They transform a familiar function into something enormously fun and creative - it can keep you entertained for hours. Deviate does the same with rests dropping in all kinds of rhythms before hitting complete randomness. Mutate takes the notes you are holding and starts to add octaves, harmonics, intervals and finally chaos, depending on how far you dial it in. The Arpeggiator comes from the Launchkey Mini and has all the usual directional and timing features you'd find with any arp, but it also has some special generative sauce in the flavour of Mutate and Deviate. There's a wonderfully fun Arpeggiator, eight scales and inbuilt chords that you can use with any external MIDI gear via the MIDI Out on the back.Ī five-pin MIDI Out and a host of onboard features mean the Launchkeys play especially well with hardware synths. This brings me to one of my only complaints about the Launckey MkIII: Most computers keep the power on their USB ports even when turned off, so the only way to stop the glow of those pads is to pull the USB cable out.īefore we plug it into Ableton Live (for which it is largely designed) there are a number of useful standalone features baked into the controller that don't require a computer at all. It's USB powered and that's the only cable that comes in the box. Rounding off the physicality we have proper rubberised pitch and modulation wheels, and out the back there's a single USB socket, sustain pedal input, and an old-fashioned and very welcome 5-pin DIN MIDI output. There's no aftertouch on the keys but the pads are both velocity- and pressure-sensitive and will do single or polyphonic aftertouch.
They are velocity-sensitive, offering three selectable curves or can be turned off. The white keys are shiny and grip your fingers whereas the black keys have a less grippy matt texture. The keys themselves have a relatively light, synthy feel.
The faders have a similar feel and are now accompanied by RGB buttons which will no doubt make themselves useful. The knobs are upright, cylindrical, feel slightly rubberised to the touch, and are taller and much more solid than the ones on the Launchkey Mini. The pads are nicely set just that little bit lower and all the other buttons follow the style and height. The look is cemented by the replacement of the red three-digit display with a cool blue-backed LCD with two rows of 16 characters. It's still made of plastic but doesn't seem as clunky as many 61-keyed MIDI controllers can feel. The hardware has a poise to it that raises both a smile and your expectations. I wonder how much customer feedback went into agonising over that decision? Pads are now over on the left with faders in the middle, just off-centre, and only the transport controls on the right. It's pleasingly compact for a 61-note controller at only 26cm deep, which is a bonus for our crowded desktops and studio spaces.īeyond the sharp lines the most obvious change is that the pads and faders have swapped positions. What were they thinking with the coloured underbelly of the MkI and MkII? It was really easy to unpack, slid out of the box with one hand and I was delighted to see foam packed under the keys. It's all clean lines, angles and elegance and it does that thing where it instantly makes the very capable MkII look garish and unfashionable. This new version looks sedate and serious. The features are the same across the range except that only the 49 and 61 have the fader bank. Along with the usual 25- and 49-key options there's now a 37-key version for those people who find the 49 too big or the 25 too small. The model under review is the largest in the range at 61 keys. It's taken longer than expected, but everything that made the Mini MkIII a very cool little controller has been stretched out into the full-sized and infinitely more playable Launchkey MkIII. When Novation revealed the Launchkey Mini MkIII last year you knew it wouldn't be long before the rest of the Launchkey range followed suit.
#NOVATION LAUNCHKEY 49 MK2 MANUAL SOFTWARE#
The third generation Launchkey offers versatile control over hardware and software alike.
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