Audio Science

The bane of the gigging keyboardist’s existence is the monstrously heavy gear we usually have to haul around. If you’re already switched to a laptop-based rig, however, there may be a “super controller” on the way that will change the way you look at gigging forever, and also possibly put a sizable hole in your account balance.

How many times have you wondered to yourself as you load up your 70lb Motif into your commercial-sized ‘89 Chevy van, “Why can’t they just fold the thing in half?” Well, somebody finally heard you. A start-up called Infinite Response is taking 77 weighted keys, two OLED screens, polyphonic aftertouch (yes, you heard right) and cramming them into a magnesium alloy frame that folds in half to fit in overhead compartments, while keeping the total weight at only 25 lbs. Unheard of until now, but it looks like the VAX77 could make the keyboard player’s dream a reality.

Not only is it a full-fledged MIDI controller (with built in full speed USB as well), but they tell us it will also have an onboard sound generator, making it a functional keyboard even without a laptop (or a Receptor, which they apparently had in mind when designing this beast).

Still, we don’t know what it’s going to cost, as the company designing it is still working out exactly how they’re going to incorporate things such as pitch bend and expression pedals. Once finalized, they will announce pricing and availability. They have already demonstrated it at SXSW 2007, with great reactions from keyboard players from around the world, and they expect to go to events across the US demonstrating it. It will be custom made with options such your choice of six different weights (”as light as a Hammond to the weight of a Steinway”), 5 excellent colors, and band name or logo silkscreening. Read on for full specs here: VAX77 Spec Sheet

(Via Music Thing)