YAMAHA EW 20 WIND JAMM’R WOODWIND – VINTAGE 1989 BLACK

Not too many people remember this one. Released in 1989 and primarily marketed to high school band students, the EW20 was a Yamaha MIDI wind controller and wind tone generator (a.k.a wind synth) combo set. Neither the EW20 tone generator nor the wind controller where sold separately. The EW20 was actually marketed and sold by Yamaha’s band instruments division and this probably has a lot to do with the fact that very few remember it.

The combo set was comprised of the Electronic Woodwind tone generator and a wind controller that was setup similarly to a recorder. Many people, including some from Yamaha, state the the EW20 tone generator is just a WT11 in a significantly less cool case. I have no way of knowing this for sure, but i do know that it was a basic Yamaha four op FM synth module.

The EW20 used a special controller cable to communicate with the tone generator. This cable/connector is NOT the same as the Yamaha WX connector (which in itself is a “special” connector), but rather a cable specific to just the EW20 rig. So if you run across one and consider buying it, definitely verify that the cable is working and in good condition. I’m sure the pin-out can be copied by someone but i would not want to go through the hassle. The EW20 tone generator does have MIDI in, out and thru. Because of this, you can certainly use the EW20 tone generator without the wind controller but keep in mind that you cannot hook a WX7, WX11 or WX5 directly into the EW20 tone generator. You would have to go through a BT7 or similar first and then output the MIDI.”