Best MIDI Keyboards / Controllers for Pro Tools (By a Producer!)

I've spoken with many of their engineers and sales reps at NAMM shows, and I know they spare no expense on quality components for their controllers. They've consistently improved their keyboards' quality, even though their first models were already exceptional.

They're one of the last companies still using the weighted hammer Fatar TP/110 keys, which are surprisingly lightweight yet feel incredibly realistic — like a hybrid between a real piano and a high-quality Rhodes electric piano. One of my favorite things about StudioLogic is that they keep everything simple, similar to how Avid approaches Pro Tools.

While I appreciate controllers with many functions, I also value simplicity. The SL73 is perfectly sized like a Rhodes electric piano with 73 keys, and it includes essential synthesizer functions like the spring-loaded joystick for modulation and pitch — perfect for lead parts. It also has transport controls that work brilliantly with Pro Tools and can be configured for other DAWs.

Playing this keyboard feels like using a real instrument. It reminds me of my old Rhodes Chroma or the Kurzweil K2500 I used for sound design in my early days. This keyboard inspires you to play like a true modern keyboardist.

If you love Rhodes electric pianos, Wurlitzers, and vintage electro mechanical keyboards, but also want the look and usability of a Waldorf synthesizer, look no further. This controller is streamlined to work perfectly with Pro Tools — it even features audio streaming over USB and excellent converters for its analog outputs.

I specifically chose it for Pro Tools because the sounds from their Numa sound ecosystem and internal presets are incredibly realistic and rich. As mentioned earlier, I rarely keep things in MIDI for more than a day or two — I print everything to audio. Since Pro Tools is primarily an audio environment, its interface, simplicity, and ability to run at low buffer sizes with HDX software without taxing your CPU make it ideal.

All these features make Pro Tools feel like a tape machine or recording studio where you simply capture performances in audio. You need a keyboard that sounds and feels inspiring, and this is it.

While there are other controllers with 88 keys and more functions (including a Studiologic version), there's something special about the 73-key layout that makes this my go-to electronic keyboard. It works perfectly for piano too.

Having 88-key keyboards isn't always necessary. Unless you're playing classical music, you rarely use the extreme octaves. The middle 73 keys are what you'll actually use most of the time.

If you want a lightweight version of a Rhodes and Wurlitzer that offers realistic performance with incredible detail, don't bother tracking MIDI in Pro Tools. Just use a sound from the internal presets or NUMA player — or if you prefer, use a high-end VST like Spectrasonics’ Keyscape. Route it to an instrument track, bus it to an audio track, and start playing.

This approach is one of the best ways to preserve your performance.

Here's why: when tracking MIDI with buffer sizes above 128 and using delay compensation in Pro Tools or most DAWs, some notes might not be captured with the exact timing you played them. This phenomenon, called MIDI jitter, is common in many DAWs.

When you use Pro Tools MIDI to trigger sounds and print them to audio, you get a much better capture of your feel and groove. You can always record MIDI as a backup on the instrument track in case your performance needs minor editing — it's there if you need it.

While film composing is often associated with creating orchestral music and mockups in your DAW — which are later replaced with real players, as seen in Instagram posts by composers like Hans Zimmer and John Powell — there's a lesser-known reality: for lower-budget projects, you typically create everything inside Pro Tools using virtual instruments.

There's usually not enough money or time to record a huge orchestra — that's just unrealistic. When you're creating everything from epic trailers to TV jingles, your palette of sounds can reach into the thousands. That's why you need a controller that helps you visually sort out what's what.

That's where the Komplete Kontrol line really shines, thanks to two important features: the RGB backlit note lights, which show you by color what's loaded on those keys, and the ability to browse your sounds directly from the screen and encoder.

These features save you from the overwhelming task of using a mouse or trackpad to scroll through thousands of sounds — whether you're looking for the right low drum for a cue, the perfect violin sound for a horror scene, or specific cymbal sounds in an ethnic or African percussion kit.

