Carry On Digital Wind Instrument White

This is an amazing instrument for the price. Not sure why folks are complaining. I have an Akai EWI (electronic woodwind instrument) that costs four times as much, is five times harder to use, will not work stand alone, and does not sound any better. In short the "carry on" is a fantastic product. If you know woodwind keying (which I do) you can pick it up and play in 5 minutes, otherwise you will need to learn the notes as you would a recorder. It is about as easy to learn. The "carry on" can be used alone with no other sound or midi device. Alone, it is just as loud as a typical recorder. It plays 3 octaves and it has maybe 7 distinct instrument sounds (e.g., a recorder, trumpet, clarinet, sax, and oboe). You can easily link it to any small external speaker (with a small phono plug). I use it with a Bose and a Sony small speakers designed for i-phones/ipads, and the sound fills up a large room. I also link it (with an adapted guitar cord) to a small guitar amp and I can add reverb and easily fill a small recital hall. While not a true professional instrument it comes pretty close. It is at least as good or better than a regular recorder or Irish whistle or a mid price EWI (costing $500). One of the best features is that the carry on has built in Bluetooth that you can link to "MIDI" based apps. Once I figured out where to look on the app, it took me 1 minute to link it to all of the music software on my IPAD (i.e., garage band, music studio, cubasis, sample tank). For example in Garage Band, you click on the "gear wheel" setting button (top right for the screen), then go to advanced, and after you turn on the instrument's bluetooth, it shows up below the garage band's "bluetooth midi device". Once you link it, it plays on garage band just as easily as the built in keyboard. After you link the carry on to any of your IPAD (or computer) apps you can make use of all of the built in sounds in your software. For example, using garage band on my Ipad (which I also linked to the above speakers or amp for concert level volume) I now have access to all the garage band sounds like guitar, piano, flute, and drum kit. With the music studio app (including the woodwind add on pack) I have access to over 125 different sounds including 25+ different woodwinds, which sound just about as good as any high end EWI instrument. Voila, with this $95 instrument (and your Ipad or iphone) and small speaker or guitar amp) you have a semi professional EWI instrument for fun and possibly even playing in public. This "EWI" offers a whole new way of playing that goes well beyond the built in IPAD key board or even an external keyboard. And this carry on is the best entry level access to the world of electronic MIDI music to all of us who are woodwind players. So this is now my favorite instrument. You will have almost no learning curve if you previously played, clarinet, flute, recorder or sax. And if you played none of these before, there is no easier way to get started in the new world of digital woodwinds as a complement to your other instruments.

Edit: To anyone having similar issues with velocity always being 100% no matter how hard you blow through this, the breath intensity is transmitted separately on channel 1, and it takes some extra configuration, but it does work. Original review below. I've changed my opinion on this device, somewhat. I still VERY much dislike that this does not work with Windows without workarounds, however I have found that with a CME Widi Bud Plus, this will actually become usable in my DAW (FL Studio 21) AND it actually pairs properly to the Widi Bud Plus. There is a problem, though, and that's that this always outputs 100% velocity, though that may be an issue with the midi over bluetooth device that I'm using, as when I connected this to FL Studio Mobile, the velocity came through properly, so that will not affect my rating. My rating is affected, however, by the fact that I had to buy a device that costs as much as this instrument just to use it with my computer. A standalone app from Blackstar that allowed this to pair and become available as a midi controller to my PC would resolve a majority of complaints I have about this item. And while I would dismiss the compatibility problem if it was just me not seeing something in the marketing materials, there are two features that are clearly stated on the pictures and product page: that this can do midi over USB (it can't) and that this can work with a PC (unless you have a device that automatically pairs with this instrument and then pretends to be a USB midi controller, like I do, no, it does not work with PC). The manual included with the item even lists just iOS and Apple products in the types of systems you can connect this too, in spite of what the product page says. This costs it a star. On to the good stuff: I love the feel of this. It's plastic, but the plastic is fairly rigid, and the surface feels good, like a decent entry level or middle priced electronic device. The buttons, the inputs, it all feels good. It's not heavy, but it doesn't feel flimsy either. It's very pleasurable to mess around with this intrument, and the ability to set the volume to 0 bypasses the requirement to plug in a fake 3.5mm audio jack to get this to stop outputting through the speaker, which is an issue I've seen in other similar products. Props for that. I've always wanted to get into learning a woodwind, and this item, so far at least, inspires a lot of motivation to look up some videos and practice some things. It's a very pleasant digital instrument, and much more reasonably priced than the offerings by Roland and Akai (though those are definitely superior). Original review: I bought this to use as a midi controller for my DAW. I use FL Studio, which does not yet support Midi over Bluetooth, but there are workarounds I can use. Long story short: this device does not support Windows. It can pair with iPads, it can pair with Macs, but it cannot pair with a Windows based PC. Pairing it results in it immediately disconnecting and behaving as though it is paired but disconnected permanently. No workaround will work if this thing can't handle connecting to Windows, and yes, I was using a bluetooth 5.0 dongle just like the manual said, and yes, I tried both with and without the Korg BLE Midi driver installed, and yes, I tried LoopMidi, and MidiBerry, and no, I couldn't get this thing to do anything but stay in a paired/disconnected state. I even tried multiple bluetooth dongles. That aside, this was pleasant to play, though it lacks legato. The tones are ok. They're not great. As a recorder, this is decent, but the midi controller portion, the part that makes this product go from $10 to $70+? Doesn't work with either my or a majority of computers in the market. So since this device is missing over 60% of its value in functionality, this gets one star.

