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"The New Phone Book is Here!" test drive of an Arturia MiniLab mkII

McDMcD
edited November 2021 in Creations

@Daveypoo slipped me a clue on a good/cheap MIDI Keyboard for coach potato creativity... the 25-key Arturia MiniLab mkII. The action is so much better than the Akai I purchased and rarely use.

I recommend it highly for the build quality.

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Comments

  • Excellent groove, @McD!

    What apps were you using?

  • McDMcD
    edited November 2021

    @SNystrom said:
    Excellent groove, @McD!

    What apps were you using?

    For the backing... I noticed that Session Band has a new "Soul Jazz Funk 3" product for $6.
    It works OK in AUM but you do have to use it's Start Button instead of AUM's transport controls. It's an IAA app.

    For my Arturia ramblings I used the IK Multimedia B-3X app over a "Bb Blues" 'song' (most of the other "songs" have harder progressions to solo over).

    The key action is really light and doesn't seemed to trigger my carpal tunnel problems like my weighted Casio keyboard so I have been using screen keyboards for the last few years.

    But @Daveypoo's organ playing made me regret not having something with a more responsive action. The keys are tiny but like Goldilocks says "They are just right for the coach and my lap"... in other words, not too tiny.

    @daveypoo advises I get good at using the
    octave Up/Down buttons. The pitch and mod wheels are plastic "slide rectangles"... I haven't even tried them yet.

    But "The New Phone Book is Here!"... like anyone but me cares. My wife asks "How much did that cost?" $89. "Don't you have about 10 of those already?" Yes. But this is the one I should have bought first.

    "Things are going to start happening to me now!"

  • Nice Groove indeed. “This music makes me want to go out and be somebody!”

  • @Blipsford_Baubie said:
    Nice Groove indeed. “This music makes me want to go out and be somebody!”

    Thanks... I do like the Session Band apps for a quick backing track that display the chords
    in play and sounds like I know something. Like how to "Press Play."

  • Of that’s so cool you made us Of Session Band, @McD!

    I imagine virtually all of us have those apps around but it’s not often we put them to use!

    And yeah, as soon as I saw “The New Phone Book is here, I instantly got the reference!

    Loved that movie — and his dog... 😉

  • I remember being excited that the movie was coming to network TV — so my mom could see it. Of course they cut every scene that would possibly offend anyone five years of age or younger and edited the rest of the movie to the point it made no sense at all.

    Hell, they even changed the name of Steve’s dog!

  • @SNystrom said:
    Of that’s so cool you made us Of Session Band, @McD!

    I imagine virtually all of us have those apps around but it’s not often we put them to use!

    And yeah, as soon as I saw “The New Phone Book is here, I instantly got the reference!

    Loved that movie — and his dog... 😉

    Whenever I get some new hardware in the mail, I mutter "The New Phonebook is Here!" because no one around me shares in my excitement... they tend to think... "Don't you have enough stuff already?".

    Can a musician have enough stuff? The tech and our interests keep evolving. Al least Apps don't have any physical clutter. I have boxes of stuff I just had to get.

  • edited November 2021

    Glad you like it, @McD - I also find the action very satisfying. For a small keyboard it's very comfortable to play and the other keyboards I had didn't feel as responsive.

    Have fun! 😎

  • @Daveypoo said:
    Glad you like it, @McD

    The build quality is as good as you mentioned. Really rugged unlike the Akai mkII
    which is built cheap. The fact that I giot a damaged box (returned product) for $89
    made it pretty sweet. The box was "previously opened" but not damaged in any way.

    I need to check the paperwork to get the free Mac software but I feel like I got my money's
    worth even if it's just the hardware.

  • I love mine too, need to sort a powered hub out for longer sessions and audio out via usbc on my iPad though…
    I got mine ex display, dirt cheap! 🎹 📱 🤘

  • @id_23 said:
    I love mine too, need to sort a powered hub out for longer sessions and audio out via usbc on my iPad though…

    I'm using the Apple Camera Kit Adapter that has the Lightning Port for external power and I also have a large iPhone battery pack that can keep a session going for hours.

    Never tried a powered hub but I can see how that would also work.

    You make a good point, tho'. The iPad or iPhone can power up and use this little gem as a
    MIDI controller until the IOS device battery runs out.

  • "I noticed that Session Band has a new "Soul Jazz Funk 3" product for $6."
    "Oh that’s so cool you made use of Session Band"
    "Things are going to start happening to me now!"

    It's so much more fun when you discover it yourself!

