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$5.99US $5.99CAN

VOL. TWENTY SIXNUMBER TWO

NOVEMBER 2012USA $5.99 CANADA $5.99

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NOVEMBER 2012

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Samson has entered the USB keyboardcontroller market with a pair of new key-boards, the Carbon 49 and the Graphite49. We’ll be taking a quick look at theentry-level Carbon 49 in our 2012 GiftGuide next month, but in this issue we’repeeking under the hood of the full-featuredGraphite 49. It offers a 49-note (4-octave)keyboard with a full set of remote controlfeatures in a light (about 10 pounds) andportable bus-powered package.

Taking the tourThe Graphite 49’s layout is clean and

surprisingly compact; it offers pitch andmod wheels, nine sliders, eight endlessencoders, sixteen buttons, four drum pads,and five transport keys, plus assortedmenu and function buttons and a largebacklit LCD that’s packed with useful data.The rear panel offers a MIDI Out port,

one 1/4" jack for a sustain pedal, the USBconnection, and a Power switch. Anoptional power supply lets the Graphite

49 function as a MIDI controller without acomputer attached if desired, but for ourtests it happily ran on USB power.The Graphite 49 comes with a short

USB cable, a thorough paper manual,and an install CD for Native InstrumentsKomplete Elements, a set of virtual instru-ments for beginning players. Note thatthere is no installer for device drivers; theGraphite 49 is class-compliant forWindows XP/Vista/7 and for Mac OS X10.4.9 and up, you just plug it in and it’sready to go. I had no issues trying it onPCs running Windows XP and 7, nor onMacs running OS X 10.4.11 and 10.6.8.

More than meets the eyeWhen using the Graphite 49 you actu-

ally have more controllers than are visibleon the front panel; there are two Banks ofcontrols for the first eight sliders and theeight encoders, so there are actually 17and 16 different controls available.(Slider 9 doesn’t change when you switch

Banks, which makes it very useful as aglobal volume control.)In addition, the four drum pads are

organized into two Pad Banks for a total ofeight different pad functions. These padsare not only velocity sensitive but alsotransmit aftertouch, so they can play notesand use aftertouch to control drummachine functions like rolls and noterepeat. They also serve double duty ifdesired; they can be set to send MIDI

Continuous Controller (CC) data as well,using the aftertouch sensors. I am a big fanof pressure pads for expression controland was very happy to see this addedfunction, as I am more likely to use it forthat than to program a drum machine!All of the buttons can be set to send

MIDI note data or CC information; theycan also be set to toggle (push on/pushoff) or momentary action. The displayshows if any of the buttons, including thetransport keys, are toggled on, so you cansee at a glance which controls are active.

Ports and ZonesThe Graphite 49 is seen by the comput-

er as having five output and two inputPorts. The first four output Ports allow theGraphite 49 to subdivide the data it sendsto your computer, so that one applicationcan watch one Port while another watchesa different one. This allows you (for exam-ple) to play a standalone virtual instrumentfrom the keyboard, a standalone drum

B Y M I K E M E T L A Y

Samson Graphite 49 USB MIDI Controller

Excerpted from the November edition of RECORDING Magazine 2012©2014 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com

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machine from the pads, and control a mixwith the sliders and encoders. Output Ports1 and 2 can be echoed to the physicalMIDI Out when the Local switch isengaged.Of the two virtual input Ports, one takes

data from the DAW and routes it to thephysical MIDI Out, so external synthesiz-ers etc. can be sequenced from yourDAW. The other virtual input Port, and thefifth virtual output Port, are reserved forremote control of the Graphite 49 itself, so(for example) changing a slider value inyour DAW causes the Graphite 49’s dis-play to reflect the new value, even thoughthe physical slider can’t move on its own. A different sort of flexibility comes from

Zone Mode, where up to four Zones canbe assigned different key ranges, MIDIChannels, and so on. This lets you set upsplits and layers, control different plug-insfrom different parts of the controller, andso forth.

