which is either battery powered (in older instruments) or Flash RAM (in modern instruments). Simply put, this kind of memory is
rewritable but does not get erased if you unplug the instrument. Typical hardware
instruments also have an ‘editing buffer’ where the currently selected preset is
loaded for editing and auditioning. This memory is temporary - It depends on the
instrument remaining powered up. If you turn off the power, the editing buffer will
be erased.
When you load a preset, you are actually copying it to the editing buffer. Similarly,
When you save a preset, you are saving the contents of the editing buffer back to the
preset bank - The destination location is up to you. This mechanism allows you to
move presets around in the bank by shuffling them through the editing buffer, but it
has a number of drawbacks. Firstly, there is only a limited amount of space in the
bank so moving presets always means overwriting others. Secondly, it’s a tedious
and difficult procedure to move blocks of presets around this way, and most importantly, there is a large possibility for confusion and mistakes, which could cause you
to lose the sound data you are trying to manage and protect! UniQuest eliminates
this situation, as we will now see.
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A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s
With UniQuest, you upload your EWI4000s preset bank to your computer, where it
can be safely backed up to your hard drive. Then you are free to edit, audition, step
between sounds, reorganize your banks and create searchable sound libraries with
complete security and ease. You are never forced to erase useful sounds to make
room for new ones with UniQuest.
Once you have ‘Gotten’ the Preset Bank from your EWI 4000s, you can save it to
your computer’s hard drive and that’s it - Your entire preset bank is now backed up.
Each time you click on a preset inside the currently open bank editor window, the
preset is loaded for editing on your computer while a copy of the preset’s data is
sent to the EWI4000s’ editing buffer so you can hear the sound change as you edit
the preset’s parameters.
Unlike a hardware instrument, when you step to the next preset, the changes you
made in the editor are stored in the bank window - They are not lost. This lets you
step through your bank editing presets as you go. You can also swap entries by dragand-drop operations and can copy and paste presets between different bank editor
windows and no permanent memory location on your EWI 4000s will be
changed.
The only time UniQuest will change the Preset Bank that resides in your EWI
4000s’ permanent memory, is when you ‘Put’ the current bank you are editing back
into the EWI4000s. Then, the EWI 4000s’ internal preset bank will become a copy
of the bank editor window.
UniQuest for EWI 4000s 13 of 44
A Quick Tour of UniQuest For EWI 4000s
2.1 Working with Single Presets
If you only want to edit a single preset, UniQuest for EWI4000s has two components designed for this task: Preset and Preset Edit Buffer:
When either of these components are selected within the Instrument Module’s SetList, UniQuest will Get, New, Open or Put a single Preset depending on which
mini-button you press.
In the case of the Preset component, the choice of preset number within the EWI
4000s internal bank is set by pressing the configuration mini-button. The default is
(Pch# 1), which is the first preset in the internal preset bank.
In the case of the Preset Edit Buffer component, the preset data that is currently
being auditioned by the EWI 4000s in the Edit Buffer is what UniQuest will get or
put. This component lets you browse through your EWI 4000s’ internal bank with
the program up and down keys on the instrument and upload the current one for single preset editing whenever you like. The revised sound can then be saved on your
computer’s hard drive and can also be saved to the EWI 4000s bank memory by
performing the Program Save routine on the instrument.
Now it’s time to explore the Preset Editor’s Graphical User Interface and explain
the EWI 4000s synthesizer parameters found there.
2.2 The Preset Editor Window
Whenever you upload, open or create a new EWI 4000s preset with UniQuest, the
Preset Editor Window will open. Likewise, whenever you are working with an EWI
4000s preset bank and split the window, you will be accessing the Preset Editor
through the right side of the Bank Window. Every processing section of the EWI
4000s synthesizer and effects architecture is represented here, with real-time controls that let you tweak, test and audition the final results as if your EWI4000s was
equipped with a separate front panel desktop console.
All edits made from this window are instantly downloaded to the EWI 4000s' editing buffer (temporary memory).
14 of 44 UniQuest for EWI 4000s
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