The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I'm going to be traveling a lot for my new job, and I'd love to be able to write songs on the road to keep myself out of trouble. I'll have a laptop which can have Sonar on it, but I have no way to input into it. What I'd love is a teeny weeny keyboard that's essentially just a Midi controller, and then I'd use all soft synths on the laptop. I'm talking small and light, small enough to fit in a suitcase. Oh yeah, and cheap.

And while I'm at it, what kinds of Midi cards are offered for plugging in to laptops? How would this all work?

they make a number of different little midi controllers with a built in usb-midi adapter, so you just plug the keyboard right into the usb.

i have an M-Audio Oxygen 8, which I would definitely NOT recommend.

-craig

I am not a keyboardist, and have an Oxygen 8 which does what it does well and is small and lightweight. However, it's not a real keyboard. Imaging you using one is like imaging Coltrain playing Spud's midi sax.

Fluffy mentioned some small weighted key boards, but I don't know how practically portable they really are. Perhaps he'll chime in.

I have an Ozone. It's basically an Oxygen 8 with an xlr mic input. I have a full-size keyboard too, but I'm a crappy keyboardist, so I end up using the Ozone for everything. I like it very much. The only thing that sucks is that it needs to be plugged in. But I got around that by plugging a battery into the AC adapter hole with an adapter adapter I got at Radio Shack.

to clarify my antipathy towards the oxygen-8: mine has not been heavily abused, but at some point it started sending rogue pitch bend messages.

i mean, it just starts bending, randomly. it's really unusable.

boo on the Oxygen-8!

-craig

I don't care if it's a good keyboard, I mean, I don't expect to be playing Beethoven on it or anything. I just want something that has actual keys, however small or springy, and that I can plug into a USB port or whatever. So something like this Oxygen 8 you're all talking about. So, do I need a Midi card as well, or if I plug it into USB will the software understand it?

Try the one I have, the Edirol PCR-30:
http://edirol.com/products/info/pcr30.html
It's the bomb. Solid. Feels good to me.
-bill

nope, just plug it into the USB. it would probably come with some usbmidi drivers.

i mean, my oxygen-8 pitch bends when i'm not touching the wheel. it's very cheaply made.

-craig

starfinger wrote:nope, just plug it into the USB. it would probably come with some usbmidi drivers.

i mean, my oxygen-8 pitch bends when i'm not touching the wheel. it's very cheaply made.

-craig

Maybe they built the Ozones better. Mine feels a little cheap, but everything works fine, and has for over a year.

Dang. I love my Oxygen8. Because it's so small and... cute. I thought I'd just use it for quicky-input and fixes, but it's the only thing I ever use now.

It does feel a little chinsey, but I've never had a problem with it.

i have heard a lot of complaints about the relaibility/construction of the ox8 especially when someone's transporting it places, so i avoided buying one. check out harmonycentral.com for gear reviews before you buy stuff.
-bill

Hey Jim,

I just wanted to add that the Oxygen8 is made by M-Audio, who also make a cool little backpack to hold it and a laptop as well as accessories. It is USB and has drivers for Sonar to get the midi messages. It is probably your best bet. I've seen other little controllers at Fry's and such that are made for kids to learn how to play piano on their computers as well if you are looking for cheap. I personally think the Oxygen8 is the way to go, as you can get them used for under $100. Otherwise, you might just invest in a usb to midi cable for $30, buy something when you get to your destination, then sell/return it before you leave.

Be well,
Ken

I dunno if they sell this over there, but if they do I can wholeheartedly recommend it:

http://www.evolution.co.uk/products/evo_mk425c.htm

I'd like to second avoidance of the Oxygen 8. It is shit, and the drivers are shit. Mine works when it wants to, which isn't often, and once the drivers are on your system it takes an act of god to get them off.

Korg makes a new microcontroller with lots of widgets on it. I'd get that before another M-Audio product.

The weighted keyboards Roymond refers to are not exactly "portable," except in comparison to other weighted keyboards. They're still a full 88-key thing, and weigh 30 pounds.

M-Audio's smaller spring-action keyboards seem decent, at least when I've played with them at Guitar Center.