GarageKey

by Flex Cable Products

Product Features

• USB MIDI Keyboard, Plug and Play
• The Perfect Keyboard For GarageBand!
• Small, elegantly designed MIDI keyboard that matches Apple's product styling
• The only keyboard on the market designed exclusively for use by Apple computer users
• 37 Full-size, professional quality, velocity sensitive keys, octave up and down buttons discretely placed on the rear panel

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 20.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000NKAXD6
• Item model number: 895429001017
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,769 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)

Product Description

USB MIDI Keyboard Flex cable products Garage Key The Perfect Keyboard For GarageBand We built the GarageKey simply because we love to play with Apple's wonderful GarageBand software, and, because there has just not been a small, elegantly designed MIDI keyboard available that matches nicely with Apple's product styling, and is small enough to actually put somewhere on most desks. The existing keyboards are bulky, complicated designs that may be great for trained keyboard players. But, they just don't match up to the real needs of most Mac users who decide to begin experimenting with GarageBand. That problem is now solved... with GarageKey. The GarageKey USB-MIDI keyboard is the only keyboard on the market designed exclusively for use by Apple computer users desiring to have a small, elegantly styled keyboard for experimenting with Apple's popular GarageBand software. The GarageKey has 37 full-size, professional quality, velocity sensitive keys. It has octave up and down buttons discretely placed on the rear panel. And, it is plug and play compliant with OS X USB-MIDI. Its clear acrylic over bright white styling, and its bright white keys, are made to precisely match Apple's desktop styling. Beyond GarageBand If you use a recent Apple computer with iLife and GarageBand software installed, you cannot imagine the fun you can have playing around with the music creation tools in GarageBand. And, if you want to preserve your desk space, and maintain that wonderful Apple styling of your system, the GarageKey keyboard is made just for you. GarageKey Specifications: Plug and play with Mac OS X, Windows XP, Vista exc. 37 full-size key, velocity sensitive octave up-down buttons Width= 20.5" Depth= 6.75" Height= 1.75" (at rear) Power= from USB USB Cable= 7 ft. length

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Quirky but Great for Traveling Light, August 25, 2011

By 

Kenneth of Westfield (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GarageKey

I purchased this to have a keyboard for practicing while traveling. I use it with a laptop running Windows XP and Modartt PIANOTEQ 3 Virtual Instrument Software. I am happy to report that installation of this keyboard was quick and painless... plug and play, no headaches.

I'd been looking for a full sized keyboard with about 3 octaves. I really wanted the width to be as small as possible so I could carry it onto an airplane and put it under the seat in front of me, which this allows for. When I travel, I can live without all the features that this keyboard does NOT have: pitch bend, mod wheel or a sustain button/sustain pedal input. There are only two buttons on this board: octave up and octave down. The only output is a single USB port, no MIDI in, out or through.

I chose this over the Korg MICROKEY 37-Key Portable Keyboard because of two reasons: 1.) the keys are full sized [yet both keyboards are still about the same total width] 2.) the lowest key on the one I have is F, not C (there appears to be an earlier version with C as the lowest note). I can set the lowest C on the keyboard to middle C and play closed voiced chords with my left hand, have lower notes available below middle C and have plenty of room to play melodies/improvise with my right hand. Two octaves total are just not enough; three octaves from F is perfect for travel in my opinion.

As for use during the flight, if you are seated in coach, you'll inevitably be spilling a bit into the airspace (pardon the pun) of the passenger(s) sitting next to you. So try to create a buffer zone from the general population with a tolerant coworker or loved one or hope you are sitting next to a patron of the musical arts or an unoccupied seat. I have played my Akai Pro LPK25 Laptop Performance Keyboard in coach no problem.

OK, so I said it was a little quirky. Here is why: the clicky/noisy synth action keys have decent travel, but they don't release a note and resound another until they are brought about 95% back to their fully un-depressed position. This is quite hard to explain but really easy to grasp in person... Lets just say if you try to trill one note, you may not get every note to sound unless you let the key come pretty much fully up before hitting it again. This is a little extreme compared with all other keyboards I have played, but not a deal breaker, just suboptimal. I also have an M Audio KeyRig 49 49 Key USB Keyboard Controller which I like the action & feel of more. The keys are quite similar as far as resistance goes, but that is it. The GarageKey is not as even in tension from key to key and the keys can jiggle left and right. Finally, I have found the legs this thing comes with to be pretty useless. They are too wobbly so I don't use them. I guess if you were putting a QWERTY keyboard underneath to preserve desk space, they'll get the job done; I'd still explore alternatives.

At the time of writing this review, I could not find a better keyboard for airplane/light travel. Its as small as it could possibly be with full sized keys (no wasted space/all keys). Having 3 octaves from F is ideal. so, 5 stars for product research. Product development is where they missed.

I get the feeling that they reverse engineered another companie's synth-style keyboard with no expert knowledge of keyboards and only got close. 2.5 stars for key action/feel. It is unfortunate that they fell short here. The uniqueness of the size and number of keys is perfect. This will be my main travel keeper until something better comes along.