good keyboard to go with ableton?

[Trancedreamer]

hi, I'm thinking on getting Ableton Intro so that i can produce, remix, and make mixes. And i was wondering what keyboard would be good to get that works with Ableton, like you can use with Ableton. I think they are called midi keyboards. I'm looking for one that would be good for making atmospheric sounds as well as synth leads and other sounds that are for electronic music. I'm mainly into progressive trance, tech trance, & electro house aswell as many other genres in EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[martinkellogs]

edited

[carpekd]

akai mpk49... comes with a version of Live lite

[Rabalder]

http://www.ableton.com/pages/controllers/keys

[v0ins315]

EDM (Electronic Dance Music).

[Zeddy]

I'm guessing your budget it not huge if your going to spring for Ableton Intro, so I would recommend the M-Audio Axiom series. Great price, lots of features (knobs, pads, faders), good keys....

[JuanSOLO]

I found a mint condition Novation ReMOTE SL37 for 100bucks. Fantastic controller/keyboard. Lots of knobs and options.

[Silwolffe]

I'm guessing your budget it not huge if your going to spring for Ableton Intro, so I would recommend the M-Audio Axiom series. Great price, lots of features (knobs, pads, faders), good keys....

+1

M-audio has a pretty good line up of midi controllers for beginners. I started out with an Oxygen49, and while it didn't have many of the features the axiom has, it was still a pretty good introduction keyboard. The only thing I did -not- like about it were the plastic, fake feel of the keys. I am not sure if the axiom has the same feel to it with its keys, but I think it's all around personal taste. It's usb, so all you need to do is plug it in to to your computer and you're ready to go (though the usb cable might be really short, as was the case with my oxygen).

I eventually upgraded to an Akai MPK61 board for about $500 - which may be out of your budget range.

If you're not looking to make use of a full octave keyboard (such as playing an instrument such as a piano or something), I would suggest getting a 25-key keyboard that you can place right in front of you to work with. They're good for writing dance leads, basslines, basically anything EDM related.

[JuanSOLO]

the high-end M-Audio stuff seems like better quality builds, better keys, knobs etc.

Personally I think the Novation keys feel great, and I think you get more bang for your buck with Novation gear, way more knobs, sliders, pads, transport controls. Even compared to the Axiom or Akai MPK stuff I would rather have a Novation for the amount on board controls it offers.

I have a classic ReMOTE 25 for sale. It has 2 bogus knobs. I've had it for 6 years, still looks good cosmetically. If your interested make me an offer.

[Zeddy]

The only thing I did -not- like about it were the plastic, fake feel of the keys. I am not sure if the axiom has the same feel to it with its keys, but I think it's all around personal taste.

The keys on the Axioms aren't too bad actually... definitely playable, and semi-weighted. For a non-keyboard player like myself, the keys feel pretty decent. M-Audio just released an updated version to the Axioms as well, which I would like to try out. If I remember correctly, they upgraded the keys and the knobs (not notched anymore I think).

[Eunjihan]

I have the axiom pro 49 and it is great. The keyboard feels like a proper piano keyboard and the drum pads are very responsive and so much better than the Novation nocturn or the SL Mk II. And when you play the multi mic drumkits with those pads it really is a great experience.
However, the Novation has a better selection of buttons for soloing and muting etc which on the axiom pro is a bit of a nuisance.
As for keyboard action, you may prefer the more 'synthy' feel of the Novation SL MK II or the Nocturn. It's all down to personal preference. But the drumpads on the Novation Nocturn or SLMK II are not nearly as good as the axiom pro's.

The sliders on the novations and the axiom pros are small, but when you use them with ableton you'd be surprised how well they work. The sliders on the axiom pro are stiff and take getting used to, but I like them! Some hate them. The novations are smoother. One advantage the axiom pro has over the novation is the master fader. The sliders on both the axiom and novation are not as good as the Akai MPK's but then again the MPK's keys are very stiff and there are problems with its drumpads and its not as user friendly as the novation or axiom.

