I'm not shy about admitting that I am, when it all comes down to it, a mouse-slinger. The notes I "play" are usually just the notes I've painted on to the piano roll view and while I do know a few chords and could likely play them if someone held a gun to my head, I just don't feel comfortable sitting in front of a keyboard. As much as I'd like to say otherwise, I'm just not a musician.
When I first got Reason, all those years ago, I immediately bought a Oxygen 8, which was the hot midi-controller at the time, but I never really used it much. I did most of my composition "on the road," sitting in a coffee shop before work, so nearly everything I did happened in Edit Mode with a mouse or trackpad.
New controllers came out since Reason 1, of course, and I've looked at them with varying degrees of interest, but ultimately knew they'd be joining my Oxygen 8 in the closet, rather than becoming a daily composition tool. Getting another controller would just be a waste of money, once the initial thrill of having a new toy wore off, so there wasn't much reason to get a new controller or keyboard.
Then, I saw the announcement for the Korg nano line, three USB controllers designed to be paired with laptops, small and portable enough that they were perfect for on the go work. The nanoPad immediately jumped out at me, as I had been looking at getting a drum pad style controller for a while now, so I kept a look-out for them during my occasional trips to Guitar Center. I wasn't doing much composition in coffee shops anymore, but these controllers looked to fill a need for me.
You've probably seen the announcements and reviews yourself, so I'll skip the basic descriptions of the nanoPad and get right to how the nanoPad works with Propellerheads Software's Reason 4. In a word: great. I did have some minor issues with it out of the box, which I'll explain, but it's a great little piece of hardware and I cannot recommend it enough.
Check out Sonic State's review, Stray411's review and AudioMidi's review if you're in the dark about this device and want a good introduction.
The nanoPad is essentially plug-and-play in Mac OS X, so you can immediately start using it just by plugging its included USB cable into your computer. However, if you want to use the Korg Kontrol Editor to modify its controls (and you likely will as I'll explain below), you'll need to load its drivers, a painless process, but not immediately obvious considering that it seems to work perfectly without them until you try to communicate with it via the Kontrol Editor. The Kontrol Editor and the nanoPad drivers are all found on Korg's website and are not included in the box.
Why was it necessary to modify the plug-and-play settings? The Korg has four Scene settings that you can toggle through by pressing the Scene key. At its most basic level, the various Scenes serve as octaves, letting you move higher up the octave range with each press. I bought the nanoPad specifically for use with Reason's Redrum, so it was the first instrument I tried, and found the nanoPad sent strange midi messages into Reason. Pad 7 would trigger the first channel in Redrum, Pad 8 would trigger the second channel, and Pad 9 would mute channel 3. Pads 1 and 2 didn't seem to do anything and while these settings might have made sense to someone already experienced with using pad controllers with their Software, I found it confusing. It seemed to work fine with Logic, which was even more odd, but wasn't keyed up the way I wanted in Reason.
Using the Korg Kontrol Editor software, I went back and reprogrammed it so that Pad 1 would trigger Redrum's Channel 1 sample (C2), Pad 2 would trigger Channel 2 (C#2), and so on. I also modified the nanoPad's Scenes 2-4 to build on the new settings on Scene 1, as its Chromatic scale in its factory settings started at C4 in Scene 2, rather than C3, skipping an entire octave.
The rest of the nanoPad's controls, such as its X/Y pad and Hold, Flam, and Roll buttons, all work perfectly in Reason without needing any further tweaking. The X/Y pad, for example, will give you some expression in the Bend and Mod wheels of synthesizers, and is used to help control the Hold, Flam and Roll buttons when using it with Redrum or a sample device like NN19 or NN-XT.
Download my basic nanoPad setup here.
Of course, what's really exciting is that you have quite a bit of flexibility with the nanoPad's control settings. While I have mine set up to be used as a basic midi controller, someone a bit more clever could find a number of interesting possibilities in configuring its "Pad Behavior" settings and modify its Off/On values. For example, by changing the nanoPad's "Assign Type" to "Control Change" you could change the nanoPad into a real-time remixing tool, allowing you to mute and solo tracks on the fly by sending midi messages to Remix or triggering passages in NN-XT.
Interestingly, I find myself "playing" the nanoPad using Reason's synthesizers quite a bit. There is something very pleasant about its rubber pads and I find them really comfortable for triggering long, droning synths, like the Saturn's Rings patches I've been posting. The nanoPad is polyphonic, of course, so you can easily play chords over its twelve pads, assuming you're playing out simple key combinations.
