Keyboard recommendations please

Hi, I'm moving over from N-I Maschine where everything of course was in Maschine itself.

I just used to use a USB controller keyboard and the pads on Maschine, but now I've secured myself an unused MPC5000 and I'm buzzing about getting back to the digging and sampling days of my youth (harks back to S950 and the Atari ST...)

OK anyway, I'm looking for recommendations for a controller keyboard to use for melodies, etc.

As far as I can tell I have some options:

1. Pure midi controller keyboard to act as an extension/replacement for the pads when using the in-built synth (or samples).

2. A midi controller that controls external sound modules with the MPC recording midi events and sending them on to the module to play the sounds.

3. And I was wondering IF I could do the second one with one unit, i.e. make the keyboard a controller but make the sound module respond to the MPC's midi signals...

Does anyone do the above?

I imagine you do and it's great to get some advice on what would fulfill each of my options, or indeed some correction if I'm talking out of my @ss.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, you can do all three, you seem to understand it.

With the third option, a keyboard that has a built in sound source, you turn local MIDI off inside the keyboard, so that the keyboard is not sending internal MIDI to the internal sound engine/module.

The keyboard then acts as if it is just a MIDI controller keyboard, and the internal keyboard sound engine/module acts as if it is just an external MIDI sound module.

You connect the MIDI out from the keyboard to the MIDI in of the MPC, and it sends MIDI into the MPC, to play internal MPC sounds, or external MIDI sound modules connected to the MPC MIDI outputs.

You conenct the MIDI out from the MPC to the MIDI in of the keyboard, and the MPC plays the keyboard sound engine/module as if it was just an external MIDI sound module.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not mad then!

I guess I'm concerned a lot of modern keyboards don't have real midi ports. Am I right that is an issue?

And is the midi config you mention pretty standard?

Yes, a lot of modern keyboard don't have MIDI ports, they have only USB ports, and have a built in USB-MIDI interface. That is fine if you are working with a computer sequencer, as the keyboard sends MIDI over USB into the computer. They are probably usually MIDI controller keyboards though, I think that most keyboards with builtin sound engines probably also have MIDI In/Out ports.

The local MIDI on/off setting is a fairly standard setting in keyboards with builtin sound engines, and if it happens to not have it, you can turn MIDI soft through off in the MPC, but that is not ideal.

Have a look at page 188 of the MPC5000 Reference Manual V2.00, it explains what I have told you. If you don't have the manual, follow the MPC Manuals link at the top of this forum page to a download link for it, or find it with a Google search.

Thanks for being so helpful

I'm thinking a novation bass station mk2 will be the daddy.