Novation ReMote 37SL

Late summer sees me tackling some small desktop studio projects (yes, my studio is that small!). Amongst the chores of cable maintenance, sorting out loop and sampler libraries and re-filing sheetmusic are two or three hardware upgrades.

First of these is a new controller keyboard. After a bit of research and banging around the products available locally, I’ve opted for a Novation ReMote 37SL. Compared to my trusty old M-Audio Oxygen 8 (version 1), I have loads more knobs and buttons to press and so far it seems they actually talk meaningfully (is a little unpredictably) to both Logic and Reason. Best of all, I have a keyboard that actually feels vaguely musical.

As much as I grew to adore the old Oxygen 8, truth was the connection was mostly sentimental. I bought it from the good folks at Pro Musicals in Chennai (a typically drawn-out, tax-complex but friendly transaction). It was the controller I used for my BerkleeMusic Arranging course and it has seen me through my fledgling days in the digital audio domain.

But, the fact was, that sort of controller is fine for portable and simple input, but the dynamic range of the keys was very frustrating. Moreover, it’s pretty much impossible to work on harmony or even input many chords with a two octave C to C range. Although 37 keys does not seem like a massive change, it is for a simple keyboard player like myself, a big improvement.

It’s still early days, but I’m very impressed with the ReMote SL. Let’s see how I feel after a few months of use.

[tags] Novation Remote SL, DAW [/tags]