I want to use any conventional keyboard with a usb and some wires, I am making something that takes a keyboard input and translates it to a controller output, which is plugged into a computer via usb, I have the second part covered but I need a way to read the input of a keyboard using only digital pins. In my ideal scenario I would strip the wires of a usb cable and solder them to jumper wires which I will read from my Arduino. I COULD use an Arduino uno but I would need a way to output a keyboard signal which I am told the Arduino is no capable of. Thanks!
You need a USB host driver to do what you plan. That may be in the form of a USB host shield (in which case a Leonardo will fit better than a Micro) or be directly connecting such a chip to the Micro.
Playing the host part of an USB bus isn’t as you might have imagined. Fortunately most of the work is already done in the library accompanying the USB host shield.