The Scale and Chord Modes, arpeggiator and Custom Modes can all be used to control an all-hardware studio or live rig. Launchkey works standalone, so it's the perfect controller for any music-making setup, with or without a computer.
Use Novation Components to configure four Custom Modes, which map Launchkey's knobs, faders and pads to software and hardware features. The full-size five-pin MIDI output, works with any MIDI-compatible device. Scale Mode transposes keys and pads played to notes in the scale selected three chord modes let you trigger complex chords with one finger, while the powerful arpeggiator gets melodies moving, fast. Inspirational features include Scale Mode, Chord Modes and a powerful arpeggiator, which together extend your musical capabilities and let you create in new ways.
Not using Ableton Live? No problem, Launchkey also has full integration with Logic and Reason, plus out of the box functionality with other DAWs including Studio One, Cubase and Pro Tools, via HUI. Launchkey gives you unrivalled access to Ableton Live's functions, including Capture MIDI, track arm, quantise, click and loop controls. Custom Modes and a full-size MIDI output transform Launchkey into a powerful centrepiece of any music-making setup. Scale and Chord modes and a powerful arpeggiator push your musical creativity and help start new ideas. Made for creators of all abilities, Launchkey gives you inspirational tools to expand your musical vocabulary. PROS:Įasy to use, decent keybed, lots of great features.Launchkey is our intuitive and fully integrated MIDI keyboard controller for making tracks in Ableton Live, designed to give you everything you need to create and play your music. There’s nothing bad to say about the Launchkey 49 – it does what you’d expect from a MIDI controller, and so much more. If that weren’t enough, there’s a ton of included software (including Ableton Live Lite) to get you started in your musical creations, especially if you’re primarily hardware-based. Even the small LCD screen, usually something we hate diving into, was bright and easy to navigate.
Everything feels super solid, and we didn’t even really need an instruction manual to figure out most of the features off the bat. You’ve also got some on board transposition options and chord triggering pads, which means you can quickly and easily shuffle things around to new keys and modes when you’re writing. This can be your studio’s new go-to one-stop shop for all things synth-related if you just take a minute to set it up to your liking and preferences. We were bouncing 80’s style electro-bass grooves in no time both with hardware synths and software plug-ins, and the mappable pads and knobs made custom integration fun and easy with any setup we threw at it. Our favorite (and the most fun) was the arpeggiator. What Launchkey brings to the table are some awesome features, and if Novation doesn’t mind me swiping one of their buzzwords, some inspirational functionally that many controllers in this price range don’t offer. But you could go out and get any cheap keyboard with MIDI outputs to do that.
OK, so it works perfectly as a MIDI controller, as you’d expect.