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You can get a hardware MIDI controller for super cheap: an array of button, knobs, and faders that you can map to whatever software functions you want: https://
by NobodyNada 6y ago
You can get a hardware MIDI controller for super cheap: an array of button, knobs, and faders that you can map to whatever software functions you want: https://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/nanokontrol2/ https://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/nanokontrol2/
But of course those have their downsides too: a panel of identical, nondescript, unlabeled knobs can be confusing during a live performance; some software doesn't react well to changing synth parameters mid-note; and I have found that, for whatever reason, my MIDI controller tends to have just enough latency to be annoying.
> Your digital counterpart will never have a spurious noise
Well, I've definitely had spurious noises with digital equipment...but software malfunctions don't exactly tend to sound magical.
- elihu 6y agoAlso, 7-bit precision can lead to audible stepping artifacts. (I think there's a way to do 14-bit CCs, but not all synths and controllers support it.)
- Slow_Hand 6y agoPitchbend in the MIDI protocol is a 14bit word by default. The MIDI 2.0 protocol has finally been designed and is just now beginning to be implemented in new hardware and software, so this shortcoming is about to be a thing of the past.
- elihu 6y agoThat's true, pitch bend was 14 bits from the beginning, but that's a special case. I'm not terribly optimistic about MIDI 2.0; it has a lot of things to like, but I'm expecting the major synth manufacturers to be pretty slow about actually making MIDI 2.0 products, and even then they may just implement the parts they care about, leaving us with an incompatible mess. Maybe I'm wrong and we'll have a new era of expressive electronic instruments-that-aren't-piano-like. We'll see.