The ability to audition, load, and see the groupings of what each key will trigger makes browsing through sounds incredibly efficient.

Let me give you an example: say I'm doing an epic Marvel trailer and need the biggest-sounding orchestra possible.

Many companies like Heavyocity and Spitfire Audio create Kontakt instruments specifically for these genres. However, they often use different keyboard layouts — one company might split basses and cellos on the left side, while another might center the full string section across the keyboard for processing through distortion and effects.

Drums present an even bigger challenge with their complex layouts. For instance, a drum kit recorded at Abbey Road will have a completely different key arrangement than a djembe ensemble recorded in Tanzania.

With the Native Instruments Kontrol series, particularly the 61-key keyboard, I create custom presets with my preferred splits. I'll place Heavyocity Kontakt libraries like Damage 2 and Damage Guitars on the left side of the keyboard, while Spitfire Audio libraries like Albion One occupy the other half.

This way, when I call up the Kontrol preset, I have a split where my drums, percussion, and guitars are played by my left hand, while I play pizzicato or marcato big string and brass sections with my right hand.

Even though I can go in later and create really precise, detailed versions of all these instruments individually, when you're getting ideas or composing to picture, being able to quickly sketch out ideas with drums, guitars, and big-sounding brass and string patches all laid out on a 61-key keyboard not only saves time but actually improves your writing.

I think too often people write modularly now — starting with drums, then adding bass, then pads, then top-line sounds — and you kind of lose the perspective of what it's like to play something out on the piano. At least, I've felt that with my own music. Being able to split great-sounding libraries to test how you play them in real time is incredibly important for generating ideas.

This works incredibly well in Pro Tools because you can print to audio stems instantly — faster, I think, than in any other DAW.

Here's a tip: when you're trying out these libraries and playing in real time, commit some of it to audio instantly by bussing out a version of what you're playing in MIDI straight to audio. Sometimes you'll create a section that sounds amazing.

Maybe it's four bars or eight bars — you can clean it up a little in audio, maybe quantize it, and treat it as a loop. I've actually started full songs by creating these loops.

Read my full review of Native Instruments S-series Mk3.

While there are controllers with 16 pads, they either lack keys or become expensive when they include them. After reviewing all my controllers and considering Pro Tools specifically, I concluded that the ideal MPC-style controller would have 37 keys, 8 pads, and eight encoders.

That's the magic number, and here's why: when programming MPC beats, the most-used sounds are kick, snare, closed hi-hat, open hi-hat, and crash. Looking at most of my programs, these sounds are always loaded in my first eight pads. The remaining eight pads are used for toms, rides, or effects.

I've noticed that my encoders serve consistent functions across brands. I dedicate two encoders for filter frequency and resonance on VSTs and soft synths, two for delay feedback and mix, two for reverb length and mix, and two for miscellaneous controls like photos or envelope settings.

I rarely need more than 8 to 12 encoder settings. This controller provides all the encoders I need, plus convenient transport controls right below them.

The upgraded Mini Plus includes groove settings from their MPC lines and features a polyphonic step sequencer. This allows you to play back both chords and individual note sequences — not just single-note or bassline sequences. It's particularly effective for pop music when you want interesting plucky chords, creating amazing arpeggios and sequences.

While I love the Arturia step sequencer's feel, the Akai swing — built into the keyboard sequencer — is unmatched for hip-hop. This legendary swing helped create the signature sound of producers like Dr. Dre and Just Blaze.

Pro Tools, while capable of using third-party sequencer plug-ins and arpeggiators, lacks the integrated sequencing tools found in Reason or Ableton with their factory-included arpeggiator plug-ins.

With Pro Tools, you'll likely need to purchase additional plug-ins for creating arpeggios and sequences.

Having these features built into your controller makes a huge difference in Pro Tools — it's faster and more efficient when you can simply trigger arpeggiated or sequenced sounds. That's why I strongly recommend having at least one controller with a quality arpeggiator for Pro Tools.

