Mini-Keys on Synths - Do You Take Them Seriously?

[Anderton]

I have a Novation MiniNova here for review with mini-keys, and of course, Korg has been doing synths with mini-keys for some time; most of the portable/laptop companion keyboards use them too.

I actually don't find them problematic, but I'm not a keyboard player in the sense of having played fine pianos all my life. So I'm wondering - what do y'all think of mini-keys? They're fine? Deal-breakers? Don't care? Do care? Inquiring minds want to know.

[electrochrisso]

I got a Korg MicroSampler and find the size of the keys are good for my fingers, which I suppose would be medium sized. I also get the bonus of being able to easily streach my fingers out to play those hard to get at chords, that I find hard to do with the normal sized keys. After a bit of practice it is also no problems for me to do just as fast lead lines as I can with the normal size board, not that I would be classed as a fast player compared to a pro keyboard player.
I think the deal breaker on these are how they make the instrument ultra light and portable, especially so if they are being carried around a lot.

[UstadKhanAli]

I'm a keyboard player with large hands, so as you may guess, I don't like them, and have never owned a keyboard with mini-keys.

If I were using one to play simple stuff, trigger samples, and that kind of thing in either a studio or live setting, I'd use 'em.

For any sort of actual playing, no way.

[Ernest Buckley]

Originally Posted by Anderton

I have a Novation MiniNova here for review with mini-keys, and of course, Korg has been doing synths with mini-keys for some time; most of the portable/laptop companion keyboards use them too.

I actually don't find them problematic, but I'm not a keyboard player in the sense of having played fine pianos all my life. So I'm wondering - what do y'all think of mini-keys? They're fine? Deal-breakers? Don't care? Do care? Inquiring minds want to know.

Don`t use them. Wouldn`t touch one either. Reminds me of a toy.

[Beck]

I

[techristian]

I have a Micro Korg . It is great for me , but I mostly trigger arpeggios.

Dan

[Ed A.]

I've been a keyboard player for many years and I wouldn't consider buying a synth with mini-keys, I just don't enjoy the feel of them. It probably has something to do with muscle memory developed from years of playing a full sized keyboard that doesn't translate to mini-keys. Mini-keys are best for non-keyboard players who want to input notes into a program like Ableton Live as they're building tracks/loops, or for doing very simple things live.

[UstadKhanAli]

Originally Posted by techristian

I have a Micro Korg . It is great for me , but I mostly trigger arpeggios.

Dan

Those are fun. I played that for a couple of gigs because my main keyboard was in the shop, and it was fun. We used it for some analog type sweeps, and I played some keyboard parts. Not something I would want to do on a regular basis, but a really fun keyboard.

[electrochrisso]

 

Originally Posted by Ed A.

I've been a keyboard player for many years and I wouldn't consider buying a synth with mini-keys, I just don't enjoy the feel of them. It probably has something to do with muscle memory developed from years of playing a full sized keyboard that doesn't translate to mini-keys. Mini-keys are best for non-keyboard players who want to input notes into a program like Ableton Live as they're building tracks/loops, or for doing very simple things live.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head for me Ed, (pardon the pun), I can only play keyboard with my right hand, I have never been able to sync both hands, not that it matters for me when creating multi-track music, do the bass with right hand, do the lead with right hand, I suppose it depends on the type of sound the keyboard produces, like the MicroSampler is really an overblown loopstation with one major benefit of being able to use the mini keyboard to do some real interesting octave looping stuff, I think that is a real boon, especially when playing along with guitar, the audio possibilities seem endless to me, well I am in with my mini keyed little beast.

[Goobers]

mini-keys = toy





would not.

[D Charles]

Although I'm primarily a guitar/bass/vocal/sax guy with larger than average hands, I actually like mini keys. I'd like to have something smaller than my regular keyboard just for recording the simple key parts I play. That said, I spent many years playing a mini Casio and then a CZ-101 so maybe I just got used to them. I've never played keys live except the token two or three songs a night so this is coming from a guitarist who has done a boat load of sequencing midi parts over the years.

[DigitMus]

25 years ago when I was living in Italy for a year I took a CZ-101 (because I couldn't really lug around anything bigger). It didn't take me too long to adapt to the spacing, but when I was back home in my studio I always used a MIDI controller with full size keys (as I now do with my MicroKorg).

