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I don't use one. I want one though...if I wanna take my shit to a live performance level I'll prolly have to.

I have had an Axiom for like a year now, it's cool and everything but I have been producing via the mouse for a lifetime, I am jsut so used to doing things that way I forget to use the controller. I have shit stacked on it right not ffs. I gotta fix up.

I'm finding my midi keyboard is gathering dust & hardly gets used I can't play piano so just use the mouse in the piano roll
Will be seriously looking at selling it for somthing with decent faders drum pads etc

I'm kind of surprised how many people here rely on their mouse and piano roll for production. From my point of view it feels more like you're programming dubstep, whereas midi controllers allow me to feel like I'm just playing instruments one at a time and layering them over each other.

i used to love my keyboard when i was doing tunes at home, but im at the studio its impractical (i.e. not in reach of the listening position) so it barely gets used. i do fine without it, but i do miss it for auditioning sounds, live tweaking of stuff, etc.

might bring it home actually, i got a laptop now so it would probably be better used there tbh.

I've got a midi mixer but I never use it in FL. I don't feel I need it really plus it takes ages to set it all up if it's not automatically configured so I just go with mouse and keyboard

Wow, this thread is really an eye opener! I can't imagine NOT using a midi controller. I play all of my parts and automations live and use midi controllers as instruments. I also like to use my mouse as little as possible. I've been a musician for a very long time, so maybe that's part of it, I feel comfortable with keys and other midi controllers.

EZ

mks wrote:Wow, this thread is really an eye opener! I can't imagine NOT using a midi controller. I play all of my parts and automations live and use midi controllers as instruments. I also like to use my mouse a little as possible. I've been a musician for a very long time, so maybe that's part of it, I feel comfortable with keys and other midi controllers.

EZ

Same here. I even hate step inputting drum patterns, i'd always rather blast it out on pads or failing that, keys.

As long as i've ever known, C=kick, D=Snare, Dsharp=Clap, Fsharp=hat, Asharp=open hat.

What i've been taught, and what i'll always use!

DOOMTROOPER/T40 wrote:In reason i usually use my midi keyboard to hear sounds when im creating a patch but when i actually go to make the tune i usually draw it in after playing it to myself on the keyboard, i just find it quicker than having to quantize it all if i played it in a bit dodgy

Me too.
I find I use the knobs way more than the keys.

DOOMTROOPER/T40 wrote:In reason i usually use my midi keyboard to hear sounds when im creating a patch but when i actually go to make the tune i usually draw it in after playing it to myself on the keyboard...

New to production, but I def agree. Midi helps with ideas more than anything. trying to record a "live" performance on a controller just isn't accurate enough.

the best thing about ableton is how amazingly well it integrates with midi controllers. i just wish that you could save templates. i know you can save some basic shit, but IMO the things they do let you save are worthless unless you are djing or live pa with it. for production it would be awesome to be able to save midi mappings for operator, etc.

basically, my synth programming jumped a jizzzz-illion fold when i mapped all the parameters to my trusty uc33e (i married this thing, i had an affair with it, my real life girlfriend (my ex now LOLZ) kicked me out of her house cause i fucked my uc33e in HER bedroom on HER bed, yeah i know im so dirty).

using a midi keyboard and controller with knobs n faders n shit not only makes the creative process faster and more efficient (imo) but is much more ergonomic (imo). ergonomics, by the way, is the hardest thing for me. someone write an ergonomics tutorial plzz????

i dont use a midi controller. oh wait im a nobody so it doesnt matter

i don't use 'em, it just means i'd to quantize to get thing the way i want them to sound, since my latency is so bad..

when i'm using renoise i just use the mouse and keyboard. i prefer programming in beats. sometimes when i'm writing something horrible in reason i'll use a MIDI controller. but my midi controller is one of the old skool midiman oxy8 ones aka it is shit. sure music has just turned into a bunch of random sounds now without any sort of relation to traditional music composition. that's 8 years of classical piano wasted on fucking nothing then...

I used a MIDI keyboard and MPD32, The MPD32 doesn´t get pulled out much (due to lack of desk space) but the keyboard is always on. I couldn´t program the piano roll with a mouse it just wouldn´t work for me, it seems far to long winded. I Just play and play until something sounds good.

The Caps Lock Keyboard on Logic is a great addition though, a little restrictive but it did me well for a good 5 months.

can't imagine not using a controller. at least even just pads... the idea of mousing in things just doens't work for me.

ive got one, its collects dust.

and anyway in ableton i can use my typing keyboard to play notes, assign things to keys ect...and record it.

I got mine a couple of years ago. At first I didn't really like it. THen I learnt some scales and practised a bit. I can now not imagine not having it. WHen it isn't on it feels like my fingers are numb or my hands are tied behind my back :]

i couldnt live without assignable knobs for prety much all my automation! To be honest i dont use the keyboard that much, and you dont stricly need one, but id definitely reccomed getting one just for tinkering around on to get inspiration, although be warned, gettin lean and playin around on the keyboard can make you waste hours without coming up with anything productive! Id definitely reccomend investing in one, dnt cheap out and get a tiny thing with hardly any octaves or knobs though, bcoz once you get into it, youll need those extras!

I'm a poorrr student I have a macbook pro and headphones and thats it.. once you get used to listening to tunes and doing things in a certain way though, your pretty much set apart for fine detail!