Considering we spend far more time using qwerty keyboards than we do piano keyboards, and many of us working in audio don’t use MIDI keyboards at all, should we be more discerning about what we choose to use? Editors Keys recently shared an interesting idea on Facebook and we want to know what you think.

Here at Production Expert, we frequently discuss the merits of the various control surfaces available with which we can control our DAWs. From inexpensive MIDI controllers through to big-ticket worksurfaces like the Avid S6, we seem to put a lot of time into trying to escape the perceived shortcomings of controlling a DAW through a mouse and a keyboard.

Our choice of pointing device, be that mouse, trackpad or trackball does receive a certain level of scrutiny but it occurs to us that the same can’t be said of the keyboard we use. Our choice of the qwerty keyboard, as opposed to a musical keyboard, seems to come down to a discussion of whether or not you need an extended keyboard with a number pad (spoiler - you do), and whether or not you should invest in a shortcuts keyboard like the ones offered by companies like Editors Keys. Little attention seems to be paid to exactly which keyboard you are using.

Even if you are using a laptop you can exercise a choice over what keyboard you use. Considering the issues surrounding the butterfly keyboards on the recent MacBook Pros users do care when things aren’t right but the fact remains that modern membrane keyboards are cheaper to produce, thinner, simpler but many people would still insist that if you use your keyboard a lot you should at least consider a traditional mechanical keyboard.

Mechanical Keyboards

If you opt for a mechanical keyboard, can you still have a shortcuts keyboard? Unless you are prepared to use a sticker pack the answer is probably no. While sets of stickers suitable for mechanical keyboards used to ship with boxed copies of Pro Tools (remember when software came in a box?), the packs available these days are made for the common types of keyboards i.e. membrane keyboards. I’ve put a set of stickers on a mechanical keyboard before and its a laborious job. at least one ends up wonky, staring at you forever reminding you that you are rubbish at putting stickers on things, and worst of all they make your keyboard really difficult to keep clean.

Editors Keys have clearly been thinking about this and recently posted images of a prototype Media Composer mechanical shortcuts keyboard asking whether there would be interest in creating this product and whether people would like to see keyboards for other software?

Take our poll and share your thoughts on whether you would be interested in a mechanical shortcuts keyboard and if so what software would you want it for?