Future Retro is releasing a touch-based controller keyboard

If the last touch keyboard you played was on the Stylophone, the FR-512 could be quite a step up.

As if to remind us that touch control isn't the exclusive preserve of computing companies, hardware manufacturer Future Retro has sneaked out a teaser photo of a new touchplate keyboard known as the FR-512.

Featuring just over two octaves' worth of keys - plus touch-based pitch and mod controls - it's clear from the photo that this is geared up to control all kinds of digital and analogue gear (note the MIDI and CV outs), while there's an arpeggiator on board, too. Three knobs give you something to get hold of, so to speak.

Future Retro says on its Facebook page that it's still working on the "coding, testing, tweaking, manual writing, and assembly," but that it hopes to have the FR-512 ready for NAMM 2016.

(Via Create Digital Music)

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.