The unique KeyStep 37 earned its place on desks and phases worldwide for good purpose. Compact, versatile and genuinely playable, it sat at a candy spot between minimal keyboard controllers and full-blown manufacturing rigs. With the mk2, Arturia has not merely refreshed the aesthetics. The revisions run deeper than that, addressing real-world limitations while including instruments that push the instrument into decidedly extra inventive territory.
The headline additions are Mutate and the Phrase Arpeggiator, each designed to maintain sequences evolving with out stopping the music. Alongside these sits an up to date OLED display, a second CV Mod output, USB-C, a devoted energy change and a strip of 39 LEDs above the keybed that tracks notes in actual time. On paper it reads like a focused improve. In observe, it modifications the way you work together with the instrument.
What’s Truly Completely different
Bodily, the mk2 provides 5 keys, two additional buttons and 4 devoted encoders for navigating sub-menus. That may sound incremental however the impact on workflow is important. The place the unique required a number of button mixtures to entry deeper settings, now you can attain them instantly. Much less menu-diving means extra taking part in.
The OLED show is a real improve over what got here earlier than. Suggestions is speedy and readable, which issues if you end up mid-set and want to verify a parameter with out guesswork. The LED mild information above the keybed is equally sensible, visualising observe output in a approach that’s helpful for each efficiency and understanding what the sequencer is definitely doing.
On the again panel, the second Mod output is a welcome addition for anybody operating a modular or semi-modular setup. Now you can assign Mod 1 and Mod 2 independently to aftertouch, velocity, mod wheel, a random per-step sign or a pulse per step. Paired with CV Pitch and Gate, this provides you 4 simultaneous CV outputs from a tool that matches in a backpack.
Sequencer and Generative Instruments
The sequencer stays the core of the instrument and it has been strengthened. Sample chaining means that you can hyperlink sequences into longer constructions, which opens up real song-building from a tool that beforehand felt higher suited to loops. Unquantised recording is now selectable through an extended press on the Seq button, letting you seize pure timing slightly than forcing every thing to the grid.
Mutate is the place issues get attention-grabbing. Press the button and the present sequence or arpeggio is remodeled, anyplace from delicate variation to one thing significantly extra surprising. It operates on the fly with out stopping playback, which suggests you should utilize it as a reside efficiency instrument slightly than a studio-only function. The diploma of transformation isn’t random chaos; it retains melodic and rhythmic coherence while introducing real variation.
Spice works alongside Mutate, accessed through Shift and the mod wheel. It injects managed randomness into rhythmic patterns, protecting sequences shifting in ways in which really feel human slightly than mechanical. Used collectively, Mutate and Spice provide the sense of a sequence that’s at all times growing, which is strictly what you need in a reside context.
The Phrase Arpeggiator provides a unique dimension once more. Moderately than biking via notes in a set up-down sample, it loops a generated phrase constructed from whichever notes you might be holding. Every of the sample arpeggio kinds, accessed through keys 7 via 15, produces completely different phrase densities and feels, from sparse and sparse to busy and polyphonic. Hit Mutate on prime of a Sample Arp and the phrase shifts into a brand new variation with out dropping the beat.
Connectivity
The again panel is effectively specified for this way issue. USB-C handles each energy and MIDI over USB, changing the micro-USB of the unique. MIDI In and Out cowl {hardware} routing. Sync I/O retains the unit locked to exterior clock sources equivalent to drum machines and modular gear. A pedal enter provides expression or maintain relying on task. The Kensington lock slot is a small however smart addition for reside use.
The facility change is new and extra sensible than it sounds. With the ability to energy down with out unplugging USB is especially helpful in studio environments the place the unit is a component of a bigger sign chain. These are the sorts of refinements that come from listening to how individuals truly use gear slightly than from a product roadmap drawn up in isolation.
Playability
The 37 slim keys with velocity and aftertouch sensitivity stay one of many higher keyboard actions on this worth bracket. They don’t seem to be weighted, and no person ought to anticipate them to be at this measurement, however they’re responsive and constant. Aftertouch particularly is effectively calibrated, offering sufficient resistance to stop unintentional triggering while remaining accessible throughout sustained passages.
Chord mode is value exploring in depth. Holding the Chord button while urgent keys units a chord form that follows no matter observe you play subsequently. The Velocity Unfold setting controls what number of notes inside that chord sound primarily based on how exhausting you play, which introduces an expressive dimension that may make even easy chord progressions really feel dynamic. Pair it with a Scale mode to remain in key and the outcomes are speedy.
Gate Size Management means that you can form observe length throughout the sequence, shifting from staccato to legato with a single parameter. It’s the kind of function that sound designers will attain for consistently, and it really works equally effectively whether or not you might be sequencing a synthesiser or sending CV to a modular voice.
Verdict
The KeyStep 37 mk2 is a measured and assured evolution of a product that already labored effectively. Arturia has not over-engineered it. The additions serve the instrument slightly than pad a spec sheet, and the general expertise is of a tool that has been refined via real use slightly than committee.
Mutate and the Phrase Arpeggiator are the standout options for anybody involved in generative approaches to composition. The expanded CV connectivity makes it compelling for modular customers. And the improved bodily controls and OLED show increase the sensible ceiling for reside efficiency. At this measurement and worth level, it’s troublesome to discover a comparable instrument that does as a lot as this one.
For producers working on the intersection of {hardware} and software program, for performers constructing hybrid reside units, and for anybody who desires a compact controller that doesn’t compromise on depth, the KeyStep 37 mk2 makes a powerful case for itself.
AT A GLANCE
Keys: 37 slim keys, velocity and aftertouch
Sequencer: Polyphonic, sample chaining, unquantised recording
Arpeggiator: Basic and Phrase modes, Spice, Mutate
CV outputs: Pitch, Gate, Mod 1, Mod 2 (new)
Connectivity: USB-C, MIDI In/Out, Sync I/O, Pedal enter
Show: OLED display, 39-LED keybed strip
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