MIDI Keyboard Controller

[Nomo]

Hello guys,
I'm really really new with keyboards, so i thought to get a MIDI Keyboard controller, or however you call it, instead of an expensive synth.

I'm getting a USB Keyboard, so I won't have any problem with a sound card.

Now,
How can I use my computer as a modoule? I mean, How can I use my computer to play sounds?

What program do I need? (without spending a lot of money, maybe even without spending at all)

Thanks,
Noam

[Spacehog]

Without spending any money at all, there *are* a few freeware soft synths kicking around, but they're not generally very good, and most require a VST host to run.

I'd recommend investing in Native Instruments' Xpress Keyboards, it's a collection of cut-down versions of the B-4 organ, Pro53 analogue synth and FM7 digital synth, bundled together for a really quite low price. Certainly a lot cheaper than buying a hardware synth :)

Martin

[Tigerfolly]

Hello guys,
I'm really really new with keyboards, so i thought to get a MIDI Keyboard controller, or however you call it, instead of an expensive synth.

I'm getting a USB Keyboard, so I won't have any problem with a sound card.

Now,
How can I use my computer as a modoule? I mean, How can I use my computer to play sounds?

What program do I need? (without spending a lot of money, maybe even without spending at all)

Thanks,
Noam

I was in the same position six months ago that you're now in. I picked up a 49 key USB MIDI controller from Evolution (the MK-249, to be exact) and planned on using it for studio work, and maybe a little live work here and there. Having just gone through all of the trial and error, hopefully this will help you out a bit.

You can use a MIDI controller with a computer in a studio situation very easily, but it's a bit more difficult for live purposes. Since I'm anal, I like to make lists.. Enjoy.

Studio

1. Latency. What is latency? Essentially, it's the delay between the moment you press the key on your controller and the moment you hear the sound played. Latency is a very, very real issue when using a computer, so be prepared to deal with it in some manner. There are ways to lower latency, and the best ways to handle that are by using the best sound card you can possibly get, and the ASIO drivers for it. For studio or home use it won't be much more than an annoyance though.. Worst case scenario, you end up spending more time doing more takes because the timing isn't exactly where you want it to be.

2. Software. You didn't really mention what kinds of sounds you're looking for, or what you're going to use your rig for, so we can't really recommend anything. I have pretty simple tastes when it comes to keyboard sounds.. generally pianos, EPs, organs, mellotrons, the occasional analog synth, and a smattering of acoustic instruments here and there. I highly recommend ANYTHING by Native Instruments.. everything I've gotten has been absolutely awesome. Here's what I use.

Native Instruments B4 (Hammond B3/tonewheel organ)
Native Instruments Pro-53 (Prophet 5/analog synth)
Native Instruments Kontakt (sample playback)
Reason 2.5 (all kinds of instruments)

If your computer has the muscle, check out programs like Steinberg's "The Grand" for awesome pianos, Sampletank, and MOTU's Mach Five for excellent software samplers.

3. Hardware. What kind of computer are you going to run? PC or Mac? What version of Windows/MacOS? Is the software you want XP or OSX compatible? What kind of sound card does it have? How big is the hard drive? How much memory?

All of this comes down to what you have or what you can afford. If you're in the studio, then generally the same computer you're using will probably be used for some other stuff too, like sequencing, hard disk recording, mixing, mastering, or whatever. No matter what your end purpose is, if you're using a computer you want these things:

A. A whole shitload of RAM. You can never, ever, ever have too much memory. Max your computer out with RAM.
B. A big hard drive. One of the luxuries that computers have given us musicians is the ability to store TONS of things. If your computer is your main studio computer, you want all of your audio programs to be running on a separate hard drive from the one your operating system runs on.
C. A good sound card with ASIO drivers. I've already explained a little bit about this, but still.. it's necessary.
D. A way to back your stuff up. Whether it's a CDRW, DVDRW, external hard drive, or whatever.. BACK YOUR WORK UP. I'll explain more later..

Live

In addition to all of the above, you've got the following things to think about when it comes to a live rig:

1. Logistics. My MIDI controller is powered by the USB cable. If I just use MIDI instead of USB, I have to use a separate adapter. Regardless of what I use, it still has to connect to my computer, and where the computer is sitting is very important. I thought about making a little shelf on my keyboard stand for it, I thought about making a separate stand for it, but in the end I ended up just setting it on top of my rig. That also became a problem because it's not easy to find extra-long USB cables, and it's certainly not cheap. You can get USB extension cables, but they're generally only six feet in length. Be prepared for this, because if you're playing large stages and your rig isn't near your keyboard, you're in trouble.

2. Computer. If you're using a USB MIDI controller and a computer live, then you better have a laptop. If you don't, you're in for one massive world of pain.. unless you've got roadies to set up and maintain everything for you, of course. Computers in an audio situation are just like computers in every other situation.. they suck. They break down at the worst possible moment, they have annoying issues when everything appears to be working fine, and they're very delicate and sensitive pieces of equipment.

3. Preparation. When using a computer in any way with your live rig, you have got to go into the whole thing completely prepared. Every preset should be set up the way you need it, there shouldn't be any prep time before you play.. you should be able to turn it on and go. In order to get any computer-based system to do that, you need to really have your shit together before the show.

My experience

I use the aforementioned Evolution MK249 MIDI controller, connected to an IBM T23 ThinkPad laptop (1ghz CPU, 512MB RAM, 30GB HD) via USB, and mainly I use NI's B4 and NI's Kontakt with the live rig. I have it on an Apex stand with an EMU PK6, and it's by far my secondary keyboard live. If I had a Korg CX3 or a Roland VK8, it'd replace the USB rig in a second. In the six months I've been using this rig with this tribute band I'm in, I've only had the rig running for two shows (I won't bring it unless I'm using it, and only a couple songs in our set need it). I also use that laptop as the heart of my mobile studio rig, which is currently at our rehearsal studio.

A couple weeks ago, I started having hard drive issues. This escalated and I ended up with a hard drive full of bad sectors and a fried motherboard. Luckily, a friend of mine gets these laptops really cheap, and had two spares.. one of which I used for parts to repair mine. So as of this past Monday, my laptop is back up and running.. and I really, really missed it. I've really stripped it down and it's running the bare minimum, and I've been extra-EXTRA careful with it, because it truly is the heart of my studio. Even for an IT geek like running a laptop based rig is a difficult venture.. although I'm sure it would be easier if I had a dedicated machine, like a Titanium PowerBook to run it.

So in conclusion.. if you're looking at going the USB controller route for yourself at home, or for some studio projects, it really just comes down to common sense audio computing. But if you're planning on doing it live, there are WAY easier and cheaper ways to do things. A laptop like mine goes for around $700 right now, $150 for the controller, $50-100 for all of the cables you need, and $100-1,000 depending on what software you want (Yes, you can download cracked versions of anything you want, but they're always very buggy and crappy. I started with cracks of the NI stuff, and was so impressed with them that I bought them. I highly suggest the same route.. download to test, purchase the stuff that works the best for you). That Emu PK6 I mentioned was a whopping $395, and it's an awesome little keyboard that almost does everything we want out of it.. the only thing it doesn't do well are B3 tones (and just buying the Vintage Keys or B3 chip would solve that) and it doesn't sample (which is what I use Kontakt for).

One of these days I'll actually take pictures of my rig. But until then, I hope this helps.