  • @Paulieworld said:
    "I noticed that Session Band has a new "Soul Jazz Funk 3" product for $6."
    "Oh that’s so cool you made use of Session Band"
    "Things are going to start happening to me now!"

    It's so much more fun when you discover it yourself!

    I have all the Session Band products and each one has better production values.
    If I was in the business of making quick and dirty demos for songwriters I'd
    take their lyric/chord sheets and go behind the curtain and come back a week later
    with 2-3 studio quality backing tracks for their tune and let them buy the one they like.
    Session Band products cover almost every major style of popular music.

    It's the closest thing to "Band in a Box" for IOS users and like most IOS products the
    pricing is a fraction of that desktop/laptop product. It's also a fraction of the capability...
    tradeoffs.

  • Use it in unintended ways!

  • @Paulieworld said:
    Use it in unintended ways!

    A tip from the master of the musical collage: music created by combining/assembing clippings or segments into a finished work.

    It would be cool to mix together the outputs from multiple Session Band genres into a finished work... hmm... This solves
    a few mysteries for me about how you get such realistic musicians to collaborate across genres.

    Have you purchased Riffler yet? It's good for rock, metal and funk guitar parts with heavy use of palm muting to help
    make it sound guitar like. But the guitars in Session Band are real recordings of guitars but no soloists. The John Herrington guitar solos in Band in a Box are what I really want in IOS. I should do Mac/iPad cross collabs but I'd have to turn in my ABF
    Membership card or be like @jonmoore who slips little Desktop advice under the radar.

  • @McD I continually surprised at how much of a beating I can give this thing and it still plays just fine. I've taken this thing on many adventures - it's been all over the world with me - and it's hanging in like a champ.

  • @McD said:

    @Paulieworld said:
    Use it in unintended ways!

    A tip from the master of the musical collage: music created by combining/assembing clippings or segments into a finished work.

    It would be cool to mix together the outputs from multiple Session Band genres into a finished work... hmm... This solves
    a few mysteries for me about how you get such realistic musicians to collaborate across genres.

    Have you purchased Riffler yet? It's good for rock, metal and funk guitar parts with heavy use of palm muting to help
    make it sound guitar like. But the guitars in Session Band are real recordings of guitars but no soloists. The John Herrington guitar solos in Band in a Box are what I really want in IOS. I should do Mac/iPad cross collabs but I'd have to turn in my ABF
    Membership card or be like @jonmoore who slips little Desktop advice under the radar.

    You got it!

    Yes, I dig Riffler. Check out 'Klingon Drinking Song' and 'Remote Viewing' from a few weeks ago.
    Use the Riffler MIDI output, too. Good times ahead.

  • I'm sure many saw this coming... the "Box Damaged" product I purchased won't register at Arturia. Someone bought it and returned it after registering it and getting the "free" Arturia Software bundle.

    I have contacted Arturia support for assistance. I will let you know if this works to my benefit.

    At $89, I'm keeping the keyboard but I was looking forward to playing with the free Mac bundle. No biggie.
    Amazon lost... Arturia lost... I lost.. and some clever scammer got some free software.

    I will contact Amazon as well so they can flag the buyer as a scammer.

    I told Arturia that I'm recommending their product as a great mini keyboard. At $119, you get the software too.

  • Bummer @McD i got mine from gear4music iirc, still getting the software updates...
    Good luck, Arturia are pretty cool...
    🤞

  • @McD said:
    the "Box Damaged" product I purchased won't register at Arturia.

    "Hey Harry, look at this! What's the matter with these cans? These cans are defective."

  • McDMcD
    edited November 2021

    STATUS: Amazon has offered 2 options:

    1) return for refund
    2) an additional discount

    I have 30 days to decide. I'm hopeful that Arturia will let me registered the product and try their Mac software and Ableton Lite.

    I also got an auto-generated Case Number email from Arturia support... 24 hour response clock.

  • I've had that happen, where the software was already authorized on a customer-returned item that I purchased. Arturia was quick to respond with a new set of codes.

    btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

  • @ocelot said:
    I've had that happen, where the software was already authorized on a customer-returned item that I purchased. Arturia was quick to respond with a new set of codes.

    Thanks... good to know. The only Arturia product I have ever purchased before was "Arturia iSpark" beat making app.

    btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

    Excellent tip. I have discovered the joy of the Mod (virtual) Control wheel for the B-3X "Leslie rotor". The pitch bend "wheel"
    is also very responsive.

    I am loving this hardware product.

  • btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

    Excellent tip. I have discovered the joy of the Mod (virtual) Control wheel for the B-3X "Leslie rotor". The pitch bend "wheel"
    is also very responsive.

