#ProducerLife Gear: Top 5 MIDI Keyboards
It snowed today in Memphis! That means I had a chance to work on the website at work. I wanted to do a top 5 series for a while. So, let's start off with MIDI keyboards. This is just my opinion on keyboards that I've own personally or ones that I've used in different studios. Here we go:
5. M-Audio KeyRig 49
This was one of the first Midi keyboards I bought with the first few beats I sold. It didn't have faders or the flashy lights but I just wanted something to play chords and melodies with and it did the job. Shoutout to my boy Took4Granted for putting my on this one back in the day. M-Audio KeyRig 49 is around $70 on Ebay.
4. Novation Launchkey 49
I first found out about this at the Notes 4 Notes Studio where I teach kids at. If you've been following me on Instagram, you will see this is one of my most recent keyboards. It works great with Ableton Live 9. The InControl feature is one of the highlights I like about it because it controls most of the major DAWs with a push of a button. The pads feel great too! Novation Launchkey 49 $199 on Ebay.
3. M-Audio Oxygen 49
I received the 25 Key version of this keyboard from Full Sail University while I was in school. You can see it in one of the "The Beats" episodes on my YouTube page. I was limited to my style of playing the keys so I upgraded to the 49. It took me all the way to my degree in music production. Most of the beats you've heard from me in the past two years came from this keyboard. M-Audio Oxygen 49 is around $130 on Ebay.
2. Akai MPK Series
The Akai MPK series of keyboards are some of my favorite to use when producing. The keys feel great. The pads are just like the MPCs (not on the MPK 49). You can easily customize it with the parts from MPCSTUFF.COM. I first starting using this when the Face the Troof team went to a fellow producer's crib to connect and we all got hooked on it. I love everything on this board! Akai 249 $399 on Ebay.
1. Open Labs Miko and Neko
THESE ARE MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE KEYBOARDS EVER! I first used these monsters at Dallas SoundLab Studio in Dallas, TX (Shoutout Zilla and DIana). They are pretty much a computer with all of the production parts built around it. You can put multiple DAW on it and producer in them right on the spot. That mean no extra laptops or cables. I took full advantage of this when I had the chance. The price tag has dropped a little since then but its still pretty expensive being that I can do everything I want to with the other controllers above with the laptop I have now. Still, when I get a chance to get one of these, I'm getting it. $2,999 - $4,999 on Ebay.
