by Jnmarseille13 (March 18, 2022)
by Jnmarseille13 (March 18, 2022)
When I first started making beats (I was somewhere around 13 years-old), I didn’t have anything other than my laptop and a pair of headphones… and of course my DAW. That’s right… not even a mouse! I was using the touchpad and never complained about it until more than a year later (I don’t even know how I was able to survive through this lol).
So, all my melodies were done that way, meaning I would open the piano roll and edit everything, one note at the time, with the touchpad. Then a year later, a friend of mine who had pity for me (after seeing me playing an online game with my laptop’s touchpad) gave me his old mouse that he wasn’t using anymore.
And wow! it felt like the world was moving so quick suddenly. I was able to edit my melodies and chords faster, arrange my songs quicker and in a more efficient way… life was good!
No… not that good. There was something missing. I was watching all those videos with my favorite producers cooking stuff in the studio, and they were all using a very powerful tool called: MIDI keyboard!0
So, I bought my first MIDI keyboard in the beginning of high school, which I’m still using to this day. This piece of hardware is one of the most important tools in my music producing journey and I’m going to explain to you why it might be important for you even if you’re not a true pianist or keyboard play.
So, first, let’s talk about a MIDI keyboard is. A MIDI keyboard is used to control the sound of all your MIDI gear like DAWs or synths. It can easily become one of the cores to your production, because pretty much all the melodies and chores you will come with be made with the MIDI keyboard.
Keep in mind that a MIDI keyboard all alone is unable to create anything. Think of it as a video game controller. If you just have a controller with no console and no game, you will not be able to do anything, and your controller will be useless. However, once you got your console turned on and a game ready to be played, then this is when the controller becomes interesting.
Same thing for the MIDI controller. The instruments in your DAW are like the console, and you create notes and melodies with the MIDI keyboard.
They can come in all size (25 keys, 49, 61, 88 etc.) and with all types of keys (heavy, light, mini etc. Some of them will also have additional buttons and functions that will be able to be mapped on specific functions of your DAW or virtual instruments. Here are some good ones with good prices:
If you are like me when I was younger, taking hours to make sort melodies because you’re using a mouse, or worse… a laptop touchpad, then this can be interesting for you. You will see that it’s much faster and better to create a melody with a MIDI keyboard rather than a mouse.
If you are a pianist or have some knowledge in keyboard playing, then you must take advantage of this. You know how to use a keyboard, so you will see so many advantages, like making very complex melodies in one shot, for example.
No, you don’t need to have all that experience. Even someone with 0 knowledge in piano will find a benefit in using a MIDI keyboard. If you know how to use a piano roll on a DAW, then it is enough.
You might need a few days to get used to using a keyboard for your production process, and then it will quickly become natural.
So now you know that most people who makes beats can see an advantage in using a MIDI keyboard. I personally use mine to improvise melodies that I would never be able to recreate with a mouse, and I’m not even sure I would be able to recreate them perfectly with a keyboard neither. So, if you’re into jazzy stuff like me, and you like to play keyboard, then you must take advantage of this, if you’re not doing it yet.
However, some producers might not find a use for this. For example, producers who are mainly creating sample-based music. But sometimes, even them might find a use to MIDI keyboards.
I hope this article helped you understand more about what MIDI keyboards are for.
Cheers 😊
When I first started making beats (I was somewhere around 13 years-old), I didn’t have anything other than my laptop and a pair of headphones… and of course my DAW. That’s right… not even a mouse! I was using the touchpad and never complained about it until more than a year later (I don’t even know how I was able to survive through this lol).
So, all my melodies were done that way, meaning I would open the piano roll and edit everything, one note at the time, with the touchpad. Then a year later, a friend of mine who had pity for me (after seeing me playing an online game with my laptop’s touchpad) gave me his old mouse that he wasn’t using anymore.
And wow! it felt like the world was moving so quick suddenly. I was able to edit my melodies and chords faster, arrange my songs quicker and in a more efficient way… life was good!
No… not that good. There was something missing. I was watching all those videos with my favorite producers cooking stuff in the studio, and they were all using a very powerful tool called: MIDI keyboard!0
So, I bought my first MIDI keyboard in the beginning of high school, which I’m still using to this day. This piece of hardware is one of the most important tools in my music producing journey and I’m going to explain to you why it might be important for you even if you’re not a true pianist or keyboard play.
So, first, let’s talk about a MIDI keyboard is. A MIDI keyboard is used to control the sound of all your MIDI gear like DAWs or synths. It can easily become one of the cores to your production, because pretty much all the melodies and chores you will come with be made with the MIDI keyboard.
Keep in mind that a MIDI keyboard all alone is unable to create anything. Think of it as a video game controller. If you just have a controller with no console and no game, you will not be able to do anything, and your controller will be useless. However, once you got your console turned on and a game ready to be played, then this is when the controller becomes interesting.
Same thing for the MIDI controller. The instruments in your DAW are like the console, and you create notes and melodies with the MIDI keyboard.
They can come in all size (25 keys, 49, 61, 88 etc.) and with all types of keys (heavy, light, mini etc. Some of them will also have additional buttons and functions that will be able to be mapped on specific functions of your DAW or virtual instruments. Here are some good ones with good prices:
If you are like me when I was younger, taking hours to make sort melodies because you’re using a mouse, or worse… a laptop touchpad, then this can be interesting for you. You will see that it’s much faster and better to create a melody with a MIDI keyboard rather than a mouse.
If you are a pianist or have some knowledge in keyboard playing, then you must take advantage of this. You know how to use a keyboard, so you will see so many advantages, like making very complex melodies in one shot, for example.
No, you don’t need to have all that experience. Even someone with 0 knowledge in piano will find a benefit in using a MIDI keyboard. If you know how to use a piano roll on a DAW, then it is enough.
You might need a few days to get used to using a keyboard for your production process, and then it will quickly become natural.
So now you know that most people who makes beats can see an advantage in using a MIDI keyboard. I personally use mine to improvise melodies that I would never be able to recreate with a mouse, and I’m not even sure I would be able to recreate them perfectly with a keyboard neither. So, if you’re into jazzy stuff like me, and you like to play keyboard, then you must take advantage of this, if you’re not doing it yet.
However, some producers might not find a use for this. For example, producers who are mainly creating sample-based music. But sometimes, even them might find a use to MIDI keyboards.
I hope this article helped you understand more about what MIDI keyboards are for.
Cheers 😊