ARTURIA MiniLab MK II

What should a controller have today in order to be included in your instrument pool?
Without going into too much detail: dynamic keyboard, pad, knob or slider, transport functions.

Command panel

The new Arthur MiniLab MkII (forward only MII) is inspired by the much more renowned and complete series Key Lab which, thanks to many years of experience, is fully part of the most complete Master Keyboard of this last period.
The chassis, in well-built plastic with customized sides, consists of a 2 octave mini keyboard, sensitive to dynamics but without Aftertouch, which, using the keys Oct +/-, covers the entire MIDI range of 128 note. Pressing both Oct keys resets the keyboard with middle C set to C3 (MIDI note 60).
In the same area there is the "Pad 1-8 / 9-16" button which, as you can guess, allows you to double the use of 8 Path and, alongside, the “Shift” key to access the secondary functions, such as the choice of the MIDI channel to be transmitted or the recall on the fly of the 8 setups / presets described below.

Two touch touch controls replace the usual wheels of pitchbend e Modulation Wheel, While 16 rotary knobs, standard, can be set to any continuous controller you want. It should be noted that those numbered 1 and 9 can take on a double MIDI connotation to which a possible pressure control must be added (see below).

Sul rear panel we find the door USB, standard B type, a ¼ jack connection for any On / Off pedal (Sustain by default) and the slot Kensington to insert the possible anti-thief cable, now standard too. The USB connection is type Plug and Play, so the MLII turns on as soon as it is connected to the computer: there is no dedicated power button.
Note that i pad they can take up to 7 different colors (red, blue, green, purple, cyan, yellow, white) according to the standard RGB.

MIDI Control Center

It goes without saying that with such a minimal set of touch controls, what plays an important role is the software. To manage all controls, Arturia has developed the MIDI Cuntroll Center (forward MCC), downloadable for free from the site, which in fact unites all its masters. Applied to the MLII, the MCC allows total reprogramming of all physical controllers, it being understood that MIDI Learn from main host still remains the fastest way to match parameter / controller.

Let's go into a little more detail.

The MLII provides 8 different setups / presets, of which the first remains combined in read-only mode (in order to avoid inveterate geeks) to theAnalog Lab Lite which in fact should be considered the main sound resource of the MLII. Even the eighth setup is already pre-programmed to handle Ableton Live, but can be changed if desired.
The other six are available to the user. Each setup / preset must be recalled with the combination “Shift + Pad 1-8”.

PAD: they can have 4 different functions, as well as be set to Off.

1) MMC. In this situation, the Pad takes on the transport function of any DAW: Stop, Play, Pause, FF, Rew,… are all covered.
2) SWITCHED. To manage MIDI functions in On / Off mode, with default values ​​0/127 but modifiable independently, on any of the 16 channels.
3) MIDI NOTES. What could this mode be used for since we have a dedicated keyboard? For example, to set the Kontakt KeySwitches for recalling different orchestral articulations, or as usual percussive Drum Pads.
4) PATCH CHANGE. With this last mode, we can control the program change of the LSB / MSB setting too.

KNOB: except for those numbered 1 and 9, described below, all the others can have 2 different MIDI addresses.

1) CONTROL: concerns the standard management of the potentiometer in Control Change mode, with the possibility of establishing a minimum / maximum range.
2) RPN / NRPN. In this mode, one intervenes, precisely, on the RPN / NRPN Control Changes usually assigned by the manufacturers to sound parameters that do not fall within the General MIDI standard. As an unusual programming, we can determine for each rotary click what kind of resolution our controller should have.

For potentiometers 1 e 9, it was said, we can assign not only a double controller (the second is activated by holding down the "Shift") but it is possible to establish an on / off function that can be activated by pressing the same potentiometer and can be selected from those "Switched" or "Notes MIDI ”already seen for the Pads.
By default, Knobs 1/9, including pressure, are assigned respectively to the selection of the different categories / instruments and of the individual presets provided by the Analog Lab.

PEDALS: the pedal, usually set to Sustain, can also be reconfigured with the “Switched” or “MIDI Note” modes already seen above. Considering the two octaves of extension, personally I would see more appropriate the use of the pedal for the start of sequences, rather than the On / Off of effects.

Analog Lab and Add-on

A library of 500 sounds inferred fromAnalog Lab of V Collection 5. This small library, as well as in the complete version, contemplates sounds derived from virtual synths of the V Collection. The management is almost total, since the Analog Lab Lite provides for the assignment to the main parameters of any recalled sound, Pads included. The latter, especially the numbered ones 15 e 16, allow it scrolling progressive of preset.
In bundle a version is also available with the MLII Small of Ableton Live (the eighth setup is justified) and the Grand Piano Model D, taken from the homonymous model Steinway, of the French UVI (I wonder what sense this choice makes, since with the V Collection 5 it was made available Plan V, entirely dedicated to acoustic pianos. ed).
To be fair, I note that the test was carried out on the full version of the Analog Lab, having it available.

Field test

The deployment of the MLII occurred on a Mac Mini with Logic Pro X e Sibelius. After several days, and proper planning to adapt to specific needs, the MLII proved to be a great companion for preproduction. Of course, for the purely piano parts, rather than the mini keyboard to two octaves, I continue to make use of my "old" Master with weighted keys, but if it was necessary to insert or modify a part of orchestral instrumentsrather than one synthesized texture, the MLII was found to be more comfortable and faster: even the keyboard, despite the mini pitch and one velocity not from a weighted key, it turned out to be up to the requirements. Same goes for the word processing, where on strings, winds e percussions, the two octaves turned out to be quite sufficient for most situations.
Note the use of the Pads in mode KeySwitch for sessions of Contact, as well as conventional use for i DrumKit.
Finally, the obvious integration with the Artturia Analog Lab (I mean the complete version, complete with V Collection 5, used for the test) should be noted.

Conclusions

With the MLII, Arturia enters a very attractive price range with a straight leg, offering a product tout-court that can make happy several producers of Home recording.
Sure, while programmable, I wouldn't mind having transport buttons DAW dedicated, but this does not affect the use of the MLII in the studio which, in a few centimeters, can be easily placed near your computer.
pad e Knob they respond well to the touch and thanks to the multiplicity of possible functions, they can easily respond to any programming requirement.

PRO

- price;
- extended programming of pads and knobs;
- Integration with the Analog Lab;
- considering the price, the software bundle;

AGAINST

- dedicated buttons for carrying a DAW are missing.

Useful Information

Official website: Arthur
Italian distributor: Midiware.
Price: € 99,00 (VAT excluded)

Alfred Capozzi

NOTE: while wanting to be fully objective, this test is still based on the direct experience of the writer, so all evaluations and indications must then be mediated by the skills and knowledge gained by the end user.