Midi Controllers - what you need to know

Working in your office on a rainy day must be heaven 😍

Guy. My long serving Triton has just given up the ghost. I was using her as just a controller for spitfire audio and other VST's. I am considering a S88 but I wanted to ask if the hammer action keys are a problem when using String sounds. I presume sticcato and plucks would be great but does it struggle with legatos?

Great video! I have Roland 700NX keyboard and am looking to use the Soleman to switch between user-programmed sound settings, without having to use the buttons or dial on the keyboard itself. Do you know if this is possible or something I can program to get the Roland and Soleman to communicate?

which midi controller offer a jog wheel to "scratch" over samples (DJ style)?

I watched this video and Christian Henson' too about monogram cc, i finally purchased the Audio console and i think i'll be happy with it (until september). thank you!

Thanks Guy.

Great stuff! Now, since I know you're using Komplete Kontrol and Cubase, mind to try my script for it (it's actually for Cubase 12)? I would be very interested to hear your opinion on it :) I will not post a link here, since most probably will get hidden, but I've very recently created a thread for it, in Steinberg's Cubase forum.

Very interesting, but, what about the real usb conections?? Can you recomend to me a good hub/pci or whatever STABLE to connect all musical usb devices¿? Thanks in advance!!!!

I'm buggered if I can get one of them nano control type things to get the faders and pots to work with pro tools . Drives me bloody mad !!

monogram is extremely overpriced, especially when there are so much more midi controllers now from big brands to people making them on eBay and Esty.

What is that controller with lots of knobs where you switch things that is left on top of your Komplete Keyboard?

I love my ICON Platform M+. The motorized faders are a little bit jittery when it’s used as a DAW controller and a bit bulky when it’s used as a CC controller, but it’s well-built, all programmable, and there are no competitors with 8 100mm metal feel faders and 8 360’ rotary knobs (some of them fail to be programed though) in that price range in the niche musicians’ market. Nektar P1 is quite close, but it only offers 60mm plastic faders. You can use M+ as a portable MIDI CC controller and DAW controller if you really want to. I use it as a MIDI CC controller and oldies but goodies brothers - AVID Artist Mix and Euphonix MC Transport as DAW controllers at my studio. BTW, You don’t need to get the extra display, Platform D2. Its font is ugly and the info from the screen is almost uselss. I bought it and just sold it.

Thank you for doing this! I have Stuff Gathering Dust of my own, including two AKAI controllers, the MPK Mk III, and the APC Mk II, and two wind controllers, the Roland AE-01 and Carry-On Wind (shaped like soprano sax and soprano recorder, respectively). Now that I've found the correct way to connect MIDI over Bluetooth devices to a Windows machine -- a wonderful line of products by CME, their WIDI line, most notably the Bud Pro -- NOW I need to understand how all those little widgets and buttons and twiddlers and sliders and telepathic turbo encabulators all get configured to do the things you want them to do. Do you have any idea how obfuscated that learning process is? I had NO IDEA that there was someplace you could just right-click and choose "learn", then go twiddle the encabulator and now you're automatically renoberating the polarity of the neutron flow!

Those are mental placeholders for ACTUAL things you can do, seeing as I'm new to these gizmos and haven't yet learned all the things they're good FOR. When you grew up in a Drum & Bugle Corps, then a parade of marching bands, concert bands, symphony orchestras, and blues jam sessions, plugging these into a computer become very head-scratchy, even when you've also got a parallel experience with being a programmer, hardware person, and systems analyst.

Things like piano keys on a controller are easy to understand if you've grown up with pianos. My great-uncle was a pianist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for decades, and one of the highlights of his life was playing for the last Tzar and Tzarina of Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution. My sister and I were the only children of his descendants who were allowed to come over, and actually hearing him play was a real treat for special occasions. My sister got the piano lessons, and I got a cornet in 3rd grade, and by the time I was 17 could play all brass except the trombone, and the only reason I couldn't play the trombone was that I didn't know the slide positions. Yet. But now, I have DAW software, and MIDI devices, and have to learn an entirely new nomenclature for things, and so much of the information is tightly held behind turnstiles and paywalls, much of it hideously expensive beyond its actual cost.

I mentioned the "Correct way to connect MIDI over Bluetooth under Windows" -- that's because it's BROKEN. You can't just connect a MIDI musical instrument as you would pair a pair of headphones. Many instruments can't be paired with the operating system, then used by the DAW. You're supposed to pair the device to the DAW instead, especially if it's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Under Apple operating systems, this is fairly simple. GarageBand does it automatically. But I do not own a fruit machine, my home is a Windows shop, and radiates as much energy as a small star from all the microprocessors. And for the life of me, I could NOT make either of my wind controllers connect to Windows, whether to a DAW directly or through the device manager. Because of my interactions with tech support, one of the instrument manufacturers REMOVED the compatibility claim with Windows from their sales literature! I was despondent and frustrated I'd spent good money on nice quality gear, but the software simply would not connect.

