Midi Controller? advice please..

mauly

Personally i use a Korg MicroKontrol, but it has a lot more capabilites than you want and it is fairly expensive ($300 U.S.)

If you want something to play with i would reccommend the Edirol PC-50 (49 keys, uses USB to power the keyboard and send MIDI data..so no need for an external MIDI interface and its around $150 U.S.), or try the M-Audio Keystation 49e (around $100 U.S). M-Audio O2 is 25 keys, and is about the same price as the Edirol i mentioned above.

Personally i like Edirol's prducts more than M-audio, and i have more than a few friends that have destroyed an M-audio Oxygen 8 (or two or three), but those keyboards were seeing a lot more action that yours probably will unless you decide to preform. The keys on the M-Audio boards also feel a little to "cheap" to me. Basically the M-audio boards have more knobs/sliders etc that allow you to transmit MIDI data other than by pressing the traditional keys.

My advice for you and your situation is get the Edirol i mentioned above, as you will be wanting more than 25 keys (more is always better) and the board is small, and Edirol is fairly well known for good quality products.

Hope this helps...btw, my price quotes were from Sweetwater, but if you really want to spend some money or see some nice stuff check out Doepfer.

Depending on what Mac you use, the M-Audio O2 could be perfect.

Its 25 key, has 8 knobs and 8 configurable buttons, is powered by USB and is ultra slimline. The only disadvantage of the slimline design is the keys have a much smaller travelling distance, so they feel a bit wierd until you get used to it.

You can get them for £100 from Digital village or Turnkey. Digital Village have stores all over the country, and I'd personally recommend them over Turnkey.

The advantage of going into a store to buy one, is you can have a play and check it suits your playing style.

In my personal opinion, I highly rate the Evolution range of Keyboards. I've had one for about 4 years now, and its seen me through both college and university without a hitch. Despite its cheap plastic build, its continued to work despite me dropping it on more than one occasion!

yeah it depends if GB is all you really see yourself using, or if you may move on to Reason or something. for garageband you need little more than just keys. knobs and faders don't really make that big a difference. i recommend 49 keys as a minimum, but it's up to you. i actually play piano and i finally got an 88 key controller so i'm a little biased towards the more-keys side.here are a few at zzounds.com for you to peruse through if only to give you a good idea of what's out there. it's good to go to online stores to see what's there, then hit up manufacturer's sites to compare ones within your price range. actually i see nothing wrong with the keyboards suggested at the Apple online store, if all you want is something for garageband.