I just bought an Akai EWI USB electronic wind instrument and it is rad. I never played a wind instrument before and wanted a new input method to compliment stringed instruments and keys.

In order to keep it tidy in the studio I wanted to figure out a way to hang it on the wall and after going thinking about this and that I realized that I had the perfect basis for a wall mount in the styrofoam packing material that the device came with. A few hours later I had this, a basically free, super well fitting way to keep the EWI close at hand but out of the way.

Let's begin...

Step 1: Tools & Supplies

- Original EWI foam
- Fabric (thin and stretchy may be best)
- Foam safe contact adhesive spray (safe for expanded polystyrene)
- 1/4" low density foam (optional?)

- Craft Knife (box cutter)
- Drill
- Hot glue gun
- Straight edge / square
- marker

- 8@ 4"-5" screws
- 8@ 1-1/4" fender washers

Step 2: Cutting It Up

Cut the foam as marked. Use a brand new blade so it is as sharp and as long as possible. I highly recommend Olfa brand knives and blades. Luckily most of the cuts can be made by following the shoulder so marking is probably only needed for the USB cord notch (and even then you might not need to mark it).

Now cut a few strips of the 1/4" adhesive foam and stick it to one side of the inner part or the packaging foam.

Step 3: Applying Fabric

The adhesive I bought was specifically for foam, but it turns out that while it works great on polyurethane it eats expanded polystyrene which is that the EWI foam is made of. It wasn't too bad in the end but you might want to test on the cut off pieces first.

I started by spraying the bottom/center of notch in the foam and the middle of the fabric. Once it tacks up apply the thin strip of fabric to the bottom of the foam. Then continue around doing one face at a time and alternating between the top and bottom piece to give it time to tack up.

I tried to do hospital corners but the fabric was a stretchy velour and was kind of thick so it got bunchy. I might recommend using a thinner stretch fabric. Or at least being more patient if you want to make it prettier.

Once all the sides are done you can pull the fabric over the back and spray adhesive and/or hot glue it down. Here is where i got the most bunching and it added a lot of thickness to the back of the foam. I tried to cut away as much as possible and glue it flat. It can't be seen so it is ugly.

Step 4: Hanging It

I painted my washers with gloss black spray paint (97¢ per can!?!) and used 4" drywall screws. Once the washers were placed I drove the screws down until they were just poking out from the bottom. Then i place the bottom piece on the wall and smacked it to make 4 nice little dents where i put plastic anchors. Once screwed on the foam was very sturdy. It is not the sleekest mounting but it works and was quick.

* unplanned change o' plans *

Once I had the bottom piece screwed in I realized that it, alone, could hold the EWI in place. The addition of the 1/4" foam is what allows it to hold so firmly.