Akai is releasing a new 49 key keyboard for $499. (also have a 25 and 61-key versions as well) - really intrigued by this controller and interface! This keyboard is truly geared for playing live / (or tracked in a studio) using many different VIs (Virtual Instruments) at once for easy playback and direct access control. You can also set up their engine in VST mode to plugin to any host DAW. Read more about it here http://www.akaipro.com/microsites/advance/index.php#advance Also comes with over $1000 of free plugins too... Best, Sam
Composing : Friday Plugin: Well, hardware really. by Samuel Estes
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These are pretty cool keyboards - I use a Edirol (now Roland) PCR-800 all the time as my primary keyboard (61-key). When I was playing in a jazz big band, I even used it for performance since it was much lighter weight with my laptop (which I used as the 'sampler') than my much heavier Yamaha. It is very similar to the Akai with sliders, pads, rotators, etc. http://www.rolandus.com/products/pcr-800/ It has been discontinued. The one closest to it is the Roland A800-Pro ($367 on ebay; vesus $525 for the Akai) What I can't do with it is use it compose on a plane. For that I have a Korg Microkey 37 (about $85 on eBay) (USB powered). It fits perfectly in front of the laptop on the seat tray and I can be productive for hours on a flight. I posted a video here some time back of what it looked like on one of my flights. https://www.stage32.com/media/1136924402273756486 (I don't normally use the middle seat tray for the optical mouse :) )
Yeah those are good keyboards Joel. Point is with these it acts as a proper interface, going beyond just MIDI format, similar to what the NI keyboards are trying to do. MIDI, while important and an amazing technology for being over 30 years old, is very limiting. Its nice to see some new keyboards coming out that can use new features to get us to a higher resolution and more integrated formats.. Speaking of Laptop composing you ever see these? http://en.khxyq.com/product/pu61.html
I was thinking of the rollups when I bought the korg. While those are easier to carry (versus putting mine in an 'gator' case well known by musicians) - I wanted something a little more rugged and fixed. And while the keys of the korg are smaller than a standard midi keyboard, they still give me a similar 'feel' when I play them. Though at $38 I may still try one out one on my flights later this year - hard to ignore at that price and fits in my laptop backpack so I would not need to carry a gator case with a korg.