A New Controller...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Okay, my keyboard controller (which is a no-name 4-octave thing) is not fitting in to the New Plan, and I’ll tell you why. For some reason I can’t fully explain, and thus won’t bother, I use a controller which is powered off the joystick port (and I don’t mean USB) of my PC. The reason for this is that when PCs first started getting USB MIDI interfaces, they uniformly sucked, because the USB support in Win98 uniformly sucked. Using an MPU-401 was always (and still is) rock fucking solid, so for some reason I just never switched to USB. Never saw the need.
Now, with my new console setup, I need to get a controller that has a little more juice to it. I still have no intention whatsoever of running a USB controller. I’ll still use the joystick port as my main input because, even though it looks stupid when I type it, the feel/timing/whatever is better than MIDI that has come in on a USB device. I have several USB interfaces, but they’re used for other computers, not my main DAW machine.
So, what works for you? It’s now hard to find a controller that _doesn’t_ have every bell and whistle on it. I’d prefer one with a 5-octave waterfall keyboard, but that’s not really necessary. It should be noted here that, unlike most modern “electronic musicians,” I can play, extremely fast if not that well. (Ho, ho, ho.) So none of this bullshit X-Factor nonsense. I don’t want 46 sliders, 35 knobs, 6 x/y pads, and a partridge in a pear tree. I want a fucking 5-octave keyboard that has a pitch wheel and a mod wheel and a good action and a MIDI-out port. Nothing more. Ideas?
UPDATE: I’m actually leaning towards one of the ubiquitous 80s digitals for use as a controller, I think. Those things are built like tanks, and we’ll need to travel to the stage now and again, so it would be wise to plan for same. ESQ-1? I’ve never owned a single piece of Ensoniq gear (and that’s probably the only company I can say that about) so this would be a leap for me. Maybe even a Mirage. DX11? I had a Korg DW8000 for years, and aside from having really tired sounds, it served me well. Something to ponder, anyways. Anyone have an ESQ1 they want to ship to Oregon for a pittance?
24 comments
You may be able to afford a classier controller (i.e. one not put together by Chinese orphans), but for the rest of us, those cheap CME keyboards ( http://www.audiomidi.com/UF8---88-Note-Controller-P6494.aspx# ) seem like a pretty good deal. After all, as they proudly boast on their website, "UF is the most cost effective omnipotent master keyboard available!" Unfortunately, as with most keyboard controllers I've found, you can't get hammer-action (I assume that's what you mean by "a good action") unless you get the 88-key model -- is >5 octaves a problem?
I use my CS6X as my midi controller, not to springy, but not to soft. I only use it to make atmos backgrounds and textured sound beds.
Some of the filter and cutoff knobs map over to my other synths, and the mod wheels too, so you dont have to spin your chair around each time you want to play another synth. I had a cheap 4 octave fatar controller that I really loved, but it died in a crazy bid to build a wireless midi keytar thing ( it was bad ) Good luck, I think Guitar center still carries those Fatar controllers.
Dude, like seriously, dig up a kawai k5. You get a tank of an controller, and possibly the worlds hardest to program synth. For the cost of one of those edirol controllers.
Another vote for the Kawai K5. I really liked the quality feel of this keyboard.
I switch controllers every 9-12 months or so, mostly just to rotate a new synth into the studio. I'll second synthetic's comments on the key action of the Ensoniqs - I'm not a fan, but I think from what it sounds like, this really depends on the condition of the board. My friend has a Mirage in his studio, and he can attest that I always bitch about the action on it. Uneven, squeaky, toy-like.
Models I've had a lot of luck with: Yamaha SY series, Korg Wavestation, Roland D-50, Yamaha DX7-II. Maybe not with the SY's so much, but all of these others had a construction that felt more solid, less plastic-y than a lot of other synths I've owned.
The aftertouch on the K5 was horrible, same as the K3. The DX7s had very nice action to me, and the aftertouch was the most useable I ever had.
I suppose this isn't from the 80's (though some of the presets sound like it), but I use the newer Kurzweil K2661 61 key, and after going through every imaginable type of 80's clunkers through many of the sweatshop USB paper weights, the 2661 is the baddest ass synth/controller combo on earth. It's built like a tank, and not only do i use it as my master studio controller, but I also took in on serveral tours without thinking twice about it's reliability. I was using the larger K2600 76 key just before this one, but found a great liberation in not needing any more help carrying my gear while on the road - the 2661 is just right for gig self sufficiency. The kurzweil operating system is a great example of "once you're past the learning curve...", but seriously this thing is the overlord of all synths. Worth every penny. On the down side, this keyboard actually killed my sense of gear lust for other synths, as I don't fell like I have to look around at other models anymore (sound like marriage? Or more realistically the first month or two of a new realtionship...).
