It's got me thinking about making a little corner in my studio where I can
just have this connected to all my synths all the time to find inspiration. This is
the Arturia KeyStep PRO and I'm addicted to it. But at $399 it may not be
within everyone's reach, so if you want to have some fun with sequences and
arpeggiators with your little synths or big synths the original KeyStep which is
only $129 might be right for you. So today I'm going to share some music that
I've made with the KeyStep PRO and I'll show you how I did it. And if you're just
getting started I'll share a little bit about the original KeyStep and what you
can do with that.
If your new around here, I'm Sanjay C I have lots of videos about music production
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By the way, you'll find the best prices for the KeyStep PRO and the original
KeyStep in the video description. So the KeyStep PRO just came out and everybody
is excited about it and it's awesome. In fact I've had it on my desk connected to
all my synths and drum machines since I got it. And I could tinker with it for
hours and just lose track of time. I've got it connected to Ableton Live, my
Prophet 6 synth, the Arturia Minibrute 2, the Drumbrute Impact, and my Juno 106.
And with four tracks for recording sequences this kind of setup totally
makes sense to make full use of the key several features. Here's what I recorded
(Sanjay C playing his amazing music).
So what are my favorite features? Well the scenes... I've saved different parts of
the song into different scenes. It remembers everything... which pattern, what
was muted or not, and then these beat repeater buttons. So much fun! Okay, okay I
could go on for hours, but let's talk about who the Arturia KeyStep PRO is
for. I've got a bunch of synths, so I can create a full sound with this thing. But
it is limited by those four tracks. Well maybe just a little. With four tracks you
can have drums bass a pad and a melodic sound which is fun for performances but
you may feel a little bit limited. Still, for performing electronic music this is
probably the best thing you could buy at this price.
The only other MIDI controller that rivals this is the Novation 49SL MKIII
which is a beast with a beast price. But it really covers other ground like
Ableton Control. The KeyStep PRO is much more focused on performance. It's even
written on the box. The other thing is the price tag and that's why I wanted to
mention the original KeyStep. If you've got all this gear then yeah the PRO
makes sense. But if you're just starting out and just want to have some
sequencing fun with the synths you've got then maybe the original KeyStep is a
good choice. Especially if you're getting into eurorack or have a modular synth.
These things are a lot of fun to use. If you're producing completely on your
computer, neither of these keyboards is going to do much for you unless you want
to mess around with some unexpected results with a plugin. By the way, if
you're looking for some free plugins check out my latest #SanjayCNews report series. I
always feature the latest music gear news and also some free plugins or
samples. So comparing the KeyStep PRO with the original the keys are the same.
They feel great. The same as the Minilab but these have aftertouch which is
really nice to have. The PRO has 37 keys versus 32 on the smaller one. The build
quality is similar - buttons, knobs - they all feel the same on both keyboards you
can record sequences - 64 steps and they have connections in the back to connect
to your MIDI instruments, synths and modular gear. And
that's where the similarities end and the KeyStep PRO blasts off into
outer space! I mean the biggest thing is that you've got four tracks to record
and you just don't have that with the original KeyStep. Those four tracks
allowed me to record sequences for all three of my synths and the drum machine.
And then you can record 16 patterns 16 different sequences for each track. And
each time you trigger a pattern or a scene everything stays in time. It's so
great for performing. And the dedicated drum sequencer means I never had to
touch the Drumbrute except for adjusting the sounds themselves. If
you're into eurorack you've even got four sets of CV
connectors. By the way if you don't care for having keys check out the BeatStep
PRO. You've got four tracks four sequence recording on that too - but I prefer the
keys on the KeyStep PRO. With a number of synths I have lying around here the
KeyStep PRO is something I would love to continue messing around with. It's got
me thinking about making a little corner in my studio where I can just have this
connected to all my since all the time to find inspiration. And maybe that's
something you'll see more of in the future in my videos. If you have any
questions leave it in the comments below. Keep Making The Music YOU Love and check
out one of these videos next!