From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Mon Oct 27 13:43:23 2003
Subject:Re: B-4 Keyboards

Hi Aram,

>One thing I didn't notice when looking at the Evoultion controller--
>where does the expression pedal go? In fact, on several of these
>controllers, I never see a place for an expression pedal, just a
>sustain pedal. What's the solution to this?

I had the opportunity to try out several MIDI control keyboards recently for other (non clone) reasons. The Evolution has the extra drawbar, 12 knobs, and a real keypad for programming, which is a nice touch. It's keyboard action, however, doesn't feel as good as a typical synth or organ action to my hands.

The Edirol PCR-80 has better keyboard action than the Evolution keyboards, its knobs and switches feel more substantial, and it has an expression pedal jack. It also has both a MIDI In and Out, so it can serve as a MIDI interface as well as a keyboard. It doesn't have a ninth drawbar, though, nor can the sliders be flipped around to operate like drawbars, so a perfect off-the-shelf B-4 keyboard doesn't yet exist. It also costs about $60 (US street) more than the Evolution, which might be a factor to some players. Both Evolution and Edirol have good online tech support.

An option would be to add the MIDI Solutions Pedal to the setup to add in the expression pedal input, but the combination of the MK-461C + Pedal is more expensive than the PCR-80 -- although it has the nine drawbars.

Most of the USB control keyboards come pre-programmed with a series of software controls for Reason, Reaktor, B-4, etc. Even if they don't, it only takes a few minutes to program them.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com