Korg Forums

Hi guys (and girls), I'm new to the whole music world, at least digital music (I've been playing cello for 10+ years). I want to get into EDM production, specifically glitch hop and dubstep type music.

I have a windows laptop with Ableton Live 9 Standard, and I've been messing around with it, but I feel like I need controllers. I want them to compact enough to toss in a backpack and take with me anywhere I go, but also not very expensive (the total cost has to be under about $500). I'm thinking of a korg nanopad2 for drum pads, a novation launchkey mini as a 25 key keyboard and a launchpad mini as a pad controller. What do you guys think?

I want to get drum pads, a keyboard to use with synth plug-ins, and a pad controller (the launchpad). I was wondering if I can use a midi keyboard as a synth by mapping it to synth plug-ins...it seems like it should work, but then again I'm new to this stuff.

Also, I've got a few questions about controllers in general: Do you guys know of any cheap synths? I know the Arturia Microbrute is $300, and I've found it used for $200 from guitar center. Are there any others that go for cheaper? And are there any compact synths like the monotrons that offer a bit more control over the sound? I can't seem to find them on the internet, so probably not.

If you guys have any other suggestions on a controller setup, it'll be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a nice day,
Ivan

I can't really help you much but I use a Nanopad 2 for drum tracks. I'm running a relatively expensive system though. My primary keyboard is a Kronos. I also don't know much about the styles of music that you want to get into. I'm a rock guy. I think the Arturia ones are probably what you want though.

Good Luck!

The Akai MPC40 offers a pretty good, well-integrated control surface for Ableton Live, for launching audio clips and altering effects parameters although it might be stretching the backpack a bit, and does need extra 5V power. I designed a solution that uses an extra USB port to give sufficient extra power to run directly off a PC/Mac without external power. The Ableton Push controller is also a useful accessory for Ableton Live and runs off USB only, if desired, albeit by dimming the button and backlighting LEDs to conserve power. The functionality of these controllers has a degree of overlap but they could also be used together.

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