MusicRadar Verdict
High-quality controller keyboard but the synth only offers basic editing options.
Pros
- +
High-quality keyboard. Built-in synth. Layering capabilities.
Cons
- -
Slider/mod-wheel issues. Limited external gear control.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
The bus-powered E-mu Longboard 61, as the name suggests, is a 61-key affair that combines its role as a USB controller keyboard with that of a basic synthesizer.
There's a 64MB sound engine onboard, whose sounds are accessed via an 8 x 4 matrix in the central section, which clearly labels the tones available. These can be modified, with each sound containing an aftertouch assignment, as well as controls to the left for the filter (cutoff and resonance), envelope (attack and release), with additional 'amount' dials for the onboard chorus and reverb modules.
It's easy to layer sounds either across the entire keyboard range or to set up your own split points and on the far left, a slider allows you to dial in values for program change, MIDI channel assignments or velocity curves.
The keyboard has a nice feel, offering enough resistance to be really playable, though the slider isn't so smooth and, on the review unit, the pitch bend wheel featured an audible mechanical click.
The Longboard attempts to cover two bases and if you're a live player needing a limited selection of reasonable 'commonplace' internal sounds but also want control over your laptop, this might not be a bad choice, though do be aware that control of external gear is limited to the instrument's sound editing dials.
“A pro-quality tool for hard-working musicians who like the guitar to do the heavy lifting”: Fender American Ultra II Stratocaster HSS
“He claims to find me completely indigestible, but whenever he walks on stage he sings my lyrics, vocal melodies and song titles - is this hypocrisy or self-deception?”: Morrissey hits out at Johnny Marr
“You never know what will happen. You’re on a bus with pythons”: Orianthi on her Orange Oriverb amp, how soloing is like rapping and why confetti cannons are just one of the risks on an Alice Cooper tour