When I picked up the nanoPad, I was trying to decide between it and the M-Audio Trigger Finger controller. I had used the Trigger Finger a few times in stores and really liked it, but I think I made the right decision in getting the nanoPad. First, Reason's Redrum only has 10 channels, which is still two below nanoPad's 12 pad controllers, making the Trigger Finger's 16 pads a bit overkill with Reason. And, the Trigger Finger has a number of sliders and pots I just didn't need for hammering out quick beats and notes. The smaller size of the nanoPad fits my needs a bit better and I actually like the feel of the nanoPad's pads better than the Trigger Finger's harder plastic. At more than one-third the price, it's a great little device.
My experience with the nanoPad has been so good that I'm already looking at picking up the nanoKontrol and the nanoKey units. The nanoKey has a bit of a reputation as being kind of cheesy, but it might be fun, especially on the go.
55 comments:
I get mired in having to play keys, and thus restricting myself to being in the studio to make music, but a few years back, I got stuck in the airport with a 10 hour layover. fortunately I had the lappy with me, and i proceeded to make a funky track - being forced to use the matrix and drawing notes changed my style of production significantly, allowing me to make a groove which I normally wouldnt... fueled by the matrix and beers and a mellow airport bartender named al, I made Als Groove which is on the first release on vocode.. I really have been toying with the idea of of restricting myself to this method again to come up with something different. also, this controller is bangin' and next time we do a studio session, lets hook it up and use it...
Nice article but it would be cool if you could host the pictures on your server and not hotlinking them...
dj mad wax... Yeah, I think getting out of your usual routine can have interesting results. Your new keyboard has really inspired me, for example, and I've been "noodling" quite a bit more lately, when before my MO was precision with the piano roll or Matrix. And, yeah, we should definitely use the nanoPad when we get together again to finish that song!
Nicolas... Sorry about that Nicolas. I snagged the pictures from Google Images and just assumed they were hosted by either Korg or a company selling them, like AudioMidi. I should have looked more closely at the URLs. It should be fixed now.
Nice review - I had wondered whether this controller was a serious contender. Does it feel robust or maybe a bit fragile?
Be sure to let us know what you think of the nanoKey should you get hold of one! :)
Meowsqueak... I think the controller feels surprisingly solid. As I said in my review, I really like the feel of the pads and stands up well to the kind of "beating" you give it when tapping out a beat.
Hey Patch-A-Day Robbneu, I was hoping you could help me sort out a problem I'm having.
I recently picked up a Korg NanoPad, and I as well wanted to use it with Reason's Redrum. The Nanopad doesn't seem to be sending any signals to the redrum (or reason for that matter) at all. I've tried the controller out on GarageBand and it works absolutely fine. I'm running reason 4, and have both the korg USB driver and the Kontrol Editor. Am I missing anything?
Nice review!
It sounds like you might have skipped adding the device to Reason's "Keyboards and Control Surfaces" panel. Get into your Preferences and go to the Keyboards and Control Surfaces panel. Is the device listed there?
If not, try clicking "Auto-Detect Surfaces" or "Add." The process is fairly simple and should get your nanoPad up and working in no time!
Good luck!
hmmm, i cant get the nano kontrol working in reason at all.
in scene 1 only the first slider works, scenes 2 and 3 dont work at all, in scene 4 all sliders and 1 encoder do work - but ALL on CC 7...
unfortunately, the scenes cannot be modified in the nano editor, or rather, i can change them in the editor but to no effect in reason.
i have set up both the nano key and the nano kontrol in reason as control surfaces. every other midi-controller works! the nano kontroller also works fine in logic.
any idea anybody? since i like that that thing a lot, but if it doesnt work…
A helpful tip for anyone migrating the korg nanopad with reason in windows xp.. I for one, had problems with communication from the very start for e.g. Propellerhead's Reason could not recognise any of my korg nano equipment, even if i attempted to manually add a generic (other) control surface. To get the nano to work you first have to download both the korg usb midi drivers and the kontrol editor from the korg.com website. Once installed the find the korg tab in the start menu. Here there should be some reference to USB drivers. Follow these, one should be an install program which will allow you to specify which nano product you are installing. Install, start reason and manually add you korg nano through the midi options in the EDIT>PREFERENCES menu. I hope this gets you somewhere closer to getting to use it correctly. I still am not able to trigger the play sample function in redrum off the pads, my pads dont seem to function anything and neither does the x/y pad. Any ideas?
