I know there are a few posts about this. Of all the controller keyboards I’ve seen, the Keylab MK2 (61 key) is “almost” the perfect board. I am not sure if the keybed is a Fatar or other really good one or not? Assuming that is one with aftertouch and is very durable, I feel like there are only a couple things missing.
I sometimes dream of somehow starting up my own controller keyboard company just to make one that would work for all situations (or at least most).
Recently saw the MPC Key 37 and that is a fantastic look board. I’d ideally want at least 49 keys though but the 37 is nice as it is portable sized. What I like about it is the screen is a good size, and it has the MPC pads which I am not sure if the Arturia pads are as comfortable and responsive… but they do look similar.
If I were to build my dream board, it would be a combo of Arturia’s MK2 (most of it), the Roland style joystick for pitch bend/modulation on the left of the board (no wheels), the MPC style pads (which like I said the arturia ones look similar to), a sliding strip like the MPC 69 board has, knobs AND faders (8 on 37 key, 12 to 16 on 49 (12) 61/88 (16)) that are similar to the old style Novation knobs/sliders where when you touch them they light up. The screen ideally OLED should have some sort of way to bring in all the controls/visuals of a given VST or what not within a DAW so that you can easily map knobs/faders/pads/key ranges to the VST in use on a given track. Other uses of course, like editing/naming things if one prefers over using keyboard and mouse on a computer/DAW setup.
Many composers use a 3 fader expression setup as well. Having that on the left side along with the joystick for pitch bend/modulation and the slider strip would be perfect. Some may ask why have that if you have the joystick (or wheels)… the use of it is to use two (or three if you can) fingers to manipulate 2 or 3 CC controllers like expression, volume, etc easier… and if you’re playing with right hand (like most do) then having those faders on the left side vs say, in the middle or the right portion of the keyboard, will avoid having to cross hands/arms over while playing. In an ideal world we’d have some sort of modular setup like the the Palette controllers so you can move the fadters/joystick/etc from left to right side if you want in case your a left hand player (though that might be odd because the notes are still the same low to high left to right).
I’d also personally love some sort of x/y controller on the board, which could be handy for various VST plugins that support it, but also could allow surround sound musicians to more easily move sound around an area in real time. Not sure how you do the 6 axis movement though… maybe two pads but that would be difficult to learn to use both at the same time (e.g. use one for moving left to right, around the listener and the other to position audio above/below). But there are other various uses for an x/y pad.
Anyway… Arturia if you’re listening… please build this cause I don’t have the funds or knowhow to put together a company to do this. :D.
Oh yes, RGB everywhere. With option to disable it of course for those that dont like it or just want a single color led backlit setup. But per key/note rgb, buttons/knobs/faders, etc. Ideally some sort of SDK/API that developers could use to make things like tutorials using the RGB, etc would be great too.