I always dreamt about midi keyboard, and now i finally have a money to got it!
Long time ago i put my eye on Novation Remote 25.
1st: of all because it have full featured Aftertouch ability.
2nd: cause i heard - built in high quality Fatar keyboard mechanix
3rd: because of beautifull, unique Touch pad controller.
and finally - it have BUNCH of turning, pulling and pushing knobs !
Now please anybody give me some feedback about this keyboard !
Anybody have it ? Is it works fine with Renoise ? Is it works fine at all ?
As i understand after long time internet surfing and searching - this keys are very non-proliferatied. And it’s very hard to buy it here in Ukraine
Probably i need travel to Moscov to find my beautifull half - Novation Remote 25… And as i know, it’s quite hard to buy it even there, so maybe i need to direct order from England!
Now please tell me - is this keys worth all the fuss i talkin’ about ?
please-please-please
Damn! it’s really unique and creative function is not supported yet ?!
Very, VERY sad !
1st time i saw a video where Vangelis playing on his Yamaha CS-80, and showing Aftertouch technics advantages - i was totally impressed ! vtmahism.mpg (2405KB, 70sec, 176 x 144)
My dream after this moment is get Aftertouch supporting keyboard and play !
Now i really near, and i find out that my main composing app not supporting this amazing feature !
I’ll buy this keys anyway, but to compose and record music i’ll use ohter app…
Maybe midi import will save me as workaround for sometime… Till dev’s implement Aftertouch support in Renoise…
BTW: as i know, many of modern VSTi’s support the Aftertouch ability!
For example: those Arturia CS-80 emulator
So i can make same things as Vangelis made (not the same music i mean, just things) ! Wow! i dream about…
It looks really nifty for controlling softsynths and such, but it it seems like a shame wasting it on only 25 keys (25 keys…with aftertouch, yes), though I’m sure you can use it to take Renoise as far as it’s going to go with any controller. If you’re sure that you’ll be happy with only 25 keys, it seems to be a fantastic piece of equipment. There’s also an audio version (for twice as much) that not only doubles as a soundcard, but can also be turned into a K-Station with an upgrade from Novation. I wish I could play with this stuff.
Take this with a grain of salt, since there’s obviously a market for this keyboard, and I’m obviously not it, but for the money I’d want more than just two octaves of keys. If I really needed something that small, I’d get something cheaper. Not saying you need the full 88 keys or anything, but 25 seems a bit small to start adding all sorts of nifty bells and whistles. If it were me, I know I’d be wishing for a bigger keyboard before I was wishing I had a touchpad and an LCD.
There are plenty of reasonably priced 61-key MIDI controllers, and if space is at a premium, 37 and 49-key controllers are still pretty small, while giving you more notes to work with before hitting the “octave up/down” buttons. Can’t say if any of them will have a touchpad , but most of them have knobs/faders and what not. You could also buy a used synth (or a small new one, like the Micron, Microkorg, or K-Station, if you need the same footprint), and then you get two new things to play with in one! Just make sure you choose one with keys you like and lots of knobs.
That Vangelis video was really cool! Listening to his music one realizes that
he uses aftertouch to utter perfection.
And the Novation looks nice. My bet is that it will be very useful even if
aftertouch is not yet implemented.
2 Secretions: Thanx for detailed feedback. There are many valuable thoughts!
I did’n want to buy X-station, cause i already have M-Audio 2496 soundcard, i fully satisfied with. But you’r right - two octaves is enough just for begining (even w Aftertouch ability). So i found on novation website, they starting new serie of keyboard modifications. There : Keys: 25, 49 or 61.
Great ! So i’ll wait a while and buy 49 or 61 key’s device
2 Mike_SWE: Yeah!!! Vangelis rules! Hi’s like a magician. Or just a man with immediate connection with his music. I.e. he simply plays things that apeared in mind. Just make them real very simply and easy. Maestro!
So did somebody have Novation Remote or X-station ? Touch them ? How it feels ? Probably noone
Hard 2 believe that. So powerful keyboard and so infrequent…
I have an X-station over here. I was used to the keys of my MS2000 But those on the X-station are much better!. The keyboard plays very good.
The knobs and sliders are really smooth and well worked out.
And just needing the USB cable to power it and transmit it’s audio is just great!
I have the Remote 25 for a while now and it works great. Though the 2 octave range is really not enough if you want it to be an all in control machine. I needed it for the nobs and sliders and was lucky to find one second hand. I also have a full range keyboard that I can chain when I need key width so I don’t have that problem. But sometimes I whish I had the 61 keys version because the keys have a really good feel.
