I just bought this:



sorry if the image is too big.

Called Korg NanoKontrol, it has:

Controllers
9 knobs
9 sliders
18 buttons
Transport buttons: REW/PLAY/FF/LOOP/STOP/REC
SCENE buttons (SCENE 1-4)

Memory
4 user scene memories

Connections
mini-USB

Power
USB bus power

Power Consumption
USB bus power: less than 100 mA

Others
Dimensions: 320(W) x 82(D) x 29.5(H) mm/ 12.60”(W) x 3.23”(D) x 1.16”(H)
Weight: 290g/ 0.64lbs.
Accessories: USB cable

Basically is a controller intented to control most of my softsynths. Haven't quite put it to use yet, but it is very light and compact, the knobs feel sturdy enough, (the sliders not so much, but who cares at this price) and you can download a Korg editor to program it to hell. It has 4 "scenes" meaning 4 pages where you assign different CC's/note #s and you can switch between the 4 with the touch of a "Scene" button on the left of the unit, effectively quadrupling the controls available. The 18 buttons have tricks where you can program them to behave as toggles or momentary switches, and also have a say on how much time it takes them to reach the ON or OFF value.

Only 49 euros, price in dollars is probably lower. Our fellow Synthzoner Vagro has one, you can see it in the video he recently posted. Only drawback is that it has to be connected to a PC, it doesn't have any normal MIDI ports.

By the way, two weeks ago I searched about controllers and the quality and quantity on the market is outstanding, especially when looking for multi knob, multi slider controllers. The controllers offered by Cakewalk, the A300/A500/A800 series seem to offer a great bang for the buck, I got an A300 for a friend and the keyboard was miles ahead from what I was used to, also the knobs and sliders have substantial quality over the ones my Korg have.... at about 4.2 times the price.

I think these can be very very useful for people like Rikki or others with soft synths as they can be totally programmable and made to behave exactly as you wish.

Take a look on Korg Nano, AKAI or Novation controllers, and you can't be wrong. I am happy, I will post more when I can make it work they way i want.


[This message has been edited by trident (edited 10-15-2010).]

Looks interesting....
Good luck with your new toy.

Hi Trident,
I don't quite understand what it does, how are you using it in your setup.

Currently as far as softsynths & my software goes , I'm using Band in a Box, Real Tracks (audio ) & for the midi tracks, a DXI like Coyote Forte or Cakewalk TTS-1, until such time as I get my GM2 Soundfont edited the way I want. In this setup the program & bank changes are done by BIAB.

Eventually I hope to get Brainspawn Forte working with BIAB. I've got it working with One Man Band.
In Forte, I'm using
SampleLord ( soundfonts/giga samples)
Garriton's Big Band
Dimension LE
Demo vers. Kontakt4
Demo Pianoteq & Pianissimo

Basically how would the controller fit in?

thank you

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by trident:
[B]
Called Korg NanoKontrol, it has:

What about a Korg Nanokey? Nice laptop keyboard. And who needs more than 25 keys?!
casaet

Hi Rikki,

I haven't programmed it yet, just confirmed it works. Our fellow Vagro has one and probably knows more than me.

If you see the photo, in the lower left corner is a "scene" button followed by 4 leds. A scene is the complete set of the knobs/sliders/buttons you see on the right. Think of it as a page. Only one of the leds is lit at every one time, indicating what scene/page is active. When you press the scene button, you simply change the scene/page.

What you can do with it is that you can program it to transmit CC or note numbers to the programs that you use.

So, for example in the 1st scene/page you may program the 9 sliders to correspond with the mix levels BIAB uses, so you control the mix of the instruments. The 9 knobs might be the sustain level or a resonance filter or whatever, and the buttons might be the solo on-off for each instrument. The Stop/play/rew etc buttons on the left may be programmed to start/stop/loop the BIAB interface. Basically when a soft synth has knobs or sliders on the screen interface to control the sound, if sample lord can accept CC's for the knobs for shaping the sound or Pianissimo accepts CC's for controlling timbre, mellow-hard, bass-treble etc, this little bugger can probably be assigned and control it, in a more physical way. No more mouse clicking !

