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Novation Launchpad Mini [MK3] — Portable MIDI 64-Pad, USB Grid Controller for Ableton Live and Logic Pro Performances
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Purchase options and add-ons
Brand | Novation |
Number of Keys | 64 |
Connectivity Technology | USB |
Model Name | Launchpad Mini [MK3] |
Product Dimensions | 7.1"D x 7.1"W x 0.56"H |
About this item
- Seamless performances made easy - 64 vibrant RGB pads give you a perfect reflection of your Ableton Live session, making it easier than ever to see your clips. Know exactly which clips you are triggering for a seamless performance.
- The perfect companion for Ableton Live - Quickly launch clips and scenes at the press of a button with our exceptional Ableton Live Integration. Stop, Solo, and Mute controls make it easier/more tactile to control performances right from Launchpad Mini.
- Full of customization for your needs - Novation Components is a tool to help you customize your Launchpad Mini. With three Custom Modes, edit mappings and control anything MIDI easily.
- Anytime. Anywhere. Launchpad Mini’s slim, lightweight design means it’ll fit into any setup, so that you have the control you need at all times. The bus-powered hardware is perfect for when you’re travelling around and need to save space.
- Get started easily - It’s never been easier to get started. Download all the software you want with step-by-step video guides to get you set up and making music in minutes through Novation's interactive on boarding.
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Product information
Item Weight | 13.4 ounces |
---|---|
Product Dimensions | 7.1 x 7.1 x 0.56 inches |
ASIN | B07WNSHR3V |
Item model number | LAUNCHPAD-MINI-MK3 |
Customer Reviews |
4.6 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #2,615 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments) #16 in Computer Recording MIDI Controllers |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | September 20, 2019 |
Color Name | Multicolor |
Connector Type | USB |
Hardware Interface | USB |
Musical Style | Electronic |
Number of Keyboard Keys | 64 |
Warranty & Support
Feedback
What's in the box
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Product Description
Launchpad Mini is our most compact and portable 64 RGB pad MIDI grid controller. It gives you everything you need to start performing in Ableton Live - and it'll fit in your bag. RGB pads give you a perfect reflection of your Ableton Live session, making it easier than ever to see your clips. Quickly launch your clips and scenes in Ableton Live at the press of a button. Stop, Solo and Mute controls make it easier and more tactile to control your performances, no mouse needed. With three Custom Modes you can use Novation Components to customise mappings and control anything MIDI easily from Launchpad Mini. Start making and performing tracks with Ableton Live wherever you are, using the huge array of sounds in the box to get you started.
From the manufacturer
Made to launch
Launchpad Mini is our most compact and portable 64 RGB pad MIDI grid controller for PC or Mac. It gives you everything you need to start performing in Ableton Live, and it'll fit in your bag. Start making and performing tracks with Ableton Live wherever you are, using the array of sounds in the box.
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Launch your music making
Bright pads make it easy to see your Live session – full RGB colours match your clips and scenes. Seamless Live integration means you can spend more time launching and less time clicking a mouse.
-
Welcome aboard
Plug in your Launchpad Mini and you’ll be brought to our online Easy Start tool. Download all the software you want with step-by-step video guides to get you set up with Ableton Live and making music.
-
Take it everywhere
-
Intuitive Ableton Live Integration
Launchpad Mini gives you immediate access to Live’s controls. Step back from your computer and see everything on the eight-by-eight grid. Then, control your performance straight from Launchpad Mini.
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Make it yours
Use Drums and Keys modes to play your instruments. Use Novation Components to customise MIDI mappings, and control almost anything; three custom modes mean you can design how Launchpad Mini works.
