My Favorite Keyboard is...(Part 1)

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Hey guys and gals, I'm kind of in the mood to just talk tonight.  So, lets set aside our software and talk about our hardware. Every so often I will get an email or message on youtube asking about what keyboard I'm using or how they can better use their keyboard. Of course, if you send me a message I will personally talk to you about your setup up, but I've decided to set up a quick 3 category guide to how to better use your keyboard (when I say keyboard I mean the one you play and not the one you type with.

The 3 categories are as follows:
1) I only have keys {and maybe a slider/knob} 2) I only have knobs/sliders 3) I have keys and knobs/sliders

To be technical the first choice is just a MIDI keyboard. The second choice is just a control surface and the third choice is the mother of them all the MIDI Keyboard/control surface. Here is an example of each respectively

1) M-audio 61 es

2) Korg nanoKontrol2

3) M-audio Axiom Pro 61

Now lets consider what we have and how can implement its features.

Category 1:

Here you have a keyboard with little to no knobs/sliders that you can assign via MIDI. Even if you don't have knobs or sliders you still have keys and I am willing to bet you have a mod and pitchbend wheel. Just because those wheels are labeled mod and pitchbend doesn't mean that what you have to use them for. The mod wheel wasn't meant to be left alone and assigned to what ever your software defaults it to. You can use the mod wheel just like a slider. In fact, you can even use it to control the volume! Some keyboards have an expression wheels as well as the other two but in case you don't, don't fret (no guitar pun intended), you can assign the mod wheel to be your expression wheel.

If you are using Reason and Record then your best bet on getting the most out of the little bit of controls you have is to create a combinator. From here you can assign multiple functions from multiple devices to one control! If you don't know what I mean, check out this video.

Now that you have something assigned to to your wheels you still have all your keys. Unless your on a 25 keyboard then I think you will have some keys to spare. I don't know about you, but I'm more of a one hand on the keys and one hand on the controls kind of guy. So i'm really not going the full 61 (I prefer 61 key keyboards) keys. Since there is half of my keyboard not being used (depending on the song or how I'm working) why not assign the left overs to something in my software. The thing about keys are they only have two  ways of affecting what you have them linked to and that is on and off. The only messages that register are 0 and 127. So you are better off assigning them to things such as the play/stop/loop functions.