The Best MIDI Controllers for Synths, Recording, and More

Whether you’re a modular synth nerd or the bassist of a troglodyte doom metal band, the chances that you’ve encountered a device that utilizes MIDI are nearly 100 percent at this point. The communication protocol is over 40 years old, yet it’s hardly changed at all since head honchos from Roland, Oberheim, and Sequential Circuits collaborated on a universal language that musical instruments can use to talk to one another despite being produced by different brands. Its low-tech nature is its greatest strength, making it a quick and reliable way to control a synth or a rack of guitar pedals with hardly any digital bandwidth at all. MIDI is great because it’s barely evolved at all.

What has evolved is the cottage industry of musical accessories that utilize MIDI to do wild and wonderful things. Are you keen on adjusting filters and delay times with the ...