Pressing the scene button once, the 2nd led lights up and you have a fresh set of knobs/sliders/buttons. Here you program them to control a separate software synth, like attack,sustain release, level, mute, arpeggiator latch and so on. 3rd and 4th page, more controls, and if you push the scene button again, it returns to the 1st page. All settings are retained in the memory, and with the Kontrol Editor program you can make as many as you wish and load them if needed.

Remember for example some years ago when you needed a way to control some Yamaha style player's intros variations fills, I suggested and you bought/used a cheap separate numeric keypad? If the style player accepts CC numbers or note numbers as a way to control the intros vars fills, the buttons on the Korg can be programmed to send the corresponding CC or note numbers and you have 18 of them in each scene/page. Plus you could use the sliders and knobs to control the mix levels!

If you are interested I will try to help more as i find out how to do things with it.


[This message has been edited by trident (edited 10-16-2010).]

Thanks Trident,
sort of makes a bit more sense now.

I'll see if I can download a manual, I usually need to study it thoroughly, before it sinks in. haaaa

Appreciate your offer to help out.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by trident:
[B]Hi Rikki,

Here is the manual:

http://www.korg.com/uploads/Support/nanoKONTROL_OM_E2_633664627400740000.pdf

Got one...works very nicely indeed.
Lee S.

My wife uses one for her notebook DAW as a controller. Works well with Sonar.

Yes Rikki Trident has given a very good info about this controller. It's very useful for me, I use it to control the volume, brightness, reverb and resonance of all the style tracks and upper voices using different scenes. I discovered how much you can tweak the styles very easily and fast on a live situation. The buttons cannot mute a channel but you can use it to lower the channel's volume to zero.
Remember you need to run it through a computer and then to the arranger via Usb.

I'm thinking seriously about getting another one to control my second arranger but I don't know if the computer (Mediastation) can identify the two similar devices (which is which)

Victor

[This message has been edited by vagro (edited 10-16-2010).]

Thanks Trident,
for the manual link.

Also, Kingfrog & Lee.
Lee, what are you using it with?

Vagro, are you using it with your Korg arranger??

I'm going thru a Band in a Box phase at the moment. haahaa Never been interested in playing Country or Rock music before in my life, until I started playing around with the Real Tracks in BIAB.
Be interesting to see if I can incorporate it into BIAB / Real Band. If not, might be useful for One Man Band, might work better than the keypad.

I'm off to do some reading.

Thanks Guys.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by vagro:
[B]

Wish they made this with MIDI outs...

But, then again, most of the hard work is being done with the laptop, yes?

Diki,
if you want something like the Korg, this Novation controller is one of the best I found in my quest... check it out, it even has touch controls, and of course 2x real midi. It also comes coupled with 25,49, or 61 keys. Absolutely top IMHO. 240 Euros




and also this older CME thing for knob twisting heaven.... 380 Euros

At present I use it with my S900 because it is placed far away in my set up and I use more Yamaha styles (because there are plenty). Besides Yamaha receives 32 midi IN channels allowing me more connections. But of course you can use it with Korg or any brand arranger too (it's a Korg product).

Trident:
Those are nice controllers and the best thing you don't need a computer. But you can buy around 5 Nano for that price.

Does anyone know a midi or usb programmable foot controller? Or a Midi/usb hardware/software to send simultaneous program change messages in different channels by triggering one button?

Victor

Currently I'm covered, with a set of Behringer motorized faders and a Peavey MIDI controller too (mind you, a bit dated).

But you STILL need a laptop to program this, don't you? Or can you set up the sys-ex strings and the like from the unit itself?

You need a PC to program the cheap Korg yes, but I think those expensive ones can be programmed on their own.

However the ease of use of a PC is remarkable. Copy, paste, all the usual stuff, you can have a library of pages and recall what you need when you need it etc. The Novation has a very detailed and extensive editor.