Good Things Come In Small Packages

Korg always the innovator in trying to get the most out of small spaces has introduced three new portable USB devices, namely the anoKEY, nanoPAD and nanoKONTROL. These are aimed at the adventurous composer on the go by offering them tools that can fit nicely into a laptop bag or backpack along with their laptop or - in my case - netbook of choice.

Family Resemblance

SIZE: The travelling musician will love the wafer thin portability of the controllers, taking up little space in your luggage. They pass through airport X-ray machines without the slightest hitch other than the occasional TSA agent who might have the look of "That can't be a keyboard in there".

COLOR: The nanoSERIES gives you two color schemes to choose from, white and black to allow them to blend perfectly into your setup.

Layout: All three share a common basic layout in that the far-left side of the controllers have basic setting and configuration buttons. On the nanoKONTROL and nanoPAD you also have a scene selecto button, which allows you to go through four user defined setups. More on that later. The only connection to the outside world is the USB port located on the left side of the respective device.

All three are powered from your laptop or desktop computer's USB ports, so there is no need for batteriesor an adapter. This is a great asset as it eliminates the chore of making sure you have sufficient power on hand.

The only limitation you might have is the number of available open USB ports your computer. The Lenovo S10 I used to test the nanoSERIES has two USB ports available. This means if there was an occasion I would need to use more than one of the controllers I would have to utilize a USB hub of some kind.

Let's get on with finding out what these powerful marvels can really do.

Keys Of A Different Color

The nanoKEY is of course by name a keyboard for those who are more into playing the "black and whites". In this case however it is more like playing the "black and greys". I tend to like the black color scheme a little better as it sort of stealths its way into most playing and recording setups. The nanoKEY includes a registration code for M1le; the software version of Korg's legendary M1 keyboard workstation.

I thought it would be a great opportunity to try using the NanoKey on a recent flight to San Diego from the east coast just to see what I could do in the "spacious" confines of a coach seat in row 23. The thought of being able to make music at 30,000 feet was very intriguing. Imagine having a recording setup sitting on your tray table.

You probably will not be performing many concertos on the nanoKEY, as the keys are much smaller than a conventional keyboard controller. The black keys also are on the same level as the whites to maintain the nanoSERIES thin profile The more I played the nanoKEY I was able to adapt fairly well.

The nanoKEY also allows you to extend the range of the keyboard far beyond the keys you see. Octave shift buttons to the left of the keys allow you to go up and down several octaves. You can actually do some interesting progressions if you are dexterous enough to play the keys and buttons proficiently together.

There are also pitch bend up and down buttons that when pressed bend the pitch up or down a specified amount. This pitch bend range as well as how fast the pitch is being bent can be changed in the Korg Kontrol Editor. Using the editor you can also chose between four different velocity curves that suit your playing style.

You also have a control button that allows you to use the keys to send a series of MIDI control change messages instead of note values. The Korg Kontrol Editor also allows you to assign the individual notes for whatever specific control change or note information you would like.

Did Someone Say Kontrol?

The nanoKONTROL is a wonderful control surface. It allows you to interface with your recording software to accomplish tasks as you would in a more traditional recording setup. You have nine sliders, two illuminated toggle switches for each of the nine channels (plus they can send MIDI notes), a knob for each channel, a set of transport controls (Play, Stop, Pause, Rec, FF, RW) and to top it off a scene selection button that allows you to switch between four user defined setups.

nanoKONTROL, although not having companion software joins the others in providing a $50 discount coupon towards the purchase of any version of Abelton Live (excluding academic licenses and upgrades).

Being a Cakewalk SONAR user, I looked at using the nanoKONTROL to work with the channels and transport functions. After digging into Cakewalk's ACT (Active Controller Technology) controller setup a little, I was able to accomplish this.

ACT also allows you to "connect" to parameters in virtual instruments you might be using in your project. For example, I love using Native Instuments B4 which is a virtual drawbar organ. One of the drawbacks in using virtual instruments is that since they are in software you must use the mouse, trackball and keyboard in order to alter settings in the instrument. With the nanoKONTROL I can grab the drawbars and get them just as I want them, as if I were actually adjusting the real thing. Sometimes you actually want to perform the drawbars while performing a song and with nanoKOTNROL, this becomes possible.

The nanoKONTROL is the bridge that allows you to have the opportunity of using real hands on controls that will affect the virtual controls within your software . This allows you to open up new possibilities in not only editing sounds and such but also performing and recording them. This is important as each control slider, knob and button can be assigned to whatever function you want to control in your instruments. It can be as easy sometimes to use a virtual instruments "learn" function to assign a controller to a setting and then you are ready to go to work.

Most music software applications allow you to record (automate) the movements of these controllers as part of the data that goes into the individual track whether it is audio or midi during recording. That means you can actually perform a controller part for instance just as you could do the same with volume, pan, reverb levels, compression settings, etc. . You are only limited to your musical creativity and imagination.

Here again is what I love about the Korg nanoSERIES as they allow you to shape them into the way you want to work, they work with you to become that connection between you and your computer.

Last But Not Just Beats

In keeping with the theme the nanoPAD is of course a series of velocity sensitive trigger pads that can be used to trigger MIDI notes and to send MIDI control change messages. Each pad can send up to eight notes or eight MIDI controllers, providing endless possibilities both musical and functional. nanoPAD also offers an X/Y touchpad to the left of the pad bank, which you can tap and/or slide your finger around on to generate various control values.

nanoPAD's Hold, Flam and Roll buttons are used in conjunction with the X-Y pad . These controls allow you to do interesting things when playing a drum part. They allow you to do some crazy rolls and other realistic nuances with your drum sounds. By all means you can do the same with musical notes - , can I have a roll on middle C please?. You are in charge.

Here again you are in total control of the values you would like to send. You can assign a controller for the left and right movements of the X-Y pad while assigning a totally different controller assigned to the up and down movements. The fun begins when you combine the movements to generate the complex values sent to the instrument.

This is particularly useful in bringing more "life"shall we say into your live performances. You have the ability to shape tones and add dynamic elements generating fresh values in real time as you play.

The nanoPAD also stores four scenes so you can have some alternate setups under the hood, which open up other interesting possibilities such as sometimes triggering notes and other times sending out controller messages you name it.

Another very functional aspect of the nanoPAD is that you can have both note and control change information available all the time. The nanoKEY on the other hand can only be notes or controllers depedning on whether you're using the CC mode. This opens up a unique avenue; for example, as you could have notes on the top row of pads and control change messages on the bottom row.

The nanoPAD includes a registration code for Toontrack' EZ Drummer lite Korg Edition which is a great entry level piece of drum software. All you have to do is visit the Toontrack website and download and register the program and you will be ready to do some drumming.

You can also use the nanoPAD with software you currently use as it can be configured the way you would like with the Korg Kontrol Editor. There you can assign notes, controllers and functions for the X-Y pad.

GO GO Nano!

Korg continues to be full of surprises and they are all good ones. With the introduction of the nanoSERIES we are presented with not only fun but unique tools that allow us to produce and capture moments of inspiration in the most unexpected places. Being able to present this level of control and flexibility in such a cost effective package is a great advancement.

Whether you choose just one or all three in the nanoSERIES, you will be hard pressed to find a greater control/flexibility/and feature to value ratio.

The nanoSERIES is big and I mean really BIG.