Korg Unveils Nano Controller Series

• Words: Tomas Palermo

Are you ready to go small?

Well, make that small, stylish, and functional, if you’re talking about Korg’s three new MIDI control devices. The Korg nano series was unveiled at the late June summer NAMM music technology event in Nashville, and already the slim units have tech blogs talking.

The devices include the nanoKEY, a 25-key controller, nanoPAD, a 12-pad drum controller, and nanoKONTROL, a multi-knob, multi-fader control device. Priced at under a hundred dollars each, including download codes for controllable software, the Nano series should accelerate creativity for on-the-go laptop musicians.

In addition to its velocity sensitive keys, nanoKEY features octave-shift, pitch, and modulation buttons to manipulate your notes. nanoPAD features highly responsive drum pads that also send MIDI notes and can play instrument chords. An X/Y pad can be used to for real-time drum rolls or flam hits. nanoKONTROL is equally impressive, with its compact layout with nine faders, nine knobs, 18 switches, and a full transport section. This should make laptop DJs and producers with space issues salivate.

The devices feature clean, simple layouts, which should encourage price-minded newcomers to give music production a try. All three are available this fall, with final pricing to be announced.

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