Friedrich and thedeadelectric... Sorry about the delay in getting back to your comments.
Friedrich... the only thing I can think of is making sure you've set up the nanoKontrol as an appropriate device from within Reason (Control Keyboard vs. Control Surface). That *might* be the issue, but I don't have a nanoKontrol, so I'm only guessing.
thedeadelectric... your problem might have something to do with the octave shift the nanoPad is doing (at least in OS X, not sure if it does it in XP as well). We discussed it over on the Propellerhead forums:
http://www.propellerheads.se/forum/showthread.php?t=109871&highlight=nanoPad
Basically, the nanoPad is shifting the programmed octave down, so if you have your nanoPad's first pad set to C2, it actually plays C1. This made Redrum a little confusing to me, too, and I neglected to address this in my "review."
Hope this helps!
@ Patch-A-Day Robbneu well, of course i have done all this. in reason, it's fairly easy to do that (Control Keyboard vs. Control Surface).
see, the thing is, the nano key works absolutely fine. every key can be used to trigger something in reason. but - i need sliders and knobs, and as said, with nano kontrol, reason does only recognise slider 1 in scene 1, and all sliders in scene 4 (but all on CC7!) and slider 1. i cannot use any other sliders or knobs. plus, in the editor, every change is recognised (i change slider 2 in scene 4 to CC8 lets say), but it has no effect on reason. argh…
Well, Friedrich, as I said... it was just a guess. This was a review of the nanoPad, and I don't even own a nanoKontrol, so you'll likely be better off finding help elsewhere. Good luck!
Hi, nice article.
I'm hearing all this stuff about C1 and C2 and I don't actually know what this is. (CC messages I guess?). But how do you do this in Reason? If u could hook me up with a link I'll do the investigating myself. Thanks
I bought the Kontrol Pad for the same reason, to use with Reason (and am also on a mac).
For all those doubting whether to get this product or not: just get it, it'll only set you back 40 bucks or so.
Thanks.
Steven... the C1, C2, etc. references have to do with the devices octaves. So, C1 is your first octave, starting with C, C2 is your second octave (higher pitch), and so on.
The issue that people seem to be having (myself included) is that when you set up your device in the Korg Editor software, C2 is actually C1, C3 is C2, and so on. It's hardly a deal breaker, but can be a little confusing. I didn't even notice there was a problem, until I started reading that other people (more attentive people) were noticing the differences.
I'm not exactly sure what you need beyond that. Installing the Korg's drivers and Editor program should do the rest. If you wanted to download my settings, there's a link in the review/article.
Arrrggghhhhh!!!! Still can't get this thing working with reason!
I plugged the device in, downloaded and installed the drivers, downloaded and installed the Kontrol Editor, and had a play with reason. In the preferences menu, I tried to auto-detect the device, but it dodn't come up. I then tried adding one manually, and chose 'other - midi control surface'. Under 'edit', the 'find', reason recieves input from the nanopad.
Then I loaded up a redrum, with a kit, and nothing happens when I hit the pads.
I loaded your template into the Kontrol editor, hit save, and still nothing.
I've loaded up a synth, and no matter what I try, Reason doesn't seem to recognise the nanopad on any note, any octave.
Any ideas?!
I don't think Reason recognized my nanoPad either, using "Auto-Detect Surfaces," so I had to set mine up manually as well. The problem might be that you're setting it up as "Other - Midi Control Surface." Try erasing your settings for the nanoPad and then set them up manually again, but this time select "MIDI Keyboard." Not entirely sure if that's the issue, but it works on my setup.
Have you been able to test it with other software? Do you know if it's working anywhere other than Reason?
Tom, you are doing everything right apart from one thing, which is selecting "Other" then select "Keyboard with controls". The pad sends the signals like a keyboard, not a controller. Once this is done you can go a step further and go to "options" then "remote overide edit mode" Double click your play signals in each redrum track and hit the appropriate pad to save the commands. Alternatively, you may set the signals up manually in "Korg Kontrol Editor" Set the pads to scale in semitones from C2-C3 (C2,C#2,D2,D#2,ETC) then click communication write data(both). For some reason these send a C1 signal to reason which triggers Redrum automatically (plug and play style)
finally and thanks to thedeadelectric.com's post i could solve the problem with my nano!!! joy!!!-,
if one adds the control surface (since reason doesnt recognise the nano series not yet on its own) in the program settings, there is a drop-down which i have overlooked so far. from this drop-down you have to choose (for the NANO!) "control surface". and then proceed as thedeadelectric.com has described with that "remote override" thing in your reason instruments. what a cute controller!