The same applies to drums. Pro Tools doesn't include factory drum tools like Ableton's drum racks or Reason's Kong.

However, you can effectively use Native Instruments Battery or FXpansion Geist, triggering them with your controller's pads.

This lightweight, backpack-friendly controller offers impressive features. Plus, it includes an incredible four-way joystick controller — perfect for synthesis.

While Studiologic offers something similar, the Akai joystick provides tighter response and better automation. When using sounds like the Arturia Prophet VS emulation or Korg Wavestation VST, this joystick delivers an authentic vintage keyboard experience.

Vector synthesis, as this technique is known, is perfect for creating those '80s sounds currently resurging in popular music — artists like Chappell Roan and Bruno Mars use it in their hits. This synthwave sound, prominent in soundtracks like Stranger Things, relies heavily on joystick-style modulation and pitch control like the Akai's.

You can also assign it to control any CC-compatible parameter. I love using it for unique filter LFO rhythms — moving it to create interplay between filter cutoff and resonance, producing sidechain-style sweeping rhythms. Try it with a lead sound and you'll hear what I mean.

This approach stems from my experience in the early 2000s when computers were limited. We had to record to Alesis ADAT machines, then sync them with tape machines or Pro Tools. All our MIDI work happened either in hardware sequencers, keyboards with built-in sequencers like the Korg Triton, or drum machines that could sequence, like AKAI's MPC series.

Growing up, I learned a valuable lesson I still use today: explore instruments and synthesizers thoroughly and create great sounds before recording. This got me into synthesis and selecting effective sounds, using the synthesizer's built-in effects rather than relying on plugins after recording the patch or synth sound.

Sometimes I miss simply laying down the exact sound I want — where all I need in the mix is a touch of EQ and compression because the effects, detuning, and LFOs are already perfectly set.

I know many musicians share my approach, so this one's for you. If you're using Pro Tools mainly to capture field recordings and performances, you might not even need to access Pro Tools' MIDI features.

This Yamaha might be perfect for you because it comes loaded with 1,000 of the best sounds from the Motif XS flagship workstation (which costs thousands of dollars). It also uses Yamaha's FM iOS Center app, based on the Yamaha DX7 — perfect for those classic '80s sounds.

Having the high-end Motif effects from the VCM FX engine included in a controller under $600 is remarkable. Many people spend thousands on the Motif specifically for this VCM effect engine.

I own a Motif that I frequently use for live showcases with artists, choosing it over competitors primarily for these effects. Many were emulated from legendary '70s hardware racks like the AMS RX16 and the Lexicon 224 units.

Only Universal Audio and Yamaha have captured these units authentically with all their musical quirks, and Yamaha is the only one offering these emulations in hardware.

Here's a tip: try the wah-wah and phaser mixes when playing vintage synth sounds like Clav and Rhodes. They're incredible.

If you're not technically inclined and want to avoid the VST and virtual synthesis route in Pro Tools, this keyboard is perfect. Between the onboard sounds and the iOS FM app, you'll have nearly everything needed for most tracks — though you might want additional drums, despite its included drum loops and sounds.

This is also an excellent controller and synth for live use, with 128-note polyphony that lets you split and layer sounds to create rich pads and textures.

The 1,000 presets from their flagship model should provide plenty of options for a live set.

This is especially useful with Pro Tools, since it doesn't come with many internal sounds — it's more of an environment for third-party synth and drum sound plugins. It has some Avid libraries, but they're not outstanding.

Pro Tools assumes you'll use your favorite third-party plugins, so it focuses on mixing tools and effects like delays and reverb rather than sound libraries. That works for me since my workflow involves creating interesting loops in Ableton and Reason before stemming them to Pro Tools.

Here's another great feature: this keyboard has a headphone input for connecting tablets or phones, perfect for practicing, learning a live set, or working out songs you want to reproduce or remix in Pro Tools.

Have you ever needed a mixer just to play along with your iPad while using your DAW and audio interface? This keyboard eliminates the need for external routing gear, making everything more convenient.