I Have A Headache

[HowardH]

Hi guys, first post, first hour, first day so please be gentle with me.lol

i am looking for a 61 key MIDI Keyboard and i am just learning about MIDI

I want to spend about a thousand or less to get the best one i can

so i was wondering about one of these three Novation SL mkII, M-Audio Axiom Pro, or the Akai?

Or any other good ones that i have never heard about that i need to hear about?

And you guys are pro’s at this so i figured you’d be the ones to ask

There is probably something on this somewhere already but oh well…

I read somewhere where they said Novation is built badly and the software doesn’t sync right
And M-Audio syncs ok but blah blah etc.

So please tell me what you can to help me make a decision and if there are better MIDI Keyboards then i want to know, coz i don’t know anyone that knows anything about this.

Thanks in advance
HowardH

[vvoois (vV)]

@HowardH

Hi guys, first post, first hour, first day so please be gentle with me.lol

i am looking for a 61 key MIDI Keyboard and i am just learning about MIDI

I want to spend about a thousand or less to get the best one i can

It depends on what you actually want with the midi keyboard.
Almost every midi keyboard has velocity sensitive keys these days, i think that aftertouch is becoming a standard as well, though some provide “channel pressure”.
What kind of extras do you need? Footpedal switches for attachment?
Do you want faders and buttons to control some effect controls?

Well, at least a keyboard that also adds a few faders, rotaries and buttons would not harm.
For a grand you can get decent stuff.

[HowardH]

@vV

It depends on what you actually want with the midi keyboard.
Almost every midi keyboard has velocity sensitive keys these days, i think that aftertouch is becoming a standard as well, though some provide “channel pressure”.
What kind of extras do you need? Footpedal switches for attachment?
Do you want faders and buttons to control some effect controls?

Well, at least a keyboard that also adds a few faders, rotaries and buttons would not harm.
For a grand you can get decent stuff.

Hi Vv,
I didn’t hear from anyone for ages, i was starting to think that keyboard people where snobby to us inexperienced keyboardists who are just learning. As a bass player i have travelled the world but i love the power of MIDI. Particularly for my recording studio.

Anyway when i didn’t hear from anybody i just went and bought a Novation Remote SL 61 MII, the only thing is that it doesn’t have the Pro version of automap on it, so i found out after, i would like to know if this can be upgraded somehow if you or somebody else would know this please?

Thanks again for answering Vv, i have been on friendlier forums.

[vvoois (vV)]

@HowardH

Hi Vv,
I didn’t hear from anyone for ages, i was starting to think that keyboard people where snobby to us inexperienced keyboardists who are just learning. As a bass player i have travelled the world but i love the power of MIDI. Particularly for my recording studio.

Anyway when i didn’t hear from anybody i just went and bought a Novation Remote SL 61 MII, the only thing is that it doesn’t have the Pro version of automap on it, so i found out after, i would like to know if this can be upgraded somehow if you or somebody else would know this please?

Thanks again for answering Vv, i have been on friendlier forums.

Hi Howard,
I hope you enjoy the Novation. Regarding the automap, i know this proprietary control poses some issues to applications that do not support this ground up, but i could suggest you to have a look at Duplex regarding that (Beta for Renoise 2.8 here). It has a large range of support layouts, including the SL MKII.

I don´t exactly know what response-rate has got to do with friendlyness of a forum (specially during holiday seasons when lots of folks are on holiday) but your post had exactly one day to catch dust. Consider some patience for at least a few days in general before making conclusions. Also, if you post such questions, it helps a lot to add more details of what you want. Renoise is a very versatile tool where you can go in any direction you like, if you name one, i´m sure there will be somebody that can help you better with specific answers that suit your needs better.

[HowardH]

It is holidays where you are? lucky you vV, i was under the impression that Automap is the new wonder drug for the em-betterment of all mankind, lol, i wish there were laws to make people advertise honestly.

Well, i know it is a bit late but what i want to do is what i have been TRYING to do manually with the equipment i am surrounded with here, and that is to complete a song from start to finish within the confines of my studio.

To this time whether what people say about my music, i have only bluffed my way through, particularly with reference to drums. Drum machines are too expensive, not easy to understand, and serve only one purpose.

Also i like effects a lot, and although i like heavy sounds, i am a rock musician, i still like strings, and though i have a violin here for when i need it, i want to do far more with strings, and depth.

I am not in a band now but my last band (which i was writing and singing the stuff) was compared to Nine In Nails, but i had a keyboardist then. Now i am happily locked up in my studio and less sociable than ever. lol which wasn’t that great to start with. haha

I realise i will probably never be at the level of most here on keyboards, but i am good at getting that ‘live feeling’ music and that is what i think people like about my stuff.

i don’t do my music that heavy now-a-days, but i still like the edge, and the strength of a MIDI firing can completely change the music to where i want to be.

At least that is my theory.

The hard part is the learning curve that i am to go through when that thing gets here.

If my criticism was a bit harsh then i apologise, it was just that i had the opportunity to get the Novation at about half retail so i was a bit anxious to find out what you all thought.

