#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X HOW TO#
#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X GENERATOR#
#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X SOFTWARE#

Price when reviewed: £114 | Buy now from Amazon READ NEXT: The best electric guitars 2018 – the best electric guitars from Gibson, Yamaha and Fender The best MIDI keyboards you can buy in 2019 Behringer UMX610: The best MIDI keyboard for beginners Some high-end keyboards even have two foot-pedal sockets for double the flexibility. If you fancy that, you can get a perfectly good pedal for as little as £14 (see, for example, the M-Audio SP-2. Meanwhile, a foot-pedal connector lets you add an optional pedal, for piano-style sustain – or whatever other control you want to assign.

#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X GENERATOR#

If your keyboard lacks a traditional MIDI output, you can’t connect it directly to other MIDI gear, such as an outboard tone generator or sampler – but that’s very unlikely to be a problem in this day and age. The standard five-pin MIDI out connector is still very common, but many modern keyboards also support USB, so you don’t need to invest in a dedicated MIDI interface for your computer or tablet.

#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X SOFTWARE#

And synth wizards may prefer to do their composition and instrument editing from directly in front of the keyboard, in which case a big range of buttons is very helpful.Ĭertain keyboards have dedicated transport controls too, so you can tell your software to skip to a certain part of your song, loop a section, record a new part and so forth without interrupting your workflow.

It can be handy to have a range of different types of control, though, such as pads to trigger samples, buttons to select instruments and knobs and sliders to adjust effects. On top of this, there’s usually a selection of knobs and buttons that don’t have a fixed purpose: you can assign these to controls and functions in your host software, and use them to switch sounds, change effects settings or do whatever else you like.įor most of us, a handful of assignable controls is plenty – after all, there’s a limit to how much tweaking you’re likely to want to do in the middle of a performance. MIDI keyboards normally have a few standard controls, such as a pitch wheel and an optional sustain pedal.

If the keys are too small for your hands, that could lead to a fumbling, uncomfortable performance. If you’re considering a mini-keyboard for live gigs, it’s worth trying it out in person before you buy. Full-sized keys again feel more like playing a piano, but smaller keys let you squeeze more octaves into a compact unit. Piano players may appreciate this, but an unweighted “synth action” has its advantages, too: it feels springy and nimble, and can greatly reduce the total weight of the keyboard.Ī final thing to consider is the size of the keys. Weighted keys don’t affect the sound, but they can help you play expressively. Some keyboards also support aftertouch, which lets you push down firmly on the key after it’s sounded to activate another effect, such as vibrato. These detect whether you’re playing piano or forte, and tell your host software to play an appropriately gentle or strident sound. What sort of keys should I look for?Įvery MIDI keyboard should have velocity-sensitive keys. Often the same keyboard is available in a range of sizes, so you can weigh up the convenience of extra keys against your budget – and your portability requirements, if you’re planning to take your keyboard out to rehearsals and gigs. If you want to play with two hands at once, you’ll probably want to look at 49-key or 61-key models. If you’re tapping out single-note melodies, this is no problem and you’ll be fine with a small keyboard such as the M-Audio KeyStation Mini 32 below. They can still play the whole range of notes, but you may have to use an octave shift function to switch between the high and low registers. How many keys do I need?Ī piano has 88 keys, but most MIDI keyboards have fewer.

Broadly speaking, all MIDI keyboards do the same basic job, but if you want to get the one that’s right for your style, needs and budget, there are a few factors to think about. If you want a standalone keyboard that makes its own sounds, that’s a different thing. We’re talking about a keyboard that doesn’t make any noise on its own: rather, its keys, knobs and buttons send signals to a host computer and your digital audio workstation (DAW) software, which handles the business of generating the actual musical notes.

#BEST MIDI KEYBOARD FOR LOGIC PRO X HOW TO#

How to buy the right MIDI keyboardįirst, let’s be sure that a MIDI keyboard is what you need. Here’s our pick of the best, along with a guide to what to look for in your perfect keyboard. Whether you’re composing for fun or planning a stadium tour, a piano-style MIDI keyboard is what you need to transform your computer into a bona fide musical instrument. Best bookshelf speakers 2022: Audio boosts for every budget and styleĭragging notes into place with the mouse isn’t much fun, though, and touchscreens are distinctly lacking in tactile feedback.

Best midi keyboard for logic pro x