Novation Launchkey 25 User manual

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Version 6
User Guide

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Contents
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................5
Key Features...................................................................................................................................5
Box Contents..................................................................................................................................6
Getting Started ..............................................................................................................................6
Troubleshooting and Support ........................................................................................................7
Model Specific Features.................................................................................................................7
Semi-Weighted Keybed (Launchkey 88 only)..............................................................................7
Hardware Overview........................................................................................................................8
Getting Connected ......................................................................................................................10
Connecting Launchkey with a Computer..................................................................................10
Connecting Launchkey with External MIDI Enabled Instruments .............................................10
Working with Ableton Live.....................................................................................................11
Installation ....................................................................................................................................11
Setup............................................................................................................................................11
Session Mode...............................................................................................................................13
Launching Clips ........................................................................................................................15
Launching Scenes .....................................................................................................................16
Stop, Solo, Mute ......................................................................................................................16
Record.......................................................................................................................................17
Capture MIDI.............................................................................................................................17
Quantise....................................................................................................................................17
Click...........................................................................................................................................17
Undo..........................................................................................................................................17
Arm/Select (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only).....................................................................................18
Drum Mode - Playing and Recording Drums.....................................................................................18
Using Ableton Live’s Mixer ..........................................................................................................19
Pots ...........................................................................................................................................19
Faders (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only) ............................................................................................20
Device Mode - Navigating and Controlling Devices......................................................................... 21
Device Select.............................................................................................................................22
Device Lock...............................................................................................................................22
Transport Functions......................................................................................................................23

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Working with Cubase.............................................................................................................24
Setup............................................................................................................................................24
Pot Modes and Fader Modes (49, 61, 88 key) .............................................................................25
Device mode.............................................................................................................................25
Volume mode............................................................................................................................25
Pans Mode ................................................................................................................................25
Sends (Sends A and B) ..............................................................................................................25
Pad Mode.....................................................................................................................................26
Session Mode............................................................................................................................26
Fader Buttons (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only) ............................................................................26
Select Mode..............................................................................................................................26
Arm Mode .................................................................................................................................26
Transport Controls........................................................................................................................27
Track ◄ ► Buttons ..................................................................................................................27
> Pad (Scene Launch)................................................................................................................27
Standalone Features ...............................................................................................................28
Grid ..............................................................................................................................................28
Drum Mode...............................................................................................................................28
Scale Chord Mode ....................................................................................................................28
User Chord Mode......................................................................................................................30
Fixed Chord...............................................................................................................................31
Scale Mode ..................................................................................................................................33
Custom Modes.............................................................................................................................34
Pads...........................................................................................................................................34
Pots ...........................................................................................................................................35
Faders (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only) ............................................................................................35
Arpeggiator..................................................................................................................................35
Arpeggiator Pot Controls..........................................................................................................36
Arp Modes ................................................................................................................................37
Arp Rates ..................................................................................................................................38
Arp Rhythms .............................................................................................................................39
Latch .........................................................................................................................................39
Arp Control Lock ......................................................................................................................40
Octave Buttons.............................................................................................................................40
Settings ........................................................................................................................................41
Pot Pickup ....................................................................................................................................41
Navigation Mode - ([...] Button) .......................................................................................................... 42
Strum Mode .................................................................................................................................42
Arp Controls in Strum Mode.....................................................................................................43

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Working with Other DAWs ....................................................................................................44
Logic.............................................................................................................................................44
Setup.........................................................................................................................................44
Session Mode............................................................................................................................45
Pots ...........................................................................................................................................47
Faders (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only) ............................................................................................48
Arm/Select (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only).....................................................................................48
Transport Functions...................................................................................................................49
Navigation.................................................................................................................................49
Reason..........................................................................................................................................50
Setup.........................................................................................................................................50
Transport Control ......................................................................................................................50
Pots ...........................................................................................................................................51
Pads Session Mode ...................................................................................................................51
Navigation.................................................................................................................................51
Preset Browsing.........................................................................................................................51
Working with HUI (Pro Tools, Studio One etc.) ..................................................................................52
Setup ........................................................................................................................................52
Pro Tools....................................................................................................................................52
Studio One............................................................................................................................... 52
Pad Session Mode.....................................................................................................................52
Navigation ................................................................................................................................52
Controlling the Mixer ................................................................................................................52
Faders and Fader Buttons (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only)............................................................53
The faders always control track volumes for the selected bank of tracks. ................................53
Transport Buttons......................................................................................................................53
The transport buttons listed below will function as described when used with HUI.................53
Physical Characteristics...........................................................................................................54
Weight and Dimensions...............................................................................................................54
Custom Modes and Components ...........................................................................................54

