small, ultra portable MIDI keyboard

ze2be · Post by **ze2be** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:21 pm

dave_house wrote:cheers people, some great suggestions here, I'm busy checking them all out for weight and dimensions vs features! I will also try controlling Live with my QWERTY keyboard to see how i get on, its something ive never done as it looks fiddly. Plus my laptop QWERTY is a bit flimsy, recon i'd trash it quick if using it as a MIDI keyboard!

Well, for me its just usable for demoing or in a crisis situation. The latency is realy bad, and theres no velocity. You cant perform much like this, but I guess it is ok if you want to kill some time on a flight.

bosonHavoc · Post by **bosonHavoc** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:39 pm

I wonder if my Akai MPD16 would be a good idea, I guess I could use that as a keyboard, and the pads would be useful...

thats a good idea... especially if your not a keyboard player
i use my mpd24 for that alot.
i have a bunch of presets programed in different scales, chords, keys.
plus u can use a pitch plug in ableton.

if i had to only use on controller that would be it.

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:06 pm

what about the novation compact isn't it ..........compact enough?

dave_house · Post by **dave_house** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:07 pm

Cheers bosonHavoc - I'll try using my MPD16 as a keyboard and see how i get on.

From my research on all the suggestions the eKeys 37 is definitely looking like the smallest and lightest.

Theres definitely a gap in the market for a really small, light, portable MIDI keyboard for travellers, eh! Most small keyboards say they're ideal for musicians on the move, etc, but i think they mean moving from your home studio to your mates house or a gig or something, not chucking it in a backpack and jetting off round the world!

dave_house · Post by **dave_house** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:09 pm

EgAD - nope, not really. My Alesis Photon X25 is about the same size and lighter and I've ruled that out as being too bulky. Cheers for the suggestion tho

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:23 pm

then I suggest the korg padkontrol, it has the most delicious pads of any drum controller and after playing keys on it it'll even make you think twice about using a keyboard again, the feel of the padkontrol is just unbelievable, way better than any of the other drumpad controllers in terms of feel.
you can do some extremely expressive playing with it. i would take one of those or two, and like someone said earlier you can set up templates for chords, scales what ever you want, you will definitely get hooked.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:43 pm

I use the Edirol PCR-m1, works great here, feels better than the Oxygen and O2 as well. Otherwise if I'm going really portable, I use the QWERTY keys too, works fine once you get used to it. I've written a few tunes using nothing else.

sinnatagg · Post by **sinnatagg** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:49 pm

koneko wrote:i use this Edirol PCR 1 -- now theres a new version PCR M1 . its very thin and has an audio interface (not a great one, but works!)
http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... rentId=114

Sadly the low profile edirol keyboards seems to have some kind of production problem and stop working properly after about a year or two. My own has several stuck keys and is heading for the trash soon since I don't expect it to be cost effective to repair cheap plastic gear like the m1.

-a

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:08 pm

EgAD wrote:then I suggest the korg padkontrol, it has the most delicious pads of any drum controller and after playing keys on it it'll even make you think twice about using a keyboard again, the feel of the padkontrol is just unbelievable, way better than any of the other drumpad controllers in terms of feel.
you can do some extremely expressive playing with it. i would take one of those or two, and like someone said earlier you can set up templates for chords, scales what ever you want, you will definitely get hooked.

I second the padKontrol. Might as well forget a traditional "keyboard" for the size you're looking for. That's what I did.

I do wish there were something on the market like a two octave microKontrol! For some reason, manufacturers never want to do a two octave controller with mini-keys which would make it even smaller. Too bad...don't they know there's a hole in the market for something like that?

Until then - PadKontrol.

dave_house · Post by **dave_house** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:47 pm

cheers guys, im definitely thinking drum pads are the way to go, too. PadKontrol looks very cool (I've always liked the look of it actually!) and the knobs and XY pad would be very useful. Similarly the sliders and knobs offered on the Trigger Finger and MPD64 would be cool too, and each of those models features more controllers than the PadKontrol. Any experience with them?

EgAD · Post by **EgAD** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:44 am

dave the triggerfinger is king of control, but the padkontrol is the king of feel, the pads and sample scensors are superior and for control it's not too shabby the xy is great , too bad there aren't more knobs and some faders on it.

compared to the padkontrol the trigger finger feels like crap, but it's control is a cut above.

lis102trants · Post by **lis102trants** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:48 am

I can vouch for the PCR-M1 as well.. The keys are actually kind of pleasant once you get used to them, and they're velocity sensitive. The only thing is that the knobs have a sticking point at the 12 o clock position.

I also have the padkontrol, which would be another good choice overall. Very easy to just punch edit and choose which note a pad transmits. There's a lot of fun in the lights and step sequencing as well.

dave_house · Post by **dave_house** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:03 am

I've got it narrowed down to the PadKontrol, Trigger Finger or Edirol PCRM1 / PCR1 now. I've even surpassed my own previous record for geekiness and worked out the volumes of about 20 different controllers!

its all about space and weight in the backpack innit!

The drum pads are small and light and the Trigger Fingers knobs are very tempting.

The PCR1 is tiny and has built in audio, so I wouldnt need to take my UA-25 sound module which I would with the pads.

PCR users - the sound on sound review says the mini keys action is quite well suited to percussion. I bought my MPD16 pads cos normal keys are rubbish for playing drum samples on, but I'm thinking if the PCRM1/1 has keys that lend themselves quite well to triggering drum samples then that may be the most versatile controller for my travels...

Thanks again for everyones advice

dave_house · Post by **dave_house** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:25 am

Sorry, one more question for PCR1 users - whats the audio interface like? I know its not going to be too hot but is it capable of handling a Live tune with several audio tracks, several MIDI / sampler tracks and a scattering of effects? Whats the latency like?

Action Jackson · Post by **Action Jackson** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:23 pm

I would stay away from M-Audio products if I were you. I have M-Audio Ozone and there's still no official driver for Vista (32 bit beta is available, though, but I hear it's crap... and no 64 bit driver in sight at all!). And there doesn't seem to be a driver for OSX Leopard either. Some are using drivers for other keyboards to get it working in Leopard. Now when were those new OS's were released? Jeez! Sure Ozone is a great portable keyboard, but I'm stuck with my old XP PC for a long time, unless I also buy a new audio interface and midi keyboard.