Review: Arturia KeyLab Essential 61 mk3 MIDI Keyboard Controller in Rose Quartz

Bought with real money, not Monopoly cash, not gifted.

Have you ever been to a Peruvian restaurant? A classic entree is called bistec a lo pobre. I’ve eaten it myself way back when to try it, before I went meatless. Originally, I suppose it was a peasant food, and I’ve made my own swirl on it, the vegan edition, faux runny eggs and all.

It had to be good, 9/10-10/10 good for the value, for me to want it. So I chose Arturia.

My first criteria in choosing a MIDI keyboard I put on a credit card was it had to be priced low-ish enough that it is “affordable,” good riddance because $300 USD is plenty of money for many musicians and music students, and not so bad, it might make me feel like MIDI controller a lo pobre about to break. Funny enough, the Peruvian-Chilean dish doesn’t make you feel bad, but you know what I refer to. That feeling of, “I got this, and it’s overpriced junk about to fall apart on me, aesthetically hideous, a visual reminder I only got this because I couldn’t afford what I wanted” every one of us has had at one point when our parents refused to buy what we wanted.

Budgeting for anything is a big deal to me. People buy from people. And women are rarely, if ever, marketed to in music software and production tools.

When I go out, either someone else I see out and about or I personally get asked about something. Or people online. What I’m wearing. Makeup. Cute workout clothes. My hair products. Other people’s outfits, computers, hair products. You see these patterns of psychological analysis from centuries, people buy when they see real, normal people, good looking, average, plain but normal, everyday people using things.

Using a $3,000 MIDI device and bragging about it online when I can make music just fine, fingers crossed, someday that Best Original Score Oscar winner we all dream of, on a pretty basic but cool MIDI keyboard felt like two different paths in the fork in the road. I wear cheap makeup, my main fancy items are accessories because my outfits showcase me when I dress up, I am quite often in Victoria’s Secret PINK head to toe apart from wearing my own graphic tees or local business graphic tees sometimes, so I felt the moral thing to do was be that person who can change the world. Post it online. Write in this diary entry. Share with you friends. Putting out the little change you want to see online doesn’t require you to be today’s biggest A-list star. It might be me, or you.

And in my knowing, music marketing targets a largely almost exclusively music nerd-dom male buyer’s world, with this push for younger men to throw everything on credit cards with money they do not have. Heartbreaking that so many people consistently buy the latest fad, or they’ll own who knows how many MIDI keyboards reviewing all of them online, or posting about them on socials for everyone to have a shared fun moment as they try not to remember that credit card debt.

I could sit this one out. Or I could post this review because maybe you’re LGBTQ or trans, female, old as the dust on this earth, in first grade, a single everyday Old Navy dad raising kids on his own who doesn’t feel cool, or somehow feeling left out of the marketing because I have been there and am, in fact, there in the dark hole of feeling like I am not the intended audience. My motto of keep something, use it with passion, isn’t the message consumerism wants us to have. They don’t want some gal composing on the floor or the park in workout clothes like me with some brands because they can have a conservatory trained lady who is in all of the right social circles and looks like their concept of what women in music look like, who scores subdued, “quaint” work, and that’s fine.

Arturia boldly made this keyboard in turquoise and pink, meaning someone there, at least one person on the team, cares about people having fun with composition and music production.

Brights speak to me a lot mentally. Your mental health is the most important thing you can own. I code my laptops and tech gear in brights. My flip phone that’s my primary device is neon pink. For me, this little thing boosts my mental health so much, I become more productive. So thank you to Arturia, whoever made this decision, because you have made me happy and certainly, countless people who are using this device.

It’s (most likely) class complaint! 🤩

What is a class compliant MIDI controller? That means you pop it in, without anything, no drivers, nothing special, and can input notes into your DAW.

I’m not talking about the extended controls and mapping. The basics.

