This year at NAMM (and later at Musikmesse) Arturia introduced the Keystep, a new portable, yet perfectly playable USB MIDI controller keyboard and polyphonic step sequencer with CV connectivity.
Funnily enough, while Arturia is a French company the first batches of the Keystep have surfaced so far only in Asia and Australia. In Europe and in the US the Keystep should be available from July (fingers crossed!).
We hope to get our hands on this new cool little controller soon. In the meantime, if you’re on the fence about pre-ordering it, this video by Randal Adamson will provide you with a good overview of the features and setup options (including Arturia Microbrute, Korg Volca FM and Korg Sample, etc.).
More about the Keystep
The KeyStep Controller & Sequencer sports a newly-designed polyphonic step sequencer with eight programmable memories, recallable at the touch of a knob. Cleverly choose Gate times (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90%) and Swing settings (Off, 53%, 55%, 57%, 59%, 61%, 64%, 67%, 73%, and 75%) instantly to change the feel of the sequenced performance on the fly.
Furthermore, Arturia also added an ability to record, overdub, and transpose sequences in realtime while still playing the keyboard live.
Last, but not least, there’s an Arp Mode (with eight arpeggiator pattern styles — 1 / Up, 2 / Dwn, 3 / Inc, 4 / Exc , 5 / Rand, 6 / Order, 7 / Up x2, and 8 / Dwn x2) and Chord play mode (for setting chords and playing them back with a single note or via the Arp Mode making chord-based arpeggiations a breeze).
Connectivity
As with the Beatstep Pro, Arturia made the Keystep a real connectivity powerhouse and a perfect tool for your DAWless jams.
USB MIDI, standard MIDI IN and OUT, SYNC IN and OUT (supporting 1 pulse per step, 2 PPQ, 24 PPQ DIN Sync, and 48 PPQ DIN Sync), GATE and PITCH CV OUTPUTS (supporting 5V or 12V and 1V/oct or Hz/V, respectively), a separate, assignable MOD (modulation) output that can be used with the Mod (modulation) capacitive-touch strip, velocity, or aftertouch.
Last but not least, a SUSTAIN pedal input connector!
Stay tuned for further updates on the Keystep (actually, since you’re here, how about signing up for our newsletter?).
The build quality on this is exciting.