You can actually assign QWERTY ASCII commands from the numeric keypad on the axiom pro like 'Save' or 'Redo', 'TAB' (which is great for moving between session and arrangement view) 'up' 'down' and 'select' etc - handy for selecting individual clips - which you cannot do on the Novation.*

This is really great as you can also open new audio and midi tracks from your keyboard controller. However, for other things you will still need your QWERYY keyboard.

It's up to you if you prefer working with Novation's Automap - which needs and extra 30 quid or so if you want to get the pro version which really brings out the best in it. Some like to have the GUI on the screen while others don't. I personally prefer to just see my parameters moving when I move the macro nob for example and don't want an extra interface cluttering up the screen, but on the other hand, when you are using your encoders to adjust the parameters of a complex instrument like operator or using the complex paramaters of the EQ, it can be a headache with the aximo pro until you learn how to get your head around it which takes a bit of time, but once you do it can be fun.

As with all new equipment, there is a bit of a learning curve and sometimes it can be quite steep.

Having a GUI interface while using the EQ would be an advantage here. It takes getting used to looking at the LCD screen on the axiom pro to see which section of the instrument/effect you are on and comparing it to what you see on the ableton interface, but like everything else, you get used to it and learn how to adapt.

One big minus against the axiom pro however is that you can't use the drumpads to play with Impulse! You have to use the keys. Ridiculous. I only hope they iron out that software glitch soon.

So as you can see, there is no one perfect 'do it all' keyboard controller unfortunately, but I would break it down to 2 choices; either the Axiom Pro or the Novation SL MKII.

I don't think the Nocturn is an option at all. I tried it with Ableton and it was a disaster. Drumpads started playing by themselves!!! The Akai MPK's keys are stiff, but I hear the keys on the 61 version are quite good, but its not as user friendly as the first 2 I just mentioned.

I don't know anything about the Edirols or the Korgs but they are decent products.

Eun ji Han

* Assigning these commands is a bit tedious, but it can be done.

[antarktika]

hi, I'm thinking on getting Ableton Intro so that i can produce, remix, and make mixes. And i was wondering what keyboard would be good to get that works with Ableton, like you can use with Ableton. I think they are called midi keyboards. I'm looking for one that would be good for making atmospheric sounds as well as synth leads and other sounds that are for electronic music. I'm mainly into progressive trance, tech trance, & electro house aswell as many other genres in EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

From your statement I can only assume that you don't really know what the difference between a midi controller and a synthesizer is, which is probably where you should start before you run out and buy anything. A midi keyboard is not going to produce any sound whatsoever, it sends note on and control change messages to control software instruments. A synthesizer, on the other hand, generates sounds, and most send midi as well, and cost quite a bit more money.

[Trancedreamer]

hi, I'm thinking on getting Ableton Intro so that i can produce, remix, and make mixes. And i was wondering what keyboard would be good to get that works with Ableton, like you can use with Ableton. I think they are called midi keyboards. I'm looking for one that would be good for making atmospheric sounds as well as synth leads and other sounds that are for electronic music. I'm mainly into progressive trance, tech trance, & electro house aswell as many other genres in EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

From your statement I can only assume that you don't really know what the difference between a midi controller and a synthesizer is, which is probably where you should start before you run out and buy anything. A midi keyboard is not going to produce any sound whatsoever, it sends note on and control change messages to control software instruments. A synthesizer, on the other hand, generates sounds, and most send midi as well, and cost quite a bit more money.

ok man your EPIC WIN for telling me this! And i'm totally not gonna lie, i don't know a thing about this stuff yet, but its ok i'll figure it out eventially. And your right i had NO clue what the difference was. Thanks loads for telling me this. Now i have a new question. Do synthesizers work with ableton? And if so how do u get your sounds/songs u created on the synth on to ableton?

ps all other comments from others trying to help were greatly appreciated although i ended up not needing them. lol

[ukslice]

The problem with a synth is getting the sound back in cleanly to Ableton, you would need to record it like a guitar or mic. Better using the synths built into Live and use a cheap midi controller. You can always add hardware synths later if you're still into it. Most of the best synths are available as VST plugins anyway.

[Silwolffe]

Here is an example of a VSTi and the sound you can pull from one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Q4yVx2WBw

If you're starting out, I would suggest not going the hardware route.