Comparison Chart
Launchpad Mini [MK3] | Launchpad X | Launchpad Pro [MK3] | Launchpad Mini [MK2] | |
Customer Reviews
|
4.6 out of 5 stars
3,707
|
4.6 out of 5 stars
3,707
|
4.6 out of 5 stars
3,707
|
4.4 out of 5 stars
3,712
|
Price
| $109.99$109.99 | $149.99$149.99 | $349.99$349.99 | — |
Ableton Live Integration
| Core | Advanced | Pro | Core |
Built-in Sequencer
| ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
Pads
| 8 x 8 Mini RGB | 8 x 8 Large RGB | 8 x 8 Large RGB | 8 x 8 Mini |
Expressive Grid
| No | Velocity & Pressure Sensitive | Velocity & Pressure Sensitive | No |
Track Select Buttons
| ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
Dynamic Note Mode
| ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
Chord Mode
| ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
Deeply Customisable Surface
| 3 Custom layouts | 4 Custom layouts | 8 Custom layouts | None |
Transport
| No | No | Play, Stop & Continue | No |
Recording
| No | Session Record & Capture MIDI | Session Record & Capture MIDI | No |
TRS MIDI
| No | No | In, Out 1, Out 2, Out 2/Thru | No |
Compatibility
| Mac/PC/iOS | Mac/PC/iOS | Mac/PC/iOS | Mac/PC/iOS |
Compare with similar items
This Item Novation Launchpad Mini [MK3] — Portable MIDI 64-Pad, USB Grid Controller for Ableton Live and Logic Pro Performances | Recommendations | dummy | dummy | dummy | |
Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | Try again! Added to Cart | |
Price | $109.99$109.99 | $59.00$59.00 | $89.99$89.99 | -5% $94.99$94.99 List: $99.99 | $99.00$99.00 |
Delivery | Get it as soon as Friday, May 24 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 24 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 24 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 24 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 24 |
Customer Ratings | |||||
For beginners | 4.1 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
Portability | — | 4.5 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
Quality of material | 4.5 | 4.0 | — | — | 4.3 |
Tech Support | 3.9 | 3.6 | — | — | 3.9 |
Value for money | — | 3.8 | — | 3.8 | 4.3 |
Sold By | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Synido | Synido | Amazon.com |
hardware interface | usb | usb | usb c | usb c | usb |
connectivity tech | USB | USB | USB | Fast Type C | USB |
model year | — | 2022 | 2023 | 2023 | — |
weight | 381 grams | 0.86 pounds | — | — | 0.8 kilograms |
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Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the value, quality and performance of the audio midi controller. For example, they say it's an excellent budget controller, works great for a DAWless setup and has very responsive pads. They also appreciate the small size and say it fits perfectly on a smaller desk.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the audio midi controller fairly intuitive, easy to learn to navigate, and convenient for beginners. They also say it's great for working on timing, and has plenty of beginner tutorials.
"...bottom isn't just a few nubs on the corners, but it outlines the perimeter of the box and gives a more stable base that won't slide around or become..." Read more
"...This makes playing a harmony much easier. If I am trying for thirds, I just play the same pattern two pads over, done...." Read more
"...I find it's UI so intuitive and easy to sequence notes on the fly...." Read more
"...Combine this with scale mode and it is super easy to hop around using intervals, etc. You can even play chords, or harmonies rather, very easily...." Read more
Customers like the quality of the audio midi controller. They say it's one of the best pieces of gear they've played on, the pads have a great solid feel, and it'll work better in Akai's software than Aka. They also like the small size, road-worthy heft, and overall build quality. Some say the buttons are sturdy but feel great and the colors instantly tell them where they're at. Overall, they say it’s the best controller for live performance you can find for Ableton.
"...on the corners, but it outlines the perimeter of the box and gives a more stable base that won't slide around or become lopsided.______________..." Read more
"...While it helps do that very well, and works with Superior Drummer 2, I found that I have a lot more use for it than I thought I would...." Read more
"...This one just blew me away; it is thin, well built; the buttons are rocking a lot, but nothing too bad; you won't find the same firmness of an MPC..." Read more
"...While is it useful as an instrument to play, where it truly shines is for controlling Ableton...." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the appearance of the audio midi controller. They mention that the scale mode is very cool, nice, and compact. Some say that it looks very promising and is a sweet little tool. Overall, most are happy with the design and functionality of the product.