My laptops I work on are:

• 2022 M1 13” MacBook Air

• 2013 11” MacBook Air, upgraded inside like new

• late 2008 aluminum 13” MacBook, upgraded inside like new, purchased in February 2009

I popped this in. The Arturia MIDI worked instantly on all of my laptops, and I was wowed when my first born child, my first ever Apple computer, the late 2008, ran it splendidly in Logic Pro.

With the installers, everything worked great in the 2013 and 2022 MacBook Airs for the special feature buttons.

It comes with the Arturia Lab Pro plugin and many virtual instruments!

A major selling point to me as someone who dipped in the Arturia synth pool with their cheap plugins and really loved what they had to offer. Synths in every category of music, every instrument, sounding like you could make a blockbuster movie right now with them or a dance tune. Outstanding.

While you’re at it, browse the additional $5+ synth packs because they are so genre specific, it’s like you don’t need to work very hard to sound impressive. The synths enhance whatever you have going from your originality.

You can program the drum pad buttons any shades of the rainbow.

Mine went kawaii, with musical notes as my picks.

Physical touching and visuals review.

Before the item arrived, dropping it and breaking it was my fear. Semi weighted keys? How heavy would they be?

The “semi weighted” keys feel really lightweight and springy. Not junk, lightweight. Might weighted keys be preferable? Sure, the good news is this is so light and portable. I don’t have to worry about the keys going sour because it was immobile.

The side of the device feels like a mock lightweight ceramic. I was expecting plastic throughout.

The shade of pink in real life is comparable to a lighter SMEG pastel pink kettle or toaster. You see those a lot in videos and movies. Barbie has pink SMEG at the start of her Dream House journey in 202'3’s Barbie. I absolutely love it. Everyone around me who saw it thinks it is the cutest thing ever. You wonder why this shade is a seasonal product and not a permanent option. If the new Arturia 37 mini key came in something not basic black or white, like a pastel from Candy Land, I would love it. Because I am so wired to be productive when I see happy things. Right now, the 25 key MiniLab is the only available bright item. For who knows how much longer. You are never too old or young, the wrong gender, the wrong person, to love a good yellow, orange, pink, bright blue, or lilac. I dont understand the lack of choices. The Roland GoKEY in aqua seems to be the exception to the “composing must be visually dull” rule.

Someone said online how the drum pads feel like “rubbish.” I disagree, they seem fine with me.

Would I pound out the plastic keys on this? No, never, but they don’t feel like they are going to break on me if used responsibly for the sole purpose of recording music on my computer and rehearsing ideas in my head before I record them.

“Should I get 49 or 61 keys?”

I felt the 61 keys were worth the extra smidge of money. With 61, I can make quick edits for the missing extra low or extra high octave. Octave jumping drama from the 19th century is my dream whenever I am able to compose it, and you can’t go wrong. Maybe for a more travel setup where you want enough room, I would get a 49, or if you want to take it around campus or the park. The 61 can go outside fine, but 49 feels a little lighter and transportable, probably? Or if you have money to burn, get all of them while the collectible brights last? Because you’ll never know when you are in the mood?

People say get the 49 for producing hip hop beats and dance music. Hip hop really uses lots of classical elements, so I wouldn’t listen to that much. Do whatever feels right. I don’t regret the 61 keys as my purchase.

With those people online reviewing every piece of tech gear that ever comes out, take that with a grain of salt. They aren’t going to say anything bad. They are going to worship the ground people walk on because they want more free stuff, or say something extra mean to scare you from purchasing an item because meanness brings in clickbait, clickbait brings in ad revenue.

The Arturia keyboard isn’t the most perfect MIDI controller ever that will please people because you dumped money on it. It’s cute, not fancy, does the job it says, and is a very decent quality for the price. I am a very satisfied customer. Looking at it and using it brings joy to me. Joy isn’t going to come from spending more money. You cannot fabricate joy in a lab.

Joy is what makes your creative outcomes improve. You are hungry getting to work on something, or that idea flew to you, and you have to jot it down. Happiness brings that faster and better.

Read my experience with Guitar Center placing an order for this item in a prior post.