I am an absolute beginner at recorder, and I appreciate how the whole apartment building doesn't have to hear me play (I got this for the headphone jack alone!) It's also a lot easier on this device to hit some of the high notes that require you to partially cover holes. It is slightly less satisfying than playing a real recorder, because there is less of a visceral connection to the sound, but that is going to be the case with any cheap MIDI instrument.

I knew the limitations and potential failings when I bought this, and yet I still did. My only purposes with this toy are to help me with breath control and my fingering speed, strength, and accuracy while I learn to read music and play the Soprano & Tenor recorders; so I don't annoy my wife overly much while I practice when she's home. I expect that it shall perform those functions adequately. The headphone jack and volume controls are nice, as they prevent anyone near you from hearing the godawful note transitions coming from this instrument shaped object. Do not expect to play anything more complicated than elementary notes, scales, and songs, sloooowly and accurately; this fits my particular use-case to build particular muscle memories and strengths. This device apparently uses Bluetooth 5.0 to connect with Windows, but not for pairing with a headset or earbuds... that's a sad missed opportunity. A suitable BT5 usb dongle can be had for $10, so no biggie. Maybe I'll get one and see how it works with BandLab / CakeWalk. 3hrs battery life is pretty sad, actually. This should use rechargeable 18650 or something so you could drop i a new one like a flashlight or eCig. A round shape would have been nice as well, to give a more natural feel. The R&D department could have expanded their capacitive sensing field a bit to give the same effect of lowering a finger over a real hole. A faster processor could have helped alleviate the quite noticeable 'lag-splat' when playing at even a low-normal speed. For an electronic recorder (ok, electronic wind instrument), it's weird to me that there are , what, 3 different saxophone voices and each can be shifted up/dn +/- 12 tones? That is overkill. Just give me/us 2 great sounding voices: one each for soprano and alto recorders (selectable by major key), and the +/- 12 tones. I/we don't need or want 8+ different duck-sounds. aaaarrrrgh!!! /rant Pros: Headphone jack Volume control (and even MAX isn't loud!!) Transpose -12 to +12 tones 10 robo-voices to choose from Can play "Soft Kitty" on it Apparently it's a MIDI controller good for developing breath control and should be helpful in working through that drowning feeling one gets when one is NOT out of breath... sheesh. Everyone now knows that Mary had a little lamb. Cons: Don't even bother with rolling, trilling, or slurring; no smooth transitions from one note to another - go staccato or go home; legato is not welcome here it seems. The "Good, Bad, and the Ugly" theme is mostly just Bad and Ugly on this. lag-splat between notes The 'holes' could have better, more natural indentation - but helps develop accuracy? Can't rotate the bell / foot-joint / C/C# holes for comfort. drowning feeling faster - maybe good for breath training? Overall I am satisfied and this purchase meets my expectations, but next time I'm just getting an Aulos C-Tenor Blockflöte Symphony 511B ...and now ya know...

