My cousin recently gave me his Korg Kaossilator and miniKP, and let me use his laptop while he was on vacation. He had both Reason 5 and FL Studio on it, and being fascinated by the idea of DAWs, I started to mess around with it. I ended up purchasing Reason myself. The thing is however, I have no experience with it. I have enough money to buy a MIDI Controller, but I am wondering what I should get.
I am looking at
Korg nanoSeries2
Akai MPK-mini
My spending range is around 50 - 150. I am just starting out on the scene, and my goal in music production is geared towards the House/Electro/Dance genre. So any pointers would help.
How friendly are the Akai MPK-mini and Reason 5?
Or should I get the Korg nano’s and how friendly are those?
Equipment I Own:
Korg Kaossilator
miniKP
[Waiting for a MIDI Controller (Akai MPK-mini)
Is there also any other equipment I should have as a beginner?
I think you should just work with a mouse and keyboard for a bit. From there, you’ll be able to see what kind of things would be more efficient with a control surface and pick something to fit your needs.
I don’t have much experience with those software, but i think you are going to want some decent sound and your laptop soundcard wont cut it, u will need an external soundcard, and for production you probably want at least a 4 in 4 out soundcard.
As for a controller, maybe a midi keyboard, that’s what i use with fl studios, and it works great, they are all the same really, if you get a cheap one you might not get all of the fancy knobs and encoders and faders but the main thing is the keys, if they are good you wont actually need or want knobs.
I agree with digital devil in the sense that you need to explore the software but it is also nice to have something to feel and it gives your productions a quicker more smooth feel when you are making them.
They are midi controllers, they’re friendly with everything that takes midi in.
Akai controllers are all really well made etc,
im not too sure about the korgs though, i know the original nanoseries sucked, and their customer support sucks as well.
IMO i would go with the MPK-mini,
But if i was to choose a keyboard i would go with the m-audio oxygen 8 (or the newer oxygen 25).
I wouldn’t go with either, the nanos are cheaply made and won’t last, and the mpk mini, the keys are to cramped for my liking and I just don’t Kirk the size. TOO SMALL. I would go with something like the oxygen 8 or umx250
I think you could use the headphone out as a line in on the older MBP’s but i think thats changed now, what you will need is a soundcard with inputs, i use an M audio MobilePre, you get 2 XLR inputs, 2 TRS inputs and two TRS outputs, got it dirt cheap on ebay as well
i’ve used my nanokontrol with reason before, worked nicely mapped to the mixer.
the series 1 nano’s aren’t fantastic - but u get a lot of control for the price+size and are find for production stuff.
i dont have a nanopad - went for the lpd8 instead - and the keys on the nanopad aren’t ideal for playing like a musical keyboard - but will do if needed (it’s all i have atm for programming melodies/chords etc)
i’d say a nice setup - and cheap - would be a lpk25+lpd8+nanokontrol. nanokontrol mk2 has one less channel but more buttons - and led feedback. for “reason” i think the mk1 is a better fit tho.
edit: i’d go for the lpk25+lpd8 over the mpk mini for flexability - and they’re about the same price.
Thanks for all the tips, though I already purchased the MPK Mini. I’ve come to get used to it as well. Now, can you recommend a good channel mixer for Reason 5, or is the nanoKontrol good enough?
Also, what is the best 12 Channel mixer for Reason 5?
there’s not many choices out there really. if you want 12 channels then you’d want 2x nanokontrols i guess. one mk1 will give u 9, a mk2 will give u 8.
if u want control over eq and other stuff then you’ve looking at much more expensive stuff like maybe a faderfox or a couple of the new K2’s.
there’s also the uc-33e and movation zero sl. both sort of geared around 8 channels but the sl could be mapped to give u control over more depending on how u use the two different areas.
u should be able to do plenty with 8 channels tho - seeing as they’re 8 stereo channels and all… kind of like using an old 16 channel mixing desk.
the nanokontrol mk1 is handy tho as it gives u the master output control too ofc.
the icon ikontrols looks a better build but not more channels afaik. they do also have a cool version with motorised faders tho
i’ve been producing (or trying to) for over 20 years and all i have ever really needed (90% of the time) is:
volume control over 8 stereo channels
eq on each channel (mouse is ok for this, for overal non-dynamic eq’ing)
mute+solo on each channel - to see how a channel sounds with others in the mix etc
the nanokontrol mk1 or mk2 do this. the mk1 has one extra channel and the mk2 has 1 less channel but an extra button per channel (which i don’t need) and led midi feedback (which may well be useful for other stuff)
for my money for production the nanokontrol mk1 is a great buy whereas if i wanted to use it as a midi controller for other stuff i’d probably go for a mk2.
i tend to not ever use the ‘pan pot’ when using for production stuff. if i wanted to use the NK for non-production stuff i’d probably want more pots per channel anyway.
as “friendly” as the mk1 i guess. i just mapped my nanokontrol myself, it’s very simple. it’s only midi after all… i don’t even know if the mk2 midi output differs from the mk1. i didn’t use any pre-defined preset anyway (tho i did try someone else’s map at one point)… the whole point in generic midi controllers and software communicating over midi imho is so you can map then how you want them…
cool good choice… for mixing etc i think the extra channel is good over the mk2, and the price of the mk1’s is great.
where all the nano’s get a bad rep is people gigging with them. for home/prodiction use i think they are great. for gigging live i think i’d want something more sturdy tho i still think the nanokontrol might have a place in that for something.
i bought my nanokontrol (and nanokey) mk1 about a year ago and it’s still as good as new. all depends on how you treat it…
good choice… for mixing etc i think the extra channel is good over the mk2, and the price of the mk1’s is great.