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Introduction
Launchkey [MK3] is Novation’s intuitive and fully integrated MIDI keyboard controller for making tracks
in Ableton Live and Steinberg’s Cubase. Designed to give you everything you need to create and play
your music. Made for creators of all abilities, Launchkey gives you inspirational tools to expand your
musical vocabulary.
Launchkey gives you unrivalled access to Ableton Live’s functions, including Capture MIDI, track
arm, quantise, click and loop controls. Not using Ableton Live? No problem, Launchkey also has
full integration with Cubase, Logic and Reason, plus out of the box functionality with other DAWs
including Studio One and Pro Tools, via HUI.
Inspirational features include Scale, Chord and Strum modes and a powerful arpeggiator, which
together extend your musical capabilities and let you create in new ways. Scale Mode transposes keys
and pads played to notes in the scale selected; chord modes let you trigger complex chords with one
finger, while the arpeggiator gives your melodies movement.
Launchkey also works in standalone; the full-size five-pin MIDI output works with any MIDI-compatible
device. Use Novation Components to update firmware and configure Custom Modes. We recommend
updating the firmware right away so your Launchkey is up to date and fully featured.
Key Features
• Designed for Ableton Live: immediate
access to all the controls you need.
• Additional DAW support: Full integration
with Cubase, Logic and Reason, out of
the box functionality with Studio One,
Pro Tools and more via HUI.
• Produce and perform: 25, 37, 49, 61 or
88-note velocity sensitive keyboard and
16 velocity sensitive RGB backlit pads
• Shape your sound: tweak instruments and
effects to perfection using eight rotary
encoders - and 9 faders (Launchkey 49,
61 and 88 only)
• Automatically map scales to the keys:
never hit a wrong note
• Get creative: three chord modes allow
you to trigger chords with one finger,
the powerful arpeggiator gets melodies
moving
• Transport and mixer control: directly
operate playback, recording, pans, mutes
and sends
• Connect to your hardware: 5-pin MIDI Out
works with any MIDI-compatible device
• Control anything MIDI: create custom
mappings for any performance or studio
rig using Novation Components
• Make music immediately: Ableton Live
Lite, virtual instruments and effects
plugins and sample packs included

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Box Contents
• Launchkey 25, 37, 49, 61 or 88
• USB Type-A to B cable (1.5 meters)
• Safety Instructions
Getting Started
The ‘Easy Start Tool’ provides a step-by-step guide to setting up your Launchkey. This online tool
guides you through the process of registering your Launchkey and accessing the software bundle.
When connecting Launchkey to your computer, it will appear as a Mass Storage Device (MSD), like a
USB drive. Open the drive and open ‘Click Here to Get Started.url’. This will open the Easy Start tool
in your web browser.
Alternatively, visit our website to register your Launchkey and access the software bundle.

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Troubleshooting and Support
For help getting started with your Launchkey, please visit:
novationmusic.com/get-started
If you have any questions or need any help at any time with your Launchkey, please visit our Help
Centre.
Here you can also contact our support team:
support.novationmusic.com
Model Specific Features
There are 25, 37, 49, 61 and 88 key versions of Launchkey. The differences between the devices are
outlined below and model specific features are noted throughout this guide.
Model Launchkey 25 Launchkey 37 Launchkey 49 Launchkey 61 Launchkey 88
Velocity Sensitive keys 25 37 49 61 88
Faders - - 9 9 9
Fader/Track Buttons - - 9 9 9
Arm/Select Button - -   
Semi-Weighted
Keybed
- - - - 
Semi-Weighted Keybed (Launchkey 88 only)
The Launchkey 88 model features a semi-weighted keyboard for a piano-like feel. All 88 keys are
velocity sensitive with four velocity curves to suit your playing– See “Settings” on page 41.

