What mini-keyboard for Sonar?

tombuur

tombuur

New member
I want one of those 2 octave keyboards to key in chords, a simple bassline or whatever. I am not a keyboard player, but can do small things like that. What keyboard interfaces best with Sonar. Any experience good and bad? Particularly concerning interfacing knobs and sliders to Sonar, since I guess the simple midi keyboard playing is straight forward.
 
moskus said:
M-Audio have some neat ones. :)
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Yes, I am looking at that. There is the Oxygen, but also some others. Then there is Edirol. They have released a new one which is very flat and perhaps would fit nice on the desk beside the computer keyboard.

As to Prodikeys, I think it looks interesting. I do, however, have two questions: Are the keys smaller than other keyboards making it harder to play? And second, what about the letters Æ Ø Å that Moskus invented? You see, we use them quite a lot in Denmark and Norway, so if they are not on the Prodikeys keyboard it will create problems ... and no, we can't insert them using <ALT> + a number. That would be like playing a musícal instrument and having to play 4 notes to get 1 note. Not very smooth. And there are more problems than this with keyboards without the locally famous Moskus letters.
 
i have an m-audio evolution USB keyboard. it is the large one (the 61 note one) but there are smaller models as well. I like it a lot. It comes with a bunch of unnecessary software but you dont need to install it. The faders and pots on it are pretty cool to program as well. finally it has a modulation and pitch wheel which are both awsome functions.
 
I have the Midiman Oxygen-8 controller. Two octaves and eight round-and-roundy knobs.

Works really well via USB and does good double duty for me as a remote playback/record controller when I am trying to track myself.

Q.
 
Oxygen-8 and a smaller Evolution are on the "check them out list". I assume you are happy with the way the keys work. As to programming the knobs to work with Sonar, is there a good program to do that, one that will work in the future too with the yearly Sonar upgrades?

I see Edirol has a new keyboard called PCR-M1. It is thin and dark gray or black, so it would fit easier and look better on the table (Most of my studio equipment is black). Edirol has what looks like a nice program to assign controls to the knobs and sliders of their PCR series. Any experience with this? Or the PCR-1 which is the same, but with audio.
 
You are never going to mistake it for a Steinway, but the keys are certainly playable and allow you to get reasonably good velocity responses recorded.

As to assigning functions to knobs, it's already built-in. OPTIONS-KEY BINDINGS.

Ciao,

Q.
 
Querty,
Since my experience with this kind of keyboard is nil, my question might be out of ignorance ... But, can you assign the knobs and sliders to do other function than controlling midi parameters? Could they control audio functions too?

I know some of you have external hardware to control volume etc. during recording. Only I have had no use for this so far, so if I could assign the knobs to Sonar volume sliders (or something else), it could be useful in a situation where using the mouse is less practical.
 
tombuur said:
Querty,
But, can you assign the knobs and sliders to do other function than controlling midi parameters?

Could they control audio functions too?
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Yes and yes.

But they aren't control surfaces, so things are a little bodgy. For instance, I could use a customised generic control surface with the Oxygen-8 and have it set up to change volume, pan sends etc.., Unfortunately, there is no simple way to easily change the actual track on which it is operating within the whole project.

So yes it would work, but would it be useable? Well it really depends upon your situation?

I find I get the most use out of mine as a quick and convenient 2-octave keyboard to grab when I want to create a backing line for something. It is also a life saver when I am recording myself singing or playing. I have individual keys set up to play, stop, ff, rew, move between markers, save, undo, rec and so on.

So said, a wireless keyboard and mouse would do that same job equally well if not better so it really depends upon what your work style is like.

Q.
 
Sure. My main purpose would be entering bassline and organ chords, perhaps some drum that is more easily tapped with a few keys. And I do have a wireless keybord and mouse with self-recording in mind. So control audio would just be and added posibility if it could be done easily.
 
My search led me to this. And you couldn't find a better argument for this keyboard.

http://www.prodikeys.com/products/prodikeys_DM/watch/5_Drums_Low.wmv

Anyway, I had my doubts about the Norwegian/Danish letters missing on the keyboard. So I thought the Edirol PRS-M1 soon to come out might be the best choice. However, I tried the PRS-1 (same but with audio) and did not like the keys at all. That short action just didn't feel right.