Thanks for the template. Perhaps it's worth mentioning how to use it, most importantly mentioning to write the template to the device/software in order to use it. I figured that out a little later. Cheers
Patch-A-Day Robbneu...
I downloaded your templates and everything, but Reason still is just recognizing the factory standard note arrangements. I really want to get this thing working for my redrum. Other than downloading the template, what exactly should I do to get the notes loaded up correctly? Thanks
alkellly... It seems like the biggest issue people are having is getting the device properly set up in Reason's "Keyboards and Control Surfaces" panel in Preferences. As mentioned above, the nanoPad was not recognized by Reason's "Auto-Detect Surfaces," so I had to set mine up manually. Make sure that you select "MIDI Keyboard" instead of "Other - Midi Control Surface."
Also, have you installed the device drivers? A lot of my problems went away once I installed those. It works... to a point, but without the drivers, you can't really use the template I provided.
Good luck!
I swear, I'm changing the name of this blog to "Reason: nanoPad Tech Support A Day." :)
okay. so i downloaded the and installed the drivers. i downloaded and saved your setting(changing the notes on the pads) in the Kontrol editor. i changed the preference on reason to accept the nanopad as a keyboard.Nothing happened. im doing this on OSX (my macbook) i even did the remote override-which only fixed it for the redrum. unfortunately, i use the dr.rex as well, and the settings aren't working properly. like everyone else says- it works properly in garage band and logic. why cant i get it to work for reason 4? maybe someone who got it right should make a video showing a step by step setup on youtube? i think that would be a blessing
Hey thanks deadelectric, I too was stuck due to having my pad identified as a controller/other instead of a keyboard. All good now.
Nice article too, cheers. Now off to mash some beats...
Ed... as both Deadelectric and I pointed out in the comments above, your problem might be the way you have the device set up within Reason. So, make sure you set up your nanoPad as a "MIDI Keyboard" within Reason's Hardware setup tab in your Preferences instead of selecting "Other - MIDI Control Surface." If it's working in Logic and other programs, that's likely where your problem lies.
Hey, thanks for the review Patch-A-Day Robbneu! :)
currently, i use Reason and computer keyboard as midi controller, and using computer keyboard is not good. I'm planning to buy the nano series this month.
So..overall, is the korg nano series worth to buy as a midi controller for Reason? if not, what's the best midi controller for Reason?
I've found some info that AUX88 use Reason and Korg Nano as their main tool. I really would like to know how they set up it. (http://www.residentadvisor.net/forum-read.aspx?id=55251)
Midi controllers are a lot like religion... we all have our preferences and can rarely explain them, Fajar P.J., but for me, personally, I think the nano controllers are great with Reason. The thing to keep in mind is that while they're cheap, they cost enough money that you could spend a little more and get something that might not be as portable, but works even better.
A great example would be the nanoKey device. It's $50. For a little over $100 you could get something like the Oxygen 8 and have a much more expressive "keyboard" so is it worth it to get the nanoKey? I can't really answer that, but I do love the nanoPad.
If you have the ability, check one out in person before you make up your mind. I don't regret mine at all, but I think if I had used or even got a chance to see one outside the box before I bought it, I would have really been certain about it before my purchase.
Good luck!
guess what? i set everything up in reason just as this whole blog says(yes, you suggested something i already tried-setting it up in reason as a keyboard, not controller...), but i must be missing something. oh well. i'll just stick to my mpd24 and use the nanokeys at work for now. until someone makes a video so i can see what i'm not doing, rather than read this blog over and over again looking for what i missed, i'll just use it for logic as needed. i have a gang of different midi instruments anyway.
to reitterate- my problem just lies when i am using the nanopad with dr rex. i want it to trigger the slices on the rex files so it can operate kind of like a mpc, but configuring it has proven to trigger migraines, not sounds... thats why i'm hoping one of you lovely champions of the nanopad can help me out and make a step by step tutorial... it'll probably be the reason-nanopad users' bible!!!
Hi, thankyou SO MUCH for the redrum scene set! Saved me much time and frustration as i couldnt find out what keys were auto-mapped to redrum play buttons. I'll continue to read your blog, thanks again
Travis from Perth,
Western Australia
Ed... I don't really have the software for a screencast, so I'm not sure I can help you. My advice, which really isn't worth much, is to delete everything and start over again. I had a terrible time getting my 1st gen Oxygen 8 to work and getting rid of everything, then methodically going through all the steps again, seemed to be the only thing that helped. Are you using Mac OS X or Windows?
