Launchpad X User Guide 1
Table of Contents Introduction……………….……..…………….……………….…….………….………….3 Key Features……………………..………………….…………...3 In the Box…….…………………..………………….…………...4 Getting up and running……….…..……………..….………….4 Launchpad Intro……….……….…..……………..….………….6 Ableton Live…..……….……….…..……………..….………….7 Using with other software.…….…..……………..….………….7 Hardware Overview…………………………………………………………………………8 Launchpad X Interface Overview…..……….….……….…....…..………...……………11 Session mode…………….………………………..……………………………………….
Introduction Launchpad X is our essential grid controller Ableton Live. Launchpad X will accelerate your music production and allow your live performances to become fast and tactile experiences. Launchpad X makes launching clips in Ableton Live easy by bringing your Session View from the screen to your fingertips in full RGB colour.
In the box: • Launchpad X • USB-C to USB-A cable Getting Up and Running We’ve made getting up and running with Launchpad X as easy as possible, whether you’re a brand new beatmaker or a seasoned producer. Our Easy Start Tool provides a step-by-step guide on getting set up that is tailored to your needs, whether you’ve never made music before or you just want to download your included software as fast as possible. To access the Easy Start Tool, first plug in your Launchpad X. If you’re on a Mac: 1.
If you’re on Windows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Press the Start button and type “This PC”, then press enter. In This PC, find the drive: “Launchpad X”, and double click. Inside the drive, click the link: “Click Here to Get Started.html” You’ll be taken to the Easy Start Tool where we’ll get you set up.
Launchpad Intro If you’re new to Launchpads, Launchpad Intro is a great place to start. Choose from a variety of curated packs from Ampify Music and start performing immediately. Your Launchpad X will match the on-screen grid - press pads to launch loops and one-shots to build up your track. To get there, plug your Launchpad X into your computer and visit https://intro.novationmusic.com/. Your Launchpad X will be automatically detected and you’ll immediately be able to play beats using our curated packs.
Ableton Live Ableton Live (often referred to only as Live) is a unique and powerful piece of software for music creation. Ableton Live 10 Lite is provided with your Launchpad X, which gives you all the tools you’ll need to get started with making your own music. If you’ve never used Ableton Live before, we recommend visiting our Easy Start Tool (see Getting Up and Running). Here you’ll be guided through downloading and installing Ableton Live 10 Lite.
Hardware Overview Front panel Session Mode (+ Mixer Toggle) Navigational buttons Custom Mode Note Mode Record & Capture MIDI Scene Launch & Mixer Buttons 8x8 Pad Grid Back panel USB-C Socket Kensington MiniSaver™ Socket 8
Launchpad X Interface Modes are the core of the Launchpad X interface. They allow you to switch between views, offering different functionality in each. There are three different modes available – Session, Note and Custom. Press a mode button (above) to enter the respective mode. The currently active mode will be lit pale green. Currently available modes will be lit dim white. When in Session Mode, press Session once again to toggle Mixer Mode.
Session Mode Ableton Live’s Session View Session mode is designed to control Ableton Live’s Session View, seen below. If you’ve never used Ableton Live before, we recommend visiting our Easy Start Tool (see Getting Up and Running). Here you’ll find your included Ableton Live 10 Lite download code (if you choose to register your Launchpad X), alongside videos covering installing, the software’s basic features, and how to get started making music with your Launchpad X in Ableton Live.
The ▲▼◄ ► buttons let you navigate session view. The red outline in the Session View grid shows the area currently visible on Launchpad X. Note: This outline may appear in any colour - this won’t affect its function. • Press a pad to play the corresponding clip in Ableton. The colour will match between the screen and pads. • When a pad is pressed it will flash green, indicating that the clip is queued and will soon begin to play. When a clip is playing, the pad will pulse green.
Mixer Mode Mixer Mode is a sub-mode of Session mode that allows you to control various track parameters in Ableton Live 10. Mixer Mode can be toggled on and off by pressing the Session button when in Session Mode. When in Mixer Mode, Session will be lit orange, as opposed to pale green when in Session Mode. In Mixer mode, the Scene Launch buttons will become Mixer Functions corresponding to the text on each button. When a Mixer function is pressed, it will be lit brightly to indicate that it is selected.
