Music software and hardware developer Arturia recently announced that its award-
winning KeyLab 49 and KeyLab 61 MIDI controller keyboards are not only back in
black but better value than ever as compelling KeyLab 49 Black Edition and KeyLab
61 Black Edition bundles available as of July 30.
Arturia’s clever KeyLab concept of creating the ultimate hybrid synthesizer by
perfectly pairing a high-quality MIDI controller keyboard, first turned the musician’s
world upside down when launched at Musikmesse 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany.
Sales success soon followed with thousands of seriously satisfied KeyLab users
turning their musical dreams into reality throughout the world.
The 49-note namesake KeyLab 49 Black Edition and its KeyLab 61 Black Edition
bigger brother take that KeyLab concept several (software) steps further by
bundling limited-edition black versions of those award-winning white KeyLab 49 and
KeyLab 61 MIDI controller keyboards, with a four-course software selection fit for
sound design diehards and piano-driven performers alike.
Alongside Arturia’s aforesaid Analog Lab, laden with 6,000 plus-presets by
internationally-renowned sound designers, KeyLab 49 Black Edition and KeyLab 61
Black Edition each come complete with two Analog Classics: Prophet-V, Arturia’s
authentic software reincarnation of the Prophet 5 and Prophet VS Digital
Synthesizer, respectively the first (analogue) and last (digital) polysynths made by
the trailblazing Californian creator, Sequential Circuits®. Meanwhile, Solina V brings
back the still-sought after sounds of the Seventies-vintage Solina String Ensemble
as an authentic-sounding software recreation of one of the era’s sonically-defining
string machines, characterised by the lush string sounds it produced, plus its
renowned sound-thickening Ensemble effect to which it owes its name.
The KeyLab 49 Black Edition and KeyLab 61 Black Edition bundles also add Grand
Piano Model D from fellow French developer UVI into the highly musical mix. This
third-party sampled-based virtual instrument par excellence delivers the sought-
after sound of the superlative Steinway Model D concert grand piano with all the
warmth, expressiveness, and detail of the real thing, thanks to deep multi-
sampling, precision mastering, and advanced scripting — surely the perfect
acoustic-sounding performance partner to compliment Arturia’s already expansive
electronic sound palette packaged with KeyLab 49 Black Edition and KeyLab 61
Black Edition.
