Keystep

Keystep
Keystep
	The KeyStep 37 (bottom left) with various synthesisers
Manufacturer	Arturia
Technical specifications
Polyphony	8
Aftertouch expression	yes
Velocity expression	yes
Input/output
Keyboard	32
Left-hand control	pitch bend and mod strips
External control	MIDI and CV

The Keystep (alternatively capitalised KeyStep) is a keyboard controller manufactured by the French music technology company Arturia in 2016. The keyboard produces both MIDI and control voltage signals. The Keystep also includes a sequencer and an arpeggiator.

Release

Arturia announced the Keystep on 21 January 2016 at the NAMM show.^[1]

Design

The Keystep is a MIDI and CV/gate controller with 32 mini keys.^[2]^[3] Pitch bend and modulation strips are present instead of wheels. The Keystep includes an arpeggiator and sequencer.^[3] The back panel has connections for sync, MIDI, CV/gate and sustain pedal.^[2]

Limited editions

In July 2021, Arturia released a black-coloured limited edition run of their _Step range of controllers. This included versions of the Keystep controllers. The changes made to the controllers were purely cosmetic: only the controller's colours were changed.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Controversy

On 22 November 2020, Behringer released a new keyboard controller named Swing. The controller was widely criticised for copying the design of the Keystep; according to Robin Vincent of Gearnews, "it’s identical down to every key, button, connection and even the dip switches on the back."^[7] Two days after the release, Arturia's CEO Frédéric Brun made a statement on Facebook, saying:^[8]^[9]

Of course we accept competition, and would absolutely understand that Behringer give their own interpretation of a small and smart controller that would also be a sequencer. Others do, we have no problem with that and see good for the customer, as well as for the industry, in fair competition. But this is not fair competition here.

In response, Behringer made a blog post on the Music Tribe forum, titled "Competition. The Facts." In the post, they defended their actions, making comparisons to the practice of cloning famous guitars, such as the Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul. Behringer did acknowledge the criticism, saying:^[9]

It is our Purpose and Mission to empower Customers who don’t have deep pockets and provide them with the best possible equipment at fair prices. We do understand that we are a fierce competitor and at times controversial as we’re relentlessly push the envelope

Later models

Keystep Pro

At the 2020 NAMM show,^[10] Arturia announced the release of the Keystep Pro, an improved version of the Keystep with sequencing capabilities influenced by Arturia's Beatstep series. The Pro has an increased keyboard size, with 37 keys, and has four sequencer tracks. It adds an OLED screen, an additional MIDI output, three more CV/gate outputs and a set of eight trigger outputs for drums.^[11]^[12] Keystep Pro has five encoders with the ability to send MIDI CCs.^[13]

The Keystep Pro received an update in 2021, adding global transpose and offset functions. The update made improvements to tap tempo and the arpeggiator, as well as various other tweaks and bug fixes.^[14]

Keystep 37

Arturia announced a third member of the Keystep series in September 2020: the Keystep 37. The Keystep 37 adds five more keys—bringing the total number to 37—and four knobs. The controller also adds scale and chord modes,^[15] as well as a LCD screen which displays tempo and MIDI CC values.^[16]^[17]