[UstadKhanAli]

I read the post, sorta ignoring the subject header.

So no, I don't take a keyboard seriously if I see mini-keys on 'em. I'm not saying that they can't be useful or fun at all, just that I don't take them seriously.

[chevybusa]

It's all a matter of personal preference, but for me there is no option but 88 weighted keys with AT......

[rasputin1963]

Just bought an inexpensive M-AUDIO 88-key MIDI generator. Full-size keys. I don't think I would like mini-keys... I'd be liable to make mistakes, inasmuch as my brain is trained to play regular size keys. Alas, the new keyboard has "springy" (not weighted, but not quite organy either) keys.

[Anderton]

I like the savings in size, weight, and cost that mini-keys bring to the party. But given a choice between playing a synth with mini-keys and driving it from a controller that has full-size keys, I'd take the full-size option.

[Geoff Grace]

There's this invention called MIDI that allows you to play a synth that has a mini keyboard using another keyboard that feels better.

It's not a deal breaker that my rack gear and virtual instruments have no keys at all. Why should I have a problem with mini keyboards when I can use them the same way?

That said, it's been a long time since I bought a hardware keyboard of any kind. Virtual Instruments take up less space, are less expensive, and are often

[JeffLearman]

Despite my avatar, I'm a keyboard player first, guitarist second. I've only played mini keys occasionally, and then on things that really were toys so not seriously. I did better than I'd have thought, but definitely don't like the feeling.

More importantly, I would not incorporate one into my rig. I have a hard enough time technically as it is. The last thing I want to do is toss yet another variable into the mix. I will use only standard sized keys.

On guitar, I accommodate significantly different spacing for different guitars, with different scale lengths, classical neck vs. normal spacing, and different fingerboard radii. But on keys, I don't have to tolerate that, so I won't. On keyboards I accommodate different actions and weighted vs. semi-weighted (currently don't have any unweighted, and never really liked them when I did). I recommend playing different actions, so you can handle it when you have to. But not different key sizes.

I have medium sized hands and wouldn't mind it if the standard was just a bit smaller, so I could play a few Dr. John left hand things. But I won't be trying that on a Microstation!

[UstadKhanAli]

Originally Posted by Geoff Grace

There's this invention called MIDI that allows you to play a synth that has a mini keyboard using another keyboard that feels better.

It's not a deal breaker that my rack gear and virtual instruments have no keys at all. Why should I have a problem with mini keyboards when I can use them the same way?

Well, are we talking about wanting to play them? If it's playing them, I prefer standard keys.

If we're talking about taking them seriously, as the subject header suggests, then no, I don't take them seriously. See above.

If we're talking about triggering them via MIDI, I'm okay with that, but would then prefer either triggering virtual instruments or a a hardware/rack instrument.

In short, there are few times in which I would prefer mini-keys. Just maybe for keeping the load light when gigging, if we just need simple triggering and so forth, goofing around and having fun, taking on a camping trip, something like that.

[Goobers]

toys

[Ernest Buckley]

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

I like the savings in size, weight, and cost that mini-keys bring to the party. But given a choice between playing a synth with mini-keys and driving it from a controller that has full-size keys, I'd take the full-size option.

 

Just to clarify my earlier post, I`m not saying a synth with small keys cannot be powerful and great sounding. All I`m saying is for my own personal needs and what I`m used to, the feel of a keyboard is paramount.

[blue2blue]

Originally Posted by D Charles

Although I'm primarily a guitar/bass/vocal/sax guy with larger than average hands, I actually like mini keys. I'd like to have something smaller than my regular keyboard just for recording the simple key parts I play. That said, I spent many years playing a mini Casio and then a CZ-101 so maybe I just got used to them. I've never played keys live except the token two or three songs a night so this is coming from a guitarist who has done a boat load of sequencing midi parts over the years.

Originally Posted by DigitMus

25 years ago when I was living in Italy for a year I took a CZ-101 (because I couldn't really lug around anything bigger). It didn't take me too long to adapt to the spacing, but when I was back home in my studio I always used a MIDI controller with full size keys (as I now do with my MicroKorg).

I wasn't sure we were really talking about that size key.

