Boutique MIDI Controllers: 5 Unique Ways to Control Your Music
Left field controllers from independent companies Light Reft, ATOV, Intech Studio, and more.
Struggling to find a controller that fits your needs? Here are five boutique MIDI controllers that do things differently from the big guys, many with some degree of customization.
Boutique MIDI Controllers
Boutique MIDI Controllers: A New Way to Control
There are mountains of MIDI controllers on the market, with most offering some variant on a keybed or mixer controller, or a grid pad for MPC-style beat making or clip launching. These are all useful – there really is nothing better than a solid keyboard controller with nice keys and a few knobs for tweaking plugins – but the sun doesn’t rise and set on a keybed. There are as many control needs as there are music producers and musicians. And that’s where boutique MIDI controllers come in.
In the same way that there are boutique companies making unique synthesizers, drum machines, and effects, there are also those putting their left field creative talents towards the creation of MIDI controllers. Whether you’re looking for a device to control a very specific plugin, you prefer something modular that you can swap in or out as the need arises, or you want complete customization, there’s a boutique MIDI controller for you.
Boutique MIDI Controllers: Light Reft MONOLIT
Light Reft is a small musical device company based out of Tokyo. The company is currently plugging its CONCRETE saturation unit, but it also offers a very fetching boutique MIDI controller called MONOLIT.
The sleek metal box gives you eight sliders and knobs plus a monochrome display with a clear pixel font. Honestly, I just want one because of the way it looks. But it’s also incredibly useful: for example, you can record MIDI automation, set delay times for slider movements, send notes and LFOs, and adjust various parameters directly within the device. It offers different modes, including CC, LFO, Motion, Notes, Sequencer, and Performance. It’s also got eight banks that can act as a slider bank or sequencer track. Connects include TRS MIDI and USB-C.
It costs $770 and is available directly from Light Reft.
- Light Reft MONOLIT product page
Boutique MIDI Controllers: Yaeltex Custom MIDI Controllers
An off-the-shelf MIDI controller will be fine for most producers, but if you’re a little more discerning, a little pickier than your average beatmaker, you may want to look into Yaeltex and its customizable MIDI controllers.
With the Factory, the company’s browser-based controller builder, you can decide size, layout, appearance, and types of controllers, including knobs, buttons, indicators, sliders, joysticks and even video game-style buttons. Once done, the Yaeltex team hand-builds your new controller and sends it out to you, along with software to configure it.
If you prefer, you can choose a pre-designed model, but I think half the fun would be making your own. And they’re not that expensive either given that they’re handmade bespoke units.
- Yaeltex homepage
Boutique MIDI Controllers: SoundForce SFC-Mini V4
This one may be contentious. When I first saw this product announced, I noticed a number of comments saying things to the effect of, “Why would you want a dedicated hardware controller for a plugin?” Why, indeed. Why would you want anything, really? Because it fits your specific needs, and if that need happens to be for a high-quality hardware controller for Minimoog plugins, then you’re in luck.
I’m talking about SFC-Mini V4 from controller specialist SoundForce. This is what SoundForce does. They make stellar controllers for specific types of synthesizer emulation plugins, like the Jupiter-8 and Juno-60. The SFC-Mini V4 is (no points for guessing) for your Moog Minimoog plugins. It gives you more than 65 controls mapped in an authentic Minimoog layout, and it supports all the major Minimoog versions, such as ones from Arturia, UA, GForce, and even Moog itself.
It costs €429 and is available from the SoundForce site.
- SoundForce SFC-Mini V4 product page
- More about SoundForce
Boutique MIDI Controllers: ATOV Faderpunk
Faderpunk from ATOV may look like a bog-standard MIDI controller, but it’s got a lot more going on under the hood. Like MONOLIT, it can do more than just send CV or MIDI info. Think of it as a Swiss Army knife of controllers. Or don’t, as that sounds violent.
Faderpunk offers 16 channels, each with 60mm ALPS faders, a mechanical RGB backlit button that you can customize with included stickers, and a CV jack configurable as in or out. It’s also got three auxiliary CV jacks, one MIDI in and two MIDI outs (both 3.5mm TRS) and USB MIDI.
But where the fun comes in is choosing one of the many apps https://faderpunk.cv/apps for how you want to use it. Some of these include Sequencer, Quantizer, CV to MIDI, even a Turing machine. The Eurorack applications should be obvious, but there are lot of other ways you can use it too.
Faderpunk costs around $700.
- ATOV Faderpunk product page
Boutique MIDI Controllers: Intech Studio Grid
Grid from Intech Studio is a modular ecosystem of MIDI controllers that snap together with magnets and share control information. Just plug one controller into your computer via USB-C, and all of the units in your system will share the information, just like students cheating on a test.
The modules in the Grid system are all uniform in size and shape, with a variety of controls on offer, including pots, encoders, faders, buttons, endless encoders, and even a screen. They’re beautiful to look at, with a design that’s minimal and ergonomic but also creatively inspiring.
The modules start at $128 and go up in price from there.
- Intech Studio product page
More Information
- All about MIDI controllers
- Buy MIDI controllers at Thomann*
*Note: This article contains advertising links that help us pay for this site. Don’t worry: the price for you will always be the same! If you buy something through these links, we will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
This might also interest you
