Recommend a good-value & very simple MIDI for home recording?

[RoscoeElegante]

Hey, all. Hope you're staying hydrated these dazey days.

Something dead simple, I'm thinking, as I want it just for:

1) Inserting piano parts when our regular keyboardist isn't available and/or I'm brainstorming something that he'll play more smoothly once he hears it. In fact, for the very simple piano parts our songs need, some of what I'd enter would remain as such. So, again, a keyboard that inserts piano notes and chords, that I'd then color. I don't wanna get bogged down in pads, patches, gizmotics, etc.

2) Inserting Hammond B3 parts. Since we don't have a B3, and our keyboardist's talents kinda hit their limit re: B3 tones, these would be largely my own playing. I like (and can do) simple, moody textures--but for the life of me, can't use the "Musical Typing Keyboard" approach in a DAW. Garage Band's B3-ish options work well enough for us. I just need something I can actually play into within-the-DAW presets and options.

So I'm looking at the M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 MK3 32-key Keyboard Controller. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...io-keystation-mini-32-mk3-keyboard-controller Make sense, or am I overlooking potential problems?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Voodoo Tremolo]

I have something very similar to the M-audio one you linked and I absolutely love it for the very kind of purposes you describe. For $60US I don't think you can go wrong giving that a go. I keep the 32 keys on a little stand behind my typing keyboard (nearer the monitor) so when I need it, it's right there ready to go.

 

[uriah1]

You could midi out your buddies playing to a B3 sound in a synth or midi keyboard
Im old midi, however. Not daw

 

[loudboy]

The Maudio ones work fine, even cheaper if you get a used one.

There's a free VSTi called CollaB3 that does a very nice Hammond.

 

[runstendt]

M-Audio is probably your best bet. If you have the space for it you might want to get a larger one, though.

 

[woodman]

I've been using a 2-octave M-Audio for years with good restlts, since my keyboard talents are about that of a well-trained chimp. But writing MIDI comes much more from the imagination than supreme keyboard technique. Steel drums, French horns, accordion, whatever you need can be done right there in the piano roll.

I wouldn't advise mini-keys, though — too narrow for most guitar players' fingers. Two octaves with regular size keys oughta do ya. (You can jump octaves with ease and even transpose on the M-Audio, plus it has features that can take you deeper into the mysterious worlds of MIDI if you choose.)

 

[suthol]

I've been using a 2-octave M-Audio for years with good restlts, since my keyboard talents are about that of a well-trained chimp. But writing MIDI comes much more from the imagination than supreme keyboard technique. Steel drums, French horns, accordion, whatever you need can be done right there in the piano roll.

I wouldn't advise mini-keys, though — too narrow for most guitar players' fingers. Two octaves with regular size keys oughta do ya. (You can jump octaves with ease and even transpose on the M-Audio, plus it has features that can take you deeper into the mysterious worlds of MIDI if you choose.)

A Mellotron doesn't have a vast keyboard range and the VSTi that I have is switchable between octaves as well as voices

 

[arlum]

I've spent the last month researching every DAW on the market and it's a pain in the ... . Logic Pro for Apple users. I bought it many years back and never figured it out. Ableton Live. Apparently meant for beats and software instruments and live performances yet there's a guy on YouTube showing how well Ableton Live works for recording, mixing and mastering electric guitar recorded live from the front of a speaker cabinet. Pro Tools. Because it's the industry standard you can't ignore it yet ....... yearly payments and a really tough learning curve requiring on line lessons just to figure out how to use it. Stein Cubase. PreSonus Studio One, and Reaper. Yes. there are others that might be better or worse but these are the one's I've come to focus on. Talk about a s... storm

 

[loudboy]

I've spent the last month researching every DAW on the market and it's a pain in the ... . Logic Pro for Apple users. I bought it many years back and never figured it out. Ableton Live. Apparently meant for beats and software instruments and live performances yet there's a guy on YouTube showing how well Ableton Live works for recording, mixing and mastering electric guitar recorded live from the front of a speaker cabinet. Pro Tools. Because it's the industry standard you can't ignore it yet ....... yearly payments and a really tough learning curve requiring on line lessons just to figure out how to use it. Stein Cubase. PreSonus Studio One, and Reaper. Yes. there are others that might be better or worse but these are the one's I've come to focus on. Talk about a s... storm

They all do about the same thing. I'd pick one, dig in, and just do a song and see how you like it.

