Home Recording Articles, Tips, Tricks and Advice

Just after christmas I purchased the NanoPad and NanoKontrol usb controllers.

The keyboard wasn’t necessary, It looks too small and awkward – but that is from a visual impression.

NanoKontrol @ Dolphin Music £53.95

Korg NANOKONTROL USB Fader & Button Contrl -Black @ $59.99 @ Guitar Trader

Anyway here’s a review of how things have gone with these dinky studio toys,

This is my review.

From the start these were tricky to set up, I use sonar – a quick search on Sonars forum brought up a work through which I followed – unfortunately I can’t find it now to give a direct link – but I will add a work through of my own soon.

I don’t read manuals as a rule – so don’t ask me anything about those – that’s the beauty of the tinternet.

Once up and running they worked a treat.

The NanoKontrol is a bit cheap feeling (what do you want for the price?) – it works though, and it works well though.

9 dials, 9 faders, and 9 buttons.

Play, Rewind, Forward, Loop, Stop and Record Buttons

And a ‘Scene’ Button – 4 scenes available.

Each scene is dedicated to 9 channels – altogether you get 36 – with sonarthough you can assign only 32 tracks.

Korg nanoKONTROL MIDI Controller $59.99 @ Musicians Friend

That’s it really, once you’ve assigned each channel it works like any mixing channel – the time saved is much more than I expected – although if I’m honest some times I stil find myself reaching for the mouse – but hopefully I can drum myself out of that.

Work Through

The NanoPad on the other hand is straight out of the box – plug it in and off you go – once assigned it’s set up to play.

The X,Y controller is pretty cool on synths – does some weird shit to drums though. The pads are good for the price and you can belt the crap out of it.

It has 12 pads – assignable to 4 scenes via software or drum map.

It has a scene button and roll and hold as well.

The roll works to a certain degree, really I don’t use it – the hold is pretty pointless – but then again look at the price!

Both of these are excellent value, and even though they may require a bit of work getting set up it’s worth it.

Also available in a very sexy black, I found out too late, dagnabbit.

Here’s what Korg says,

‘The nano Series from Korg – Serious Music Production in a Seriously Small Space
Meet the most compact family of USB-MIDI controllers ever! Introducing the new Korg nano Series USB powered slim-line controllers – so small you can put them on your workstation, in front of your laptop, on a recording console or anywhere else you need versatile control over your DAW, virtual instrument/effect or DJ software.’

‘Three Flavors to Satisfy Your Creative Palette
Despite their small size, all three controllers go HUGE when it comes to functionality, yet their intuitive layouts provide extremely easy operation for any user. The nanoKEY features a great-feeling 25-key velocity-sensitive keyboard that’s ideal for song production. The keys can also be set to send MIDI control data, further expanding its power. The nanopad features 12 highly responsive trigger pads, also capable of sending both notes and MIDI control data, plus an X-Y pad with roll and flam functions giving you a unique interface for realistic drum programming. The nanoKONTROL offers nine faders, nine knobs and 18 switches plus a full transport section for expansive control; plus it features a note input mode to help you lay down your next big groove!’