Small portable keyboard suggestion!?

General
#1

Hey Guys, im playing a gig overseas and dont really want to risk my moog on the airplane so am looking for a portable alternative solution.


I basically want a two octave mono keyboard with the following abilities:

- can latch notes (so that i can hit the note once and it will sustain until i hit a new note)
- small
- cheap (ish - under £150)
- can do bass

The latch is the important bit, unfortunately my op1 falls short here. The latch using the sequencer trick isnt doing the job, and tbh, the op1 is not good at bass anyway

Does the critter and guitari have latch?I have tried and didnt like the microbrute. Perhaps the bastl stuff with an external MID keyboard? if so which keyboard? Bastl is certainly small enough :smiley: Do i remember correctly the OTO biscuit works as a synth?

Anyway, suggestions on a postcard please! PS I am going to run whatever it is through a monotron to get the filter so it just needs to be raw sound.

Cheers

/tom





#2

ah i was gunna say brute, but u said u didn't jive w/ it.

i don't think C&G stuff has a latch. and yes Biscuit can also function as a mono synth, Der OTO!

maybe a korg volca w/ a midi keyboard? oop, no latch. sorry i am not of much help right now

shruthi?

#3

Sounds like you are describing an Alesis Micron.

#4

Dude why don’t you just wedge a toothpick? works perfectly for me. Though it is harder to latch the sharp keys.

#5

+1 for Micron, cracking synth, has latch and I can confirm it sounds terrific through a Monotron (Delay). But then again everything sounds terrific through a Monotron!!

#6

@erhenius - i need to be able to do the latching in real time whilst performing so not time to faff with toothpicks!


Thanks for the other suggestions guys, i’l check them out :slight_smile:

@docshermsticks - can i do the latching via the MIDI keyboard perhaps?


#7

not sure how common that is on midi keyboards


shruthi has latch, and does bass super well. u can buy em prebuilt on ebay a lot of times.
#8

i also like running things through the monotron delay. very crunchy phat lofi unique. i love it. i musta loved it to much cuz its broken… woulda bought another one but i just bought a new PO! also the qunexus is 60$ this weekend online at guitar center.

#9

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Keith-McMillen-K-Board-USB-Keyboard-110745577-i3964589.gc?source=4TP5DTC

#10

thanks guys. It turns out the critter and guitari stuff does actually have a hold function via the most recent update, but i cant seem to find any videos of it working :confused:


t

#11

Keith McMillen KBoard or QuNexus

Pair that with your OP-1 (you’ll need a USB host) or iPad (running synth/daw apps … especially KORG GADGET) and you’ll be laughing!

just read the original post actually … you aint looking for something to play on the plane or on the go - you’re looking for an alternative cheap keyboard to gig with. Doh!

I think I’d try to grab something like an Alesis Micron from eBay. You can get them pretty cheap and I think you can delve quite deep into them when it comes to your own preset creation.
#12
thanks guys. It turns out the critter and guitari stuff does actually have a hold function via the most recent update, but i cant seem to find any videos of it working :/

Found one for you: https://instagram.com/p/qznsanhkkY/

#13

woah, good effort @johnl thanks :slight_smile: weirdly it seems you have to retrigger hold every time you go for a new note press. Ah well. I kind of want one anyway :smiley:


Alesis micron looks good, i’ll head to my nearest music store and check one out this weekend. Might also look at midi controller keyboards (shudder), I dont trust laptops live, but I could potentially just sample my moog and run it off ableton or something…

#14

@aswefallintostatic just check it man coz i remeber there is a stupid but serious catch with midi in/ out as MICRON concerned . i remember i gave upon it just for this.

#15

The Akai MiniAk is the same synth as Micron in case you find one cheap.

#16
i also like running things through the monotron delay. very crunchy phat lofi unique. i love it. i musta loved it to much cuz its broken... woulda bought another one but i just bought a new PO! also the qunexus is 60$ this weekend online at guitar center.

It’s not the QuNexus, it’s the K-board (without CV control) but the price is VERY attractive.

Cannot buy it from Europe though :frowning:

#17
i also like running things through the monotron delay. very crunchy phat lofi unique. i love it. i musta loved it to much cuz its broken... woulda bought another one but i just bought a new PO! also the qunexus is 60$ this weekend online at guitar center.

It’s not the QuNexus, it’s the K-board (without CV control) but the price is VERY attractive.

Cannot buy it from Europe though :frowning:

Tried to buy from Canada too, but no dice :(.

#18


i also like running things through the monotron delay. very crunchy phat lofi unique. i love it. i musta loved it to much cuz its broken… woulda bought another one but i just bought a new PO! also the qunexus is 60$ this weekend online at guitar center.

It’s not the QuNexus, it’s the K-board (without CV control) but the price is VERY attractive.

Cannot buy it from Europe though :frowning:

The Dutch website Bax-Shop has it for sale, they also have a German and French daughter website and they will probably ship to all of Europe.


http://www.bax-shop.nl/midi-keyboards/keith-mcmillen-k-board-usb-keyboard

Oh, and Thomann has it too

http://www.thomann.de/gb/keith_mcmillen_k_board.htm

#19

Sure @karbonckel.
I was talking about the 60$ price for a K-board, no chance to get such a target price in Europe it seems…

#20

The Micron / MiniAk deals in NRPN values rather than CC. Still part of MIDI protocol but not as straightforward. You can assign CCs as sources in the mod matrix for controlling with Midi. The knobs do not transmit CCs.