At the moment i am having other problems with VST’s slowing up the system so the only way it was suggested to me was to have a clean guitar sound going into the DAW and running separate effects at the same time so i can hear it as i am playing, because playing a guitar with say distortion is a completely different way of playing to playing it clean. especially when playing lead.

So that is yet another problem i am working on.

[vvoois (vV)]

@HowardH

i was under the impression that Automap is the new wonder drug for the em-betterment of all mankind, lol, i wish there were laws to make people advertise honestly.

I appreciate the attempt by Novation to break the ever-lasting Midi limitation barrier, but it will remain a hard road to travel if you don’t get this off the ground internationally with the help of many other organisations to standardize the protocol.
OSC gains much more success in that regard, they could have pulled down to that road rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

@HowardH

Well, i know it is a bit late but what i want to do is what i have been TRYING to do manually with the equipment i am surrounded with here, and that is to complete a song from start to finish within the confines of my studio.
To this time whether what people say about my music, i have only bluffed my way through, particularly with reference to drums. Drum machines are too expensive, not easy to understand, and serve only one purpose.
Also i like effects a lot, and although i like heavy sounds, i am a rock musician, i still like strings, and though i have a violin here for when i need it, i want to do far more with strings, and depth.
I am not in a band now but my last band (which i was writing and singing the stuff) was compared to Nine In Nails, but i had a keyboardist then. Now i am happily locked up in my studio and less sociable than ever. lol which wasn’t that great to start with. haha
I realise i will probably never be at the level of most here on keyboards, but i am good at getting that ‘live feeling’ music and that is what i think people like about my stuff.
i don’t do my music that heavy now-a-days, but i still like the edge, and the strength of a MIDI firing can completely change the music to where i want to be.
At least that is my theory.
The hard part is the learning curve that i am to go through when that thing gets here.
If my criticism was a bit harsh then i apologise, it was just that i had the opportunity to get the Novation at about half retail so i was a bit anxious to find out what you all thought.
At the moment i am having other problems with VST’s slowing up the system so the only way it was suggested to me was to have a clean guitar sound going into the DAW and running separate effects at the same time so i can hear it as i am playing, because playing a guitar with say distortion is a completely different way of playing to playing it clean. especially when playing lead.

So that is yet another problem i am working on.

Playing in a band or producing in a DAW are two complete different worlds. Specially if you have to do all the stuff yourself there is a lot more work to be done. But if you get the hang of things and you are in a very inspiring mood, the trick is to keep going and don’t mind about mixing and levelling: Music first, finishing later.

Regards,
Vince.

[HowardH]

@vV

I appreciate the attempt by Novation to break the ever-lasting Midi limitation barrier, but it will remain a hard road to travel if you don’t get this off the ground internationally with the help of many other organisations to standardize the protocol.
OSC gains much more success in that regard, they could have pulled down to that road rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

Playing in a band or producing in a DAW are two complete different worlds. Specially if you have to do all the stuff yourself there is a lot more work to be done. But if you get the hang of things and you are in a very inspiring mood, the trick is to keep going and don’t mind about mixing and levelling: Music first, finishing later.

Regards,
Vince.

Brilliant, and i agree, some of the songs that i have done (non-MIDI keyboard) that has attracted the most people were recorded on the fly, and whether how terrible i try to convince people that the music is, they wont listen, badly recorded, badly played, and badly sung. lol My most popular song was written and recorded at the same time haha

Thanks heaps for your words Vince.

[phasebash]

Pick the one that feels the least like a pile of shit. In my case, I’m sticking with an ASCII keyboard.

[chunter]

Re: guitar, instead of fighting latency I non-solved the problem by buying a modeling amp. I too enter my note data via QWERTY and mouse.

[HowardH]

I don’t understand, you guys use computer keyboards instead of piano keyboards? that would be interesting to see

[dblue]

@HowardH

I don’t understand, you guys use computer keyboards instead of piano keyboards? that would be interesting to see

Maybe this is a silly question, but… are you actually a Renoise user?

(Perhaps you just randomly found this forum while searching the web, and thought that it would be a good place for some general advice on which MIDI controller to choose?)

I’ll post this link to the manual anyway, just in case

Playing_Notes_with_the_Computer_Keyboard

Perhaps I simply misunderstood you anyway, and all you really meant to say was “it would be interesting to see someone perform live with a QWERTY keyboard instead of a piano keyboard”.

That would indeed be a little more tricky, but I have seen people do it before… quite successfully in fact!

[niNja_pWn (niNja_pWn3d)]

@HowardH

I don’t understand, you guys use computer keyboards instead of piano keyboards? that would be interesting to see

Hey there Howard, just to let ya know, maybe you didn’t know this and it will help you. I for one wasn’t aware at first. Renoise is a tracker program, even though I myself use and like a lot of control midi wise the basis of a tracker is the swiftness once you get use to the computer short cuts. your mainly entering notes WITH the computer keys unless your entering a detailed instrument with cords etc.

Hope that helps you out =)

[chunter]

@HowardH

I don’t understand, you guys use computer keyboards instead of piano keyboards? that would be interesting to see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_K5DHZlfg