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Hardware Overview
1LCD Display Shows the device status, parameter values,
and lets you navigate through menus.
2Shift Button Enables access to secondary Shift functions
which are shown in grey text on the hardware.
3Settings Button Opens the settings menu on the screen. See
“Settings” on page 41 for a reference table
4▲▼ Buttons Navigates up and down through rows of pads.
Used for clips and drum racks in Live, chords,
and more.
5Track ◄ ►Buttons Navigates through tracks in your DAW.
6… Button
(Navigation Mode)
Pressing the ‘...’ button will put the Launchkey
into Navigation Mode useful for browsing
samples and presets. See “Navigation Mode -
([...] Button)” on page 42.
7Fixed Chord
Button
Stores a chord that can be played with oe
finger anywhere on the keyboard. See “Fixed
Chord” on page 31.
8Arp Button Turns on and off Launchkey’s inbuilt
arpeggiator. Long press also locks the pot and
pad Arp controls to on.
9Scale Button Turns on and off Launchkey’s Scale Mode. See
“Scale Mode” on page 33.
10 Octave - +
Buttons
Transposes the keyboard up or down eight
octaves (C-2 to C5). Pressing both buttons sets
the transposition amount back to 0.
11 Pitch Wheel Bends the pitch of the note being played.
12 Modulation Wheel Modulates software/hardware parameters.
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19 Faders (Launchkey 49,
61 and 88 only)
Control various parameters using eight available modes: Device, Volume, Send
A, Send B and four Custom Modes. The 9th fader controls Master volume in your
DAW (excluding HUI).
20 Fader Buttons (49,
61 and 88 key models
only)
Control various parameters using eight available modes: Device, Volume, Send A,
Send B and four Custom Modes.
21 Arm/Select Button (49,
61 and 88 Key Models
Only)
Changes the functionality of the Fader Buttons in your DAW to let you select and
record arm tracks.
13 Pots Controls various parameters using eight available modes: Device, Volume, Pan, Sends
and four Custom Modes. The first five pots also control Arp parameters as secondary
functions.
14 Pads Trigger clips and play drum racks in Ableton Live using Session and Drum Modes. Send
custom MIDI messages using four available Custom Modes. Trigger chords in Scale Chord
and User Chord Modes.
15 Device Select Selects the device you want to control in Ableton Live using the pads.
16 Device Lock Locks the currently selected device controls to the pots in Ableton Live, even when you
navigate to a different track.
17 > Button
(Scene Launch)
Launches full rows of clips in Ableton Live.
18 Stop/Solo/
Mute Button
Turns the bottom row of pads into track stop, solo or mute buttons.
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22 Capture
MIDI
Capture any recently played MIDI notes in your
DAW (supported by Live, Cubase and Logic).
23 Quantise Triggers the quantise function in Live, Cubase and
Logic, to snap notes to the grid.
24 Click Toggles Logic, Cubase and Live’s metronome on and off.
25 Undo Triggers Logic, Cubase and Live’s undo function.
26 Play, Record, Stop, Loop Controls the transport in your DAW.
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Getting Connected
Connecting Launchkey with a Computer
Your Launchkey is USB bus-powered, it’s powered when you connect it to your computer with a USB
cable. When connecting Launchkey for the first time, visit Components to make sure you have the
latest firmware. This will make sure you have all the latest features enabled.
Power and MIDI via USB
USB Cable
Note: When connecting Launchkey to a Mac you may see the Keyboard Setup Assistant. This is
because Launchkey functions as a computer keyboard device in Navigate Mode. Please close the
Keyboard Setup Assistant.
Connecting Launchkey with External MIDI Enabled Instruments
If you want to use the 5-pin DIN socket for MIDI output on your Launchkey without a computer, you
can power the unit with a standard USB power supply (5V DC, minimum 500mA).
MIDI Device/Sound
Module
USB
Power
MIDI Cable

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Working with Ableton Live
We’ve designed your Launchkey to work seamlessly with Ableton Live, with deep integration through
powerful production and performance controls out of the box. In addition, you can modify your
Launchkey to suit your needs with Custom Modes. Launchkey’s functionality with Ableton Live is
detailed below.
Installation
If you already own Ableton Live, open the program and plug in your Launchkey. If you don’t yet own
Ableton Live, register your Launchkey at novationmusic.com/register to download and install your
included copy of Ableton Live Lite. If you have never used Ableton Live before, we recommend visiting
our Easy Start Tool (see ‘Getting Started’). There you’ll find videos covering installation, the software’s
basic features, and how to get started making music with your Launchkey.
Setup
With Ableton Live installed, plug your Launchkey into your Mac or PC’s USB port. When you open Live
your Launchkey will be automatically detected and enter Session Mode.
Press Shift on your Launchkey and your pad lights will look like the image below. The top row of pads
(blue) select behaviour or “Mode” of the Pots above, while the lower row of pads (green) select the
behaviour or mode of the pads. A red pad shows this mode (Volume) is assigned to the faders (49, 61
and 88 key models only).