Solo: Overlay the bottom row of pads with Solo track toggles. When pressed, the clip in the corresponding track will stop playing. Record Arm: Overlay the bottom row of pads with Record Arm track toggles. When pressed, the clip in the corresponding track will stop playing. Volume, Pan, Send A and Send B are each sets of 8 faders. The faders are vertical for Volume, Send A and Send B, whereas they are horizontal for Pan (see below). Press a pad to move the fader position up and down (or left to right).
The numbers in each fader above shows which track the fader is related to with regards to Session View’s red outline. The left-most track becomes the top track for pans.
In Mixer mode, the bottom row of pads can provide immediate control for four performance track controls: Stop (stop clip from playing on a specific track), Solo (solo a specific track), Mute (mute a specific track) or Record Arm (arm a specific track for recording). These functions are overlaid onto the bottom row of pads when their Mixer functions are pressed. The pads for the currently Record Armed, Muted and Soloed tracks will be lit brightly, while the others will be dimly lit.
the record button lit bright red. If the record button is then pressed, the clip will flash red to indicate that it will soon stop recording. If the track is un-armed during recording, the clip will immediately stop recording. Views within Session Mode and Mixer Mode allow for momentary switching. For example, you may currently be viewing your track mutes, but want to quickly visit your volume faders to turn a track up. Press and hold Volume, edit a volume fader, and release Volume to return to Mute view.
Chromatic Mode Chromatic Mode is the default layout of Note mode. Press pads in the 8x8 grid to trigger notes. While Chromatic Mode allows all notes to be played, a visual indication for which notes are in scale is provided. Blue pads represent notes in the currently selected scale (C Minor by default), purple pads represent the root of the scale, and blank pads represent notes outside of the scale.
note exists at their location as pads are outside of playable range. This out of range behaviour also applies to Chromatic Mode. The layout of chromatic mode can be altered in Note Mode settings, accessed by holding Note. See Note Mode Settings for details. Note Mode Settings Note Mode settings allow you to switch between Chromatic Mode and Scale Mode, change the currently selected scale and root note, alter Note Mode’s layout with overlap controls, and change Note Mode’s MIDI channel.
and the dimly lit white pads show notes outside of the scale. Press a pad in the Scale Viewer to change the root note of the scale. Scale Select lets you choose from 16 different scales. Press a pad to select a scale. The selected scale will be lit bright white, while unselected scales will be lit dim blue. The MIDI channel that Note Mode transmits on may be selected between 1 and 16. This is useful when you want to send notes to a specific track when you have multiple tracks record armed.
Overlap Overlap determines the relationship between notes on different rows. An overlap of 5 means that the leftmost pad on a row will play the same note as the sixth pad across on the row below. Each overlap level represents how many fingers are needed to play a scale. For example, with a 4 Finger overlap you are able to play a scale going vertically up the grid with only 4 fingers. This is great for playing with a single a hand. Sequential overlap behaves differently from 2, 3, 4 and 5 Finger overlaps.
Drum Mode If an Ableton Live Drum rack is loaded to the currently armed track, Note Mode will represent the current state of the drum rack, showing which slots are currently filled. In Ableton Live, load a drum kit into a MIDI track by selecting a Drum kit from the browser and double clicking it (or alternatively drag it to a track). If you cannot hear anything, ensure that the track is record armed and that monitoring is set to auto (Note Mode).
When any other instrument is on the currently armed track, the grid will revert to Scale Mode or Chromatic Mode. In Ableton Live, load an instrument into a MIDI track by selecting an instrument from the browser and double clicking it (or alternatively drag it to a track). If you cannot hear anything, ensure that the track is record armed and that monitoring is set to auto. Custom Modes Custom Modes turn Launchpad X’s 8x8 grid into a deeply customisable control surface.
Custom 2 is a chromatic layout that is representative of a traditional piano/keyboard. As with all custom modes, this mode will not respond to changing octave. Custom 3 is a non-lit version of Custom 2. Sending MIDI notes to this layout will light the pads according to the velocity of the incoming notes. Custom 4 is a non-lit layout with different note values to Custom 3. The note values match Programmer Mode, but for the 8x8 grid only.
