Arturia has been championing the merging of the old and new school MIDI world, perhaps best demonstrated so far on their Beatstep Pro. Today at NAMM 2016, they’re announcing the KeyStep, a portable USB MIDI keyboard that has a built-in polyphonic sequencer, CV/GATE connections, MIDI I/O, and more. Keep reading for the details.
Arturia KeyStep
- Gear: KeyStep
- Manufacturer: Arturia
- Price: $149.99 / €119
- Availability: Spring, 2016
The KeyStep has just been announced – and we’re about to go check it out on the NAMM floor in a few minutes. Details so far include its 32-note keyboard with Arturia’s “proprietary Slimkey action” – including aftertouch and velocity sensitivity.
The polyphonic step sequencer has eight programmable memories, Gate times (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90%) and Swing settings (Off, 53%, 55%, 57%, 59%, 61%, 64%, 67%, 73%, and 75%) that can “instantly change the feel of the sequenced performance on the fly”. Record/overdub/transpose sequences all while playing live. There’s also an Arp Mode (with eight arpeggiator pattern styles — 1 / Up, 2 / Dwn, 3 / Inc, 4 / Exc , 5 / Rand, 6 / Order, 7 / Up x2, and 8 / Dwn x2) and Chord play mode (for setting chords and playing them back with a single note or via the Arp Mode) to quickly play chords.
The I/O is probably the most exciting part of the Keystep – included is:
- USB MIDI (to connect to computers and Arturia’s MCC editor)
- MIDI IN and OUT
- SYNC IN and OUT (supporting 1 pulse per step, 2 PPQ, 24 PPQ DIN Sync, and 48 PPQ DIN Sync)
- GATE and PITCH CV OUTPUTS (supporting 5V or 12V and 1V/oct or Hz/V, respectively)
- an assignable MOD (modulation) output that can be used with the Mod (modulation) capacitive-touch strip, velocity, or aftertouch.
- SUSTAIN pedal input connector
Have thoughts or questions about this new Arturia Keystep? Hit us up in the comments below and we’ll ask the Hercules team for details. See all the NAMM updates here, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram for up-to-the-minute updates and unique insights.
