External keyboards for Slim Phatty

[Gitgo567]

A similar topic has probably already been made, but...

I'm thinking of buying a Slim Phatty (I can't afford a Little Phatty ) and I was wondering what would be the best cheap external keyboard. I'm thinking below $100 AUS. Any suggestions?

BTW I'm new on these forums.

[c7sus]

I'm using the Akai MPK-49 to control a T3 and it's great. Comes with an editor too. About $150 at Guitar Center.

[nikola]

i suggest controllers with Fatar keybad !

and i think you'll be happy with slim phatty. i have little phatty, but like the slim phatty knobs better.

and welcome to forum

[six acre lake]

As a guitar player who jumps from synth to guitar often throughout a song I was wondering if I could run two controllers into the Slim Phatty... My M-Audio keyboard as well as a Roland PK-5 for hands free operation and bass pad control.

[narrowcaster]

Whichever kind of controller you get, be sure that it has a modwheel that can lock into a set value when you aren't touching it. Unless the Slim Phatty is different from the Little Phatty, there's no way to set a fixed/baseline amount of modulation without parking the mod wheel in a particular position, which is one reason the LP mod wheel isn't spring loaded. Or can someone report that there's a feature on the Slim Phatty that gets around this somehow?

[Sir Nose]

You could send a midi CC for the mod wheel to set it to a fixed amount.

[GregAE]

Whichever kind of controller you get, be sure that it has a modwheel that can lock into a set value when you aren't touching it. Unless the Slim Phatty is different from the Little Phatty, there's no way to set a fixed/baseline amount of modulation without parking the mod wheel in a particular position, which is one reason the LP mod wheel isn't spring loaded. Or can someone report that there's a feature on the Slim Phatty that gets around this somehow?

Actually, I can.

The SP has a new feature that allows you to use the Modulation knob to adjust the modulation amount that is normally controlled by the Modulation wheel. The feature is described on page 18 of the User Manual:

"When the AMOUNT switch is selected, the analog edit control is used to adjust the maximum amount of modulation controlled by the Modulation Wheel. Pressing and holding the AMOUNT switch enables the MODULATION control knob to act as a MOD WHEEL controller. When the MOD WHEEL function is enabled, the AMOUNT switch will blink on and off. To escape this function, press and hold the AMOUNT switch until the light stops blinking."

The cool thing is that this is a global function that affects all presets until you turn it off, so if you want the modulation ON for a bunch of different presets, you can just set it and forget it. This feature gets over-ridden when an external MIDI Mod Wheel command is received, so it can be easily controlled. It also makes it possible to independently set modulation amounts on the fly in multiple LP/SP setups (attention poly-users!).

A pretty neat little feature...



- G

[JWaltman]

ps. Never EVER buy a behringer keyboard!! Or anything else that cheap, it's cheap for a reason, it feel's like playing a super cheap toy. M-Audio is better, but even their controller keyboards are fail sure. Try to find a 2nd hand masterkeyboard or synth from a trusted brand. You can get some great synths from Korg & Yamaha for low prices, these have been known to last forever. Or an E-mu synth, or ensoniq. Lots of old synths to be had for very little money, which still work, and will keep on working.

Try to get a synth which used to be top of the bill, especially synths from beginning 2000 and end 1990 can be had for very little money!

[CTRLSHFT]

Whichever kind of controller you get, be sure that it has a modwheel that can lock into a set value when you aren't touching it. Unless the Slim Phatty is different from the Little Phatty, there's no way to set a fixed/baseline amount of modulation without parking the mod wheel in a particular position, which is one reason the LP mod wheel isn't spring loaded. Or can someone report that there's a feature on the Slim Phatty that gets around this somehow?

Actually, I can.

The SP has a new feature that allows you to use the Modulation knob to adjust the modulation amount that is normally controlled by the Modulation wheel. The feature is described on page 18 of the User Manual:

"When the AMOUNT switch is selected, the analog edit control is used to adjust the maximum amount of modulation controlled by the Modulation Wheel. Pressing and holding the AMOUNT switch enables the MODULATION control knob to act as a MOD WHEEL controller. When the MOD WHEEL function is enabled, the AMOUNT switch will blink on and off. To escape this function, press and hold the AMOUNT switch until the light stops blinking."

The cool thing is that this is a global function that affects all presets until you turn it off, so if you want the modulation ON for a bunch of different presets, you can just set it and forget it. This feature gets over-ridden when an external MIDI Mod Wheel command is received, so it can be easily controlled. It also makes it possible to independently set modulation amounts on the fly in multiple LP/SP setups (attention poly-users!).

A pretty neat little feature...



- G

I've had an LP for ages and didn't know this, thanks for droppin' le knowledge bomb on us. This is incredibly useful info since so many controllers don't use the traditional mod/pitch format.

To the OP: The new Akai MPK controllers have fantastic keybeds and probably the best construction to cost ratio I've ever seen on pro-sumer grade gear. They are well above M-Audio. Agreed about Behringer controllers, don't waste your money.