What Is the Behringer PolyKey 61?
Three days ago, Behringer took to their Facebook to announce, or shall we say, ‘tease,’ their Open-source 61 Key MIDI controller.
Featuring a polyphonic aftertouch keybed, this presents as a potential maverick in the keyboard controller department
What We Know So Far
$199 is a TARGET price, not confirmed retail
Availability: TBA
No shipping date; no official spec sheet
What is pretty amazing and promising is the polyphonic aftertouch; at this price range, it's pretty rare,
The Ribbon Controller Nobody Else Ships
Combined with polyphonic aftertouch, one of the more distinctive features is kind of hard to notice, but above the keybed is a built-in ribbon controller, a feature typically found on higher-end synthesizers like Arturia PolyBrute or they hydrasynth. MIDI controllers rarely include dedicated ribbon controllers, but with polyphonic aftertouch and the ribbon controller, the PolyKey seems highly ready for modern MPE music production workflow.
Front Panel Controls
9 sliders + 9 knobs on the left; 16 pads on the right
Central display with buttons and transport controls
Pitch and mod wheels on the left
Ribbon Controller
Pitch and mod wheel with (semi-assignable) buttons
Open Source: Add Your Own Features
Unlike other controllers, this is a dedicated open source module where the firmware is designed by you, the user. Things like a built-in arpeggiator, sequencer or other expressive MIDI features have not been confirmed; however, users may be able to add these functions themselves
Where Does This Sit With Behringer’s Other Offers?
The idea of a completely open source music production space is lacking one major offering. An open source Digital Audio Workstation.
While teasing the Music Tribe Jam DAW , an open source environment to run inside of their hardware, nothing has been confirmed regarding its current development.
Its safe to assume that Behringer is embracing not just open source, but AI development in creating a custom production environment unique to each user.
But for the users who choose to work ITB, the controller (plus synthesizers at considerably different entry points) happens to be the only offering.
We’re sure that in the coming months, as these products are hopefully released, we’ll see what continuity is possible between devices.