Travis-O-Doom: Glad the setup was useful for you! Or, at any rate, glad I could help someone! :)
i'm using mac OSX. I think imma just give up and pass the nanopad to someone else. the only reasons i got it really was the portability and the x-y pad. i dont really need it as i have other controllers which are more to my liking. But like i said, a step by step instruction blog on how to set it up to use with any device on reason, not just the redrum, would be very helpful. i just think i wasnt meant to use this device. ha. what would be better is if propellerheads would update reason to have a setting for the pad, but they must be busy developing the new record program. any beta testers out there?
Hey !
I bought a Nanopad as well. But I just can't get it to work.
I installed the latest driver, downloaded the control editor.
Reason detected it when "installing" it in Reason Preferences, I know cause of the fact "Hit any key for detection".
But how do I get it work with Redrum? I just don't get it ! Quite frustrating! Can you help me please?
noah.smits@gmail.com
Thank you !!
Noah Smits
Noah,
Is your Nano Pad working with other Reason devices? Try it with a Subtractor or Malstrom synth and see if you can get it to play anything that way? If it works with another device, your issue probably has to do with the Octave settings on the Nano Pad. Try moving up or down.
If you try using the setup file I provided in this post, Redrum should trigger using Scene 1.
Hi Patch-A-Day Robbneu......
i hooked up my nanopad with the redrum in reason 4 and i tried doing what you said with the whole Pad 1 to C2 pad 2 to C#2 but its still not working? any help would be greatly appreciated????......im running Windows7 home 64-bit
Hey, Tauren, thanks for dropping by. Have you checked to see if the Nano Pad is working with any other instruments, such as Subtractor or Malstrom? Did you install the drivers for the Nano Pad and then set it up inside of Reason?
Hi Patch a day Robneu....
thanx 4 your response i really appreciate it !!!
yes its working with the other instruments!and how do you set it up in reason ? i think i did it, if thats the Preference option then audio all that stuff! but i dont think i installed any drivers because when i plugged it in the first time it installed the drivers automatically, and the only thing i installed was the korg kontrol editor but i dont think it works because when i open it the (midi in & midi out is not connected ) and this msg is at the bottom (MIDI ports are set manually) i dont know if this is the right one im using because i downloaded the editor for windows and not mac but it still looks like a program for mac coz the close and minimize buttons are red and yellow like the mac program and nothing happens when i change the keys! so can you please help me with that and if you can just explain how do i connect the midi in and midi out, and after i assigned a key what do i do after that ???? i really appreciate what you doing for me THANX again...Taurean
Taurean,
Okay, I think part of your problem is that you're missing a couple of steps.
1. Install the drivers. I know it seems to work just fine if you just plug it in, but installing the drivers makes a huge difference. I ran into this problem myself and thought I was losing my mind trying to get it set up. So, run over to Korg's website and download the drivers for your nanoPad, install them, and then it probably wouldn't hurt to restart your computer.
2. You'll need to set up the device in Reason. As I mentioned in another comment, go to the "Keyboards and Control Surfaces" panel in Preferences. The nanoPad will not be recognized by Reason's "Auto-Detect Surfaces," so you'll have to set it up manually (click "Add"). Make sure that you select "MIDI Keyboard" instead of "Other - Midi Control Surface."
If you've installed the drivers, your Korg Editor software should work now, letting you change, save, and load settings for your nanoPad. The Redrum works on octave 1, but because of the octave shift problem discussed here in the comments and on the Propellerheads forum, you'll actually use C2 to start the sequence of notes to trigger drums. I provided my own setup file above, which you're free to download and use. It's nothing fancy, even in the slightest, but may save you a little time and work.
Good luck!
Hi Patch-A-day Robbneu,
thanx a lot for your help everything s fine now i finally got it to work!!! this was my mistake = "Other - Midi Control Surface.instead of "MIDI Keyboard"..i really appreciate the help !!! thanx again ...and you'll hear from me again!!
enjoy the rest of your day!!!
Taurean
I'm glad it's working!
I ordered mine Wednesday night, and decided to download and install all the drivers and other stuff long before I even get the thing in the mail.
I should be able to just plug the thing in and go, since everything is already loaded up, right??
Dave... I think you should be ready to go, but remember that Reason is going to want your hardware connected before it recognizes it. You'll likely still need to add the NanoPad to Reason, in the Preferences -> Keyboards tab.