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If your pads do not match the image above you’ll need to set up Ableton Live’s Control Surface
Preferences. To do this, find the ‘Link Tempo MIDI’ Preferences menu in Ableton Live:
Windows: Options > Preferences > Link Tempo MIDI
Mac: Live > Preferences > Link Tempo MIDI
This window varies in different Ableton Live versions. The MIDI setup stays the same.
In the Link Tempo MIDI tab you need to copy the settings shown above. Select Launchkey MK3 from
the Control Surface menu. Under Input and Output select:
Input - ‘Launchkey MK3 [...] (LKMK3 DAW OUT)’ on Mac or MIDIIN2 (LKMK3 MIDI) on Windows
Output - ‘Launchkey MK3 [...] (LKMK3 DAW IN)’ on Mac or MIDIOUT2 (LKMK3 MIDI) on Windows.
Match the Track, Sync and Remote settings in the screenshot above. MPE is not used for the
Launchkey.
If you’re having trouble getting your Launchkey working with Ableton Live, please visit our Easy Start
Tool for video explanations.

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Session Mode
Session mode controls Ableton Live’s Session View. To access Session mode on your Launchkey hold
Shift and press the “Session” pad (bottom left pad). The Session pad will brighten:
Session View is a grid that consists of clips, tracks and scenes (shown below).
Scene
Clip
Track

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Launchkey’s Session mode provides an 8x2 grid of the clips in your Session View. Example of
Launchkey’s pads in Session mode:
Scenes are rows of clips. Launching a scene will launch all clips in that row. This means you can
arrange clips into horizontal groups (across tracks) to form a song structure, launching scene after
scene to progress through a song.
Again, to access Session mode on your Launchkey by hold Shift and press the Session pad (the bottom
left pad).
In Session mode, the pads represent the grid of clips found inside the coloured rectangle in Ableton
Live’s Session View. The image below shows the rectangle (orange) extending from the left-most track
to the Master track:
Clips are typically loops that contain MIDI
notes or audio.
Tracks represent virtual instruments or audio
tracks. MIDI clips placed on instrument tracks
will play back on the instrument assigned to
that track.

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Any changes you make to clip position or colour within Ableton Live are shown in the Session mode of
Launchkey. Unlit pads show empty clip slots.
You can navigate around Session View by pressing the ▲▼and the track ◄ ► buttons.
You can move the currently selected grid of clips (inside Ableton Live’s coloured rectangle) up or
down. The ▲button moves the grid of clips up one row. The ▼button moves the grid of clips down
one row.
The track ◄ ► buttons will select the adjacent left or right track. This will automatically arm the track
to receive MIDI.
Launching Clips
Pressing pads will launch clips in the corresponding location in your Session View. Pads will pulse
green to show a clip is playing. Pressing the pad again will relaunch the clip, and pressing an empty
pad below/above stops playback on that track.
How fast clips stop or relaunch is set by Ableton Live’s Global Quantization Menu at the top of the Live
screen. By default, this is set to one bar, but can go as fast as 1/32 notes, or as slow as 8 bars. It can
also be set to ‘None’ so clips change immediately.

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Launching Scenes
Pressing the Scene Launch button (>) launches scenes in Ableton Live. This means all the clips in the
top row of the pad grid will start together.
Stop, Solo, Mute
In Session mode, you can use the Stop, Solo, Mute pad to change the functionality of the bottom
eight pads so they no longer launch clips.
The Stop, Solo, Mute pad toggles between four different states which affect tracks in different ways:
Stop (Red) – Press a pad in the bottom row to stop any clip on the corresponding track. The red pads
dim if tracks are not playing.
Solo (Blue) - Press a pad in the bottom row to solo corresponding tracks, you’ll only hear tracks with
Solo on. The pads dim if tracks are not soloed (i.e. they are silent). Soloed tracks glow bright blue.

