Novation Launchpad X User manual

Launchpad X User Guide
Version 2.0
English

Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
Key Features ................................................................................................................... 3
In the Box ....................................................................................................................... 3
Getting Started ................................................................................................................ 4
Ableton Live .................................................................................................................... 7
Using Launchpad X with Other Soware .............................................................................. 7
Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................. 7
Hardware Overview ................................................................................................................. 8
Launchpad X Interface ............................................................................................................. 10
Session Mode ......................................................................................................................... 11
Ableton Live's Session View .............................................................................................. 11
Mixer Mode .................................................................................................................... 13
Note Mode ............................................................................................................................. 17
Chromatic Mode ............................................................................................................. 18
Scale Mode .................................................................................................................... 19
Note Mode Settings ......................................................................................................... 20
Overlap ......................................................................................................................... 21
Drum Mode .................................................................................................................... 22
Custom Modes ....................................................................................................................... 24
Default Custom Modes ..................................................................................................... 24
Setting up a Custom Mode in Novation Components ............................................................ 26
Lighting Pads (Advanced) ................................................................................................. 28
Settings ................................................................................................................................. 29
LED Settings .................................................................................................................. 30
Velocity Settings ............................................................................................................. 31
Aertouch Settings ......................................................................................................... 32
Fader Settings ................................................................................................................ 33
Legacy, Live, and Programmer Modes ................................................................................ 34
Launchpad X Legacy Mode ....................................................................................... 34
Bootloader Menu ............................................................................................................ 35
Default MIDI Mappings ............................................................................................................. 37
Novation Notices .................................................................................................................... 39
Trade Marks ................................................................................................................... 39
Disclaimer ..................................................................................................................... 39
Copyright and Legal Notices ............................................................................................. 39
2

Introduction
Launchpad X is our essential grid controller for 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. Take music-making further and build tracks with Launchpad X by using the
powerful Note mode to lay down expressive beats and melodies with the velocity and pressure-sensitive pads.
This manual will help you understand every feature of your new grid controller and teach you how to take your
production and performance to the next level with Launchpad X.
Key Features
• An 8×8 grid of 64 RGB LED backlit pads.
• Velocity and pressure-sensitive pads for expressive performance of your instruments.
• Perform with Ableton Live by launching clips and scenes
• Capture MIDI and Record your playing in Ableton Live.
• Plug and Play - USB bus-powered
• Powerful and versatile modes: Session, Note and Four Custom Modes
• Ableton Live Mixer – control Volume, Pan and Sends per track
• Direct access to performance controls with Stop, Solo, Mute and Record Arm buttons
• Powerful music production soware included - Ableton Live Lite, as well as a range of high-quality
instruments & eects
• Endless possibilities for controlling your soware with Custom Modes
In the Box
• Launchpad X
• USB-C to USB-A cable
3

Getting Started
We’ve made getting started with Launchpad X as easy as possible, whether you’re a brand-new beat maker 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 soware as fast
as possible.
To access the Easy Start Tool, plug in your Launchpad X.
If you're on a Mac:
1. On your Desktop, find the Novation Easy Start icon and double-click it to open the folder
“LAUNCHPAD X”.
2. Inside the folder, double-click the file: “Click Here to Get Started.url”.
3. You’ll be taken to the Easy Start Tool, where we’ll get you set up.
4

Alternatively, if you have Google Chrome open when you plug in your Launchpad X, a pop-up appears. Click on
the pop-up to go straight to easy start.
If you're on Windows:
1. Press the Start button and type “This PC”, press enter.
2. In This PC, find the drive: “Launchpad X”, and double click.
5

3. Inside the drive, click the link: “Click Here to Get Started.html”
4. You’ll be taken to the Easy Start Tool, where we’ll get you set up.
6

Ableton Live
Ableton Live (oen referred to only as Live) is a unique and powerful piece of soware for music creation.
Ableton Live 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 Started [4].
Here you’ll be guided through downloading and installing Ableton Live Lite. You’ll also find videos covering the
soware’s basic features, so you can get started making music in Ableton Live with Launchpad X.
With Ableton Live installed, get your Launchpad X up and running by plugging it into your Mac or PC’s USB
port. When you open Live your Launchpad X will be automatically detected, and it will enter Session Mode.
More resources on using Ableton Live’s many functions may be found on Ableton’s site at:
ableton.com/live/learn-live
You may register your Launchpad X and obtain your Ableton Live Lite license at:
customer.novationmusic.com/register
Using Launchpad X with Other Soware
Launchpad X is made for Ableton Live, but it may also be used as a controller for other soware. If you’re using
other music production soware, visit support.novationmusic.com for more information on how to set up your
Launchpad X.
Troubleshooting
For help getting started with your Launchpad, visit:
novationmusic.com/get-started
If you have any questions or need any help at any time with your Launchpad, visit our Help Centre. Here you
can also contact our support team:
support.novationmusic.com
We recommend you check for updates to your Launchpad so you have the latest features and fixes. To update
your Launchpad's firmware you need to use Components:
components.novationmusic.com
7