NicetiesThere are 30 memory slots for Presets,

which hold all Port, Zone, controllervalue, and other assignments; the first 16are pre-programmed to be useful for avariety of DAWs and virtual instruments,and the last 14 are user-assignable.There are octave and semitone trans-

position keys at the left hand by thewheels, with clearly displayed values onthe front panel. The user can select fromamong several velocity curves for the

keys, and set a different velocity curve forthe pads. There’s full support for 14-bitdata messages like RPNs and NRPNs,too, and the LCD has slots to display val-ues for MSB and LSB (Most and LeastSignificant Byte) data when doing so.There’s a nifty feature called Mute,

which when activated stops transmission ofall control-surface functions. When Mute isreleased, the Graphite 49 sends a snap-shot of all current controller values. Youcan also choose to flip the direction of thesliders so they act as organ drawbars (andsince there are nine of them, Hammondemulations are neatly handled).One noteworthy quirk of the Graphite

49 is that its LCD displays all the different

message types it can send as 3-digit num-bers; the ones from 0 to 127 are conven-tional CCs (1 is modulation, 7 is volume,64 is sustain, etc.) but the numbers from128 to 171 have been arbitrarily assignedto non-CC MIDI messages like RPNs/NRPNs, System Exclusive data, MIDIMachine Control codes, and specializeddata like Program Changes, Aftertouch,and even Pitch Bend. The manual explainswhat each of the 3-digit codes correspondsto, but it can still be a little unnerving for anold-school MIDI user to see the Graphitereport that a Slider is sending Controllernumber 152 when there is no such thing inthe MIDI spec!

Tests, talking points, and finalthoughtsThe Graphite 49 was gratifyingly quick to

get working. I was playing software synths,running the mixer and transport functions inmy DAWs, and recording expressive datain no time. I was able to whip up a presetthat contained my default settings for myDAWs and work seamlessly, in about tenminutes total. I found the Graphite 49 com-fortable to play, if a bit lightweight—the“semi-weighted” keys felt pretty muchunweighted to me, and my background ismore in organ than piano playing, so I havea fairly light touch to begin with.The pads were comfortable to play and

all controls worked smoothly; in particular,I found the acceleration of the encodersvery nice, so that single clicks produced

single steps but one quick twist could maxout a parameter. Other little touches thatleft me smiling included the aforemen-tioned aftertouch-sensitive pads, havingdual control banks for the sliders andencoders (with Slider 9 keeping its func-tion as a global volume control), and thefact that every single button could be setto toggle or momentary action (and wasclearly indicated as such on the LCD).Were there things I missed? Of course!

I’ve been playing synthesizers for 30years and using MIDI since it was invent-ed; I have likes and preferences thatweren’t entirely fulfilled by the Graphite49. In terms of things that could be addedlater in a software update, I’d like to see

aftertouch as well as velocity curves; thepads and keys are very aftertouch-sensi-tive compared to many other devices. Youcan’t name your own Presets, nor can yousave them to your DAW. And while thedisplay shows MIDI data values sent bythe encoders, buttons, and sliders in realtime, it’d be good to see pitch, modula-tion, and aftertouch data displayed aswell, and note numbers too.Hardware functions I’d like to see in a

future Samson controller include backlitpads and keys (although the display ofwhat’s currently toggled works well), a phys-ical MIDI In port so the keyboard can act asa full MIDI interface, a second pedal input,and a couple of buttons and/or pressure-sensitive pads near the pitch and modwheels for expressive use. And while I’mdreaming, how about an XY pad or joystick(or both!), a crossfader, and what the heck,how about polyphonic aftertouch?But I’m not kicking too hard about those

omissions, nor am I overly fussed aboutthe few areas that aren’t entirely polishedyet. Why? Because the Graphite 49streeets at under $200.USB keyboard controllers are very

handy devices to have in a studio, and it’sa shame that more folks don’t make a pointof keeping one around. But I’ve heardfrom a number of home recordists who feelthat if you’re not a keyboardist per se, afull-sized keyboard controller/remote con-trol surface is an investment that can behard to justify.

But for this price, which would nor-mally only get you a 2-octave keyboardwith part of the control surface left off(usually no faders), there is no longer anexcuse to not have a full-sized keyboardcontroller for your DAW. That’s especial-ly true when your two hundred bucksgets you a keyboard that offers thismuch comprehensive control of yourDAW, plug-ins, and virtual instruments insuch a comfortable and playable form.Check it out.

Price: $199.99 street

More from: Samson Technologies,www.samsontech.com

Playability, full control features, and some sweet surprises

Excerpted from the November edition of RECORDING Magazine 2012©2014 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com