Help me choose a MIDI keyboard controller

[Colonel Monk]

Howdy:

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on both a Slim Phatty and Minitaur both. I'm a former LP stage 2 owner so I'm familiar with the control layout on that.

The slim phatty will be a part of my Foogertron rack, and the minitaur I plan to mainly pair up with my Fatar midi bass pedals (but who knows?).

Before you start, keep in mind that I'm not a keyboard player. I'm a bass player. So I don't need a full size keyboard, I'm going to be creating synth patches with the Slim for ambient soundscapes, and dropping bombs with the minitaur, and if I can ever figure it out, might have some sequencing happening from outboard sequencer or iPad or something.

So 25 key would be OK, should have modwheels. But what else am I looking for?

For example, a few years ago when I was looking to do this I was looking at the m-audio axiom and axiom pro 25 key.... Will this work with what I'm trying to do? What are the knobs and "pads" for?

I'm 100% new to MIDI, I know what it does in theory but I've never done any of it myself.

What other 25 key controllers can you recommend?

Also, my midi bass pedals are pretty low tech - is there some other kind of MIDI interface I can use with them, with the Minitaur that would allow me a display to see what patch is playing, etc?

Thanks

Col Monk

[Colonel Monk]

Bump.

Surely, someone here must by playing a Slim Phatty with some kind of MIDI keycontroller?

What are you using? 25 key or not! That will just be my preference, but I realize it's not for most of you keyboard players.

I'm mostly interested in what other features besides the keyboard are useful, and why did you choose?

Thanks

[bichuelo]

I use a Roland A300-Pro for my Minitaur and Slim Phatty. It works fine, has a display, aftertouch, sends sysex, NRPN. It has 37 keys.

[Colonel Monk]

Thanks for the reply. That looks nice!

I just thought of this, do these controllers integrate with soft-sequencers and other midi-capable sequencers to "arrow" thru the sequence to choose the next note?

I see most of them have a "transport" control on them but I didn't know if they were for recording software or what.

I have plans to use Reaper as my recording engine.

CM

[bichuelo]

I don't quite understand "arrow". The transport controls may be mapped to the DAW controls or used as control buttons too...

[Colonel Monk]

Sorry - by arrow I mean step thru the notes of a sequence....

I'm such a novice at this I don't know the correct terminology....

CM

[Stuka]

A lot of the functionality of a given MIDI controller depends largely on how things are setup in your DAW of choice ~
Which in your case, sounds like it's going to be Reaper.

You'll probably want to download the Reaper manual and take a look at the section covering the step sequencer. That should tell you what computer keyboard controls would normally be used for editing, stepping, etc., and if any of the controls can be mapped to MIDI commands.

With the exception of some MIDI controllers that are dedicated to specific software packages (such as the Akai APC-series controllers, which are hard-wired to specifically support Ableton Live), most MIDI keyboard controllers are pretty generic, with the basic controllers (pitch wheel, modwheel, keys) sending basic MIDI messages that would be pretty much the same on any keyboard.

Most MIDI controllers in the $100+ range (and some even cheaper than that) come with multiple controls that can be programmed to send specific MIDI commands that you specify. This can come in REALLY handy for interacting with your DAW software, AND for directing controlling your synth gear.

Keep in mind that if you want to control Moog synths without using a computer in the mix, you'll need a MIDI controller that has conventional 5-pin MIDI DIN output ports.
You CANNOT connect a Moog synth (or for that matter, any other synth module that I know of) directly to a MIDI controller that has only USB. You would have to connect both pieces of equipment to a computer or other USB host via their USB connections, then route the MIDI data between your devices via software. Sounds complicated, but really isn't that bad once you get the hang of it.

My advice, FWIW -
Spend the money and get a decent controller with at least 37 to 49 full-size keys (a controller with fewer and / or small keys can be outgrown in a hurry), and as many programmable controls onboard as your budget will allow. Novation , Akai, Roland, and many others make some nice, durable MIDI controllers that would probably suit you just fine.

My primary controller is a 49-key Novation Impulse, which works great, but "ain't cheap" - and was well worth the investment, in my opinion.
It works great as a custom controller - along side my iPad running MIDI Designer - for my software and synths.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend you dig in and start learning MIDI ~
Once you start dealing with DAWS and synths, MIDI becomes a very big part of how everything works together, and you'll want to learn as much as you can to really take advantage of all the capabilities of your gear. You don't necessarily have to learn about HEX code, SYSEX etc - just concentrate on the basics that involve keyboard note messages, program change messages, and perhaps most importantly, CC (continuous contoller) messages, since these make up the primary commands you'll be dealing with when working with programmable MIDI controllers.

This might help:
http://tweakheadz.com/how-to-get-starte ... ng-studio/

Good luck, and most importantly, have fun!!


Randy

PS -
Should you decide to include an iPad in the mix at a later date, I know for a fact that a template is freely available for the MIDI Designer Pro app that will control all of the MIDI features of the Slim (and Little) Phatty.

A template for the Minitaur is on the "to do"list ...