One last piece of hardware for your studio is essential for musicians and producers: a MIDI controller. (While some engineers may also benefit from one, it is by no means essential.) As mentioned in the previous article in this series, Getting Started With Digital Audio , a MIDI controller doesn't actually generate sound. Rather, it offers tactile control over hardware, or more often, software synthesizers, sequencers, effects, and sound modules.

Some of the most commonly used MIDI controllers use a piano style. M-Audio is one the largest manufactures of MIDI keyboards and is a good starting place. For a MIDI keyboard, you can pay anywhere from $50 to thousands of dollars; as you spend more, the responsiveness and quality increases. For example, a cheap MIDI controller won't be velocity sensitive. Spending a little more gets you knobs, faders, joysticks, and sometimes even drum pads. A really good value and quality product that has all of the above features for a fair price of $300 is the Korg Microkontrol .

For many of the more DJ-minded, a MIDI controller with just knobs and faders will provide all you need. The X Session is around $150 and is a great MIDI controller for those not interested in having a piano-style keyboard.

However, if you are a serious piano player, it would be worth your while to invest in an upscale MIDI controller with weighted keys. They cost a good deal more money, but there are many products that come very close to the feel of a real piano. If you want to outfit an acoustic piano to convert your gestures into MIDI, and have 1,500 bucks to spare, The Moog Piano Bar will do just that.

In the previous article I mentioned that most MIDI controllers were piano style keyboards, but this is just one of the many different ways that you can "play" MIDI. Many controllers take the form of an electronic drum kit (with pads instead of actual drums). Musicians who play a wind instrument will appreciate the variety of breath-controlled MIDI devices (some of which can be found here ). Some of the more bizarre MIDI controllers are triggered by muscle movements, light waves, and yes, even brainwaves. There are lots of great resources such as this one for alternative MIDI controllers.

Conclusion

These are just some of the choices in getting the best hardware setup for your digital audio studio. We realize that many of these choices are fairly idiosyncratic and your preferences may differ from mine. In subsequent articles, we'll explore what you can do with your studio and how to produce some programming.