Hardware Overview: Korg nanoKey Studio

Introduction

A few days ago, I was daydreaming about how I did my work a decade-and-a-half ago. I had a big studio, full of big gear – and a big desktop computer to run the whole thing. Now, almost everything I use for music-making and creating visuals will fit in my backpack - heading to the gig seldom requires more than an armful of equipment.

While the primary source of this transformation has been improvements in laptop speed and performance, another big change has to do with improvements in hardware controllers as well. When Korg first released their Nano series of controllers (the nanoKey, NanoPad and NanoKontrol), I was the first in line to purchase and use them. Two things have happened since those early days: my interest in having a spiderweb of USB cables has waned and the number of USB ports on my laptop has shrunk. What I really wanted was a single device that could play most of the necessary roles using a single computer connection – and yet still fit in my backpack.

Enter the Korg nanoKey Studio.

What is it (basically)?

The Korg nanoKey Studio is a feature-packed little rig. It is about the size of a typical O’Reilly book (the closest thing to my desk of a similar size…), and it includes a two-octave velocity-sensing keyboard, eight strike-able pads, eight rotary controls and a touchpad. In addition, there are also a couple of rows of buttons, which turn out to be super important.

The device has a standard mini-USB connection for both communication and power, although it can also be battery-powered - which could be useful for working with low output devices like iOS machines, and when Bluetooth-connected to a host.

The key to understanding the depth of the nanoKey Studio is to look at some of the labels – especially for those buttons and pads. The buttons include some of the standard controller goods, with +/- octave switching and sustain pedal emulation being the most important. But there are also some surprises lurking among those buttons…

Why is it important to Max users?

What makes the nanoKey Studio so useful to a Max user is that it is a great testbed for all sorts of MIDI input. The keyboard, while short (25-key) and only modestly velocity-sensitive, still provides basic keyboard note messages (no aftertouch or MPE, however). The drum pads are even better, because the sensitivity is more finely tuned, and therefore it was easier to be creatively expressive on them. The knob are knobs – no surprises there. What is a surprise is the touchpad, which can serve triple-duty: as a pitchbend/modwheel combo, as an X/Y MIDI controller pair, or as a note entry system that can provide an arc of note events.

All of this is packaged in a class-compliant self-contained package that easily travels with you, and can provide a surprising amount of MIDI input in a very small space.

There are also some performance controls somewhat hidden in the system, with functions implied by labeling on the face of the device. Some of these functions - such as a scale guide, which lights up appropriate keys for a chosen scale - aren’t going to be very interesting to music-savvy Maxers, and will probably go unused by most of us. On the other hand, there is a mean arpeggiator, complete with alternative direction, range and rhythm selections, and it is great fun regardless of how much music theory you know. In addition, all of your current settings/selections can be stored as a scene - with eight scenes available using a combo Scene+Pad button combination.

Then, if you really want to dig into the nitty-gritty, there is a downloadable Nano editor that lets you be ultra-picky about device setup, including MIDI channel and control settings, how buttons react during playing, and the velocity curves presented by the various keys and pads. There doesn’t appear to be any way to add new scales, arpeggiator patterns or rhythms, but almost everything else seems to be flexibly tweakable.

How did I like it?

Am I unequivocal in my appreciation? Not quite. There were a few design choices that I didn’t care for, and it results in a slightly less-satisfying whole. The key bed is quite clattery, meaning that note entry is a noisy and not nuanced. And the nanoKey almost works as an over-the-keyboard MIDI controller for my Macbook Pro. Unfortunately, there is an extra support ‘foot’ in the middle of the base that decided that it should type an ‘y’ for me on random occasions. I solved this by peeling off the foot, but I'm a little concerned about flexing when I start rocking out on the touchpad.

In addition, you are going to need the manual by your side if you get into the deeper waters with this device – and not the ‘quick start’ manual provided in the box. There is a separately downloadable ‘User Manual’ that starts spilling the beans. Soon, you’ll be downloading the editor software and ripping things up. Many of the advanced features are a little mysterious out of the box, however – the on-device labels imply functionality that is neither obvious nor clearly documented, and it takes some detective work and a little reading to unlock all of the nanoKey’s possibilities.

But these few disappointments are easily offset by the number of cases where the nanoKey was The Right Stuff. For a portable solution to be able to provide all the different types of control - especially that touchpad, which opened some interesting creative doors - I’m hard pressed to find any single unit that covers as much ground as this while still being usable on a modern airliner’s tray table. And once I started using the built-in arpeggiator as my test-tool for synth designs, it was pretty hard to go back to straight MIDI keys.

At $149 street price, it’s hard to go wrong with the nanoKey Studio - most other portable solutions are either keys, knobs, or surfaces. I’m starting to find myself changing my Max programming to make greater use of controllers, making the Korg nanoKey Studio an awesome addition to my backpack!