Keyboard Controller for Studio One

[CaptainChoptastic]

Hi all,

Firstly, probably worth stating that I have limited keyboard skills, and am mainly looking to use this as a means of getting some sounds out of the various virtual instruments and samplers that I have on my PC. However, something half-decent to play that might help me develop my skills wouldn't hurt.

Ideally - subject to advice - I'm looking for 88 keys, transport controls, a sensible amount of faders, knobs and buttons, and pads for mucking about with drum samplers. Things like chord and scale assist modes and arpeggiators would also help my learning curve/make up for my shortcomings.

Two options that stand out are:

• Novation Launchkey 88 mk3
• Arturia KeyLab Essential 88 mk3

However, I need the keyboard to play nice with Studio One, either out of the box or with a little bit of config and mapping (I'm plenty technical, but I'll lose interest if it takes hours to get up and running), and neither of these appears to have Studio One as one of the main DAWs it supports.

Alternatively, I could go for something like the Presonus Atom to handle the pads stuff, and get a more specialised keyboard without, but I'd probably like both to have transport controls, as I might only have one connected to my PC/DAW at a time.

What other options should I be considering? Should I be looking for a keyboard with aftertouch and hammer action, or is that likely to be overkill for my skills? Are there better options out there if I'm willing to sacrifice a few keys? I'm a bit flexible on budget, but don't want to spend a small fortune (e.g. approaching 4-figures) on something that I'll mainly be tinkering around with.

Thanks

[Watchmaker]

I'm no keyboardist and have a controller for exactly the reasons you describe. I've had my AKAI MPK61 for gosh, I don't even know how long. At least a decade. Super versatile, utterly reliable and supports all the functions you mentioned. Highly recommend you take a look. No idea what they go for these days. My only gripe is, after realizing I will never play both hands at a time, I really only "need" 25 keys, so it takes up a bit more real estate than I like and it spends off time in the closet with wall warts and tambourines.

Oh, I use it for Studio One (v6) and have since V2. It's plug and play, select generic MIDI preset 17 on the keyboard and from the Studio One controller type select any of the AKAI presets or generic controller and it should be no problem.

[The Elf]

There's no reason why either of your shortlist shouldn't work with *any* DAW, Studio One included - it's just standard MIDI data.

I own a Launchkeys 88. It lacks aftertouch, which is annoying for me, but unlikely to bother you. And it has only one pedal input - silly on a device of this size and price IMO. It has some of those chord-on-one-key (actually I think you do this on the pads) type things, though I've never explored that kind of stuff, so can't comment. Personally, if I felt the need for such features I'd be more looking toward the DAW, rather than the keyboard itself.

Configuring is fairly simple. It's done through Novation's Components software (web or local). You may never need to go there if you are happy with the controllers in their default state.

I can't comment on your other option - never used one.

As a non-player, do you really need 88 keys? You could save money and space by looking at something smaller, maybe with more on-board features you like the look of. 88-key controllers are considerably rarer than, say, 61 keys, so your choice would widen if you could accept fewer keys. Maybe even something that can produce sounds of its own.

My favourite controller keyboard in terms of functionality, is Roland's A-800 Pro. The two virtual MIDI ports are excellent for cleanly dividing functions, and the set-up software is pretty good. Almost every control is configurable. Nice light keyboard feel, with aftertouch. Sustain *and* expression pedal inputs. No chord features, or arpeggiators, or anything like that, but, as mentioned before, the DAW can take care of that. I hate the silliness of ports being on the side and I'm not a huge fan of the joystick mod/pitch control. The whole keyboard is so light that it can be knocked off a keyboard stand with enthusiastic playing - I have to velcro it to my stand! Other than this - it's one of my keepers.

[CaptainChoptastic]

There's no reason why either of your shortlist shouldn't work with *any* DAW, Studio One included - it's just standard MIDI data.

Are we talking about the same thing here though? I get that when it comes to getting sounds out of a virtual instrument or whatever, that's all MIDI, but when it comes to DAW integration - e.g. transport controls, or controlling the faders in the DAW's mixer, etc - that's some other protocol, like Mackie HUI or possibly something DAW specific.

