Are you great at making music and playing Donkey Kong?  If so, the CMPSR might just be the MIDI controller for you.

• READ MORE: Best MIDI controllers to buy in 2023: 13 best Ableton Live controllers to buy

This joystick controller, pronounced “composer”, makes music production more accessible, says its makers, Digit, and ties in vintage gaming aesthetics with modern functionality for making music. It connects to your setup via USB-C or Bluetooth, and also hosts eight RGB trigger pads.

At the top sits two customisable buttons which can be assigned to trigger loops, add effects or control a filter. Below are buttons for sustain, chord inversions, chord extensions, and two yellow buttons to either transpose your chords by an octave, or switch playing to include semi-tones.

The CMPSR has an “always in key” chord engine that is said to simplify playing melodies and chord progressions. Another interesting quirk is that it is also capable of producing haptic feedback for a more immersive and video game-like experience.

For a better idea of how it works in play, check out the demo below:

The CMPSR is a plug-and-play device, meaning little to no set-up is required to get going. It also has a rechargeable battery that provides up to 12 hours of operation time when being used wirelessly. Currently, the product is sold as part of a package which includes a copy of Bitwig Studio 8-Track and a range of Bitwig templates. It also comes with over 1GB of royalty-free samples, loops and presets.

Digit has also provided plenty of tutorials and resources available to CMPSR users, for learning the very basics through to advanced music production skills and techniques using this intriguing device.

Digit Music’s CMPSR is available now for £299 and is compatible with all major DAWs. Find out more on digitmusic.co.uk.

The post Digit’s CMPSR joystick MIDI controller is for retro gamers and music makers appeared first on MusicTech.