Hardware Overview
1. Navigational Buttons
2. Session Mode (+Mixer Toggle)
3. Note Mode
4. Custom Mode
5. Record & Capture MIDI
6. 8×8 Pad Grid
7. Scene Launch & Mixer Buttons
8

8. USB-C Socket
9. - Kensington Lock, use a lock to secure your Launchpad and deter the.
9

Launchpad X Interface
Modes are the core of the Launchpad X interface. They allow you to switch between views, oering dierent
functionality in each.
There are three dierent modes available:
• Session (Mixer)
• Note
• Custom
Press a mode pad (Session/Mixer, Note, or Custom), shown above, to enter the respective mode. The currently
active mode lights pale green. Currently-available modes light dim white.
When you're in Session Mode, press the Session pad again to toggle to Mixer Mode. In Mixer Mode, the Scene
Launch buttons become Ableton Live mixer functions in line with their subtext (from top to bottom: Volume,
Pan, Send A, Send B, Stop Clip, Mute, Solo, Record Arm).
There are eight Custom modes available. When you press the Custom button, you enter Custom Mode 1 by
default. To access the other Custom modes, use the Scene Launch buttons aer you press the Custom button.
The currently selected Custom Mode lights pale green, available Custom modes light dim white.
Using Novation Components, you can edit the Custom modes and customise them to your needs (see Custom
Modes [24]).
10

Session Mode
Ableton Live's Session View
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 [4]). Here you’ll find your included Ableton Live Lite download code (if you choose to register your
Launchpad X). There are also videos covering installing, the soware’s basic features, and how to get started
making music with your Launchpad X in Ableton Live.
Session View is a grid that consists of clips, tracks (columns) and scenes (rows). Session mode provides an 8×8
view of your clips in Session view on Launchpad X.
1. Clips are typically loops that contain MIDI notes or audio.
2. Tracks represent virtual instruments or audio tracks. MIDI clips placed on instrument tracks will play
back on the instrument that is assigned to that track.
3. Scenes are rows of clips. Launching a scene will launch all clips in that row. This means that you can
arrange clips into horizontal groups (across tracks) to form a song structure, launching scene aer
scene to progress through a song.
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The ▲▼◄ ► buttons let you navigate the 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 aect its function.
• Press a pad to play the corresponding clip in Ableton. The colour will match 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.
• Only one clip may play at a time per track. Pressing an empty clip will stop the current one on that
track.
• A horizontal line of clips is called a Scene. Scenes can be triggered using the (scene launch) buttons on
the right-hand side of Launchpad X.
When a track is record-armed (see Mixer Mode [13]), you may use the [O] button (Session Record) to enable
overdub recording of the currently playing clip.
Pressing and hold Capture MIDI to capture any recent playing and place it into a MIDI track. If no clip was
playing on the armed track, Ableton Live will place the MIDI notes into a new clip. If a clip was playing, the MIDI
notes will be overdubbed onto that clip.
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Mixer Mode
Mixer Mode is a sub-mode of Session mode that allows you to control various track parameters in Ableton
Live. Mixer Mode can be toggled on and o by pressing the Session button when in Session Mode. The session
button:
1. Lights pale green in Session mode.
2. Lights orange in Mixer mode.
1 2
In Mixer mode, the Scene Launch buttons become Mixer Functions corresponding to the text on each button
(listed below).
When you choose a Mixer function, it lights brightly to show it's selected. Pressing the same Mixer function
again deselects it. Unselected mixer functions light dim white.
•Volume: Control the volume levels of the tracks within the currently selected 8×8 area in Session
view. Volume faders are vertical.
•Pan: Control the stereo panning of the tracks within the currently selected 8×8 area in Session view.
Pans will show horizontally - the top pan represents the lemost track, and the bottom represents
the rightmost.
•Send A: Control the send level of the tracks within the currently selected 8×8 area in Session View
to Send A. Send faders are vertical.
•Send B: Control the send level of the tracks within the currently selected 8×8 area in Session view
to send B. Send faders are vertical.
•Stop Clip: Overlay the bottom row of pads with Stop Clip triggers. When pressed, the clip in the
corresponding track will stop playing at the end of the phrase.
•Mute: Overlay the bottom row of pads with mute track toggles. When pressed, the clip in the
corresponding track will stop playing.
•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.
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Volume, Pan, Send A and Send B are each a set of eight 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 le to right).
Faders are velocity sensitive. Hitting a pad on a fader harder causes the value to move more quickly, pressing a
pad soer results in a slower change of value.
Faders also feature micro values. To access them, tap a single pad multiple times – each press outputs a
slightly higher value. This allows for more fine-tuned control with faders. There are four micro values per pad.
Once you reach the highest micro value, another press on the same pad returns to the lowest value. Fader
micro values are shown by the brightness of the highest value pad of a fader, with dim being the lowest micro
value and full brightness being the highest.
1. Volume faders are green for all tracks.
2. Pans are horizontal to present le and right naturally. The faders use the track colours.
3. Send A's faders are purple for all tracks.
4. Send B's faders are blue for all tracks.
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The numbers in each fader above show which track the fader is related to with regard to Session View’s red
outline. The le-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.
These functions are overlaid onto the bottom row of pads when you press their Mixer functions:
1. Red - Stop (stop the clip from playing on a specific track)
2. Yellow - Mute (mute a specific track).
3. Blue - Solo (solo a specific track).
4. Red - Record Arm (arm a specific track for recording).
The pads for the currently Record Armed, Muted and Soloed tracks light brightly, the others light dimly.
When a track is record-armed, all empty clips in a column light dim red. When a clip is pressed, it flashes red to
show it's queued to record (the record button also flashes in unison). The pad pulses red when the recording
starts, with the record button lit bright red. If you press the record button, the clip flashes red to show it will
stop recording soon. If the track is unarmed during recording, the clip immediately stops recording.
15

