midi controller for orchestral and general duties

[colony nofi]

I could be on an impossible journey...

I'm looking at consolidating my keyboard input / midi control for VSTi's to perhaps one controller keyboard.
For the moment, I'm using 3... an old Technics P30 for piano, a Korg Triton (or recently my X50 - the mod wheel is better) for most strings, orch, synth stuff and a nord for ep's, organs etc. (I'm one of those that really like the nord's keyboard)
Also have a novation controller for plugs / dials / etc (using automap 3) - which rarely gets a look in these days. Add to that NI's Kore II hardware, euphonix artist...etc.

I'd love just one controller. To rule them all or something. Maybe 2.
I love playing piano keys for most things, but my P30 doesn't have a mod wheel, and I use mod on most VSTi's.
I love knobs I can play with to change sounds quickly, assign to things quickly.

So I guess what I'm asking is what do you guys use for midi input / control? There seems to be a gap in the market for an "uber" controller keyboard for computer use...

Also - do you guys put your piano keyboards in front of the computer, or to one side? I'm thinking if I go to a 2 keyboard setup, I'll put the piano to one side, and a small controller keyboard (maybe just keep my x50) directly in front of me.

I LOVE not having bright screens in front of me when playing the piano, but I get sick of only hearing it in my left ear...

So, fire away at the way you guys set up your studios - and why some things work and others don't.

I'm going to work on getting a key command / macro working that shuts down my screens with a single keypress.

Cheers, Brendan Woithe

[paulwr]

There are a number of threads on this subject at SoundsOnLine.com forum with lots of posts. In this case it might be a better place to check. (Usually not for most things) Me, I still us an old AlesisQS 8 because I like the extra sliders location particularly, off to the left near the mod wheel, and I can have my computer keyboard right on top of the display and mouse is setup to the right of that. Less reaching, and I don't use the keyboard sounds anyway. I can live with the action. Any sensitive piano parts I either will spend some time editing to catch the velocity levels just right, or use the real grand here in the composing room.

-Paul

[Daryl]

I used to have a Korg for my main keyboard and that had 4 assignable sliders. Then I added a CME keyboard specifically to do keyswitches, but it also had 8 sliders and Breath Control input.

I still have the Korg, but am doing everything else with a Lemur and a MIDI Solutions BC box for Breath Control.

D

[leggy]

I've got a CME UF80 which isn't bad. Plenty of knobs and sliders, mod and pitch wheels, transport controls and breath control input as Daryl said. Their website is an absolute nightmare so I wouldn't bank on getting much in the way of support but luckily mine seems to just work. Oh and it's got wireless midi (!) if you want it although I have mine plugged in via a usb cable. You probably want to play a few different brands though as I've found the weighted keyboards are all quite different.

I have mine set up facing an Apple 30" cinema display. To the left of that is a television for video running off the decklink card and to the right are 2 x 19" flatscreens, one a second monitor for the Mac and the other is on a kvr switch for the pc's. I could probably get a tan without going on holiday sitting in front of these things all day :) Generally I need to see the video when I'm playing parts in although I sometimes turn the computer monitors off when I mix.


Cheers,


Rob

[midimire]

bitstream 3x here

Does the full sysex thing (roland crc) but other than that I don't know much about it.

[Captain Caveman]

I LOVE not having bright screens in front of me when playing the piano, but I get sick of only hearing it in my left ear...

So, fire away at the way you guys set up your studios - and why some things work and others don't.

I'm going to work on getting a key command / macro working that shuts down my screens with a single keypress.
I know where you are coming from. On Windows, I have set up a Shortcut that points to the screen saver .dll file with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+. to activate it. Handy for instantly getting rid of the visuals.

On my workstation, I have an 88 note Studiologic SL-990 "Pro" keyboard in front of me with an M-Audio Axiom 49 velcro-taped on top of it. My only other piece of advice would be not to get either of these! :)

The SL-990 doesn't have a realistic piano feel to it and the Axiom 49 records really rough controller data that I have to use a MIDI plugin to compensate for when I want smooth curves.