"...This has been another way to breed creativity. I have tried different notes together and it has lead to better harmonies...." Read more
"...Love it!Scale ModeVery cool, the pads light up in a pattern to show you the scale you have chosen...." Read more
"...Other reason to buy it: Budget friendly. The aesthetic is sweet. As a controller have too many features and defaults mapping that are intuitive...." Read more
"...However it worked great and looked cool while he had it" Read more
Customers like the size of the audio midi controller. They say it's compact, great fit on a smaller desk, and perfectly sized and spaced for what they do. Some mention it'll be good for small hands and is super portable.
"...It is very small and fits great on my desk, with my other gear; I was skeptic since I knew that the launchpad is fundamentally a midi controller for..." Read more
"...Capture MIDI works amazingly well. It seems to have a fairly large buffer, so you can play for many, many measures and still capture everything...." Read more
"...another plus it's lighter and smaller for my shoulder bag - way lighter than a Push... So that's the good - how about the..." Read more
"...Great fit on a smaller desk.* LEDs looked nice* Software was easy to set upNow the main two negatives:*..." Read more
Customers like the performance of the audio midi controller. They mention it works great, is easy to use, and works well for a DAWless setup. Some say it works better in Akai's software than Akais own comparable. They also say it's a fantastic device and works with Bitwig, logic, and certain instrument types. They say the note mode works very well for certain parts and works in MPC 2.x.
"...While it helps do that very well, and works with Superior Drummer 2, I found that I have a lot more use for it than I thought I would...." Read more
"...Note ModeWorks very well for certain instrument types/parts. For example, I love this thing with Spitfire Audio’s Expressive Strings...." Read more
"...This is a fantastic device, and works better in Akai's software than Akai's own comparable offering, which is frankly beyond me...." Read more
"...I simply run it as a midi controller for a soundboard, and it works perfectly. Custom color code and layout is a great help for my application...." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the sensitivity of the audio midi controller. They mention that the pads are very responsive. Some say that the pad sensitivity is decent.
"...Very responsive. Comfortable to play on for several hours. You can lightly rest your hands on the buttons without triggering them...." Read more
"...both are good products, but the pro mk3 does seem to have slightly better pad sensitivity. I ended up returning the X and keeping this pro mk3...." Read more
"...Responsiveness of the pads is great, color is bright and can be reduced/increased, based on your preferences...." Read more
"...Drum ModeWorks fantastic, the pad sensitivity is awesome.Unfortunately, it only works with Ableton’s built-in drum rack...." Read more
Customers like the buttons on the audio midi controller. They mention that they feel great, are responsive, and light up any color. They also say that the edge buttons give a satisfying way to change pages when playing. The buttons have very little travel and are soft to the touch. They are also super useful in session mode. Customers also mention that the product is easy on their hands and can be customized for R/L/both.
"...-The buttons have very little travel and are soft to the touch; they aren't mushy or clacky and you don't have to thump them to register something...." Read more
"...years, I am pretty capable of playing something if I want to, comfortable with scales, etc...." Read more
"...This one just blew me away; it is thin, well built; the buttons are rocking a lot, but nothing too bad; you won't find the same firmness of an MPC..." Read more
"Couldn’t get page buttons to work when it could’ve ended up being used well" Read more
Customers appreciate the value of the audio midi controller. They say it's worth the buy, has excellent quality and features for the price, and is an excellent budget controller for Ableton Live. Customers also mention that it'll help them tremendously with playing.
"...accessing 4 pad banks at a time in MPC, the LPX is a great little controller for the price.,..." Read more
"...The quality and features for the price can not be beat...." Read more
"...Other reason to buy it: Budget friendly. The aesthetic is sweet. As a controller have too many features and defaults mapping that are intuitive...." Read more
"...It is a wonderful product that has helped me tremendously with playing drums and keys...." Read more
Reviews with images
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Top reviews from the United States
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Most people are buying this to use in Ableton, but if you're using MPC 2.x as your DAW and want to access more than one pad bank at a time with physical pads, you know there are exceedingly few options out there. This gets the job done almost perfectly (I'll explain the "almost" below).
