New Strap-On Keyboard Controller

Cliff with Le Key

Last year I purchased a new Roland AX1 strap-on keyboard controller. I did this after reviewing all my opinions, which were very few. No one seems to make strap-on keyboard controllers any more. So, was the Roland my best choice? More like my only choice.

Well, now you have another choice. At the NAMM show I ran into a strap-on keyboard controller called "Le Key", from a French company I had never heard of called LAG. The thing that really caught my eye was the fact that the body of this instrument was made of wood. Beautifully hand crafted wood surrounds the keys and the control buttons. For the first time I could get that warm fuzzy feeling you get from playing a nice guitar from a keyboard.

The synth style keys on the controller had a good solid feel to them and a nice spring back. This was superior to my AX1. The controls are well laid out and it has three slider controllers (one long throw and two short). The controls on the neck of the instrument are well laid out and easy to locate even in the dark. The control panel has an LED read out which displays the program number. A bigger display with the program name would be would be much better, but this is better than my AX1, which has no display at all.

The controller has 37 keys that are velocity sensitive. It would be nice if the keys also had after-touch, but the Roland doesn't have this feature either. It has 6 programmable zones for MIDI output (this is a bit of over kill for a controller with only 37 keys, but more is usually better). The controls on the neck of the controller include: program up and down, sustain, octave switch, sustenuto, sequencer start/stop, three slider controllers, two button controllers and a data knob. This is superior to the AX1 as well.

Le Key can hold 128 user programs and was balanced very well on the strap. This instrument was a joy to play, although I didn't get a chance to play it for very long (the show closed for the day).

So, if it is so much better than the AX1, why don't I run out and buy one? The price. This instrument retails for about $1900. That is more than double the price of the Roland AX1. My best guess at a street price would be about $1200. I purchased my AX1 for $500 one year ago. Is the Le Key worth the price difference? If I didn't have my AX1 already, I'd be giving this instrument a real hard look.

Keep Jamming,

Cliff