The Korg nanoKEY2 is a slim 25-key USB controller for playing parts into music software, finished in black. Its keys read velocity, so what you record arrives with dynamics rather than flat at one level. It slides into a laptop bag.
Reaching the whole range
Octave shift moves the pitch four steps in either direction, and key transpose fills in what sits between. Used together they put every note of the MIDI spectrum under 25 keys. Handy when parts sit far apart.
Expression controls
Pitch bend sits to the left of the keys, with modulation and sustain beside it. That last control earns its place on piano parts, where notes must ring on well past the key release. Each one can have its on and off switching speed set across four levels, so a change lands as abruptly or as smoothly as the music wants.
Powered down the USB cable
A single lead from the computer carries power and MIDI data together, which keeps a desk free of adapters. An iPad works too, connected through Apple's Camera Connection Kit with no external supply. Korg notes that it does not guarantee this, since Apple updates and new hardware can change things, and it advises a powered hub for long sessions or for several nanoSERIES2 units at once.
Editing with Korg Kontrol Editor
Korg's free editor software, downloaded from its website, opens settings the hardware does not expose. Velocity can follow any of three curves or be fixed at a single value. You also choose which control change messages the modulation and sustain buttons send, which matters when a plug-in expects something unusual.
