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Producing w/out a midi keyboard

So the thing is, I'm overseas and I'm waiting for my work visa to process.....which may take over a month. I have a LOT of spare time and I don't have enough money to go out and do things that cost money, so I would like to hit production hard if I can. I'm used to producing with a midi keyboard, but I had to sell it awhile ago. I've been a long time Cubase user, but I find producing in Cubase w/out a midi keyboard very painful and limited.

What would be a good sequencer to use in this situation? I will not use Reason

just use fruity loops it has the best piano roll out there

I produced in FL without a MIDI keyboard for years.

dont need no midikeyboard. just more cables and shit that wont work. i have one though planned for using in ableton as a liveact but yeah that sucks too.

Re: Producing w/out a midi keyboard

quote:

Originally posted by lucas ss So the thing is, I'm overseas and I'm waiting for my work visa to process.....which may take over a month. I have a LOT of spare time and I don't have enough money to go out and do things that cost money, so I would like to hit production hard if I can. I'm used to producing with a midi keyboard, but I had to sell it awhile ago. I've been a long time Cubase user, but I find producing in Cubase w/out a midi keyboard very painful and limited. What would be a good sequencer to use in this situation? I will not use Reason

you cant afford a midi keyboard for $100 or less but you can afford a new DAW for several hundred $ ????

Eye Matey I think I be smellin a pirate

y not reason?

One of my mentors never uses a controller. And he isn't a pirate he just doesn't feel the need.

I also don't have a midi keyboard. I should buy one soon, simply for ease of use and to be able to use faders, knobs etc...

Anyway, I've been using this for a couple of years now:

http://www.vanilin.org/software/midikb.html

You'll need a MIDI loopback driver (MIDI Yoke is on that site works well enough) and then just set up the inputs to In: From MIDI Yoke 1 in Cubase and Out: From MIDI Yoke 1 in the settings for that app I gave you.

Then you can use CTRL+SHIFT+E to switch between on and off keyboard. Works like a charm.
Also, you can customize the layout in the settings.ini file.

nonono, I want to use the midi keyboard to play piano as well, so I need the top-of-the-line, fully weighted key, aftertouch, cost-much-more-money-than-a-DAW midi keyboard.

they be stormy seas ye be sailin' inte

the m-audio axioms have semi-weighted keys with after touch. I had an axiom 61 for about two years and imo the keys feel very nice.

wow i guess i'm more hands on then most of you... some of my best ideas have come about simply jamming, stuff i would have never come up with by penciling

Not many people still manually play everything they produce, don't believe everything salesmen tell you. I have 3 midi keyboards, no song Ive ever made had me playing a keybord in it. Mostly do to the impossibility of the melodying to be played by a person [arppeggios], they are great for practicing, jamming, or discovering that bit of inspiration for a song, but for actual utility during production? Meh, it slows me down. this is one of the reasons I went back to FL from cubase, the piano roll is horrible in cubase.

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 wow i guess i'm more hands on then most of you... some of my best ideas have come about simply jamming, stuff i would have never come up with by penciling

I'm pretty much the same way. I get most of my good ideas from sitting down at the keyboard and just noodling around. If I am writing something that has a lot of chord movement, I frequently start out by working out the chord progressions on the keyboard.

A MIDI keyboard also provides me with other useful features, not the least of which is the modulation wheel, which gets used heavily in my work. Sure, I could simply draw in the automation, but I find that modulating sounds with the wheel tends to give things a more "live" feel, especially when tweaking synth parameters.

In addition, I spend a great deal of time working out my arrangements and chord progressions on the keyboard as an early step in my productions. I don't know how successful I would be if I had to just draw things out by hand.

i dont use a midi keyboard and produced all my releases without one in cubase sx 3. now im using logic pro 8 on a mac and still don't feel the need to get one.

quote:

Originally posted by david.michael I produced in FL without a MIDI keyboard for years.

This is what I'm currently doing.

If I need to work stuff out or jam to get ideas I have two keyboards I can use, along with a very out of tune baby grand piano. Hell, I've even come up with trance hooks using my acoustic or electric guitar. I just take ideas from that and draw them into the piano roll, and that's worked well enough for me for the last 3 years.

There is no way I'd get anything done without a keyboard, I studied piano for 15 years so playing is 2nd nature to me.

I'm also a hardware junkie so the more keyboards I have the better I feel.

Korg has their Nano series which is inexpensive and very portable.

Here is a low cost midi keyboard that also functions as a regular keyboard. Its very helpful and it does not take up very much space.

http://us.creative.com/products/pro...4&product=14118

US :

UK :

The Ultimate Keyboard for Work and Play

A fusion of computer and music keyboard abilities, Creative Prodikeys PC-MIDI is here to redefine your PC workstation! It not only gives you the best of both worlds, it is equipped with hotkeys that make it remarkably convenient to run your everyday tasks and programs. To top it all, its innovative software suite will elevate your music experience to a new high!

Ingenious Design: You would never have guessed from those sleek lines and slim body that the Prodikeys PC-MIDI is stocked with an arsenal of features. The design also cleverly incorporates a cover which protects and hides 37 touch-sensitive music keys from view when they are not in use, while doubling up as a stylish palm rest.

Simplify Your Workflow: Breeze through applications with Prodikeys PC-MIDI's array of hot keys. The enhanced Function keys launch tasks such as Save and Print. Now you don't have to visit the Start menu when you want to write an email � just hit the HotKey and get started immediately! You can also edit the HotKeys to access your favorite programs and links.

37 touch-sensitive music keys
Snap-on color faceplate
Removable palm rest

This site has them for $59.99 but you can probably find an older model on ebay for cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...50777447&sr=8-3

I caught mine on sale and only paid $39.99 on Amazon.com

http://www.korgnano.com/

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