Two contenders were left. The Oxygen 8 and PRS-30. Of these two there was no doubt that playing the keys of the PRS-30 felt best to me. It is slightly bigger (2 1/2 octaves all in all) than the Oxygen 8, but I thought it still would fit on my desk, particularly since I had dissed the PRS-M1 anyway. So that is what I got. It can work like a control surface too, like some Roland MRC-8. The control surface used to be included with Sonar 2, but now it is gone. Strange. I guess I will find a way, but if someone has created a control surface, let me know. I don't know if the one included with Sonar 2 also works with Sonar 3. I still have the Sonar 2 cd's, but would hate to install it just to extract those files.
 
tombuur said:
Oxygen-8 and a smaller Evolution are on the "check them out list". I assume you are happy with the way the keys work. As to programming the knobs to work with Sonar, is there a good program to do that, one that will work in the future too with the yearly Sonar upgrades?

I see Edirol has a new keyboard called PCR-M1. It is thin and dark gray or black, so it would fit easier and look better on the table (Most of my studio equipment is black). Edirol has what looks like a nice program to assign controls to the knobs and sliders of their PCR series. Any experience with this? Or the PCR-1 which is the same, but with audio.
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I just got the PCR-M1 yesterday. It's a really nice looking controller. Much more understated and sleek in design than the Oxygen, with a much more compact form factor than you may expect. It's seems solid in build, however I think the OMS drivers (at least in Mac OS 9) seem buggy. When I transpose up 3 octaves for instance, my middle C key does not output MIDI. My best guess is that since the driver is still in version 1, they have not ironed out some quirks. I know it's not a dead key because the key still transmits MIDI as displayed on the LED on the unit itself. Anyways, I am trying to get in touch with Edirol support, but their site doesn't work! I will probably ring them tonight and see if I get a resolution. I do like their products a lot, I had a PCR-30 which worked flawlessly, but I opted to go with something smaller, and you can't get much smaller than a PCR-1!
 
i've got the Edirol PCR-30 and i dig that little thing. i can plug it into the laptop and record drum beats, bass lines, pads and basic melodies using soft-synths in the bed after i put the wife to sleep.

when its downstairs with the 'good' gear, the knobs and faders make it great for tweeking midi parameters. i just sit it on top of my fatar sl-880.
 
tombuur said:
My search led me to this. And you couldn't find a better argument for this keyboard.
http://www.prodikeys.com/products/prodikeys_DM/watch/5_Drums_Low.wmv
Click to expand...

I have a prodikeys (ver 1...) and it is both an awkward computer keyboard (because of the shape) and limited as a keyboard. The newer version is shaped like a traditional computer keyboard and the software is updated.

That said, I find it real handy to just pull off the cover and play something while it is fresh without anything elaborate... But, I would recommend you get a small professional keyboard - I think some folks recommend Edirol. I've heard some bad things about the small m-audio keyboards so research is important. If I'm not using my prodikey I'm using my Kurweil piano so I don't have a lot of experience with small pro keyboards.
 
Fancy yourself a rock star – the Creative Prodikeys can make your dream come true. -- Creative
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Man, all this time I've wasted practicing the guitar and bass.... and all along, all I had to do was buy one of these. I wish someone had told me sooner.

What’s more, you can put up a one-man band performance for your loved ones.
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You've got to be kidding me! They are going to be so impressed!

To up the fun level, strap it up like a guitar and perform like a rock star.
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Dude, I will look so cool! All the rock stars I love strap computer keyboards across their chests! Did you know EVH can type at 200 words per minute??!!
 
dirtythermos said:
Man, all this time I've wasted practicing the guitar and bass.... and all along, all I had to do was buy one of these. I wish someone had told me sooner.
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oh yeah, the rock star thingie... they keyboard features this really f***ing useful "fun" button right next to the escape key... this way when you're in the middle of editing something, and go to hit escape, the f***ing prodigy rock star maker kicks in and give you a nice BSOD to make sure your work is trashed... definitely rock star material because then you start throwing crap all around the room and punching holes in the walls... :-)

that said it is quite useful for midi input when you don't feel like using the big keyboard...
 
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