MIDI controller

At several booths at the recent 2006 Winter NAMM Show, we saw demonstrators using the Zendrum MIDI controller to trigger percussion virtual instruments.

The Zendrum is a cool, trigger-laden controller. They atart at about $1200, and have several options for custom finishes.

Description:

The Zendrum is a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) triggering controller designed by drummers to allow musicians to express their creativity in rhythmic and intuitive ways. However, the Zendrum can trigger ANY sound via MIDI, so it is much more than drums yet as easy to play as tapping your desk with your fingers. Unlike a keyboard, there are no moving parts to break or wear out. It is a handcrafted instrument carved from fine woods, assembled and tested by the inventors. Each Zendrum is a work of art, manufactured with careful attention to detail and high quality. Read more…

NAMM 2006 Winter Show: E-MU Systems announced its new Xboard 61 USB/MIDI Controller for PC and Mac operating systems, featuring 61 full-size keys with aftertouch, 16 programmable real-time control knobs, 16 new patch select/program change buttons, Xboard Control editing software, and a full version of E-MU’s Proteus X Version 1.5 Desktop Sound Module with over 2GB of sounds, including a new custom bank of E-MU’s finest performance keyboard sounds.

The Xboard Control software provides an intuitive desktop interface that lets you create custom templates for hardware and software instruments.

The Xboard 61 also allows you to set discrete MIDI channels for each knob and offer unrivalled real-time control and performance features, including Snap Shot that lets you send multiple program changes and controller values by pressing a single button, and Latch Mode that enables you to define a section of the keyboard as on/off triggers — perfect for drum loops.

The Xboard 61 is designed for studio and stage (USB, battery, or AC power) and will ship in Spring 2006.

More information is available at the E-Mu site.

FaderFox has introduced the 2nd generation of its controllers that are optimized for Live and Traktor. The new devices are expected to be available in the Feb-March 2006 timeframe, and to be available worldwide.

Four FaderFox controllers will be available:

micromodul LV2 is a pocket-size, custom-made controller of 2nd generation for Ableton Live.

Description: Lots of different control elements are integrated into this controller. This combination is the real strength of the LV2. This inexpensive controller unifies track- faders, encoders, buttons and joystick in a very compact form. You can use the two independent programmable button rows ( 2 x 6 buttons) to control various LIVE functions like scene launch, fx control, mute, solo, track control and slot launch. Parameter feedbacks from the application are indicated by LED’s. The four push-encoders (endless pots with switch) are perfect for ‘jump-free’ controlling. Important functions like track select, slot/scene-scroll and slot/scene-launch are fast accessable on the encoders by simple activating the main function. As of Live version 4.1, you can use the LV2 immediately by using different setting files which are shipped with the controller – without the time consuming process of programming each separate control element.

The LV2 can also be used with other programs. It is suited well for software sequencers due to its architecture/layout. You can not program the LV2 or assign controller numbers or key numbers, but that is a function that is rarely needed with current programs. The device is very compact and easy to transport, and you do not even need any power adaptors, it works with standard and rechargeable batteries.

Improvements to LV1: 2 programmable button rows with 12 LED’s, 4 push-encoders, main function and some better ergonomics. Read more…

2006 Winter NAMM Show: Mackie introduced Mackie C4 Commander, a software companion product for the Mackie Control C4 plug-in and virtual instrument controller that allows users to control hardware MIDI devices such as keyboards, sound modules, guitar PODs and effect processors via the Mackie Control C4.

With C4 Commander, keyboardists can tweak all the parameters in their favorite synths, guitarists can tweak their guitar processors, and audio engineers can unlock all the power of their rackmount reverbs while staying in the monitoring “sweet spot.”

Using an intuitive drag-and-drop visual interface, C4 Commander allows users to map parameters of hundreds of popular MIDI hardware devices to the V-pots and scribble strips of the C4, delivering hands-on control and visual feedback to the rest of your studio. More than 180 instrument profiles are included, and custom C4 layouts are easily constructed. Read more…

NAMM 2006 Winter Show: Akai Professional introduced the EWI4000S Wind Controller.

The newest addition to the EWI family incorporates numerous enhancements to its overall design as a wind controller, and adds an integrated analog modeling synthesizer optimized for wind control, dedicated MIDI In and Out ports, an audio output, new performance functions, internal effects processing, and computer software for editing one’s sounds.

With its internal dual voice analog modeling synthesizer, the new EWI4000S is now a self-contained performance instrument. This synthesizer features two voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO)—with an individual volume control— that incorporate sawtooth, triangle, square, and pulse width waveforms. Further, the voltage-controlled filters (VCF) enable changing from 2- to 4-pole filters. With a new noise generator, the EWI’s VCF adds greater realism to one’s playing by emulating breath noise. This on-board synthesizer also incorporates a new sweep function that is considerably more effective than a conventional envelope generator. As one changes the force of their playing, the sweep parameter alters the shape of the sound. Read more…