Hi Everyone,

I'm a very lucky boy, my parents have got me a MIDI controller for my birthday. 2 octaves, velocity sensitive and aftertouch as well as some twiddly knobs. It arrives tomorrow. I'm hoping to control the KN7000 volume sliders and drawbars with the twiddlies and to play virtual instruments on my PC with the 2 octaves, through my KN7000 speakers of course. A pic is attached and I'll let you know how I get on.

I had been thinking of getting an 88 key MIDI controller to use as a second manual but that's something for later perhaps. I want to improve my 'piano playing' but I don't have a lot of space at present, plus I'm considering a digital piano instead for that (who knows when).

But the reason for my post is that I'm wondering whether any of you use MIDI controllers and what you use?

Ohh, I just saw the poll feature so I added a poll but I think you'll need to reply to this topic to actually say what MIDI controller you use.

Best wishes,
Mike

Yes Mike - and I couldn't make it work at all - setting up midi connection on Technics is a nightmare...

Sorry to hear that Roger.

The Graphite is going great. I have yet to figure it all out but I'm able to control both the KN7000 and the Native Instruments software from it. I can select the sounds I want to play on the KN7000, adjust volume etc with the knobs but I haven't tried controlling the drawbars yet.

It can play sounds selected on the computer and for example adjust drawbars on a virtual Hammond B3 which sounds amazing (it's screaming!) routed through the KN7000 speakers. The choirs also sound incredible. It comes with Native Instruments software that includes 1000 sounds but I already had the Vintage Organs module which isn't in the box.

I've attached a pic (very poor one but it gives the idea). I think I would use it live but without the computer. Say, just to have a particular solo instrument or organ I can jump to. I've assigned it to Part 5 on the KN7000 because my pedals use Part 4.

The MIDI routing means that you can record to the KN7000 sequencer and hear the sunds set up in the computer for Part 5. On playback it will play the computer sound and because it is routing into the KN7000's sound system it will record the audio using the normal methods.

Aftertouch is particularly usable, the keys physically bend so it has great physical feedback. The pads are not so nice, you have to hit them very hard so I can't see me using them often.

I can recommend it so far anyway for anyone looking for a similar setup.

Best wishes,
Mike

PS I just hope it doesn't make me too lazy to walk over to the KN7000 as I'm using it from my sofa at the moment lol.

So are you saying Mike that the additional sounds that this new technology provides you with can be achieved playing the keyboard of the KN7000 or are you just using the speakers of the KN7000 and playing the new instrument linked to the sound inputs of the KN7000.

Hi Roger, I'll try to explain myself more clearly, I've never been good at that, I tend to waffle a bit lol.

You can do both.

The computer sounds (from the Native Instruments software) are routed through the KN7000 by means of the normal USB connection. So the computer uses the KN7000 as 'speakers' and the computer can also record the 'whole sound' via the USB using the Technics Sound Recorder program. I.e. whatever comes out of the KN7000's speakers gets recorded.

The Native Instruments sounds can be played from the KN7000. To play them from the KN7000 you have to set up Right 1 or Right 2 to send MIDI notes to the computer via the USB (or a MIDI interface). This is not very convenient for swapping between sounds unless you program the sounds to be selected by means of the Panel Memories. This is not so straightforward I have only tried it as an experiment. It works but it takes a lot of work in advance if you want to use it regularly.

Let's say you were doing a recording and you wanted a superb choir in the mix, it would be worth it to include that Native Instruments sound. I'm making some xmas recordings at the moment so I'll try to make an example soon.

None of the above depends on the MIDI keyboard.

Some examples of using the MIDI keyboard:

The MIDI keyboard makes it easier to work with the Native Instruments sounds without having to go into the programming I mentioned above on the KN7000. Set up some instruments on the computer and then swap between them easily on the MIDI keyboard.

You probably wouldn't want to do that live but it would be great for playing at home or recording, giving you access to about 1000 sounds of extremely high quality (the samples are huge and the features and effects associated with each one are wide-ranging). Because computers have vastly more memory than arranger keyboards.

For playing live, the MIDI keyboard can control any sound, dial, switch etc on the KN7000. By assigning it to (in my case) Part 5, it doesn't clash with any of the parts I normally play on the KN7000. I've done a few experiments but it will take a while to set it up in a way that I like.

So, as an example of using it live... You could set up your KN7000 as you usually do, playing Left, Right 1, Right 2, Accomp, drums etc. The MIDI keyboard can then be set up on Part 5, which is not being used on the KN7000, to access any sound in the KN7000, so giving you another manual. Let's say you were playing a James Bond medley. Set up the MIDI keyboard to play that iconic guitar part using a sound on an expansion card. Later, with a button press, it can be a solo trumpet or whatever. You could use one of the knobs to pan the strings back and forth on the KN7000 or to fade the brass in and out.

You could just use panel memories to do the swapping of instruments or the mixer buttons to do the fading, I totally agree. It's just slightly more convenient to have the MIDI keyboard sitting there and move your hand to it.

No great shakes in one sense, for me it's a bit of fun experimenting with it and I've only touched on a few features above. The reality is that my son will probably use it more than me, for his college work because it can control all his recording software etc on his Mac.

Cheers,
Mike

That's about where I started out Mike using Yonac software App Galileo on my I-pad and then hoping to midi that through the KN7000. I could not make my I-pad speak to my KN7000 although I've seen it done with Yamahas etc and an old Technics organ. So I purchased an I-Rig keys and play that out through the KN7000 sound system but it's not really what I wanted to achieve.

That's a bit disappointing about the iPad Roger because I think I'll be needing one for work in the near future and I was hoping to MIDI it up to the KN7000. i-Rig keys looks pretty good though.

As I suspected, I'm not getting to use my Graphite very much.... the boy has commandeered it for the time-being lol. I think he has superglued it to his Mac.

Yes you can certainly run the i-rig out through the sound system of the KN7000. If you get an ipad go for the more expensive more gigabytes model as you soon run out of space otherwise.
Rog