Within a Custom Mode, each pad within the 8x8 grid may act as a Note, a MIDI CC (control change), or a Program Change message. The pads may behave either as toggles, triggers or momentary switches. Momentary behaviour will turn on a note when the pad is pressed and release the note when un-pressed. Triggers will always send a specified CC value or program change message. Full rows and columns of pads may also act as faders. Faders can be assigned CC values and may be unipolar or bipolar.
The RGB LEDs are capable of outputting 127 colours, the index of which can be found in the Programmer’s Reference Guide. Additionally, all pads and buttons can be lit in Programmer Mode. For detailed information on lighting pads and using Launchpad X as a control surface for software, see the Programmers Reference Guide which can be downloaded at https://customer.novationmusic.com/support/downloads. Ghost mode is a special sub-mode of custom views.
LED feedback (external) toggles whether pads on the 8x8 grid light up when MIDI is received externally in Custom Modes and Programmer Mode. Bright green indicates that LED feedback (external) is enabled, whereas dim red indicates that it is disabled. The setting is enabled by default. LED sleep may be pressed to turn off all LEDs on Launchpad X. Press any button or pad to wake up the device. This is useful for when you are not using Launchpad X but you do not want to unplug it.
Velocity Settings The second Scene Launch button accesses the velocity (VEL) settings for Launchpad X. Here you can turn velocity sensitivity on or off, and choose between three velocity curves. Press the Enable/Disable Velocity toggle to enable or disable velocity globally on Launchpad X. The pad will be lit bright green when velocity is enabled, and dim red when disabled. Three Velocity Curves may be selected between.
Aftertouch Settings The third Scene Launch button accesses the aftertouch (AFT) settings for Launchpad X. Here you can select between channel pressure, polyphonic aftertouch, or disabling aftertouch, with a choice of three thresholds for triggering aftertouch. Choose between Aftertouch disabled, Channel Pressure, and Polyphonic Aftertouch. The selected mode will be brightly lit, the others dimly lit. Three Aftertouch Thresholds may be selected between.
Fader Settings The fourth Scene Launch button accesses the fader (FAD) settings for Launchpad X. Here you may enable or disable velocity sensitivity for faders independently of global velocity sensitivity. Enable or Disable Velocity for Faders by pressing the pad. The pad will be lit bright green when fader velocity is enabled, and dim red when it is disabled.
Live and Programmer Mode Live Mode and Programmer Mode are the two states that Launchpad X can be used in. In Live mode, Launchpad X will function as normal & you may access Session Mode, Note Mode and Custom Mode. In Programmer mode Launchpad X loses access to Session Mode, Note Mode and Custom Modes, and the entire surface (pads and buttons) becomes unlit. Each pad and button will send out a specified MIDI message when pressed.
Bootloader Menu Launchpad X’s bootloader menu allows you to change LED brightness, LED feedback, mass storage device availability, and device ID. To enter the bootloader menu, hold Capture MIDI when plugging in Launchpad X. The LED brightness level slider has 8 levels, from minimum to maximum brightness. The brightly lit white pad indicates which level is currently selected. Bootloader Version will inform which version of the Bootloader is on Launchpad X.
Pressing the Boot-up button will start Launchpad X normally, exiting the bootloader menu. MSD Mode toggles the mass storage device behaviour of Launchpad X on or off. MSD Mode is enabled by default. This is why Launchpad X appears as a mass storage device when plugged in to your computer. Inside the LAUNCHPAD X folder is a link to our Easy Start Tool, which will help to get you set up with your Launchpad X (see Getting up and Running).
Default MIDI mappings Custom 1: 8x8 grid, Momentary Note On messages (note numbers below) Custom 2: 8x8 grid, Momentary Note On messages (note numbers below) 34
Custom 3: 8x8 grid, Momentary Note On messages (note numbers below) Custom 4: 8x8 grid, Momentary Note On messages (note numbers below) 35
Programmer Mode: Includes buttons and pads (full 9x9 grid), logo LED may be addressed, Momentary Note On messages (note numbers below) For more detailed information regarding the MIDI implementation of Launchpad X, please see the programmer’s reference guide at: https://customer.novationmusic.com/support/downloads.
