Electronic Musical Instruments
Usb Roll
How can I use my Midi Controller live?
I recently bought a M-Audio Keystation 61es Usb Midi controller. I have been using this with Reason on my desktop PC to record some tracks, but I would like to start using this controller live. At the very least I would like to use a variety of instrument patches (preferably the Reason patches) live. Ideally I’d like to use the drum tracks I’ve built on my desktop.
Do I have to get a laptop or are there physical modules I can use to play live?
I’m not concerned about crystal-clear sound as I play rock’n'roll, and I’d like to keep my costs down as much as possible.
Thanks so much in advance!
If you want to play your Reason patches live, you’ll probably need a new audio interface for your PC. You should get one that has MIDI I/O (so you can plug in your keyboard) and at least one pair (that’s stereo) of 1/4″ outputs. You should also find one that is either firewire, USB 2.0 (USB 1 is WAY too slow) or PCI. It should also have an ASIO driver, don’t get one that only has a Direct X driver. These work great for multimedia and video games (i.e. the SoundBlaster line) but it’s horrendous for serious audio work.
I used to have an Emu 1820 that worked fantastic. I used it to perform live with my desktop PC in a very similar fashion as you are looking to do, but I used a MIDI percussion controller. The 1820 costs about $400 and has more inputs and outputs than you’ll probably ever need. I did a lot of recording, so I used the extra connectivity. You should check out the Emu 0404 (www.emu.com) with used the same driver, but it ony has one pair of I/O. It should be all that you need, it uses the same excellent drivers and audio-digital/digital-audio (AD/DA) coverters that the 1820 does and it only costs $99.
Also, in your research, you should make sure that the module your are looking at has low latency. You are probably familiar with this already, but if you aren’t, latency is the amount of time it takes for the incoming signal to come in, be processed, and sent to the output. I managed to get the latency on my 1820 (remember, same drivers as the 0404) down to 4ms with NO audio artifacts on a P4 3.0 ghz processor with 1 GB of RAM. 10ms is where the latency starts to become distinguishable to the human ear. IMO, 20-25 ms is where it starts to become really annoying…almost like a grace note. 4ms is inaudible.
I hope this hasn’t been more information than you were looking for…these are just the things that I wish someone has told me three years ago. 
Good luck!
Palm Discovery Review: Brando USB Roll Up Piano