Best Keyboard For Music Production Reviews: Top-Rated

What to Look For When Purchasing a Piano Keyboard for Music Production

One of the most popular keyboards used in today's music world is the Yamaha MIDI keyboard. Why is a MIDI keyboard necessary for music production? First of all it enables fast creation of new music by allowing the operator to manipulate, split and loop his tracks on the keyboard. It also enables easy editing and re-editing of sounds and other parameters with great ease. A MIDI keyboard enables the music maker to make use of musical synthesizers and other instruments within the music.

Today, there are many types of keyboards that you can choose from when you decide to purchase one for your studio setup. However, the Yamaha MIDI keyboard stands out due to its extensive feature set and its compatibility with popular recording software such as Pro Tools. What pianists and other professionals utilize? The Yamaha MIDI keyboard, as mentioned above, is a MIDI interface controller that enables professional music production artists and other professionals to make full use of their synthesizers and other instruments in their tracks.

There are two types of MIDI keyboards available today. One is the virtual piano which connects to your computer via a USB port and offers you a number of midi controllers. Most modern day midi controllers connect through the USB port and are cordless. The second type of MIDI keyboard is the MAC or multi-track midi keyboard. Mac MIDI controllers connect to your laptop via a USB port and have a number of common functions as those of an external midi keyboard.

One function unique to MIDI keyboards is the ability to assign effects and knobs to each key. This feature also applies to common hardware synthesizers like the digital piano or keyboards found in the most expensive recording and mixing consoles. For example, a knob on the octave pad can be assigned to a variety of sustaining tones ranging from the bright but warm melodies of a nylon string guitar to the darker and more heavy distorted tones often associated with an electric bass guitar. It's almost impossible to produce any kind of musical effect with hardware keyboards other than to over-power them with expensive, popular effects. Yet musicians who don't use complex electronic equipment can produce great sounding results with midi keyboards and midi effects like wah wahs and compression effects.

In addition to assigning sounds to keys, midi keyboards also contain a variety of sounds and patterns for use with plugins. Many popular sequencing and mixing plugins like Pro Tools LE allow the user to record specific sounds and then use them as part of the live performance or recorded material. For example, the popular "rack pack" format of plug-ins allows a musician to record a lead sample and use it as a drum loop for use in their live performances. Another popular way to use a midi keyboard is to simply insert recording sounds that have been recorded onto pads, which is commonly called "live pads." These recorded sounds can then be routed to nearly any other piece of hardware in the form of midi interface.

An online search for "best midi keyboards available" will yield thousands of results. One of the best ways to sort through the numerous models and brands of keyboards is to simply determine what you want to use your keyboard for. Many keyboards are available for recording drum sounds, although not all of them are useful for the producing end of things. A professional keyboard synthesizer will usually include sample playback capability, which allows the user to listen to the sound being produced with the keyboard and correct it before sending it to the audio interface for further processing.

Several companies provide midi controllers from top manufacturers such as Yamaha, Oberheim, Sixtrax, and others. The Oberheim keyboard is perhaps the most popular among these. It contains a rack and channel interface with up to 12 input and output jacks. Its function buttons are easy to use and provide a wealth of musical functions. Amazon and several other online retailers carry the m-audio axiom uk, a four-track keyboard controller, which is considered one of the industry's leading keyboard products.

Other midi keyboards that you may wish to consider for your recording needs are the following: Korg micro GB keyboard, Roland Fanton kontakt keyboard, and the new Apple Macintosh USB keyboard. The former two use an USB connection to capture midi messages; the latter is capable of connecting to a computer or laptop via a USB cable to capture digital sounds rather than midi data. The advantage of using a USB keyboard over a midi keyboard with a MIDI connection is that the latter requires additional hardware such as a USB hub to function. Most of the midi keyboards that you will find for sale connect to a computer via a USB port because it is the easiest way to record actual midi messages rather than typing them into the keyboard.