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Mute (Yellow) – Press a pad in the bottom row to Mute corresponding tracks. The pads dim for muted
tracks, leaving pads for unmuted tracks at their original brightness and colour.
Clips (Multi-colour)– the fourth press (after toggling through Stop, Solo and Mute) changes the
function of bottom pads to the default Session mode, where the bottom row of pads will again
represent clips.
Record
Pressing this button triggers Session Record while in Session Mode. This will allow you to record what
you’re playing to new clips as well as overdub existing clips.
Capture MIDI
Pressing this button triggers the Capture MIDI function. It retrospectively captures recently played
MIDI notes in the record-armed track. If you are not recording, but you play something that sounds
great, you can use Capture MIDI to send it straight into a clip.
Quantise
This button quantises MIDI notes in the currently active clip on the currently selected track. This snaps
the MIDI notes to the grid, helping to keep them in time with the beat.
Click
Turns Ableton’s metronome on/off.
Undo
Triggers the undo function.

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Arm/Select (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only)
The “Arm/Select” button (highlighted in red below) sets the functionality of the eight “Fader Buttons’’
(highlighted below in blue) to either arm tracks, enabling recording; or to select a track. While set to
Arm the buttons light up red to show a track armed for recording and dim red when not. Unlit buttons
show no track is associated with the fader.
When set to Select the colour of the buttons will match the tracks in Live. Pushing a Fader Button
(highlighted blue) will select that track.
Drum Mode - Playing and Recording Drums
To enter Drum Mode hold the Shift button and press the Drum pad (2nd from the bottom left).
Drum mode transforms your Launchkey’s pads into velocity-sensitive drum pads.
If a Drum Rack is loaded onto the selected Live track, and your Launchkey is in Drum mode, the
pads light up the colour of the track. When played the pads will light up green. These pads will play
whatever Drum Rack pads are visible on your computer screen. Pressing the ▲▼ buttons scrolls up/
down through a Drum Rack’s bank of 128 pads, each press moves up or down the rack in banks of 16.

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When using Ableton’s Drum Racks, Drum mode will – apart from triggering sounds – select the
associated Drum Rack pad within a Drum Rack. This means on release, the last played Drum Rack pad
lights up white and Ableton Live shows the selected Drum Rack pad on the screen.
Using Ableton Live’s Mixer
The eight Pots and eight Faders (49, 61 and 88 key models only) provide hands on control over
Ableton Live’s mixer. You can control the Volume, Pan, Send A and Send B levels of the tracks in your
project.
Pots
The eight pots provide hands-on, rotary control over Ableton Live’s mixer components. To prevent
any sudden jumps in control when you start turning the pots we have implemented a “Pot Pickup”
function.The pots will only start controlling the parameter once it has been moved to the position
shown in Live. For example if a parameter is set to 0 in Live you will need to turn the pot all the way to
the leftmost limit for it to be picked up (this can be turned off in Live’s preferences).
When your Launchkey is connected to Live, the pots automatically enter Device Mode, to assign the
pots to Live’s Mixer (Volume, Pan, Sends) hold the Shift button and press the labelled pads in the
upper row.
Volume - This mode allows you to control Track volumes using the pots. To select this mode, hold the
Shift button and press the Volume pad.

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Pan Mode - This mode allows you to control Track Pan values using the pots. To select this mode,
hold the Shift button and press the Pan pad.
Sends Mode - This Mode allows you to control Track Sends values using the pots. To select this mode,
hold the Shift button and press the Sends pad. On the first press the pots control to Send A, on the
second press they control Send B.
Note: a mode cannot be assigned to both the pots and the faders at the same time. If a mode is
already mapped to the Faders, the pad will appear red while Shift is held, pressing a pad whilst in this
state will not assign the Pots to that mode.
Faders (Launchkey 49, 61 and 88 only)
The nine faders provide, linear control over a range of Ableton Live’s mixer parameters. To select one
of these modes hold the Shift button (highlighted in red below) and press the respective Fader button
(highlighted in blue below).
When your Launchkey is connected to Live, the faders default to Volume Mode. In this mode the first
eight faders control Ableton Track Volumes. The ninth Fader always controls the Master Volume no
matter what mode you select. The faders can also be set to control the Send A, Send B levels.
Note: you can’t assign a mode to both the pots and faders at the same time. If a mode is already
mapped to the pots, then the respective Fader button will appear red while Shift is held, pressing a
Fader button whilst in this state will not assign the faders to that mode.