Hey guys, I'm planning to buy an 88 key midi controller. Should I get weighted keys or non weighted keys. I know you can play according to the feel of the weight like heavier attack, softer tones, volume etc. Can you control the volume of each key with non weighted keys? Also what is the best site to buy midi controllers? And, do I really need to get all those knobs and can anyone recommend me some good midi controllers. Thanks in advance.

 

Anything with weighted keys is good. I would go with something like an MPK 88 or anything of the like. Those extra knobs and sliders will help you build a better workflow in my opinion.

 

1. Yes, weighted keys are important because with them you don't just get more accurate velocity tracking you usually also get aftertouch support. Aftertouch is how much pressure you put on a key while holding it down. So you can hit a key softly then press harder to open up a filter or raise the volume, etc.

2. Yeah, get knobs, faders, pads, and buttons. You can midi map them to all kinds of things you'd normally use a mouse and keyboard with. Even if you get another controller later you can continue to use them along with your other controllers. Or on many controllers you can do things like map the pads to a different midi channel so you basically have two instruments at once to control different synths or effects live. I guess it depends on how you like to record. It's more important for jamming or playing live than for recording.

3. I buy stuff at big-name music chains, or Amazon. A lot of small "DJ" and "electronics" stores will rip you off with refurbished equipment or worse. I'd only buy from a small store if it is local to me and I can reach them in person if something goes wrong.

4. Good controllers: Akai, Novation, M-Audio, and Korg. There are others and custom-made ones you can get but these are the most widely supported/compatible with software.

 

Thanks, what is velocity tracking by the way? Also in non weighed keys are you able to control the volume of the note being played by making the attack harder or softer? Also a lot of affordable 88 keys controllers don't really have knobs. Are there like a separate controller I can buy that has no keys but is all knobs?

 

Velocity tracking is measuring the velocity with which you've hit the key. Attack being harder or softer has nothing to do with the keyboard, it's a function of the ADSR envelope on a sound.

 

Well I mean like on my digital piano, when you hit a key harder it gets louder. When you hit a key softer the volume isn't as loud. On a midi controller with non weighted keys, does the volume increase when you hit a key harder?

 

Hi Jonathan,

It doesn't make any difference whether you have weighted or unweighted keys. If the sound itself is programmed to be louder when you hit the keys faster, it will be louder whether you have weighted or unweighted keys. The MIDI controller/keyboard, either weighted or unweighted, just transmits a number, between 1 and 127, corresponding to how fast you hit the keys, to the program which produces the sound. If the sound is programmed to react to this velocity number, it will get louder whether the number is being transmitted from a weighted or unweighted controller. Some sounds are programmed to get louder, some are programmed to get brighter, some are programmed to get both louder and brighter, and some are programmed to do something else or even nothing in response to the velocity number transmitted to it. The idea with weighted controllers is that you may have more control over how fast you hit the keys, allowing for more easily controlled volume, etc.

 

Again that is a function of the mapping for the sound. If for example you map velocity to the amplitude envelope then as you play harder the sound will grow louder and/or you can map velocity to open the filter the harder you hit the keys if velocity is mapped to cutoff.