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Using EWItool

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Stephen Merrony edited this page Dec 4, 2017 · 10 revisions

This page describes basic use of the EWItool. Detailed patch editing might get discussed on another page at some point... You should probably also take a quick look at KeyDifferences to see how EWItool differs from other patch editors.

Prerequisites

To run EWItool (version 2 and up) you must have an up-to-date version of Java (JRE) installed - plus an EWI4000s and a MIDI interface of course. If you are unsure whether you have Java installed you can quickly check as follows...

  1. Open a Command Prompt (Windows), Terminal (Mac), or Shell/Terminal (Linux) window

  2. Type java -version and hit enter/return. You should see something like this:

C:\Users\steve\Desktop>java -version
java version "1.8.0_66"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_66-b18)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.66-b18, mixed mode)

  1. You will need a minimum of version 1.8.0 Update 60 i.e. "1.8.0_60" to run EWItool successfully.

  2. If you are using OpenJDK version 8 then you will need to ensure that the optional OpenJFX package is also installed

  3. Macintosh OS X users only: due to a long-standing bug in Java on the Mac you must install at least version 0.4 of the CoreMidi4J library before attempting to use EWItool. See https://github.com/DerekCook/CoreMidi4J and click on the releases link for the download and simple instructions.

Download EWItool

The latest version may be downloaded from https://github.com/SMerrony/EWItool/releases

Testing, Gathering Bug Information

If you are helping to test a new version of EWItool, or reporting an issue, you should not start the program in the normal manner but rather from a command prompt or terminal window. Once you have the window open you must ensure you are in the same directory as the jar file and enter a command like this: java -jar EWItool_x_y.jar where x and y are major and minor version numbers. Testers should see something like this in the window...

DEBUG - EWItool version: 1.94
DEBUG - JVM Spec. 1.8 detected.  JRE version: 1.8.0_66
Debug - IN Port: MIDISPORT 4x4 In A
Debug - OUT Port: MIDISPORT 4x4 Out A
DEBUG - EPX: Got response 200 for connection test
DEBUG - EPX: Got response 200 for valid user test
DEBUG - EPX: Got response 200 for dropdownData request
DEBUG - Scratchpad: bytes read: 2060

Start EWItool

Normally you will start EWItool by simply clicking on its icon on the desktop, or selecting it from your desktop menu. Test releases should be run by clicking on the jar file you downloaded or by typing java -jar EWItool_x.y (where x.y is the version number) in the same place you have saved the jar file.

First Run

The first time you run EWItool you will need to tell it where you keep your Patch Set Library. This will be where EWItool stores your patch libraries, so you should probably start off by specifying an empty directory. Go to the Patch Set Library tab and select a directory using the Change button. Version 2 of EWItool uses the same format files as previous versions, so you can specify the same directory as for previous versions if you wish, or you could copy the old directory to a new location and specify that. The Scratchpad will not work until you have specified the Library location.

The next thing to do is to choose the MIDI ports you are going to use to connect to the EWI; go to the EWI menu and select MIDI Connections - that should be self-explanatory, but if you are on OS X you must choose the Core4Midi4J prefixed ports - using any others will prevent EWItool from communicating with your EWI.

Now you are ready to get going.

EWItool Terms and Concepts

A few things you might like to know before using the tool...

The Scratchpad

This holds any number of patches ready for (individual) insertion into the active EWI Patch Set, renaming, swapping with other via the Patch Exchange or viewing in hex. The Scratchpad is held on disk and saved every time it changes so you can resume work wherever you left off last session. Typical usage would be to copy patches from several of your patch sets or the EWI Patch Set into the Scratchpad, then paste them into the EWI patch set when you are happy with the collection.

Patch Set Library

The library contains your collection of Patch Sets.

Each patch set contains a number (usually 100) of patches and is stored on disk in the location you specified. The sets are stored in raw SysEx format (.syx) which I believe some other EWI software can use(!). Using the Import you can convert patch collections (a.k.a. 'soundbanks') in the EWI-specific .bnk or .sqs formats as a new Patch Set to work with in EWItool.

Current Patch Set

This represents the entire contents of your EWI. Because it lives in the EWI there is no concept of a name for this set. It is loaded by going to the EWI menu and selecting Fetch All Patches.

Typical Usage

Generally, the first thing you will do is go to the EWI menu and select Fetch All Patches. EWItool will attempt to load all patches from your EWI and you should see a progress indicator to show how things are going. On the author's system it takes about 11 seconds - this is mainly limited by the standard MIDI bandwidth so your transfer should take about the same time.

Now the EWI Patch Set is loaded EWItool will automatically switch to the Current Patch Set tab, click on the patch you are going to work on and choose Edit from the pop-up menu. At this point EWItool loads the patch into the EWI's (transient) edit buffer and switches to the the Current Patch Set tab. The Patch menu is now enabled. You can drag and drop the patch buttons on the Current Patch Set tab to reorder them (currently only swapping position is possible).

Changes you make on the editor will now be sent to the EWI as you make them, and most take immediate effect - some will require you to retrigger (i.e. tongue) a note.

At any point during the editing you can use Revert Edits to go back to the original settings.

Similarly, at any stage you can Copy to Scratchpad your patch onto the Scratchpad - where it will stay in its current state until you delete it.

Patches in the Scratchpad can be copied into the Current Patch Set by clicking on a button in the Current Patch Set and choosing from the Scratchpad drop-down and then hitting the Replace from Scratchpad button.

Finally - once you are happy with your altered sound, you can use Store to EWI to store it in the EWI. This overwrites the stored patch in the EWI with your new sound.

Once you have built up a new set of patches on the Current Patch Set tab you can create a new patch set with them by hitting the Save to Library button at the bottom of the tab. You will be prompted to provide a name for the new patch set which will then be stored on disk.

Menu Items

  • File
  • MIDI
    • Ports - This shows a panel where you can specify the MIDI ports to which your EWI4000s is connected. You must specify (and connect) both an In and Out port.
  • EWI
    • Fetch All Patches - This connects to the EWI and copies all the patches from the instrument into EWItool.
  • Patch - This menu is only available when you have a patch loaded into the EWI for editing.
    • Store to EWI - This will save the current (edited) patch into the EWI and into the EWI Patch Set. It doesn't get written to disk unless you export it, put it on the Scratchpad, or save the entire EWI Patch Set.
    • Revert Edits - Cancel all edits and go back to the patch as it was when loaded from the EWI.
    • Copy To Scratchpad - Put the current (edited) patch onto the Scratchpad.
    • Generate - Make a new sound...
      • Default Patch - a very simple tone
      • Random Patch - a very random sound. (Some sounds may not be playable or make any audible sound.)
    • Process - Apply operations to the current patch...
      • Make Dry - remove all chorus, delay and reverb
      • Maximise Volume - increase the output level of the patch as far as possible maintaining the relative amplitudes within the patch
      • Remove Noise - remove all white noise
      • Randomise by 10% - randomly adjust most parameters by up to 10%
      • Merge With... - mix the current patch 50:50 with another patch you select from the EWI Patch Set
  • Help
    • Online Help - Choosing this item will cause your computer to try to load this help page in your default web browser.
    • About EWItool - Here you will find the exact version number of the application - be sure to include this information in any issue reports.
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