Greer

I have been doing some music recording and creating on my computer, however I believe the MIDI keyboard would save my fingers from having to "play piano" on the laptop keys.

Know of good, affordable, MIDI keyboards?

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

Whatever you get, check on the keys. Nearly all synths have midi output, and midi controllers, in particular, are cheap. However, you want to make sure you have one that has the weighted, pressure sensitive keys. If you find that, then you've got it.

M-Audio is the only brand I know of that makes particularly midi controllers. $200 for 61 keys, and they're weighted, so not too bad. Again, some models of M-Audio don't have the weighted keys, so beware. You should visually be able to see, though. If the key looks like a plank, don't buy it.

David Graey

I've used a wide variety of midi controllers, and, like Skaligo, I think M-audio is the best combination of affordability and quality. Weighted keys may or may not be an issue for you. I've found that lots of people can get by just fine with the 'weightless' keyboard keys in lower cost models. And... they cost much less. Greer, if you're just testing the waters, you might want to spend less, get a cheaper model, and find out what you want from there, rather than dropping 300 dollars and finding out that it's not really what you're after.

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Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

Get by, yes. Yet, you're not really getting the fullest out of the instrument if you don't have weighted keys, imo. I've done a lot of work with midi/keys on both weighted and weightless, and can tell you personally, you can get by with weightless keys, but it's like wanting to play an electric guitar with no effects, no pedals, no whammy bar, just straight guitar.

You can get by, but the experience is massively different, and if you're missing the weighted keys, you're missing the experience of the instrument, you might as well just use a grid pattern editor then.

Davidphonic

oxygens are apparently reliable