Before that though, to review the controller more generally, outside of APC, I can say that while other people in the reviews seem to have complaints about the velocity pads, I've found them to be fantastic. To be clear, I'm not using the velocity function - I have it set to activate at full level with the lowest trigger threshold (in the controller's velocity settings), and adjust the velocity as necessary in MPC. Compared to the other controllers I own (The Mpk Mini Mk2 and the MPC Touch) though, these are by far the best in terms of fewest double-hits and in terms of missed-hits/consistent response. I can actually get decent finger drumming going on this, whereas with those other controllers, I could only do so for a very loose approximation of what I want to record, and have to adjust the grid after the fact.
While there are features designed to work with Ableton exclusively, many of the best features on the LPX are baked into the device itself. First of those is the Scale Mode, a sub-setting in Note Mode, pictured above (Image 1) beside my MPC Touch. You can choose from 1 of 20 scales to enable at a time, decide which key the scale will play in, which key the scale plays in, and whether non-scale notes appear on the pad or not. Purple pads are the root notes, blue are the non-root scale notes, and unlit pads are non-scale notes. In the image above, the Scale Mode is set to display only scale notes, and is in 3-finger Overlap.
The Overlap (5) settings decide at which point a given note repeats in the row(s) above it. Simply put, the first setting, Sequential, puts octaves on either side of a row with the scale notes in-between, giving you access to 8 octaves at once. The next 4 modes are a range of 2-Finger to 5-Finger, allowing you to play the scales ascending with 2 to 5 fingers, and allowing access to a range of 2 to 5 octaves at a time. It's not the easiest thing to describe but it's quite intuitive once you get hands-on.
Additionally, the first of the factory-installed custom modes (that can be removed/replaced or moved to a different Custom Mode slot) offers a keyboard layout with four octaves at once, pictured above (Image 2). The purple pads are set to C by default, and the L/R Transpose buttons will shift that by a half step at a time. A-G are in-between those in each octave, and the sharps/flats are appropriately placed above those. The Up/Down Octave buttons can be used to shift the octave range displayed.
The most important Custom Mode setting for me is the Drum Pad template. You can configure and apply these to correspond to whichever inputs are appropriate in the DAW you're using, and you can use two custom settings so that it essentially works as the controller's Drum Mode designed for Ableton, only on non-Ableton DAWs. Pictured above (Images 3-4) are my two Custom Mode profiles designed to activate pad banks A-D and E-H, respectively. The two groups of 64 pads can be switched between as easily as pressing the corresponding program key on the right side of the controller.
At this point, I should mention that if you thought the APC Mini might have some way of working in MPC as a drum pad, I've got bad news for you. It just won't work for four pad banks at a time. It's possible that Akai might update MPC's MIDI Learn function at some point in the future to allow for those mappings, but currently, you can only program the APC Mini (and any other MIDI controller) to access 16 pads (one pad bank) at a time. The Launchkey takes it all out of the DAW's hands with the custom programs, and allows you to bypass all of that noise.
You may notice older reviews that mention that there are only 4 custom programs available, but the firmware has been updates since then, and the LPX now allows for 8 custom modes that can be switched between on the fly, regardless of connection.
I used one of those modes to map some basic MPC hotkeys, so that I can zoom the grid in and out vertically or horizontally, pan the grid vertically or horizontally, tap tempo, undo/redo, play/playstart, record, over dub, switch tracks forward/back, switch sequences forward/back and switch view modes. It helps a lot to be able to access a lot of those functions without moving over to my computer keyboard or my other controller while recording using the LPX.
While I haven't tried it out, you can also apply customer sliders to the pads, and the pads can be set to be sensitive enough that you can run your finger along a row or column like piano keys and activate them all neatly, so I expect they'd actually make for decent slider controls.
There are only a couple of minor downsides I can name. For one, it would be nice if it received feedback from non-Ableton DAWs so that corresponding lights on the controller activate when those inputs are being played back in the DAW.
