NAMM 2010 Cakewalk news – A-PRO keyboard controllers
| Posted in Music Technology
Cakewalk A-PRO keyboard controllers are the latest announcement to come out of the 2010 NAMM show in California, with the Roland brand promising “intuitive real-time performance and ergonomic playability” from the USB MIDI range. Three keyboards are included – the 32 key A-300 Pro, the 49 key A-500 Pro, and the 61 key A-800 pro.
Designed for use with soft synths in either a live or studio environment, the range is reported as including a superior key mechanism providing after-touch and increased sensitivity for player dynamics. Eight dynamic pads have also been integrated into the design for finger-drumming, while the range’s Hold function lets users trigger loops and sequences. More than 45 assignable controls make up the body of the surface of each keyboard, alongside a dedicated transport section and a ‘sure-grip’ pitch bend / modulation stick.
Crucially, the new keyboard is customisable, coming bundled with the A-300 Editor for both Mac and PC, allowing users to adapt the keyboard for their own DAW or working preferences. Alternately, less experienced players can turn on the ACT (Active Controller Technology) mode and let their DAW – such as Cakewalk’s own Sonar – map the keyboard’s parameters accordingly.
A further bonus is the ability to use the A-PRO keyboards for video applications, triggering clips, video effects and transitions using any video hardware via V-Link. Sustain and expression pedals are also available as optional extras.
Buying into the A-PRO range will also net musicians three virtual instruments for Mac and PC, collectively known as the Production Plus Pack, and consisting of Rapture LE, Cakewalk Sound Centre and Studio Instrument Drums. A specially developed bundled version of Sonar 8.5 LE for Windows is included as well.
Meanwhile, accompanying the range is the A-500S, a 49-key USB MIDI keyboard that shares many of the same design elements as the A-PRO series keyboards but is pitched at a more price conscious section of the market. Like the main range, the A-500S comes bundled with the aforementioned Production Plus Pack software. It also boasts three power options (USB, AC or four AA-size batteries) and features a three digit, seven-segment LED screen for monitoring settings.
Also new from Cakewalk at NAMM 2010 is the Mobile Studio Canvas, a “portable music production package” that is capable of producing more than 1000 sounds and is being marketed as a solution for laptop musicians via USB bus power.
The package includes the Roland SD-50 sound module, a redesigned general MIDI 2 sound-set, and Roland’s “solo-tones” library. The SD-50 sound module also operates as a two input, two output audio interface plus a 1×1 MIDI interface, can play back MP3, WAV, AIFF, and MIDI files via USB memory, and ships with Sonar 8.5 LE.
The system’s main feature include up to 128 voice polyphony, built-in hardware DSP delivering reverb, chorus, and mastering, enhanced transport controls for file playback including the ability to change keys, tempos, A/B Loop, and repeat, and a play-list editor for Mac and Windows.
About Barney Jameson
A contributor, editor and in some cases creator of more music and pro audio magazines than he cares to remember, Barney Jameson is a veteran of writing about gear, and a pretty keen singer songwriter to boot.
Having started his musical education reading old copies of the Melody Maker while riding the tube to University in the mid-nineties, Barney once sang in a band called Sugarstone, troubling record company chequebooks not quite enough to make it a career option. Instead, he achieved his goal of starting a music magazine of his own when he founded Playmusic in the early noughties. Later on, having exploited VIP access to as many festivals as possible, he wrote about the pro audio industry throughout Europe and the Middle East, travelling to far-flung destinations such as Dubai, Doha and Muscat (nice mountains).
As the latest addition to the DV247 team, Barney has big plans. But when he’s not plotting online domination of the musical instrument world, he keeps himself busy writing songs on a battered old acoustic guitar and playing them to audiences in his home town.
Tags: cakewalk, Cakewalk A-PRO keyboards, Edirol, Mobile Studio Canvas