Cheaper Manuals Than ClassicMidiWorks in the US?

Hey Everyone,
I'm looking to replace my MAudio Radium with something a bit more accurate in terms of key width. Classic Midi Works seems to sell two different MIDI keyboards, but they're both pretty pricey. Looking around on contrebombarde.com, it seems like some people have different manuals, but I'm having a hard time finding information about them.

Does everyone who uses small midi manuals get them from CMW? I'm not looking to buy a full console or anything like that.

Thanks!
Gabe

Hey Gabe,

M-Audio has the best collection of keyboard controllers that I know about. They also sell at least two 61 key models. The axioms also have lots of MIDI assignable pads and buttons since you won't have pistons. They are hard to beat pricewise. You can find loads of discounters on ebay. Don't forget about Roland (Edirol) too. They have three 61 note models.

What you will probably end up missing in the M-Audio products is the feel of the keyboards. Typically, you either get a piano weighted or semi-weighted action or else a really light... spongy feel. If you're cool with that, then the controllers will work fine. The CMK2 keyboards have a pretty firm feel to them with a slight "tracker" release as you depress the key. That is fairly useful for repertoire where you are working on precision (i.e contrapuntal)

A couple other things you might miss are the piston rail and that they stack in a compact way. Since you are on contrebombarde already, you can use the "find an instrument near you" and try out different hardware from different Hauptwerk users near you.

Other options for keyboards:

See if anyone in the Hauptwerk community has stacks of our older CMK1 stacks. Maybe they are looking to upgrade. Then you will have the stacking and pistons if not the tracker feel

If you don't mind wiring, you can probably find some nice, used organ manuals. Typically, they feel really nice to play and have wooden cores etc. We can always help you with the scanners to bring them to life.

Keep in mind that you can always acquire the manuals one at a time over time as budget permits. This way, you don't spend $300 on an interim keyboard controller and then another $720 ish (US) to upgrade later.

Anyway, those are some ideas. If you have any other questions about our products, you can always email me at midisales at organworks.com

Build your own to start with...



P.s. I'm no craftsman, but it works OK and was easy to do. 3 Midi over USB keyboards + £50 of materials + 1 week in the garage did it.

If, after a while, you are not happy with such a set-up (e.g. aesthetics, touch & presets) then you can always spend the extra £2k+ and purchase the CMW set-up. I could not justify the initial outlay, but if money was no issue then I would have gone that way.

Very cool! Which midi keyboards did you use?

I have an M-Audio keystation 61ES and it feels quite OK to play. The touch is semi-weighted, the weight of touch is fairly close to the AGO specs, it is not too light. Plus, you can remove the keyboard part from the plastic housing and build a wooden frame around it.

Very cool! Which midi keyboards did you use?

MidiPlus 61. You can just about see the box in the photo. They keyboards were sourced by Ken Spencer (kaspencer on this forum). Although not top spec they are absolutely fine for us and are well priced.

That's what I did: two M-Audio 61ES's gutted then mounted in a frame similar to OneTrack1's picture. I left room for a third manual when the time comes.

Rather than the M-Audio units, I preferred the "feel" of Yamaha keyboards - the basic 61 note models with MIDI. The downside is that unless you get some really old ones the key unit doesn't unscrew. In order to get the vertical spacing and the overhang right, I had to cut the plastic away - not particularly difficult with with a Dremel.

The piston rails are hardwood in which I've mounted push switches. Not ideal, but they do work well.

The result is certainly usable
http://uk.geocities.com/ianlpounder/Hauptwerk

Regards
Ian

Don't forget you can use X-Keys strips for pistons too.

http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys.php

Hi
I found an old Viscount analogue which worked when I tried it. I was honestly going to use it like that to start with. Thing is, it was an ex organ by the time I'd arrived home in the rented van. Still, only paid £50 for it. I'm going to remove the manuals and try to construct a manual block which will be midi'd up with components from Ron Coates (Classic Organs UK), then add midi to the pedals, plus I've got a bench!
You should have seen my wife's face when she saw this enormous console!
She's desperate for me to do this conversion. Now, if First Great Western would pay me properly for all the overtime that I've done, I can get the midi kits ordered!
Cheers.

I've added a music stand now to minimise the distance between the manuals and the music:


I have to balance the woodwork outage time and the availability to play. The priority is on the keyboards being available to play of course.

Ian must have spent alot of time to get that setup! It looks GREAT!

It looks very nice. My only concern would be that the vertical distance of the manuals is much less than a standard organ. If you are never going to play anything but this it doesn't matter. I don't know how disconcerting it would be to go from this to a regular set. Possibly it would only be momentary. I don't know. I just wonder. It's certainly a reasonable and cost efficient way to go I should think.