If you're particularly interested in Scale Mode, while I love it on the LPX, I noticed the APC Mini had a couple of advantages in that regard, as well as a debatable one. The debatable one is that the scale modes are different between the two devices. It's subjective, and a matter of which scales people find more important to have accessible. If you want the Flamenco Scale, for example, you're out of luck on the LPX. Both devices contain 20 scales though.
Where the LPX missed out on an opportunity that the APC Mini takes is that the APC Mini, in the chord settings, allows you to hold down a setting button, activating a marquee across the pads that spell out the function of the setting button being held. With 20 available scales, it's a really huge help to be able to have the labels for all of them within reach. Not just for the Scale Mode, but for any number of the numerous settings on these devices that aren't always easy to recall without a map. The LPX is certainly capable of displaying text. Pictured above (Image 5), you can see that the settings menus use the LEDs to display the name of the menu, and certain settings/mode switches activate marquee-style text. It just can't be used to identify setting buttons though, which means you need to have the manual handy if you want to know what all 20 scales are.
It would be nice to be able to alter the colors that display in Note Mode, outside of Custom Mode(s). I'd like to establish a color scheme on it identical to MPC 2/x and my MPC Touch, but that's very minor. It's possible that it can be done in the LPX's Program Mode, but it's a pretty involved process that I don't entirely understand yet, and that doesn't seem to be for the faint of heart. As the name suggests, there is something resembling programming required to use that mode, and most people will find it easier to use the Novation software to customize the LPX for most purposes.
A chord mode would be nice as well, seeing as how much of that heavy lifting was already done when the Scale Mode was designed. I can access some chords in MPC, but they won't activate if I play the corresponding notes on the LPX. It's good in its own way, as it allows me to have two modes for two devices - I can play chords with one hand on the Touch and notes with the other in the LPX. Still though, it would nice to be able to use those interchangeably.
None of those are enough to knock a star off of my review though. This is a fantastic device, and works better in Akai's software than Akai's own comparable offering, which is frankly beyond me. Even aside from being virtually the only game in town in terms of accessing 4 pad banks at a time in MPC, the LPX is a great little controller for the price., and has greatly enhanced my workflow and general fun in MPC 2.x.
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024
Most people are buying this to use in Ableton, but if you're using MPC 2.x as your DAW and want to access more than one pad bank at a time with physical pads, you know there are exceedingly few options out there. This gets the job done almost perfectly (I'll explain the "almost" below).
Before that though, to review the controller more generally, outside of APC, I can say that while other people in the reviews seem to have complaints about the velocity pads, I've found them to be fantastic. To be clear, I'm not using the velocity function - I have it set to activate at full level with the lowest trigger threshold (in the controller's velocity settings), and adjust the velocity as necessary in MPC. Compared to the other controllers I own (The Mpk Mini Mk2 and the MPC Touch) though, these are by far the best in terms of fewest double-hits and in terms of missed-hits/consistent response. I can actually get decent finger drumming going on this, whereas with those other controllers, I could only do so for a very loose approximation of what I want to record, and have to adjust the grid after the fact.
While there are features designed to work with Ableton exclusively, many of the best features on the LPX are baked into the device itself. First of those is the Scale Mode, a sub-setting in Note Mode, pictured above (Image 1) beside my MPC Touch. You can choose from 1 of 20 scales to enable at a time, decide which key the scale will play in, which key the scale plays in, and whether non-scale notes appear on the pad or not. Purple pads are the root notes, blue are the non-root scale notes, and unlit pads are non-scale notes. In the image above, the Scale Mode is set to display only scale notes, and is in 3-finger Overlap.
The Overlap (5) settings decide at which point a given note repeats in the row(s) above it. Simply put, the first setting, Sequential, puts octaves on either side of a row with the scale notes in-between, giving you access to 8 octaves at once. The next 4 modes are a range of 2-Finger to 5-Finger, allowing you to play the scales ascending with 2 to 5 fingers, and allowing access to a range of 2 to 5 octaves at a time. It's not the easiest thing to describe but it's quite intuitive once you get hands-on.