    I am loving this hardware product.

    Actually, I was asking you if it was possible. 😀

  • @ocelot said:

    btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

    Excellent tip. I have discovered the joy of the Mod (virtual) Control wheel for the B-3X "Leslie rotor". The pitch bend "wheel"
    is also very responsive.

    I am loving this hardware product.

    Actually, I was asking you if it was possible. 😀

    its done on a per knob basis.

  • Thanks @AlmostAnonymous!

    Now if only Arturia, Novation, M-Audio, etc. made iOS apps for configuring their MIDI controllers...

    ...or allowed configuring everything directly on the hardware. I still have an old Korg MicroKontrol that allows that.

  • @ocelot said:

    btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

    Excellent tip. I have discovered the joy of the Mod (virtual) Control wheel for the B-3X "Leslie rotor". The pitch bend "wheel"
    is also very responsive.

    I am loving this hardware product.

    Actually, I was asking you if it was possible. 😀

    Oh. I will get around to checking out the knobs and pads. My suspicion is that all MIDI will be sent on one channel. There
    are apps that could split them into distinct channels as a workaround. The product doesn't come with a manual but I suspect
    there's one online to check this detail.

  • edited November 2021

    it is not 1 channel if you dont want it to be. you can specify the channel per control, or if you set it to "user" like in my pic above, its whatever channel you select on the controller itself.

    meaning if you set the very upper right knob to channel 12 and every other knob to "user", when you switch channels on the arturia..every control will send out on the midi channel you pick on the arturia except the very upper right know...it will always continue to send on channel 12

  • @ocelot said:
    I've had that happen, where the software was already authorized on a customer-returned item that I purchased. Arturia was quick to respond with a new set of codes.

    btw, can you assign each of the encoders to different MIDI Channels? Like if I want to use the top 8 for CC#7 for volume on MIDI channels 1-8, and the bottom 8 encoders for synth parameters in different synth apps on different MIDI channels?

    You can. From the manual:

    4.8.1. MIDI Channel settings
    There is a MIDI Channel parameter for every control and pad. But you will find 17 possible values there: Channels 1-16 and Keyboard.
    The midi channel selection menu
    The “Keyboard” option allows you to change the MIDI channel of this control when you change the MIDI channel setting of the keyboard.
    So for each control or pad you can choose whether they will be locked to a particular MIDI channel or will ‘float’ with the keyboard MIDI channel.

    Everything can be programmed to the last detail, making it incredibly versatile. Setup is only on desktop but easily enough. 8 profile pages are more than I can remember!

    I spent months writing a Streambyter script that translated MIDI out notes in Drambo to Sysex messages to light the pads indicating recording and drum hits to create a kind of Digitakt setup with Drambo, until I gave up and bought an actual digitakt. Might attempt a similar thing for Loopy Pro. Those big pads are very satisfying to use and are perfect for Loopy.

     > @McD said:
    

    I'm sure many saw this coming... the "Box Damaged" product I purchased won't register at Arturia. Someone bought it and returned it after registering it and getting the "free" Arturia Software bundle.

    I bought my Minilab in the middle of the first lockdowns also as an open box on Amazon and had the same situation. After requesting for a picture of the serial number in the device, the person at the Arturia help desk cleared it on their database and allowed me to register it again. If you like working on desktop, Analog Lab Lite is amazing for quick jams and more. Very much worth it.

    It’s reassuring to me that you prefer it over the Akai, which sometimes I wish I had purchased instead for the internal arpeggiator and traditional MIDI out. The Minilab’s biggest fail is definitely that it is USB only, requiring a host of some sorts to run hardware synths (otherwise it’s a fantastic pair with the NTS-1).

    I’ve been having problems with the encoders, but still haven’t forked out the cash to get the expensive cleaning solution that was suggested a while ago, so that’s my fault.

  • @dvi: Thanks for the manual link and the product support. It makes sense that Arturia will provide registration credentials.

    I have an Oxygen 8 for MIDI 5-pin use cases... the Akai has that joystick but it sure feels like a toy product. The best think I can say about it is that it's a "light weight" in all senses of that idiom. The keys are just not very well designed. I got it as a damaged box on impulse at a Guitar Center.

    Now I'm Jones-ing for the 4 octave Arturia with the sliders for some B-3X organ madness. I'd use the 2 octave Arturia for the
    lower keybed most use for Bass lines. But I have these "price points" where I just buy stuff and the 4 octave is above my limit.

    I desperately need an iPad with more storage to load all the apps I have bought since 2018. I do have an iphone with 512GB
    that holds everything that's universal but some big ticket apps are not.

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