Recording - November 2010 - 18

B Y M I K E M E T L AY

Akai MPK Series USB/MIDI Keyboard Controllers
MPC drum pads and powerful software support give these keyboards a high-tech edge
The repeats can be set to straight time or you can dial in a swing value for alternating notes. There are user-settable velocity curves for the pads, and each pad can transmit conventional Channel aftertouch (one value for the entire keyboard) or the rare and lovely Polyphonic Aftertouch, which can be different for each key and allow a great deal of nuance in your performances—just as long as your DAW supports it. There are also two front-panel buttons to quickly alter the Pad Bank’s behavior. The Full Level button outputs data at a velocity of 127 no matter how hard you hit the pads, and the 16 Level button assigns the last note you played to all 16 pads but at 16 different velocity levels— useful for players who want to program drum parts with specific dynamics but whose hands aren’t facile with playing the pads in real time. The MPK offers a Split function, where the keyboard can quickly be divided into two regions that can each have certain performance controllers activated or defeated or send data on differing MIDI channels. The onboard arpeggiator can be set to a variety of patterns, sync to external tempo, and quickly change time division anywhere from quarter notes to 32nd notes, with or without triplets. It can be turned on or off, or latched, from a footswitch. The footswitches are worth a special mention—they can send MIDI messages, turn front panel functions on and off, tap tempo, or even act as a poor man’s kick and/or hi-hat pedal, for playing drum pads with the feet. By the way, your computer will see the MPK as a set of three inputs to the computer and two outputs from the computer. Of the inputs, two are full sets of MIDI Channels selectable from the MPK (so you can divide up controllers among 32 different channels, split the keyboard, etc.), and the third is the MPK’s physical MIDI In port in its capacity as a MIDI interface for external gear. The two outputs are for the MPK itself (to receive data from the computer like patch changes or tempo sync data) and for the MIDI Out port to external gear. These ports appear as distinctly named MIDI destinations in all software, and it’s easy to keep them straight.

When it comes to attracting interest in the crowded USB keyboard market, Akai has a leg up on the competition in a critical area—their new MPK Series of USB/MIDI keyboard controllers features not only a conventional keyboard and control surface, but a full array of drum pads reminiscent of the famous Akai MPC desktop drum machine/sequencer units of years past. Anyone with experience composing on an MPC will instantly feel at home on the MPK, making it a clear front runner for controller duties in the modern beat-based studio. The hardware There are four MPK controllers, named after the number of keys they sport. The MPK25 and MPK49 are more compact models with a 12-pad layout similar to those seen on the small battery-powered MPCs, and the MPK61 and MPK88 (reviewed here) are full-sized models with a complete 16-pad MPC layout. The first thing you notice about the MPK is its solidity; housed in a sturdy metal chassis with plastic top and end panels, it’s heavy and confidence-inspiring. The MPK88 is identical to the MPK61 in function but has an 88-key hammer-style piano action that makes it very heavy. Trying to build a realistic piano action into a compact controller is a thankless task, as pianists are extraordinarily finicky folks; one person might be perfectly fine with an action that makes another recoil in horror. The MPK88’s action wasn’t to my taste; I recommend a thorough hands-on test before you bring it home, as only you will be able to decide if it suits your touch. In a dramatic contrast, I was much happier with the MPK61’s semi-weighted
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action, which was nicely stiff yet responsive to fast playing and sported a soft, easily nuanced aftertouch bed—possibly the best controller action I’ve played in years, and certainly better than the one on my previous favorite keyboard controller, which was unceremoniously dumped in a corner for the duration of the review. The front panel sports a large backlit LCD that displays patch names and data values clearly, surrounded by the 16 MPC pads, eight faders, eight endless encoder knobs, eight backlit buttons, transport controls, and buttons for the arpeggiator and MPC drum pad functions. The MPC pads themselves are of soft rubber and feature aftertouch and velocity sensitivity, and are comfortable and responsive to play. I also liked the rubberized and brightly backlit pitch and modulation wheels. The number of controls on the front panel is multiplied by a set of bank buttons; the faders, encoders, and buttons can have different functions in banks A, B, and C, and there are four banks of pad settings. The active Pad Bank is displayed on the LCD, but the buttons themselves don’t have LEDs or backlights. The rear panel features MIDI In and Out, three 1/4" jacks for two switches and an expression pedal, a USB output, and a jack for a 6VDC power supply (not included—both MPKs ran happily on USB bus power in all my tests). Performance pluses The Pad Bank has a number of special tools that will be familiar to MPC users. There’s Note Repeat, which retriggers notes for any pads you hold down, in time with the set tempo or external clock signals received over USB from your DAW or via MIDI input.

Recording - November 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2010