Hi,
There are multiple reviews on amazon and elsewhere that the pads stop working after 3-4 months. What is your feedback?
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for your comment, Arvind. I've had my nanoPad for at least a year now, probably longer, and its still going strong. I suppose if you beat the hell out of your gear it wouldn't last, but I've had good luck with mine.
Thank you for the clarification! Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my gadget.
GUYS, could anyone help me here?
My Korg nano key works fine on reason EXCEPT for the redrum. Whenever I push a key, it's gonna make the "mute" sign light up in red at the top of the column of the chosen percussion. Why????
benoitmoget, if you really are talking about the NanoKey (as opposed to the NanoPad, which is the subject of this post), your problem is that you're an octave too high. Press your Octave Down button once. Your Octave Down light will be green and everything should work just fine.
@Patch-a-Day-Robbneu : Oh my god, you are a genius,, I wonder how you guys figure all that stuff up.
I'm finally gonna be able to make my crapy hip hop beats.
Thank you so much, I pledge to go help 3 people on other forums on Internet to save their day like you did with mine. Thank again. Peace
Hahaha! I'm glad that helped! Good luck!
hello i just got the nanopad and Im having trouble using garageband with it. Could someone walk me through what I have to do to set up my nanopad with garageband?
Thanks for dropping by the site, Madison. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this is the right place to be looking for Garageband help. As you might be able to tell by the title, this blog is focused exclusively on Reason, and the help that I've been able to provide in the comments here have been focused on that application as well.
Having said that, make sure that you've installed your Nanopad's drivers. They didn't come in the box, so you'll need to download them. Once those are installed, the rest should be fairly easy. If that doesn't work, I would suggest going to Korg's website. There is a customer support forum there that is pretty active. I'm sure someone can walk you through what you need to do over there.
Good luck!
Hey there, I understand this is a long time after the original blog but I hope you can help me!
I have a netbook with windows 7, reason 4 and a nanoPAD. I first plugged in the nanoPAD and it downloaded its own driver settings, which were then followed by the korg website driver settings. I use your template in the Korg Kontrol editor, I load up reason, get redrum up, put it in control and surface settings etc etc, add manually, it responds to the keys but just does not work with redrum and it has been driving me crazy!!
I wonder perhaps if it is do with the fact I list is a korg product as a "Keyboard control", am I doing this right? I am trying to hard for it to work as it cost me a lot of money thanks to VAT but nothing has worked so far and it has made me feel really gutted and that I have wasted my money :(
Please help me and prove me wrong and make me satisfied with the product I have purchased!
Nowhere To Land: Hmmm. It sounds like you've done everything right, but the issue might be how you have the nanoPad set up in Reason. As I mentioned in some of the comments above, Reason didn't recognize my nanoPad using "Auto-Detect Surfaces," so I had to set mine up manually as well. The problem might be that you're setting it up as "Other - Midi Control Surface." Try erasing your settings for the nanoPad and then set them up manually again, but this time select "MIDI Keyboard."
Hope this helps! Good luck!
I'm going to have to start charging Korg for the tech support I've been providing for this little thing. :)
Hi! I was having similar issues with my padkontrol (nothing happening while hitting the pads), I eventually tried it with the malstrom, and I managed to get one sound out of it and modulate it with the x y pad. As I had left the device aside for several months, I am now wondering if the pads haven't been somehow damaged, and aren't working anymore.This would explain my problem. Is there a way to check if they are properly working? (I am very new to the whole "making music on my computer" process")
I own a nanoKEY and KONTROL, and have had them for about a year now, i ordered the nanoPAD the other day. The nanoKEY has been nothing but a dissapointment. The keys have a terrible fake feel to them. Its hard to get the velocity on a lot of sounds without feeling like you are going to break it. The keys frequently stick, which makes live application out of the question, and the control change button is so close to the mod wheel button that an accidental tap will mute everything you're doing, honestly i'll stick with my rockband 3 keyboard as a midi controller. It works really well and has a ribbon controller where the mod wheel would be. The Kontrol worked great until the usb plug broke off, closer inspection after opening it up revealed extremely fragile solder points where the plug was on the board. So i do recomend that one. As far as the keys, if you are looking for a slimline controller, go with the akai version, they are a little better quality. I hope the nanoPAD is a worthwhile contender to my Akai MPD24
Thanks for your comments, Gonzo. I actually have a review up regarding the NanoKey and touched on many of the same issues you mentioned. It's not great, but in terms of being portable, it's hard to beat. There are some pretty major drawbacks to that portability, however, as you mentioned.
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