A lot of the manufacturers make a big deal out of their "tight integration with <DAW X>", and reviews on SoS sometimes have sections comparing a controllers effectiveness in This DAW vs That DAW, so I was assuming that was a thing, rather than marketing hyperbole.

As a non-player, do you really need 88 keys?

I'm more than happy to be disabused of this notion, if you care to elaborate. It's possible that I'm just suffering from real-estate anxiety - the idea of having an electric guitar with only 21 frets really concerns me! What if I need to bend up to that high E? What if I want to go "DOOM, DOOM, DOOM" and "plink, plink, plink" on my keyboard at the same time?

[CaptainChoptastic]

I've had my AKAI MPK61 for gosh, I don't even know how long.

That looks like I good shout, if I can get over my key-envy!

Seems to have morphed into the MPK261 these days: I shall investigate.

[Sam Spoons]

I'm a one hand keys player (and a limited one at that) but I dislike 25 note keyboards, they are too short to play many melody lines, to have an effective 2 octave range in any key or from any start note you really need 3 octaves or you are constantly shifting position and dancing on the 8ve up/down buttons. 32 notes may just be enough but if you do want 'doom-doom' along with 'tinkle-tinkle' 4 octaves is a minimum. That said 61 notes is fine for almost anything when you take key splits and such like.

[The Elf]

There's no reason why either of your shortlist shouldn't work with *any* DAW, Studio One included - it's just standard MIDI data.

Are we talking about the same thing here though? I get that when it comes to getting sounds out of a virtual instrument or whatever, that's all MIDI, but when it comes to DAW integration - e.g. transport controls, or controlling the faders in the DAW's mixer, etc - that's some other protocol, like Mackie HUI or possibly something DAW specific.

HUI, MCU et al are just MIDI messages, and most DAWs support those kinds of protocols.

Yes, some manufacturers make a big deal about integration, and if you want to go beyond simple transport controls and faders, you may want to look at those options. But I'd go for something more generic - MCU is probably the most widely supported protocol.

I'll also tell you that, as enticing as these kinds of facilities seem to be, when you're working with your hand on the mouse, which you will need to do for most of your DAW's functions, you will find all those fancy control options of dubious value.

[Drew Stephenson]

I'll also tell you that, as enticing as these kinds of facilities seem to be, when you're working with your hand on the mouse, which you will need to do for most of your DAW's functions, you will find all those fancy control options of dubious value.

I'd agree with this, if you really want to go hands on with controllers you have to get pretty full on. I have three different controllers here and, with fairly extensive templates and standardised use of a few plugins, that just about lets me ignore the mouse for most tasks.
In terms of number of keys, I'm not a keyboard player by any means but I find 49 does the job for me.

[ajay_m]

If you're a one-finger keyboard player, 25 keys can be perfectly adequate (or if you want to use the keyboard for finger drumming, which some people do).

If you want to just lay down some synth lines, 49 keys is fine.

If you actually can play with both hands and you're just playing by rote, even in a band, 61 keys will be fine.

If you can read music and want to play classical or jazz, 73 keys will be fine. The full 88 note keyboard is only really necessary if you want to do splits, where you would like maybe up to 3 sounds layered across the keyboard. Or if you play more modern classical music (post Beethoven, since even in his time the piano was still evolving, and recall that in Mozart's time the available compass was only 61 keys).

Now - controllers. Ah yes. The dream. You sit in front of something that resembles a mixer. There are mute and solo buttons, faders, transport controls and probably in your dream a big jog/shuttle knob with a nice timeline display above it. Oh, and you'd like metering too, I'd imagine.

But wait. Are all your faders and rotary encoders full-duplex?. By which I mean, they jump to the positions set in the DAW when you load your project?. And they change to match the DAW and vice-versa. Because if not, that dream rapidly turns into a nightmare.

And then there's the 'what am I controlling?' dilemma. Ah, you want scribble strips. Ka-ching!. That's the sound of a large sum of money leaving your bank account, and then there's also the protocol dilemma. HUI? Mackie Control? One of the tightly integrated control surfaces with a proprietary protocol that only works with a specific range of DAWs?.