I have video of me playing this on YouTube (Bacon420) and I love it. I can play in any key without the easy transpose button, but for a beginner that makes it possible to play along with any song you hear! Not a big fan of the onboard instruments and the lack of an octave key to get the lower and upper octave quickly. I could never get the bluetooth to work, but figured the delay would be too annoying any way. The breath settings make it even easier for a novice, and once you go to level 3 it becomes far more dynamic. I would recommend this to classrooms of kids! It is so much more fun than a standard recorder, and doesn't ever go flat or sharp if you blow too soft or hard!

Short Version -No Windows support at all -Will not work as a midi controller for most applications -Speaker hums when idle so you cant really record on high quality Mics with a lot of extra post work -$99 its to much for what was advertised -Can't connect over USB Long Version I am a both a software developer and a experience Woodwind Player. I had hoped to use this as an alternative to using a keyboard as a midi controller but wants the product arrived I realized very quickly that this was a waste of money and the Week I spent trying to get it to work over my Linux and Windows Laptop. I tried many different tools like Loop Midi , LMMS , Qtractor , and MuseScore. On Windows I can connect over Bluetooth for 5 seconds before it disconnects. Showing as paired but not connected. Don't trust niche product without a proper support trail or strong Community. I have a lot of unique problems and I should have just got the dang Piano

I love this little EWI. Compact, intuitive recorder fingerings, compatibility with Bluetooth MIDI (on my Windows device). The all black model is so esoteric - you pull it out and no one knows what you've got. It blows minds! Functionally identical to the Ta Horng Elefue that sells for much more. A steal at this price. Don't even get me started on some of the more expensive EWIs I've owned from those brands you know.

First of all, I'll stop with the bad things. The trumpet is Super Nintendo quality, some of the instruments are clearly MIDI, and out of the three saxophone sounds, only number 6 is good. Also, it is easy to play a wrong note. But it has a nice adjustable volume, and the flute/recorder/penny whistle sounds are very high quality. So I find this to be a good training wheel to an acoustic instrument, but generally would not recommend this as a replacement-but it is fun to jam on.

Ottimo prodotto. L'abbiamo preso per nostra figlia a cui piace suonare il flauto dolce. Ma doveva scegliere orari per suonarlo. Invece con questo flauto elettronico con le cuffie, può suonare quando vuole. è molto soddisfatta.

So simple to operate and play. A great, fun instrument with much to offer for everyone, from beginners to experienced recorder players such as myself. Tremendous value for money, especially compared to the so called 'entry level' electronic wind instruments from the big name makers. It's less than a third of the price and a fraction of the size and weight, yet offers proper recorder fingering, which is so important when learning. There's also the 'simple fingering' option, which really is very simple and would be easy for any woodwind player to pick up. This gives you a fully chromatic three octave range, which can then be transposed a further octave up or down. Being totally self contained and so easily portable, I can see it becoming my favourite instrument for taking away with me, or simply sitting and playing for my own personal enjoyment. Having said all this, the on-board sounds aren't that great, although I quite like the 'clarinet' and 'bamboo flute' offerings, and the sound from the tiny inbuilt speaker could be better. Sounds good through headphones though, with the added advantage of not disturbing anyone and being able to practise with no-one else hearing all your mistakes. Pairs effortlessly over Bluetooth with a simple touch of a button, even on my ageing Android tablet. There is a little latency, which I found just about acceptable and worth getting used to, simply to open up all the possibilities of MIDI, DAWs, etc.