My first electronic keyboard (aside from the small organ my family had when I was a kid) was a Casio MT-140 back in the 80s. It was a preset organ, the typical 'orchestral' and keyboard-style sounds. I loved the capabilities it gave me for relatively little money (at the time -- though factoring for inflation, it seems like a lot, $160, I think). I didn't much like the tiny keys as I was playing full size keys at school in the synth lab (where I was a tutor/lab attendant) and in the practice rooms (although the practice room pianos were uniformly gawdawful, horrible sounding spinets pounded into permanent out of tuneness by me and my fellow ham-fisted students.

But I didn't have much dough, so my first synth was similarly battery/wall wart powered, a Yamaha monophonic, single oscillator (but all analog! )... also with tiny keys.

I now have an 88 key weighted key controller. I've owned a couple wavetable synths with full size, 'semi-weighted' (I'd hate to feel their idea of 'feather weight') key synths in between, as well as a now 117 year old full upright. (Upright grand, as they used to say.) After the real piano, I wanted something that felt like a real piano, since most of the playing I do is either (sim) Rhodes or (sampled) acoustic piano, with just a tiny bit of (sim) organ thrown in on the side. (I did electronica in the 90s and first couple years into this decade. If someone does something new or interesting on a synth -- could someone drop me an email? )

That said, if I wanted to play really fast like I used to when I had my all-improv live electronica act (short bursts of fast notes impress the rubes but don't wear them or you out... for those, like me, who are essentially incompetent on keys, it's nice to have a couple tricks up your sleeve to put over the illusion that you aren't just winging it)... I'd probably pull out my surviving (full size) plastic 'board key synth and use it as a controller. Nothing's faster than 'plastic.'


Last time I had the wee Yamaha mono analog battery-powered mini-synth out, the keys felt mightycramped.

[blue2blue]

Originally Posted by Ernest Buckley

Just to clarify my earlier post, I`m not saying a synth with small keys cannot be powerful and great sounding. All I`m saying is for my own personal needs and what I`m used to, the feel of a keyboard is paramount.

Right, obviously, the size of the keyboard has no direct bearing on the sound.

In fact, since someone mentioned the Casio CZ-101 earlier, I should mention I had its full-sized electronic twin, the CZ-1000, which had all the same controls and features (what little there were) but full size keys (and D-batteries instead of C's? Maybe AA's). The 101 probably had smaller connectors, too, I imagine. But, of course, it sounded the same.

[Geoff Grace]

Originally Posted by UstadKhanAli

Originally Posted by Geoff Grace

There's this invention called MIDI that allows you to play a synth that has a mini keyboard using another keyboard that feels better.

It's not a deal breaker that my rack gear and virtual instruments have no keys at all. Why should I have a problem with mini keyboards when I can use them the same way?

Well, are we talking about wanting to play them? If it's playing them, I prefer standard keys.

If we're talking about taking them seriously, as the subject header suggests, then no, I don't take them seriously. See above.

If we're talking about triggering them via MIDI, I'm okay with that, but would then prefer either triggering virtual instruments or a a hardware/rack instrument.

In short, there are few times in which I would prefer mini-keys. Just maybe for keeping the load light when gigging, if we just need simple triggering and so forth, goofing around and having fun, taking on a camping trip, something like that.

Yeah, I certainly prefer standard sized keys as well. That said, I suppose a mini-keyboard with great action and polyphonic aftertouch might convince me to occasionally stray from a standard issue keyboard. But considering the main reason for using mini-keys is to cut costs, the odds against such a keyboard ever being constructed are probably astronomical.

Back in the '80s when I was on the road a lot and Casio first released mini-keyboards, I found that I had a lot of use for mine as a songwriting tool while on a plane, in a car, or in a hotel room. If I had that kind of lifestyle again, I'd probably choose a mini keyboard for that kind of use today. That, and the improbable, hypothetical polyphonic aftertouch mini-key example I gave above are the only circumstances I can think of in which I might actually sometimes prefer a mini-keyboard.

However, I would certainly tolerate one in a superb synth that I couldn't own in any other format. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater, or judge a book by it's cover, etc. in that case.

Best,

Geoff

[deanmass]

I have a Korg Microstation, and I'd say as a tool, they are very serious. I tend to frame them like a mandolin vs. guitar....just a different scale of an instrument. I'd also say that the microstation in particular is freakish. It literally is like a shrunken M50 (?). It sounds great, the keys don't feel like crap, but are smaller. I use it to learn kbparts and at gigs. Mind you most of this is just boogie fills and single or simple synth lines.