Most commercial MIDI controllers are unnecessarily large and awkward โ certainly not designed to be on ones lap while soldering/bending/wiring/coding. Hopefully Korgโs upcoming line of โnanoโ devices can fill that void. Peter Kirn of Create Digital Music runs through the slated features โ
- nanoKEY: 25 keys, transmitting either as MIDI notes or (via a separate mode) Control Change (CC) messages. Octave shift (natch). Pitch, modulation. And itโs supposed to be velocity-sensitive, too, although weโll have to get our hands on one to see how sensitive it is.
- nanoPAD: 12 pads, supposedly inheriting the terrific sensitivity and feel of the padKONTROL, which is pretty much the favorite pad controller round these parts. Chord Trigger. Control Change mode (as with nanoKEY). Thereโs even an X/Y touch pad with roll and flam mode, favorite features of the padKONTROL.
- nanoKONTROL: 9 faders, 9 knobs, 18 switches, transport controls. (No, really.) MIDI notes, 168 CC messages. There are even attack and decay times for the switches, allowing them to work as faders, filter controls, effects settings, and the like โ something Iโd love to see on other (full-sized) controllers.
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They arenโt terribly pretty (the nanoKEY buttons look like they were lifted off a vintage DEC microcomputer), and itโs hard to tell what the feel of that keyboard will be like, but these are indeed promising for tight spots.
Actually, I think those keys look pretty sweet, of course itโll be their feel that matters most. Shame thereโs only USB versions planned โ Korg nanoseries [via Create Digital Music]
Related:
Very small midi controller
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