I am shopping for a new keyboard, and I was wondering if I have to have a velocity sensitive keyboard. I don't use velocity in music production most of the time, and I already have a velocity sensitive electric piano I use for playing regular pieces of music, and practicing piano. Tips? P.S. Do I have to have at least 61 keys?
2 Answers
No, but you can always edit most velocity sensitive midi controllers to have zero sensitivity anyway. I do that since I only use it to compose. As for the number of keys, it depends on how many instruments you write for and if you have auto octave displacement or not. Having 5 octaves is nice for writing for guitar and bass.
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I'm already using my electric piano to learn, so I won't need a pressure sensitive keyboard, right? Oct 26, 2017 at 19:03
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@Epic_Taco_Dude Velocity and pressure are two separate things. A velocity sensitive keyboard, like in your question, reacts to the force the keays are struck with. A pressure sensitive keyboard reacts to the constant pressure while the keys are held down. This is also called aftertouch.– user43681Nov 1, 2017 at 21:40
'Required'? No. I like to use one because I can play into certain software with more 'emotion' than I could without. But I know lots of composers switch the velocity sensitivity off (as do I sometimes).