 

[suthol]

They all do about the same thing. I'd pick one, dig in, and just do a song and see how you like it.

It's the interface and plugins that will possibly give different colours.

Zeroes and ones are the same in all computers

 

[Jupiter]

I think the one you listed is the one I got. Works fine. I use mine with GarageBand.

 

[guitarsophist]

I have the M-Audio Keystation 49. Works great for playing midi into a DAW. I use Reaper. Free to try, $69 license for non-commerical use, great support from the community. There are lots of free B3 plugins.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

I have the M-Audio Keystation 49. Works great for playing midi into a DAW. I use Reaper. Free to try, $69 license for non-commerical use, great support from the community. There are lots of free B3 plugins.

How smooth would the transition from Garage Band (which I'm finally learning fairly well) be into Reaper?

FWIW, a son-in-law-to-be produces heavy metal stuff (he's a good kid, though, I swear!) and swears by Reaper. Including that it would be very good for the Americana-type stuff our band does. Would you agree? Or wouldn't Logic be the most (yup) logical transition for me, once I get better with GB?

 

[guitarsophist]

How smooth would the transition from Garage Band (which I'm finally learning fairly well) be into Reaper?

FWIW, a son-in-law-to-be produces heavy metal stuff (he's a good kid, though, I swear!) and swears by Reaper. Including that it would be very good for the Americana-type stuff our band does. Would you agree? Or wouldn't Logic be the most (yup) logical transition for me, once I get better with GB?

I think I have only made one track in Garage Band and that was on an iPad. To me is seemed sort of cartoony, but I know that there is more power there than it seems on the surface. I think that you are right that the logical transition from that is to Logic. On the other hand, while Reaper looks intimidating, there are lots of instructional videos and it is not as hard as it looks.

I think it ultimately doesn't matter what DAW you use. You should use whatever you are comfortable with. You can try Reaper and fool around with it. The download is free and when unregistered it is not crippled. It just nags you a little. The personal license is $69. I think the commercial license (if you are running a studio and making money with it) is $200, but it is all on the honor system. The important thing is to make music.

 

[Voodoo Tremolo]

Or wouldn't Logic be the most (yup) logical transition for me, once I get better with GB?

There is a 90 day free trial for Logic at the Apple website. I used the trial, no obligations. Loved it. It's basically GB with lots of added features. I'd consider experimenting with Logic (for free) before moving from GB to an entirely different system but I guess it depends on how far you've gotten with GB already. You can open up GB files in Logic Pro too.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

There is a 90 day free trial for Logic at the Apple website. I used the trial, no obligations. Loved it. It's basically GB with lots of added features. I'd consider experimenting with Logic (for free) before moving from GB to an entirely different system but I guess it depends on how far you've gotten with GB already. You can open up GB files in Logic Pro too.

I'm finding Garage Band surprisingly capable--much more than my quite primitive songs need.

In fact, I just finished "producing" my most complex song to date. It ended up having 12 tracks, partly because I figured out how to patch flawed tracks by duplicating their settings in new ones and playing or singing that flawed passage right, etc. I even used Pitch Transformer to fake a female chorus on some vocal phrases, as our women singers (we usually have three) are out of town.

We tracked piano parts mic'ing our 1910 Ellington (a Baldwin product) with an SM57. I dialed up the noise gate to cut most of its key, hammer, and pedal clacking, double-tracked things wet and dry, etc., and it worked very well. Panning, ambience, cutting and splicing--exhausting but fun stuff! And I know that I'm still scratching the surface of what it can do. My two modest added plug-ins--Wider and a Saturation pedal--work well, too.

So while its amp presets and sims aren't great, modulating a straight-in audio signal with its base reverb, trem, etc., options works quite well. And the SM58 is very good at recording my acoustics' flavors. I can fiddle around to make my Jazzmaster do a pretend bass pretty well, too. So I may just stick with it.

Its big test is when the MIDI arrives tomorrow. If it allows me to generate the keyboard and particularly B3 tones I want, even that next step to Logic might be one too far for very e-clumsy and song-primitive me. I also need to dig into its drum options much more, as I like pretty vivid, distinct, kinda quirky drumming. And our drummer is--you know it--out of town. As in, out of the country out of town. So....

But I much appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions here. I'm learning a lot! Thank you.

 

[Jupiter]

GB is amazingly powerful if you dig into it.