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i’m getting to the point where i’m no fun any more* i need some kind of keyboard controller with MIDI and CV to interact with the drum machines and particularly with the Stylophone Drone Synthesizer which gains immensely with realtime control. unfortunately the otherwise perfectly adequate USB/MIDI controller we already have at home doesn’t do CV, mom!, and if there’s a converter it’s probably about the same cost as an actual keyboard. i don’t need like 61 keys or anything for this…a couple or three octaves should suffice. or am i wrong about that? i don’t know jack shit about synth stuff.

(*h/t Stephen Stills)

I think the Arturia Keystep 37 is what you're looking for:
https://youtu.be/I3iaHNIJFsg?si=WMKdf6eCI0kpSWn9

i've seen that mentioned as a good choice.

I have the more basic 32 key Arturia Keystep and have controlled my Elektron Model: Cycles and Modular synth oscillators simultaneously via CV and MIDI out to combine/sync a modular oscillator with the engine on the Cycles. I think Keystep 32 or the more robust versions would do the trick for ya.

good grief, that thing is nuts!

i was researching it on the net and saw a blurb that said "if you don't need a sequencer..." and i was like "yes, actually, that's exactly what i want."

I have the keystep 25 and it works great — midi, cv, and usb

I use the Arturia Keystep 32 to simultaneously control a Wasp module via midi, and a Werkstatt via cv/gate. Works great for me in that regard!

If you need more than 1-3 cv outs, maybe look into the Keystep Pro. It's like 3x the price, but has a lot more control, and can run multiple lanes of sequencing etc

i’m still not sure how much i need. the drum machines can MIDI with the synths, and i’m not sure yet how many CV outs i need. there’s CV inputs to control the filters on the So High So Low and a bunch of CV controls on the Stylophone Drone Synth (which as a veteran of the 70s i’m delighted to refer to in future as the “SDS”!) i think everything including the SDS can talk over MIDI, which means i need a fucking textbook.

You would probably be fine with the standard 32 then!

Ps. I realllly wanted to grab the SDS, but couldn't spare the funds at drop day. How are you liking it?

Pss. If I had seen this before sending your Haxan, I would have loaned you my beatstep to try out. Might get you going as well, for a bit cheaper than the keystep.

i haven’t even turned it on yet. partially i’ve been busy working on guitars, and honestly i’m a bit intimidated. i really don’t know much about synths.

Well, I think the SDS might be a solid one to go with. It seems vast for its size, but from a standard synthesis pov, it's different/limited. It was tailored for drones, and immediate sonic exploration, more than anything else (but with exoandable options)...Though you can play it with keys too! Pop some batteries in that thing and start twisting, bud!

i'm too cheap and too ecological for that. it'll go on a wall wart for now. eventually i'll need a power supply that can ideally supply 9V AC power for the HR-16, though i can use the proprietary wall wart if necessary. the Keystep and the Behringer 303 both take standard 9V DC, and the Casio needs 12V AC. the Cioks AC10 would work, and the Gator supply that used to live on the boards has a single 12V AC outlet so i guess that'll do for now combined with the Alesis wall wart. also thinking about mixing options; right now i'm watching a Roland 12-channel rackmount line mixer which could be just the thing. perhaps that'd get me back into using the rack stuff which has been sitting forever.