Additionally, the first of the factory-installed custom modes (that can be removed/replaced or moved to a different Custom Mode slot) offers a keyboard layout with four octaves at once, pictured above (Image 2). The purple pads are set to C by default, and the L/R Transpose buttons will shift that by a half step at a time. A-G are in-between those in each octave, and the sharps/flats are appropriately placed above those. The Up/Down Octave buttons can be used to shift the octave range displayed.
The most important Custom Mode setting for me is the Drum Pad template. You can configure and apply these to correspond to whichever inputs are appropriate in the DAW you're using, and you can use two custom settings so that it essentially works as the controller's Drum Mode designed for Ableton, only on non-Ableton DAWs. Pictured above (Images 3-4) are my two Custom Mode profiles designed to activate pad banks A-D and E-H, respectively. The two groups of 64 pads can be switched between as easily as pressing the corresponding program key on the right side of the controller.
At this point, I should mention that if you thought the APC Mini might have some way of working in MPC as a drum pad, I've got bad news for you. It just won't work for four pad banks at a time. It's possible that Akai might update MPC's MIDI Learn function at some point in the future to allow for those mappings, but currently, you can only program the APC Mini (and any other MIDI controller) to access 16 pads (one pad bank) at a time. The Launchkey takes it all out of the DAW's hands with the custom programs, and allows you to bypass all of that noise.
You may notice older reviews that mention that there are only 4 custom programs available, but the firmware has been updates since then, and the LPX now allows for 8 custom modes that can be switched between on the fly, regardless of connection.
I used one of those modes to map some basic MPC hotkeys, so that I can zoom the grid in and out vertically or horizontally, pan the grid vertically or horizontally, tap tempo, undo/redo, play/playstart, record, over dub, switch tracks forward/back, switch sequences forward/back and switch view modes. It helps a lot to be able to access a lot of those functions without moving over to my computer keyboard or my other controller while recording using the LPX.
While I haven't tried it out, you can also apply customer sliders to the pads, and the pads can be set to be sensitive enough that you can run your finger along a row or column like piano keys and activate them all neatly, so I expect they'd actually make for decent slider controls.
There are only a couple of minor downsides I can name. For one, it would be nice if it received feedback from non-Ableton DAWs so that corresponding lights on the controller activate when those inputs are being played back in the DAW.
If you're particularly interested in Scale Mode, while I love it on the LPX, I noticed the APC Mini had a couple of advantages in that regard, as well as a debatable one. The debatable one is that the scale modes are different between the two devices. It's subjective, and a matter of which scales people find more important to have accessible. If you want the Flamenco Scale, for example, you're out of luck on the LPX. Both devices contain 20 scales though.
Where the LPX missed out on an opportunity that the APC Mini takes is that the APC Mini, in the chord settings, allows you to hold down a setting button, activating a marquee across the pads that spell out the function of the setting button being held. With 20 available scales, it's a really huge help to be able to have the labels for all of them within reach. Not just for the Scale Mode, but for any number of the numerous settings on these devices that aren't always easy to recall without a map. The LPX is certainly capable of displaying text. Pictured above (Image 5), you can see that the settings menus use the LEDs to display the name of the menu, and certain settings/mode switches activate marquee-style text. It just can't be used to identify setting buttons though, which means you need to have the manual handy if you want to know what all 20 scales are.
It would be nice to be able to alter the colors that display in Note Mode, outside of Custom Mode(s). I'd like to establish a color scheme on it identical to MPC 2/x and my MPC Touch, but that's very minor. It's possible that it can be done in the LPX's Program Mode, but it's a pretty involved process that I don't entirely understand yet, and that doesn't seem to be for the faint of heart. As the name suggests, there is something resembling programming required to use that mode, and most people will find it easier to use the Novation software to customize the LPX for most purposes.
