Carbon 49 MIDI Controller: Is Your iPad Ready For Its Keyboard Solo?
GarageBand’s velocity-sensitive drums and keyboards — which use the iPad’s accelerometers to know how hard you hit the screen — are nothing short of amazing. But just as you wouldn’t want to write a novel on a virtual keyboard, neither would a musician want to perform by trying to hit the little on-screen keys.
Enter The Carbon 49, a USB MIDI keyboard controller for the iPad. The controller, from Samson, connects to the tablet using your camera connection kit and has a slot up top to keep the iPad snug and safe as you play.
You can use the keyboard with any MIDI-compatible app, which includes GarageBand, and it can even draw its power from the iPad so you can take it busking. The keyboard has 49 semi-weighted keys (hence its name), various performance controls and has connections for MIDI-out, a sustain pedal and USB.
And at just $89, it looks to be something of a bargain.
- Source Samson
- Thanks Brad
Charlie Sorrel sits in his gadget nerve-center in Barcelona, Spain, and spits out words about various weird plastic widgets while the sun shines outside his iCave. Previously found at Wired.com's Gadget Lab covering cameras, power cables and sneaking in as much Apple-centric coverage as he could, Charlie spends his rare moments outside perched atop a bicycle and snapping photos. You can follow him on Twitter via 
