Is there any small compact mini mini midi keyboard controller (à la Korg Nano) which is self-powered and with a physical midi out in this computerworld to use with the Octatrack to input slices with?
Except for the Keith Mcmillen one, I cannot find such a thing. The Keith is too expensive and also has MPE and stuff like that which I don’t need.
Seems impossible to find.
Novation Launchkey Mini mk3.
Edit : not self-powered, though.
No power, no?
Self powered devices! First person to do that is worth a few quid…
Hard to understand why companies would make nomad gear where you need external power, external usb host, external adapter…
There’s a real market in terms of mobility and it’s a shame to see some smaller models whose firmware or functions are limited compare to the bigger ones.
I mean with its own psu or batteries. So that I don’t need a friggin computer to power it.
All this usb nonsense. Its ridiculous. I have 2 usb hubs and already need a third one, possibly even a fourth one.
Meanwhile my usb MIDI interface is collecting dust :-s
The launchkey i dont think has a power adaptor. Also it is not mini mini like the nanokey
A mini midi controller with midi out and batteries. Doesnt exist i think. Super weird as everybody and their dogs are buying “portable junk to make beats in a park next to swans and people walking their dogs” while calling it “gadgets”.
This is a great idea for a product…
Someone should make one!
You could try and find a used microKorg or microKorg XL as they can run off batteries and have 5 pin midi. They are probably a bit bigger and more expensive than you’re looking for though.
Arturia keystep. Can run off its own psu. Has proper midi. Best midi keyboard out there.
One of these will power the Octatrack and Launchkey Mini mk3 for a totally portable solution.
You could try something like a secondhand Yamaha QY device. I always regret selling my QY70.
Brilliant!
You can always use the USB cable with a USB port wall charger (no need for a computer).
How about the Roland A01? This is battery powered but not sure what you mean by ‘input slices’ though.
What about:
Yamaha MD-BT01 Bluetooth MIDI Adaptor + iPhone ? 
Midi - bluetooth timing issues are not a big deal as I only need it to input slices while holding down trig(s)
Are there any Pocket Operators that can be used as a MIDI coontroller?
The QY10 is currently the smallest, cheapest and most practicle.
For the iPhone I prob need Lemur app + Yamaha = about €70
I dislike touch screens for this kind of thing but it’s small and runs on batteries
If you can find one cheap, the Yamaha QY10 would do the trick. It’s the smallest I know of, old or new.
Plus the internal sounds turn into some pretty nice abstract digital noise if you play them down in the bottom octave.
If you don’t mind layouts other than a traditional keyboard, the Boss DR-5 Dr. Rhythm Section is also worth a look, you get a tiny isometric control surface with a pretty good chord mode that could be really useful with the OT’s arpeggiator (about 20 different chord types with 3 or 4 voicings per type), plus a terrible pitch-to-MIDI converter that has creative misuse potential and it can run on a few AA batteries. Plus a simple 4 track polyphonic sequencer that’s more accessible than the QY10 and could be handy alongside the OT if you want to break out of the step sequencing sometimes.
The Boss looks nice but seems like it’s not ideal to find consecutive slices with, as it doesnt seem to have a regular chromatic keyboard by the looks of it
Wii Rockband keytar. Full size keys, 5 pin din midi out. Stuck to channel 1 but works perfectly for this. Battery powered. Like $30 on ebay. works well with all Elektron gear, I’ve used it with OT AR A4 mnm M:C. Got it working with machinedrum as well with a Mozaic script converting notes to pitch CC
It’s fully chromatic. You could play 31 slices at a time from it without transposing if you used the “6 string bass” tuning. For playing slices it would probably be a lot better than a keyboard controller.
Anyhow, since you were asking about Pocket Operators I thought you were open to layouts other than keyboard.
Are they layed out chromatically? So that I don’t skip slices and can trigger them in a consecutive order.
I’m not sure which C plays the first slice on the OT and whether this is configurable on the OT
First time I see the Dr-5, though. Which is a sign it’s quite a rare unit, I suppose
Most definitely! I wd prefer the layout of the dr-5 actually over a regular keyboard