|
Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas?
CDM’s Peter Kirn asks “What if I told you you could get a cute, light little keyboard with MIDI DIN, intelligent MIDI mappings, and two great-feeling synth action octaves, all in a strap-on form factor with battery power, for $80?”
A keytar style MIDI controller for $80?
Tell me more!
Rock Band 3 has a new Pro mode, a “power-user” mode designed to let you build and take advantage of traditional musical skills. Each of the new Rock Band 3 controllers has been designed to be less like a game controller and more like a musical instrument.
As a result, the Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard has some interesting features for an $80 game controller:
- Standard hardware MIDI out lets you use it as a MIDI keyboard
- Battery powered
- Velocity sensitive keys
- Modulation touch-strip on the grip
- You can also play Rock Band 3 with it!
While we make fun of keytars and their magical ability to make most guys look like mouth-breathers, the Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard means that Rock Band gamers are paying for all the R&D, and you get a sweet cheap keytar.
At $80, it’s cheap enough that you could paint it, circuit bend it or use it as the basis for a DIY controller and not have any regrets. It will be interesting to see how people use these.
Interested in the Rock Band 3 Keytar? Leave a comment with your thoughts!!
