76 key controllers

[henrod]

Hey all. No one is making them anymore, it seems. My Kurz SP76 has died, and I'm hesitating to get the SP4 because I want to start running more stuff through my Ultralite on live gigs and would need sliders on whatever keyboard I get in order to do this the way I want.

I've Googled a bit and it looks like the Studiologic Fatar VMK-176-PLUS would be a pretty good choice. Does anyone here have any experience with it? Weighted? If so, how much? Sliders and knobs easily assignable, etc....

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

[bayswater]

I was on the lookout for a 73 or 76 key MIDI controller earlier this year. The one you found appears to be about it. After a lot of searching, I did come across other 73/76 key controllers, but it was lot more difficult to find a source to buy one, and impossible to find a way to try one out, at least anywhere within a thousand miles of here.

Maybe an option, if you have the room, is to get a new Kurzweil, or the current 76 key Roland, and then get one of these for the sliders and knobs.

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There's this:

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc3le7/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PC3LE7/

[henrod]

There's this:

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc3le7/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PC3LE7/

Thanks. That's way more than I need. I've never used just a controller before - I've always had a pretty good synth engine on board. The perfect keyboard for me would be the Kurz SP4-7 with the addition of sliders.

[henrod]

I was on the lookout for a 73 or 76 key MIDI controller earlier this year. The one you found appears to be about it. After a lot of searching, I did come across other 73/76 key controllers, but it was lot more difficult to find a source to buy one, and impossible to find a way to try one out, at least anywhere within a thousand miles of here.

Maybe an option, if you have the room, is to get a new Kurzweil, or the current 76 key Roland, and then get one of these for the sliders and knobs.

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

The weighted action scares me since I won't get a chance to demo one. I don't play piano anymore and true weighted action kills my forearms. I've been playing synth-action keys for many years now. This shouldn't be so difficult!

[daniel.sneed]

[...]I've Googled a bit and it looks like the Studiologic Fatar VMK-176-PLUS would be a pretty good choice. Does anyone here have any experience with it? Weighted? If so, how much? Sliders and knobs easily assignable, etc[...]

Studiologic VMK series are weighted hammer action. Feel very good and expressive to me. But fully weighted. I do prefer them over semi weighted, even for playing organ sounds and such. Of course, YMMV.
Never used the VMK sliders and such, though, for I'm trained to my Novation controllers, which are a breeze to set (SLmkII series).

[henrod]

[...]I've Googled a bit and it looks like the Studiologic Fatar VMK-176-PLUS would be a pretty good choice. Does anyone here have any experience with it? Weighted? If so, how much? Sliders and knobs easily assignable, etc[...]

Studiologic VMK series are weighted hammer action. Feel very good and expressive to me. But fully weighted. I do prefer them over semi weighted, even for playing organ sounds and such. Of course, YMMV.
Never used the VMK sliders and such, though, for I'm trained to my Novation controllers, which are a breeze to set (SLmkII series).

Thanks for the info

[henrod]

I found a great deal on a b-stock Kurzweil SP 4-7 and it arrived today. That, along with my Korg nanoKrontrol should do everything I want to do with DP on my gigs. The next trick is figuring out how to get the nano to communicate with DP!

[Prime Mover]

The weighted action scares me since I won't get a chance to demo one. I don't play piano anymore and true weighted action kills my forearms. I've been playing synth-action keys for many years now. This shouldn't be so difficult!

Get a few dumbells and pump for a week or so, you'll be fine... 's what I did earlier this summer with a physically taxing keyboard part (Muse's Butterflies & Hurricanes).

To be honest, unweighted keys scare me a lot more. It's so easy to hit a key just off center and end up getting a little bit of the key next to it. I always feel like I'm playing with my knuckles on an unweighted board. There's just so much more precision and control with a weighted board, and good synth playing is all about subtlety, IMHO. But it's an age-old argument, and at the end of the day, you should get what feels right.

Best of luck.

[daniel.sneed]

The weighted action scares me since I won't get a chance to demo one.[...]

[...]To be honest, unweighted keys scare me a lot more.[...] I always feel like I'm playing with my knuckles on an unweighted board. There's just so much more precision and control with a weighted board, and good synth playing is all about subtlety, IMHO. [...]

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