And after all that, it's just a control surface. Your audio interface maybe has some software that you can use to control things like input gain, routing and all that, but you can't connect that up to the control surface.

Last year I finally found the perfect solution in the DM3 coupled with a StreamDeck, but I would be the first to admit this is not exactly a low-cost option. However it comes damn close to the dream, with the exception of channel pan where I don't currently have the rotary encoders, but frankly you tend to set and forget pan, so having all the other stuff in my dream all in the one box (apart from the StreamDeck to add some keys for Reaper), is as close I think as I will get - after all, it's a mixer, an audio interface AND a control surface AND a patchbay all in the one box. And full duplex of course. This does bring the £1500 cost of the solution into perspective, for sure.

[note: this won't currently work with Ableton though. It works great with Cubase and Reaper. But then for Ableton you have all those wonderful push devices, so why wouldn't you go down that path?]

I would definitely look at the Streamdeck range for a lower-cost partial solution, especially now there's one with 8 buttons, 4 rotary encoders and a scribble strip. I'm not sure what DAW control software there is for that one yet but the standard models have a MIDI plugin available as well of course as emulating keystrokes, so there is a lot of flexibility there and the lower end models aren't terribly expensive.

[Watchmaker]

Seems to have morphed into the MPK261 these days: I shall investigate.

Almost the same box - colored pads and annoying colors everywhere, but functionally equivalent. I can't believe how inexpensive it is.

I use the transport function alot when recording myself on guitar or vox. I have my little station setup and having the keyboard at my elbow where I can reach over and hit record without fiddling around with the mouse is awesome.

Then, when I want to add synth bass, textures, melodies, whatever, I'm right there, no hassle, no fuss. Just set the inst channel to record and off I go. I can whack out beats in Superior drummer or BFD3 on the pads, etc. blah blah. Has been essential to my workflow. I did use 25 key controllers before and never got on with them.

[CaptainChoptastic]

I use the transport function alot when recording myself on guitar or vox. I have my little station setup and having the keyboard at my elbow where I can reach over and hit record without fiddling around with the mouse is awesome.

Then, when I want to add synth bass, textures, melodies, whatever, I'm right there, no hassle, no fuss. Just set the inst channel to record and off I go. I can whack out beats in Superior drummer or BFD3 on the pads, etc. blah blah. Has been essential to my workflow. I did use 25 key controllers before and never got on with them.

This is pretty much the use case I'm looking at: when I'm actually managing to be creative, I'm not wanting to get distracted too much jumping back and forth
between laptop and keyboard, or if I'm on my guitar I can reach out and hit a nice, clear record button rather than fumbling for the mouse or whatever.

Once I get down to the mixing/production side, that's all in the box anyway, and I'm fine with mouse/trackpad.

I had a look at some reviews for the MPK261, and a lot of people said they were having issues with the keybed, either out of the box or shortly after... makes me a bit wary.

However, after having read some online manuals and learned about keyboard splits and octave shifts, I can see that 88 keys is a bit of an indulgence and by going for, say, 61 keys I can get more function for similar money.

[Sam Spoons]

However, after having read some online manuals and learned about keyboard splits and octave shifts, I can see that 88 keys is a bit of an indulgence and by going for, say, 61 keys I can get more function for similar money.

61 notes takes up significantly less desk space too but bear in mind that most 88 note keybeds are fully weighted whereas most 61 note keybeds are either 'semi-weighted' (much lighter) or have synth/organ style sprung keys. Try before you buy if the feel of the keys matters to you (I'm not a keyboard player but have played on some keybeds that I have disliked and did not buy).

[sonics]

Have you considered Nektar keyboards? They have always had good support for SO. Read the list of control parameters HERE, for example. Scroll down for the SO control info.

[Rich Hanson]

A couple of weeks late to this but I recently bought one of the new NI Control keyboards. After installing the NI driver, Studio One finds it automatically and it is all set up, knobs and transport controls. No pads, but I have an Atom to cover that.

[mountain lion]

Rich,

What size did you buy? How do you like it?
I Will be bying the s61 next year.