You also might want to try out an ASR-10 as a controller, mainly because it has poly aftertouch. I don't know of many other keyboards that have that.
I'll admit the Kurzweils (I had a K1000SE) have better feel and aftertouch, but I'll still stand by the K5 in terms of durability and just sheer weird cussedness. Plus I _really_ hated programming the K1000.
The Mirage was pretty yucky too. It's lots of fun to play with, but not a good controller. The D50 was very very good.
This brings back a lot of memories...
The kurzweil K2600 series make the K1000 series seem like it was programmed in DOS. They seriously improved their technology over time. Go try one out in your local better music store (guitar center stopped carrying Kurzweil products a couple years ago when they realized that they weren't crappy enough to move out the door en masse).
Yeah, I had a K2600 for some time. Great synth, great sampler, great controller. One of the best made products the music industry has ever produced. And for a while, Kurzweil would drop some major cool shit every time they did an OS upgrade. I wouldn't be adverse to going back to a 2600 for a number of reasons (or even a 2500) but I don't currently have the coin, unfortunately. It is tied up in other studio upgrades.
-CR
what don't you like about the Z1?
btw, i have a line on an SQ-80. i'll keep you posted.
What I don't like about the Z1 is the fact that I got one before they came out, and used it pretty much exclusively for live and studio use as a controller until I couldn't stand it any more, which was about two months ago. I'm just sick to death of the damned thing.
-CR
that's cool. i can see getting sick of it after using it _that_ long.
which means i'll probably be sick of it in another 3 years. i'm down to one, i used to have two of them.
my favourite keybed of all time is the Hammond organ. man ... there's some shit going on with those keys that is just like nothing else. the pivot is like _way_ back there, so you can dig real deep into the blacks and still have plenty of throw.
I have a yamaha DX21 (which is sort of like a cheaper DX7). The case is metal and very sturdy, I've dropped this thing a ton of times and it still works. No aftertouch though, which is why I stopped using it as a controller after like 1998.
Have you thought about getting something like a used Fatar controller and running the midi through a MIDI to serial cable? I picked one up at one point from a compusa or radio shack or something but never used it after I bought a midisport 4x4
"I've dropped this thing a ton of times and it still works."
They make these things - cases, keyboard stands. Never seen/used them myself, but I hear they work wonders for that sort of problem. ;-)
You're right, though. The DX series is pretty beastly. Only the 11 and the second-gen 7 have touch sensitivity, afaik (vintagesynth.com).
I have a Mirage and it's nice (if heavy as hell) controller. Has a nice, not spongy, action. On the other hand, the OS loads from the floppy, so when it dies, you're SOL until you replace it :) The ESQ1 has similar problems, mostly related to the power supply. So while they're sweet looking machines, they're touchy.
My master keyboard is the Ensoniq SQ-80: an ESQ-1 with aftertouch. POLYPHONIC aftertouch. Some people hate the clicky keyboard but I love it. I've never had power problems, though I blew a fuse once replacing the OS chip.
It's a great synth, too.
I've read that the power supply problem is easily fixed by recapping just that board, as they used particularly poor caps in the PS on those units. That operation is well within my capabilities.
But poly aftertouch? That's a horse of another color. Not many synths have that. So the ESQ-1 has real filters, but the SQ-80 has poly aftertouch. That's a tough call. Which one sounds better?
-CR
Oh, look at that. The SQ80 has analog filters as well. Well, shit, I think this might be our victim. Now to find one.
-CR
The SQ80 keyboard felt weird to me. Very clicky, and the keys bent down in a strange way. The older Ensoniqs had crummy Pratt-Reed actions. I prefer the Fatar action you find in modern stuff like Alesis, Dave Smith, etc. I have one in my Anrdomeda, though hardly an affordable controller. The Yamaha action in my old Wavestation keyboard was a close second.
Another vote for the Kawai K5. I really liked the quality feel of this keyboard.
I dunno about the K5. I had a K3 for quite a while, and while playable, I wouldn't write home about the action or anything. I bet the K3 and the K5 have the same keybed.
The Korg Z1/Trinity/Triton series have my all-time favorite keyboard actions. I assume those are Fatar keybeds, but I couldn't be sure. I also assume that all the Yamaha and Korg keybeds are intrinsically the same from the advent of the SY-77 on. However, I'd rather stick a lit cigarette in my eye than even look at a Z1 again. I'm _so_ over the Z1 and Trinity, it's not even funny.
Well, in any case, it's not like it's gonna be a lot of money to try one of these bitches out. I'll hunt down an SQ-80, and if that sucks, I'll get a K5 to make the Posse happy.
-CR
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