MIDI Controllers Topics:
» What Is a Keyboard Controller?
» Faders and Buttons and Knobs, Oh My!
» Using a Keyboard Controller in Live Performance
» Keyboard Action Types
» Keyboard Controllers with Audio Interfaces: Do I Need One?
» Alternatives to the Standard Keyboard
» What to Look For in a Keyboard Controller

MIDI keyboard controllers have become an important part of the music-making process for contemporary desktop musicians and producers due to the increasing awareness and use of virtual instruments. The following Sweetwater Buying Guide includes just a few things to help you get started down the path of choosing the right keyboard controller for your specific use. As always, we welcome your questions at 1-800-222-4700.

What is a Keyboard Controller?

Way back in the 1980s, one of the original purposes of developing the MIDI specification was to allow live performers the ability to control the sounds of multiple synthesizers from a single keyboard. That concept has been a smashing success! Now, live performers, songwriters with laptops, studio musicians, sound designers, and others can all benefit from the flexibility a keyboard controller offers them.

Technically, a keyboard controller is a device with piano, organ, or synth-style keys, and usually a selection of knobs, buttons, and sliders. All of these transmit MIDI data to external sound modules (synthesizers), computer software synthesizers, or a hardware or software sequencer. Most keyboard controllers themselves have no internal sound-generating capability, but almost any keyboard synthesizer/workstation can act to control the sounds and parameters of other devices.

The real advantages of a keyboard controller are versatility and portability. They give you control over virtually the entire range of modern music hardware and software while sometimes even being compact enough to fit in your laptop computer bag.

Faders and Buttons and Knobs, Oh My!

In addition to the piano-style keys found on keyboard controllers, most also include a range of knobs, sliders, and buttons on their top panels. These are capable of transmitting MIDI data and can dramatically increase the hands-on control you have over any module you have connected to your controller. Here's a specific example: you have your M-Audio Oxygen 49 plugged into Reason with a Malstrom Graintable Synthesizer loaded for your sound. The controller's knobs, sliders, and pitch and modulation wheels give you hands-on real-time control over modifying the sounds. This provides a much more "authentic analog" feel over using a mouse. A new breed of controllers like the Novation ReMOTE SL 25 include an Automap feature that sets up the knobs and faders to specifically correspond to your hardware or software applications. This means, for example, that you can control your computer sequencer without having to move from your music keyboard to the computer and mouse!

Using a Keyboard Controller in Live Performance

This was one of the original concepts of MIDI: control of other modules from one keyboard! A live keyboardist could connect his or her full-sized controller (for example, the M-Audio Keystation Pro 88) to a rack full of synth modules and effects processors and use presets to combine or split devices using simple button pushes. A club DJ would appreciate the compactness of a 25-key controller (like the remarkable E-MU Xboard 25) while using its knobs to modulate the filters of a loop sequencer that lives on a laptop computer.

Keyboard Action Types

A vital quality of any keyboard controller is the keyboard action - the manner in which the key responds to playing. You, the player, need to feel comfortable using the controller, whether live on stage or in your songwriting or recording studio. Don't underestimate the impact of having a less-than-ideal keyboard on your creativity and productivity! The type of action you prefer is usually determined mostly by what you are accustomed to, and also by the particular style of music that you play, which may call for one type of action over another. You can choose from three basic keyboard action types:

	Weighted Hammer Action Many controllers have 88-note keyboards that replicate the mechanical action of a conventional piano keyboard. This is difficult to do because a controller has no strings or hammers. Manufacturers use different methods of applying weights and springs to mimic a piano's action. Others add a hammer action to more closely replicate a true piano "feel." For example, the CME UF8 employs a weighted piano-action keyboard with four different velocity curves so you can choose the most comfortable feel. If your primary instrument is piano, or if you compose a lot of piano-oriented music, the realism of a weighted hammer-action keyboard might be ideal for you.
	Semi-weighted Action Similar to a weighted action, but with less key resistance and a slightly springier release, semi-weighted actions are popular with some players. If you don't need realistic piano response but don't care for spring-loaded synth actions (see below), try a semi-weighted keyboard. The M-Audio Axiom 61 is a controller with a semi-weighted action and MIDI trigger pads, rotary encoders, and sliders.
	Synth Action A synth-action keyboard, on the other hand, feels more like an electronic organ. The spring-loaded keys are light and capable of being moved very quickly. They also tend to return to their resting position much more quickly. This can be an important advantage when trying to play very fast parts such as lead lines or fast arpeggios. Many keyboard controllers, such as the economical Korg K49 come with synth-action keys. Synth-action keys are perfect for musicians who aren't pianists by nature, such as guitarists wanting to add MIDI functionality to their setup.

Keyboard Controllers with Audio Interfaces: Do I Need One?

Some of the controllers we've mentioned so far offer an additional capability: besides MIDI control, they also include audio interfaces with built-in analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). What's the advantage? If you are doing home recording with DAW software on your computer, you won't need an additional audio interface box. In fact, you can just plug a microphone into a controller like the M-Audio Ozonic; it includes a built-in mic preamp with phantom power.

Combination MIDI controller/audio interfaces are compatible with modern audio recording software and hardware, too: most support 24-bit/96kHz audio transfer for high-resolution recording. Onstage, the digital and analog outputs give you the opportunity to have a "stand-alone" performance station with audio and MIDI all in one box, routable to synths, vocoders, and other processors.

Alternatives to the Standard Keyboard
Some controllers go beyond the standard definition of "keyboard." An excellent example is the Roland AX-7, a strap-on device that allows live keyboardists the chance to step out from behind their rigs and claim some of the glory that normally gets lavished on guitar players. This unique 45-note controller includes Roland's light-sensing D-Beam feature for real-time modulation of sounds made, literally, with a wave of your hand. At the other end of the spectrum, if you already have a keyboard and want the control flexibility of knobs and sliders, Novation's ReMOTE ZeRO SL provides those minus the keys in a compact package.

Popular with hip-hop producers and remixers, pad devices such as the M-Audio Trigger Finger allow MIDI samples to be triggered at the tap of a pad. They're great for programming drumbeats. Two other devices that abandon the "keyboard" concept entirely are the Yamaha WX5 and the AKAI EWI4000S wind controllers, which give wind players access to MIDI sound modules.