Midi Keyboard.. Essential?

[hi-hat]

Title says it all really.

Im using FL8, is it worth buying one?

What do they actually do? haha (n00b)

Cheerz

 

[logikz]

not really, but once you start its difficult to do without it, i really like it to just play with the sample across the notes and test out chords and stuff, also its got knobs on it so you can link them to parameters in the sampler which is cool

 

[Dj Dirty Pimp]

i dont have one, but ive used them alot. im getting one when i have money.

in my opnion their more creative, as its easier to just sit about and messaround with the keys and notes and chords etc till u get a nice pattern/ melody.

 

[hi-hat]

Oh rite.. so you could play a tune on the keyboard and it would record it onto fl? Like in the piano roll? Can you do that with your computer keyboard?

 

[logikz]

yes i think you can

 

[Dj Dirty Pimp]

yes, and yes if u program it to do that (for both things) then u can re arrange it in piano roll if the timing is out.

but i find its better to play my melody without recording, and copying the notes i played into piano roll. its up to u

 

[kama]

Btw CTRL-Q is auto quantization. I usually just record a line in there and auto-quantize.

 

[hi-hat]

Btw CTRL-Q is auto quantization. I usually just record a line in there and auto-quantize.

Ill pretend i know what that means. lol

 

[Dj Dirty Pimp]

quantize, if you play a note out of time, click quantize, or qntrl q and it puts it in time basically

 

[JamesZero]

It's not essential, but it's well worth having.

I find I come up with much better melodys using a midi keyboard.

Sometimes if I stuck for an idea for a track, just hit record and muck around for a while on the keyboard... if I manage to do a nice rift then I take it from there.

 

[Innovine]

Having knobs and buttons to mess with is probably just as useful as a keyboard, and probably even more so if you can't play piano

 

[Viperdnb]

Used to use them at school, but once I realized you could draw the notes in, I just used that because I find it's more accurate and you learn how to create better patterns.
So I'd say far from essential... more like an add on for me.

 

[Dusty]

Like the others said.. they're useful but not essential.

I bought one since I need it to control my hardware synthesizer.
I think it's handy when you want to play complex melodies or stuff that exceeds two or more octaves.
It's also nice if they recognise how hard you hit the keys.
That way you can easily control velocity the way you like it.

Depends on you really..
Most of the time I make my melodies by mouse.

 

[Dj Dirty Pimp]

It's not essential, but it's well worth having.

I find I come up with much better melodys using a midi keyboard.

Sometimes if I stuck for an idea for a track, just hit record and muck around for a while on the keyboard... if I manage to do a nice rift then I take it from there.

exactly this.

 

[vickvega]

get one

 

[subprime]

Man, I learnt piano when I was 12 and I've played guitar for years so I understand chords and notes and s**t so a keyboard helps a LOT in that I can see my key laid out in front, where-as a piano roll (whilst ok) just loses the feel for me. Plus if you turn quantization off and play your keyboard you can get a lot more feeling into your timings and later when you've f**ked it up you can go back and fix it on the piano roll.
Much more flexiblilty with the keyboard. (If you understand a little about keys and pianos and s**t)
Amen brother

 

[D-Tektiv]

I actuallly don't have one myself, but a friend of mine who uses one said I'd be "a lot better" if I had one...and as some pointed out on here, he said you can play around on the keyboard and come up with ideas out of nowhere at times, etc..I'm actually plannin' to get one when i get the funds...

 

[subprime]

Mate, even if you don't know s**t just get one. Playing an instrument live is a whole lot more creative than piano roll. Guaranteed. Fact. Abso-f**kin-lutely.

 

[sam the dnb man]

i feel i can be more creative with a midi keyboard.
also if you have one you should learn how to play it properly aswell, so when you use pads you dont just use one key at a time...you use multiple chords which can sound amazing

 

[Dj Dirty Pimp]

i agree, chords are alot better then single notes for some things, keybaord helps make creativity more effective imo.

i feel i can be more creative with a midi keyboard.
also if you have one you should learn how to play it properly aswell, so when you use pads you dont just use one key at a time...you use multiple chords which can sound amazing

sam and his bloody pads haha