A chord mode would be nice as well, seeing as how much of that heavy lifting was already done when the Scale Mode was designed. I can access some chords in MPC, but they won't activate if I play the corresponding notes on the LPX. It's good in its own way, as it allows me to have two modes for two devices - I can play chords with one hand on the Touch and notes with the other in the LPX. Still though, it would nice to be able to use those interchangeably.
None of those are enough to knock a star off of my review though. This is a fantastic device, and works better in Akai's software than Akai's own comparable offering, which is frankly beyond me. Even aside from being virtually the only game in town in terms of accessing 4 pad banks at a time in MPC, the LPX is a great little controller for the price., and has greatly enhanced my workflow and general fun in MPC 2.x.
If you are getting it for drums, I would highly suggested connecting it to your computer and going to the Components site. This allows you to program which notes (and colors) appear for each pad. This is very helpful when setting up drums.
Now for what I found most interesting and complete unexpected. This has something called Note mode. By default it has a chromatic scale (every note, laid out like a piano would), however, you can change it so it only has the notes of the scale you are using available , i.e. "Scale Mode". This means that you cannot hit a wrong note, every pad is assigned with notes from the scale you have chosen. There are 16 different scales to choose from, and you can also choose the key of the scale. Interestingly, you can choose an offset too, which determines how many notes the next row should be offset by.
All of this comes together in an experience I never anticipated having. As a guitarist for 20+ years, I am pretty capable of playing something if I want to, comfortable with scales, etc. But with that, I get stuck in a rut of playing a certain way, or having familiar phrasing, note choice, etc. Furthermore, I'm "terrible" at song writing, I'm decent at doing covers. It's not that what I write is completely awful, it is just that what I write is obvious for lack of better words. When I listen to the bands I like, what impresses me the most is when there was a surprise to the music and it worked well into the song. My song writing is typically not that at all.
With this scale mode and not being able to hit a wrong note, I can just tap random patterns out and have come up with concepts that I would have never written by myself prior to this. What makes it better, is that I don't have any concept of what the notes are going to sound like yet before I hit them, I haven't memorized where each note is located like a piano or a guitar, so it is forcing me to tap randomly. And from that, I am hearing note choices I would not have attempted before. The process is so fascinating, because it is like taking all the extra baggage that goes into song writing (i.e. knowing music theory, knowing the notes on a guitar and scales, being able to play the guitar, trying to translate an idea into a reality, not hitting wrong notes, trying to figure out the harmony) and divorcing it from just thinking about what you want to accomplish. If I want a higher note, I just move up, if I want a lower note, I just move down. In a way, it is like distilling the song writing process into just thinking and not having to work so hard at the doing aspect. It is so hard to describe the feeling, but I haven't felt that close the song writing process in maybe... forever?
The process of making harmonies for lead parts on guitar isn't rocket science, but sometimes it can take a little work to figure it out. This makes playing a harmony much easier. If I am trying for thirds, I just play the same pattern two pads over, done. This has been another way to breed creativity. I have tried different notes together and it has lead to better harmonies.
When I finally get the music midi recorded from the launchpad, I then learn the parts on guitar. This can be challenging, which is part of the "beauty" of doing music this way. I would have never played guitar this way, nor made these note choices for myself on the guitar.
Just a note on this compared to the Launchpad X. Shipping was originally delayed to the point where I wasn't sure I was going to get this, so I ended up getting the Launchpad X and then this finally arrived. This gave me the opportunity to test out the pad sensitivity between the do. For whatever reason, I felt like the launchpad X had decent pad sensitivity, but the pro mk3 just had slightly better sensitivity. I am not sure it would have been worth the extra money to spring for the pro mk3 just for this factor alone, both are good products, but the pro mk3 does seem to have slightly better pad sensitivity. I ended up returning the X and keeping this pro mk3. This also has a sequencer and some other additional functionality too that the X doesn't have, including a row of buttons on the left and two rows of buttons on the bottom.
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Eu ia comprar o Ableton Push 2 e por menos da metade do preço você tem uma ferramenta SENSACIONAL.