Bien dans l’ensemble

Ich spiele hobbymäßig Blockflöte und habe nach einem Instrument gesucht, auf dem ich ohne große Umgewöhnung auf Reisen leise üben kann. Der schon seit ein paar Jahren erhältliche re.corder von ARTinoise bietet zwar prinzipiell diese Möglichkeit. Er hat mich jedoch wegen seines umständlichen Bedienkonzepts und seiner technischen Unzuverlässigkeit enttäuscht. Dann entdeckte ich das neu entwickelte DWI von Carry-on und habe es gleich bei Amazon bestellt. Dieses digitale Instrument macht von der Verarbeitung her einen ordentlichen Eindruck und liegt trotz seiner kantigen Form wie eine Sopranblockflöte in der Hand. Außerdem rollt es nicht vom Tisch. Der im Lieferumfang enthaltene waschbare Silikon-Überzug für das Mundstück ist nützlich, ebenso das mit 120 cm Länge komfortable USB-Ladekabel für den eingebauten Akku. Der gefällig gemachte Transportbeutel aus Stoff rundet das Zubehör sinnvoll ab. Sofort nach dem Einschalten ist das Instrument spielbereit. Der Ton wird direkt durch den auf der Oberseite eingebauten Lautsprecher wiedergegeben. Alternativ gibt es eine Klinkenbuchse für einen Kopfhörer. So kann man ohne zusätzliche App überall spielen, bei Bedarf auch völlig lautlos. Als Blockflötenspieler findet man sich bei diesem Instrument rasch mit den meisten Griffen zurecht. Statt Tonlöchern gibt es flache Griffmulden, die sich relativ gut ertasten lassen. Ihre Ränder dürften jedoch ruhig etwas kantiger sein. Die Sensoren sprechen auch bei den „Doppellöchern“ sicher an, verlangen aber für saubere Tonfolgen eine exakte Grifftechnik. Das ist kein Nachteil. Ein paar Griffe funktionieren auch bei eingestellter barocker Griffweise anders als von der Blockflöte gewohnt und erfordern eine gewisse Eingewöhnung. Durch eine Verstärkung oder Verringerung des Blasdrucks lässt sich die Lautstärke in begrenztem Umfang beeinflussen. Die Tonhöhe verändert sich dabei nicht. Weitere spieltechnische Einflussmöglichkeiten auf den Klangcharakter gibt es nicht; das ist realistischerweise auch nicht zu erwarten. Der Klang der digitalen Instrumente wirkt recht künstlich, aber das ist angesichts des günstigen Preises akzeptabel. Alle verfügbaren Einstellungen lassen sich sehr einfach mittels weniger Tasten auf der Geräteunterseite vornehmen. Einmal eingerichtet muss das Instrument zum Spielen nur eingeschaltet und nach dem Spielen wieder ausgeschaltet werden. Die Midi-Funktion habe ich nicht ausprobiert, da sie für mich nicht relevant ist. Vermutlich kann man den Ton auch analog über den Kopfhörerausgang und ein Mischpult aufnehmen. Selbst nach längerem Spielen verstopft das DWI nicht durch die kondensierte Atemfeuchtigkeit, wie es bei analogen Blockflöten oft der Fall ist. Allerdings tropft an der kleinen Öffnung am unteren Ende des Instruments etwas Spucke heraus, darauf sollte man gefasst sein. Ein Putzstab gehört nicht zum Lieferumfang, und in der knapp gefassten Bedienungsanleitung wird auch nichts davon erwähnt, dass das Instrument ausgewischt werden muss. Anscheinend genügt es, dieses in Spielpausen trocknen zu lassen. Mein Fazit nach mehren Wochen umfangreicher Spielpraxis: Für mich ist das DWI von Carry-on seinen Preis wert. Es erfüllt meine Erwartungen als Hobbyspieler voll und ganz. Die z. T. äußerst negativen Bewertungen anderer Rezensenten kann ich nicht nachvollziehen. Carry-on hat ein kostengünstiges blockflötenartiges elektronisches Instrument entwickelt, das sich einfach handhaben lässt und zuverlässig funktioniert (was es meines Wissens zurzeit bei keinem anderen Hersteller gibt). Das DWI kann und soll keine hochwertige Blockflöte ersetzen und kein Profi-Instrument sein. Zum gelegentlichen leisen Üben und zum Musizieren „just for fun“ eignet es sich aber bestens.

Sirve para practicar, no para embocadura