That CME Bud Pro completely changed the game. It worked as an intermediary layer and would automatically pick up the pairing of a BLE MIDI instrument and then redirect it through the normal USB channels so the software treated it exactly as though it was a WIRED MIDI instrument. I fought with this problem for nearly a year, and it was solved with a $70 dongle I bought on Amazon. I ran into it by accident, looking up MIDI interfaces.

I do not work for CME and have no connection with them other than buying their product with my own money. I'm just really excited that it WORKS. That little $100 Carry-On MIDI wind controller now works perfectly with Reaper. The Roland I could work around and connect via USB, but the Carry-On had no other way to send data than BLE MIDI, and I'm ecstatic that it finally works!

But thanks again for making the process of working with MIDI controllers so understandable. You completely demystified it for me, and for that, I'm grateful! Take a hatful of video likes out of petty cash.

you look like mick fleetwood

I love this guy’s vibe im subscribing!!

Thank you!
🙂🙏

Love my KeyLab/Seaboard Block combo at home as it does so much for control and expression in 2 parts. And I think the expression part is very important for motivation of writing.

Also, I like to not tie my playing to home, as one should take opportunities when inspiration strikes, even not at home. So a small portable keyboard in the backpack or car is a must. LUMI is my next step for that!

Jeez, LOVE your energy! Thank you so much for sharing your passion with the world 🙏

The big knob on the Monogram CC might work well with the Spitfire VST's where they have the big round knob on their UI.

Hi Guy, great video as always ! I have one question... is there any MOTORIZED controller that we can use to program midi expressions/parameters ?
The purpose is mainly when you have to retouch or change an expression curve, having a motorized controller would let you start re-programming from the exact value already recorded (hope it's clear).
Thanks !

What about you playing the Osmose from Expressive E??

Have you tryed yet?
I would like to see you in front of one of them. 😊

If you just want some sliders, look into Sparrow midi controllers. They come in multiple numbers, they're small, customizable and cheap. It's remarkable how difficult it is to find *just sliders*. Understandably everyone wants to cram a DAW controller in everything, but take a look at those if that's all you're missing.

IF YOU HAVE A WIFE DO NOT BUY THIS KEYBOARD. SHE'LL KICK YOU OUT. THE KEYS SOUND LIKE Typewriter from 1940.

All I wanna know is what that device on your keyboard is where all them cables go into? You're changing cameras on it.

I made an Arduino midi controller for my Cubase transport, using Sanwa Arcade buttons. Now I can smash the living crikey out of my record and rewind/locate buttons while I do take after take after take of guitar stuff-ups. Brilliant.

They want 500 fricken dollars for Monogram?. LOL What a ripoff gimick over priced piece of nothing. It should cost 100 bucks tops. Don't bite on that at all.

"built like a mercedes'" is not a Quality argument anymore. ;) I like your Videos,because i have learned a lot of music theory here. Keep up the good work.

Hi, thank you for this great video. 🙂

the most expressive and playful explanation i've ever seen!! :) Congrats and THANK YOU!!

Anyone interested in trading or buying an orbital editor and 2 slider modules?

Did you sell the icon controller? I’ll buy lmk. ❤

He woke up and chose violence to the passengers😂😂

Honestly the most personality I’ve ever seen in a producer composer, and I’m 100% here for it lol

Hi Guy... I was looking at you filmography. Feel free to say None of my business... But have you retired from Film/Television composing as it stops in 2012 (or is just a case of nobody updating the page?

Did anyone manage to figure out how to use the 5 MPE dimensions to control MIDI CC or other DAW features like e.g. chord voicings (open vs closed, triads vs 7th chords, w/wo extensions etc)?

Ace, really enjoyed :)

Enhancia Music did go out of business.

What about a Touché string articulation controller? I'm shocked that you don't have one.

Woah that ring is awesome. I love the way technology is going with all these midi controllers and instruments. So fricken cool!

Synthetists shd be renamed Electronic Music Tweakers or emt s...that way the name suggests robots...ha ha ha, he he he...

this video is great.. but i think you forgot ( unless it's been explained before .. or i missed it ) to show how to "draw the curves " .. as you can program each knowb/cc on your screen , as needed per time in track. Other than that , great :)

I need the motion sensor.....how much was that I American dollars?



But I need like 16 😂

Dude....forreal forreal .... Where can I buy that

I want that. Where.

Hi Guy, I imagine you have way too many subscribers to be able to answer individual questions, but I'm curious to know more about how you have set up your articulations on the Akai APC. Do you have one button for all long note articulations, for example? Or does each instrument have a button set for their available articulations? Does BBCSO Discover allow you to use MIDI learn to map articulations? I hope you manage to see this.

What a guy.

I wish I can come and live in your studio.