Recording - November 2010 - 21

Choosing a keyboard Guitarists have an advantage over keyboardists in that if a guitarist talks about hunting around for an instrument with a special feel and responsiveness, no one is likely to tell him he’s wasting time on the task. “What’s the big deal with guitars anyway? Six strings, a neck and a body, and some pickups and knobs—spend fifty bucks and you should be good to go!” In contrast, serious keyboardists often have trouble convincing others that how a keyboard feels is at least as important as how a guitar plays; if a keyboard action feels wrong, it’s not going to be playable by them, period. If you think I’ve just described you, then your task is simple: get to your local store and try keyboard after keyboard until you find one that you and your fingertips really love. That has to be Step One. A really picky player might not find anything that suits him or her, or perhaps only a small set of acceptable actions in pianos costing thousands of dollars. A player with a slightly more forgiving touch may eliminate a variety of lower- to mid-priced options, but discover several still-affordable keyboards that feel good under his or her fingers. Once you’re sure you have a choice or choices that you’re not going to hate playing, then you can move on to the next steps.

Grafting old onto new Let’s say you have an electronic keyboard you’re happy with—many players who have been in the game for several years will have an electronic piano or synthesizer or even a home keyboard or organ whose feel and sound they like. Integrating your instrument with your DAW doesn’t have to mean giving up on the feel and sound you love! If your DAW has an audio interface, getting your favorite keyboard’s sounds into it is as simple as hooking up a pair of line-level inputs. (We’ll leave miking acoustic keyboards for another article.) The one place where you’ll want to be careful is in getting a clean, hot signal into your DAW. Many keyboards, especially older ones, can have very wimpy output levels, with background noise that can be unpleasant if they’re amplified a lot. A DI box can be heaven-sent in a situation like that, letting you get the cleanest possible signal into a pair of mic channels or preamps where it can be cleanly boosted, or even sweetened with a bit of tube magic or overdrive if that’s your taste. (Bob Emmet talks about this in the DAW Details in this issue.) Using your favorite keyboard as a controller, especially if all you want to do is play instruments residing in your DAW from the keys, is inexpensive and simple.

Several companies make small 1-in/1-out MIDI interfaces that hook up to a USB port on your computer. Most are classcompliant, meaning a Mac or Windows or Linux DAW will recognize them without your having to install special drivers. This little interface, or a MIDI I/O pair on your main interface, can quickly turn your favorite set of keys into your ideal way to play that virtual grand piano you just installed on your computer. It’s still about the fingers This is a good time for the experienced keyboardist to take an afternoon sitting and playing with his or her favorite keyboards and thinking hard about what makes them favorites. Examine your playing style to see what makes one machine sing while another just sits there unused. If your fingers make the rest of you feel like making music, then it’s the right board for you. Only now do you look at the way it performs the other chores you’ll ask of it. For example, my favorite USB keyboard controller, the one I’ve gigged with constantly for years, is the Novation XStation. It’s actually a full-featured synthesizer with a built-in audio interface and USB connectivity, and one of the only ones on the market that was designed as a synth first and a controller second.


http://www.Rolandus.com/CD-2i http://www.Rolandus.com/CD-2i

Recording - November 2010

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

Recording - November 2010
Contents
Fade In
Talkback
Fast Forward
A Studio Journey With Larry Carlton
Akai MPK Series USB/MIDI Keyboard Controllers
The Keys To The Studio
Telefunken Elektroakustik AR-51 Tube Microphone
Novation SL MkII USB Controllers
ADAM Audio A3X Active Monitors
DAW Details
Waves Tony Maserati Artist Signature Collection
Solid State Logic XLOGIC Superanalogue X-Rack and X-Desk
Roland GAIA SH-01 Synthesizer
Recording’s Keyboard Column
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 8: Digital Distribution
Korg microSTATION
Readers’ Tapes
Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - November 2010 - Recording - November 2010
Recording - November 2010 - Cover2
Recording - November 2010 - 1
Recording - November 2010 - Fade In
Recording - November 2010 - 3
Recording - November 2010 - Contents
Recording - November 2010 - 5
Recording - November 2010 - Talkback
Recording - November 2010 - 7
Recording - November 2010 - Fast Forward
Recording - November 2010 - 9
Recording - November 2010 - 10
Recording - November 2010 - 11
Recording - November 2010 - A Studio Journey With Larry Carlton
Recording - November 2010 - 13
Recording - November 2010 - 14
Recording - November 2010 - 15
Recording - November 2010 - 16
Recording - November 2010 - 17
Recording - November 2010 - Akai MPK Series USB/MIDI Keyboard Controllers
Recording - November 2010 - 19
Recording - November 2010 - The Keys To The Studio
Recording - November 2010 - 21
Recording - November 2010 - 22
Recording - November 2010 - 23
Recording - November 2010 - 24
Recording - November 2010 - 25
Recording - November 2010 - Telefunken Elektroakustik AR-51 Tube Microphone
Recording - November 2010 - 27
Recording - November 2010 - 28
Recording - November 2010 - 29
Recording - November 2010 - Novation SL MkII USB Controllers
Recording - November 2010 - 31
Recording - November 2010 - 32
Recording - November 2010 - 33
Recording - November 2010 - ADAM Audio A3X Active Monitors
Recording - November 2010 - 35
Recording - November 2010 - DAW Details
Recording - November 2010 - 37
Recording - November 2010 - Waves Tony Maserati Artist Signature Collection
Recording - November 2010 - 39
Recording - November 2010 - Solid State Logic XLOGIC Superanalogue X-Rack and X-Desk
Recording - November 2010 - 41
Recording - November 2010 - 42
Recording - November 2010 - 43
Recording - November 2010 - Roland GAIA SH-01 Synthesizer
Recording - November 2010 - 45
Recording - November 2010 - 46
Recording - November 2010 - 47
Recording - November 2010 - Recording’s Keyboard Column
Recording - November 2010 - 49
Recording - November 2010 - 50
Recording - November 2010 - 51
Recording - November 2010 - 52
Recording - November 2010 - 53
Recording - November 2010 - 54
Recording - November 2010 - 55
Recording - November 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 8: Digital Distribution
Recording - November 2010 - 57
Recording - November 2010 - Korg microSTATION
Recording - November 2010 - 59
Recording - November 2010 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - November 2010 - 61
Recording - November 2010 - Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Recording - November 2010 - 63
Recording - November 2010 - 64
Recording - November 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - November 2010 - 66
Recording - November 2010 - 67
Recording - November 2010 - 68
Recording - November 2010 - 69
Recording - November 2010 - 70
Recording - November 2010 - 71
Recording - November 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - November 2010 - Cover3
Recording - November 2010 - Cover4
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