Test: Novation FLkey 37
Tailor-made for Fl-Studio, the Flkey 37 is all about one thing: the perfect workflow. We wanted to know how exactly the USB/MIDI keyboard controller can help you produce?
The saying „all beginnings are difficult“finds little meaning with the FLkey 37, as the compact but well-organized design and, particularly, the compatibility with FL Studio make getting started a breeze. This keyboard controller is linked to the DAW within a few clicks and the labeling of individual knobs and pads make many functions self-explanatory. The keyboard‘s range of three octaves is perfectly adequate for common melodies and chord progressions for EDM, whereas producers of classical music or film scores tend to bite the bullet for instruments with a large range.
With the relatively hard velocity, it is especially fun to play faster melodies and rhythmic chords, while it also makes it harder to play a chord as an arpeggio, for example. The pads are relatively small, but have a pleasant velocity and RGB lighting. But what exactly are the advantages of this keyboard controller designed for FL Studio?
Plug-in mode
Among the various pot modes of the FLkey is the plug-in mode. If this is activated by simultaneously pressing Shift and the pad labeled plug-in, all possible parameters of the plug-in, such as attack, decay, sustain, release can be set with the knobs. It is worth mentioning that the knobs have a very pleasant resistance, which makes accidental adjustment almost impossible. There are also extra pads with which you can browse through the presets in a relaxed way. To be fair, only Fl Studio‘s internal plug-ins and, unfortunately, no effects can be controlled.
Recording
The eight buttons on the far right make life easier when it comes to recording. Aside from the typical Record, Play and Stop buttons, there are also buttons for switching the metronome on and off, for automatic quantizing, as well as one each for undo and redo. The most useful of the eight, however, is the score log button. It records everything you‘ve played recently into the piano roll, even if you didn‘t record it. So it‘s no problem if you forget to arm the recording while jamming.
Mixer control
With the eight knobs, it is also possible to control both the Volume and the Pan of the mixer channels. Conveniently, FL Studio shows which mixer channels are currently connected to the knobs by pressing Shift. Analogously, Pan and Volume can also be linked with the controls in the Channel Rack. It would be desirable to be able to control the mix portion of the effects in the mixer with FLkey, but this is only possible if you link them manually in custom mode.
Scale mode
With the pads, you can not only finger-drum, but actually play whole chords. When the FLkey is in scale mode, each pad is assigned a chord. With the preset pads you can change the corresponding chords, from common triads to four and even five-note chords. Particularly for producers with less music theory background knowledge, this function significantly improves the workflow. If you are too lazy to search for the desired chord in the presets, you can simply play the chord yourself and assign it to a pad using the user chord function.
Verdict
Producing with the FLkey is fun. Since you can set all the important functions for jamming and drumming on the FLkey itself, especially during the creative phase, the flow is maintained at all times. The features are especially well-suited for producing genres from EDM. You can tell it‘s designed specifically for FL Studio, but only for that. Although you can use FLkey as a keyboard in other DAWs, the best functions remain unused. Therefore, the FLkey 37 is a highly recommended product for any FL user, beginner or not. ⸬