« Good item for beginners. »

The MPD18 is an Akai made MIDI Control Surface compatible with all the softwares out there. It's composed of 16 sensitive pads to play the notes, a fader that changed the MIDI send sound, a "Full Level" button that allows you to play the pads at full volume no matter how hard to press them, and "NR Config." button to change the presets of the pads right there in the moment, a "Presets" button to change the presets in the MPD, a "MIDI CH" button to change the channel that your MIDI device, it has an "Bank" button that changed through A, B and C which changes the MPD's notes going up the scale and a "Note Repeat" button that repeats the note while holding the pad at a specific tempo. Each pad also has a preset that while holding the "NR Config" changes the sound of the pads'. On Pad 16 you can tap the tempo that will play at the note repeat, then swing and bar count. The best part about the MPD18 is that it's kind of like a cheap piano. It does it's job, you can physically play any sound from any software and it's easier than 1st grade math. There is no such thing as Musical Typing in professional softwares like Pro Tools and the MPD18 is the most reasonable answer for a beginner with a low budget. It's the same as a piano, but in separate squares. You won't be able to play a Mozart piece or Beethoven piano solo, but you will be able to play anything that is in range or an easy solution is play the lead piece in one track and the back notes in a different track or in a different recording and you can come up with a complicated piece of music. The value is very cheap. It can do the same thing as a piano but at $100 or less. A normal MIDI piano, even though it is better for it's small details and characteristics, costs over $400 and it does the same job as the MPD18. The sound and precision of the MPD18 is excellent. It's the same as a normal piano. It never lags and it's very precise. What ever you do on the software, it does on the MPD, so it's very accurate. This was my first model I've used as a MIDI, but I no exactly how MIDI piano's work, and I know the MPD18 is an excellent choice. You should go out and buy the MPD if you're a beginner at producing and composing music. It's cheap and easy to use.