Winter NAMM: Nektar Unveils Keyboard/Controller Designed for Propellerhead Reason

January 19th, 2012 by Janice Brown

At Winter NAMM, which kicks off today, the new California-based new brand Nektar are showing their new Panorama P4 – billed as the first dedicated keyboard controller for Propellerhead Reason.

Nektar Panorama P4

The Panorama P4 (MSRP: $599) is said to offer unrivalled tactile control and user transparency, having been conceived from the outset as an instrument intended to augment a computer music system through direct and tight integration.

Panorama P4 has a 49-note weighted synth keyboard, 12 velocity and pressure-sensitive pads with choice of velocity curves, four programming zones, and 90 control elements assignable to a MIDI-message. In addition, buttons and pads can be assigned to ASCII messages which allows for sending shortcut commands to Reason. 20 preset locations store the assignments of controls for later recall. A preset is linked to a Pad Map, Keyboard Map and F-Keys Map so you can save and load these components independently of the individual presets.

Finally, according to Nektar’s announcement:

“Panorama integrates and interacts with Reason like no other controller: Every single Reason device is mapped with parameters and their values clearly visible in the display. Switching between Mixer, Instrument and Transport mode reconfigures the entire control surface by just pressing one button. Even if you are not interested in tweaking sounds but prefer to use the comprehensive library of patches in Reason, Panorama delivers an experience like it has never been available before. Patch names are displayed clearly as you step through the current sound bank. To play Panorama adds an additional dimension and is the closest you get, to operate Reason, as if its hardware.

Full List of Specs:

49-note velocity-sensitive keyboard
Aftertouch
Weighted synth-style keybed
Pitch bend & Modulation wheels
4 keyboard function buttons
3.5” high-resolution TFT display
16 encoders
9 45mm faders
100 mm ALPS motorized fader*
10 assignable LED buttons
28 additional assignable buttons
12 pads with velocity/pressure sensitivity
4 LED mode buttons
5 menu buttons under display
Pads and motorized fader select buttons
View and mute buttons
Sustain pedal jack (pedal not included)
Expression pedal jack (pedal not included)
USB port for communication with computer
USB Micro B connector for extra and external power*
Mac OS X and Windows XP, Vista & 7 compatible
*Two USB ports or external USB power supply required to power entire unit. One USB port powers entire unit with the exception of the motorized fader.

Related posts: