For the past few days we have been at the SXSW Music Expo.  It turns out that Austin now only has a vibrant synth scene, but there are a lot of Austin based startups doing some pretty cool things with MIDI. Also at the show we got to meet with some companies from around the globe and from all over the US doing cool things with Bluetooth M...

Hand-Held Controllers Electronic MIDI controllers that you hold in your hands and shake or move about to make music date back to 1986. That was the year Palmtree Instruments introduced Airdrums, a tabletop MIDI controller wired to two tubes that contain sensors for detecting motion in any of six directions. The control box transmits six triggers pe...

Dave Battino wrote an article which was a  roundup of ultra-compact keyboard and pad MIDI controllers in the December 2013 issue of keyboard.  He shared the video he created to show these itty bitty MIDI devices. 

Touch Controllers (continued) Another beautiful and powerful touch controller, this one featuring 150 rectangular walnut keys arranged in a five-row by 30-column matrix laid within a 29" by 8" by 1-1/4" block of Washington alder and weighing 4.6 pounds, is the Madrona Labs Soundplane Model A (http://madronalabs.com). Each key senses velocity, posit...

Alternative Controllers A keyboard isn't the only means of playing a synthesizer. Synthesist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Kevin Fortune (http://www.kevinbrahenyfortune.com) is one of many who enjoy using alternative controllers. He believes the kind of controller you use not only directly influences the type of music you create, but it also can l...

Touch Controllers (continued) If you'd prefer a surface that's stretched much further, consider the Haken Continuum Fingerboard (http://www.hakenaudio.com/Continuum). Its control surface feels like silk and looks like a wide ribbon with alternating scarlet and maroon stripes. Designed by Lippold Haken, the Continuum goes beyond two dimensions. Its ...

Touch Controllers (continued) Although it isn't a dedicated controller, Teenage Engineering's OP-1 — a tiny (11.1" x 4.02" x 0.53", 1 lb. 4.4 oz.), battery-powered workstation packed with a variety of digital synthesis engines, effects processors, filters, audio recording and sampling, sequencing, and other capabilities — becomes a unique MIDI...