Novation's MM10 is a quite different animal to the KX88s and MX1000s of this world, offering a mere two octaves of full-size keys, plus pitch bend and mod wheels, in a very compact frame. It is the world's smallest MIDI controller keyboard. Why? Well, the principal raison d'etre behind the MM10 is as a partner to Yamaha's QY10 Walkstation. The QY10 packs a 28-note polyphonic 7-part-plus-drums multi-timbral PCM synth, with a sequencer, into a box the size of a VHS video cassette. Unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, it lacks a playable keyboard — enter the MM10, which although it makes no sound of its own, works with the QY10 to create a practical portable MIDI studio.

BASICS

The first thing to say about the MM10 is that although it is intended primarily as a companion to the QY10, it is a controller keyboard that can be used with any MIDI gear, although there aren't that many applications where compact dimensions take priority over a decent length of keyboard. The keys are velocity sensitive — there's no aftertouch — and have a good positive feel. The mechanism is the same as that used by several major manufacturers on their synth keyboards; I tried the MM10 as a controller for my Waldorf Microwave and Korg Wavestation, and it felt just fine. The pitch bend and mod wheels are also full-size, and placed in the standard position, to the left of the keyboard.

The rear panel has a MIDI Out socket, line in (stereo mini-jack), two line out sockets (both stereo mini-jacks), and two 9V DC sockets. The line outs simply amplify any signal received at the line in, the idea being to boost the QY10's rather weak headphone output. The DC power sockets can be used as inputs or outputs — if you use an external adapter to power the MM10, then you can also draw power for the QY10 from the MM10. If on the other hand you run the MM10 off batteries (six AA cells, giving around 40 hours of use), there's no spare juice for the QY10.

You can transmit on any MIDI channel (one channel at a time — this is a basic tool as master keyboards go), transpose the keyboard in whole octaves or semitones, and transmit patch change messages. Channel assignment, transposition and so on are all handled by a basic user interface: Mode and Enter buttons, and inc/dec buttons, plus a 1-digit LED display. There are four modes of operation, allowing you to select your octave, MIDI channel, transpose, and patch change message, and you select these modes with successive presses of the Mode button.

Once you are in any mode, the display alternates between showing the current parameter value and 'o', 'c', 't' or 'P', to indicate your present mode. If you don't press any of the buttons for 5 or 6 seconds, the display shuts down, and the MM10 returns to octave select mode — the keyboard doesn't remember what mode it was last in. This can be a little confusing at first — you might be flipping between MIDI channels to play different sounds, and a moment later find that the inc/dec buttons are shifting octave, not MIDI channel — but you get used to it pretty quickly. (Program changes are dealt with in quite a neat fashion: when you enter program change mode, the inc/dec buttons allow you to select any of eight banks of program change numbers — 1-16, 17-32, and so on — and the bottom 16 keys on the keyboard transmit program changes. The upper keys transmit notes as usual, allowing you to audition the patches.)

One slight problem I found with the interface was that the LED display is hard to read in full daylight, and impossible to read in sunlight — this would be irrelevant on most keyboards, but a partner to the QY10 is surely going to be taken out into the park on sunny Summer days (or on to neighbours' rooftops, from where the MM10's compact size makes quick getaways possible; I believe in testing equipment in as wide a range of situations as possible), and so it does matter for the MM10. Novation tell me that the latest MM10s have a slightly brighter display, although I think that any LED will be hard to see in bright sunlight.

Fortunately, the operations that you actually carry out are sufficiently simple that you can operate blind — if by mistake you do change MIDI channel instead of octave shift, you just change back. It does, however, mean that you have be that little bit more familiar with the user interface.

If you hold down any notes while you change octave or MIDI channel, you can sustain those notes while you play on top in your new octave range or with your new sound. This is a great feature for improvising — you can play and hold a bass drone (perhaps with a QY10 string sound), then switch channels and play another sound on top.

WITH THE QY10

It's ironic that although the QY10 is such a powerful tool in its own right, there seems to be a market for a product to supplement it. Still, the QY10 and MM10 are indeed a fine couple. The QY10 slots neatly into a recess in the top panel of the MM10, with the QY10's controls easily accessible and display at a good viewing angle. The fit of the QY10 in the slot is a little loose — the thinking is that a tight fit would mean scratching the cases of either or both units — but I found a little Blu-Tack to be ideal for securing things. A mini-multicore is supplied with the MM10: MM10 MIDI Out to QY10 MIDI In, QY10 line out to MM10 line in, and MM10 DC to QY10 DC in (this connection should only be made if you are using an external PSU for the MM10; see above).

The line outputs of the MM10 can drive headphones or, via a suitable lead, provide a stereo line input to your mixer. With headphones, levels are certainly high enough to allow use on a train or plane, where background noise can be intrusive, though the amplified output is noticeably noisier than the QY10.

Being able to use a 'real' keyboard certainly transforms programming on the QY10, without sacrificing too much in the way of portability; you can still fit the MM10 and QY10 into a corner of your suitcase, which is what counts. The principal benefits are that you can actually doodle away on full-size keys, and record parts pretty much as you would on a full size MIDI setup. It's also much easier to program polyphonic parts into the four tracks (bass, drums, chord 1, chord 2) that make up the QY10's Patterns (which you then chain into Songs), and into the four Song tracks which go on top of those.

As a QY10 user, I that found the MM10 certainly fulfills its role as a portable MIDI controller to partner the Walkstation. If you've bought a QY10 to capture ideas away from your studio (in which case you're in the company of members of several 'name' bands), but find the diminutive monophonic keyboard both a pain and a hindrance, then the MM10 is just what you need, allowing you to realise the full potential of Yamaha's pocket workstation. You may need a bigger pocket, but you'll certainly get more work done.

Further information

Novation MM10 £149.99 inc VAT.

Novation Electronic Music Systems, (Contact Details).