You can use momentary switching for Views within Session Mode and Mixer Mode. For example, you might
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.
NOTE
Faders will not continue to move when not currently viewed.
16

Note Mode
Use Launchpad X’s Note Mode to play the drums and melodic instruments expressively with the velocity and
pressure sensitive 8×8 grid.
The layout of Note mode is variable, with the option to have a chromatic, scale, or drum layout. You are able to
customise Launchpad X’s playing surface to suit you.
When in any layout, use ▲▼ to increase or decrease the octave, and use ◄ ► to transpose the grid by a
semitone up or down.
Note Mode will react dynamically to the currently armed instrument in Ableton Live. When a track with a Drum
Rack is armed in Live, Note Mode will automatically switch to a Drum layout, and vice versa for any other
instrument.
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.
• The monitor is set to Auto
• The red arm button indicates that the track is record armed
17

Chromatic Mode
Chromatic Mode is the default layout of Note mode. Press pads in the 8×8 grid to trigger notes. While
Chromatic Mode allows you to play all notes, the pads give you a visual indication of which notes are in scale.
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 the scale.
The default chromatic layout seen here is similar to a guitar, with an octave being two pads up and two pads
across. This allows you to use guitar chord shapes. Additionally, the sixth column of pads will play the same
notes as the first column on the row above, further mimicking a guitar layout.
You can alter the layout of chromatic mode in Note Mode settings, accessed by holding Note (see Note Mode
Settings [20] for details).
18

Scale Mode
In Scale Mode, the Launchpad X, only displays notes in the current scale. This allows you to play freely without
ever going out of key.
As with Chromatic Mode, blue pads represent notes in the currently selected scale, while purple pads
represent the root of the scale. Here, blank pads show that no note exists at their location, as the pads
are outside the playable range. This out-of-range behaviour also applies to Chromatic Mode.
You can alter the layout of the scale mode in Note Mode settings, accessed by holding Note (see Note Mode
Settings [20] for details).
19

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.
To Enter Note Mode settings, press, and hold Note. The note pad pulses green when you're in Note Mode
settings. Press the Chromatic/Scale toggle pad to switch between Chromatic Mode (lit dim red) and Scale
Mode (lit bright green).
Overlap allows you to alter the layout of both Chromatic Mode and Scale Mode (see Overlap [21]).
The Scale Viewer shows which notes are in the currently selected scale on a piano layout keyboard. Blue pads
show notes in the scale, the purple pad shows the root, and the dimly lit white pads show notes outside the
scale. Press a pad in the Scale Viewer to change the root note of the scale.
Scale Select lets you choose from 16 dierent 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.
20