Looking For Keyboard MIDI Controllers?

Looking at some new usb keyboard midi controllers? If so, you may have some serious decision making. Midi vontrollers come in a large variety of prices, models and brands so deciding on one could take some time. If you can locate some consumer reviews that can give you some insight. Trying to find the right keyboard might not be as much fun as recording but still something you need to do.

Save yourself some time and know what your specific needs are and away you go. What you'll be doing most of the time with it will tell you what features you'll need or don't. Some keyboard players need an 88 keyboard while some can lay down a bass or comp some chords easily on a 25 key model. Does it get to go on the road and on stage or will it just stay at home. Do you need  semi-weighted action or regular synth type plastic keys? Get a clear list of what features you need and some that you don't need.

Of course the price will come into some consideration when choosing the right keyboard midi controller. You can get one for under $100 bucks if you aren’t too picky with the features and they can run up into several hundred as well. Getting the keyboard that's right for you just comes down to what you can afford and what you need. When shopping you'll most likely be looking at these brand names:

Behringer, M-Audio, Korg, and Akai. They've all been around a while so you know they make some fairly decent stuff. Keep in mind of course they all make several models for you to choose from. The most obvious feature would be the number of keys, in other words how many octaves. Starting with 25 keys giving you 2 complete octaves, next is 49 which is 4 full octaves, then 61 which is 5 octaves and of course the 88 which over 7 octaves.

By the way, these USB Midi keyboard controllers do not go up in price very much because of the number of keys they have, well, there is a bit of a price hike there but where they really go up in price is in the number of features they have.

Keyboard midi controllers were very minimalistic when they first hit the market with things like just a volume control, mod wheel, pedal and midi inputs. With some of the more recent models you can access just about everything on your virtual instrument. And not every virtual instrument really requires too much fiddling so multiple options may not be necessary if you're using these kinds of plugins... but others will.

For more information on keyboard midi controllers and more reviews of studio recording equipment