Samson has entered the USB keyboard
controller market with a pair of new key-
boards, the Carbon 49 and the Graphite
49. We’ll be taking a quick look at the
entry-level Carbon 49 in our 2012 Gift
Guide next month, but in this issue we’re
peeking under the hood of the full-featured
Graphite 49. It offers a 49-note (4-octave)
keyboard with a full set of remote control
features in a light (about 10 pounds) and
portable bus-powered package.
Taking the tour
The Graphite 49’s layout is clean and
surprisingly compact; it offers pitch and
mod wheels, nine sliders, eight endless
encoders, sixteen buttons, four drum pads,
and five transport keys, plus assorted
menu and function buttons and a large
backlit LCD that’s packed with useful data.
The rear panel offers a MIDI Out port,
one
1
/4" jack for a sustain pedal, the USB
connection, and a Power switch. An
optional power supply lets the Graphite
49 function as a MIDI controller without a
computer attached if desired, but for our
tests it happily ran on USB power.
The Graphite 49 comes with a short
USB cable, a thorough paper manual,
and an install CD for Native Instruments
Komplete Elements, a set of virtual instru-
ments for beginning players. Note that
there is no installer for device drivers; the
Graphite 49 is class-compliant for
Windows XP/Vista/7 and for Mac OS X
10.4.9 and up, you just plug it in and it’s
ready to go. I had no issues trying it on
PCs running Windows XP and 7, nor on
Macs running OS X 10.4.11 and 10.6.8.
More than meets the eye
When using the Graphite 49 you actu-
ally have more controllers than are visible
on the front panel; there are two Banks of
controls for the first eight sliders and the
eight encoders, so there are actually 17
and 16 different controls available.
(Slider 9 doesn’t change when you switch
Banks, which makes it very useful as a
g
lobal volume control.)
In addition, the four drum pads are
organized into two Pad Banks for a total of
eight different pad functions. These pads
are not only velocity sensitive but also
transmit aftertouch, so they can play notes
and use aftertouch to control drum
machine functions like rolls and note
repeat. They also serve double duty if
desired; they can be set to send MIDI
Continuous Controller (CC) data as well,
using the aftertouch sensors. I am a big fan
of pressure pads for expression control
and was very happy to see this added
function, as I am more likely to use it for
that than to program a drum machine!
All of the buttons can be set to send
MIDI note data or CC information; they
can also be set to toggle (push on/push
off) or momentary action. The display
shows if any of the buttons, including the
transport keys, are toggled on, so you can
see at a glance which controls are active.
Ports and Zones
The Graphite 49 is seen by the comput-
er as having five output and two input
Ports. The first four output Ports allow the
Graphite 49 to subdivide the data it sends
to your computer, so that one application
can watch one Port while another watches
a different one. This allows you (for exam-
ple) to play a standalone virtual instrument
from the keyboard, a standalone drum
BY MIKE METLAY
Samson Graphite 49 USB MIDI Controller
Excerpted from the November edition of RECORDING Magazine 2012
©2014 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119
For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com
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