Review: LaunchKey MINI MK3 // Ableton Live // Generative arp // TRS MIDI explained (MKIII tutorial)

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► Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/zWXrM
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Check Launchpad prices here: (affiliate links help the channel)
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► bit.ly/DIY-TRS-A-TO-B
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TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
0:55 Overview
1:45 Keybed
2:10 Pads
3:30 3.5mm MIDI
4:45 TRS A vs B
7:25 Arpeggiator
9:30 Mutate/deviate
11:20 Ableton Live
13:20 Bottom row
14:10 Pad modes
14:50 Knob modes
16:20 Using an iPad
17:50 Misc
18:50 Pros & cons
Want to email me personally?
► Ziv (at) loopopmusic.com
NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.

[@koliebrie_to_go]

man this is an amazing video. you showed off all features in such a good and easy to understand way that now i completely understand what it can do and what i get for my money. as someone thinking of making this my first ever midi controller this was a massive help. thanks man.

[@TheMicksteph]

This tutorial is amazing. The quality of the sound and video is fantastic and take all the features and create a clean/smooth tutorial, thank you!

[@silverfaux8545]

You really opened up this controller for me. You do these reviews so well. I have made several purchases based in great part on the information you have presented. I finally got a grasp on the Mutate and Deviate functions.

[@jorcis67]

It's been 2 months since I got my Launchkey Mini and your video helped me to make my purchase decision - I'm really happy with my first MIDI controller. Your reviews are some of the most thorough with such great quality. Thank you sir!

[@nlamste3]

Great insightful reviews! I also really like your time stamps on the left of your videos. But mostly I like your enthousiasme for the instruments. In this video I really found your midi standards explanation really helpfully! So thanks!

[@satyanpatel6403]

The most comprehensive review of LaunchKey Mini MK3. Thank you once again loopop, don't know how you stay up doing it, but I really appreciate you doing.

[@TheValueOfN]

Much like Mooch is the go-to-guy for batteries for vaping, Loopop is the go-to-guy for music creation technology.

[@davidjohn9006]

Excellent review/demo... I’ve just invested in this mini keyboard, and as a novice, appreciate having found/viewed this info/overview, well presented. 👍🏼👍🏽👍🏻👍🏾🇦🇺

[@_Dogstar9]

Great stuff mate. I was looking for a controller with generative aspects and this ticks the boxes. Well presented. Thanks, loopop

[@hankjohnson3902]

That was a very well put together and easy to follow demo/tutorial. Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

[@jaycrystall7985]

This was the tutorial I needed to break through and finally understand what to do. I was getting frustrated. Thank you so much!

[@pixelflow]

That arp is very nicely designed. Loving the addition of random behaviors. This and the Volca Modular know whats up!

[@daniellyons2588]

Amazing review. Helped me a lot with deciding whether this was the right keyboard for me

[@erenkaraman9713]

@loopop I follow you just because you give us the exact times when you talk about what! Thanks

[@havokcc]

Great explanation regarding the TRS A and B, never understood it until now! 😂Thanks! That mutate reminds me to the turing machine, looks awesome!

[@Roboprogs]

Likewise. Reminds me of the old computer serial cables from the 80s & 90s - having to use a “null modem” to connect 2 computers directly.

[@KeroDean]

Love the way you put the screen floating over the top

[@JudeElBoukili]

I was looking to buy a Novation Launchkey MK3, but I needed to know how it works. Thx so much for this vid 😉

[@ellagreen9056]

Great review thanks. Loved the brief reference to what sounded like the soundtrack to Moon (Clint Mansell) at 3:08.

[@loopop]

Thanks - yes, love that movie and soundtrack

[@JuxtaThePozer23]

I just got this controller and this is the most helpful video I've found, cheers!

[@solarlanding]

best demo / review out there. novation should pay you for advising. thank you!

[@itchardhen]

hey ziv, long time fan. straight ahead, no-bs, informative content as always. thanks so much for doing what you do. i've heard that a bunch of folks are having trouble getting launchkey mk3s of various sizes to work under logic pro on the new M1 silicon ARM-based macs. you touched on it briefly, but using the mackie HUI control surface driver is a great workaround to get these controllers tightly integrated with many DAWs, while we wait for novation to release native drivers. it really is a cool device at this price point. be well.

[@javierf55]

Great video, actually this one made my decision to buying this Keyboard. Thanks for a deep review

[@AlphaMachina]

What Novation needs to add to this in a firmware update is a "Shift-Lock" function, so that you can stay in navigation mode.

[@robinn3813]

Does anyone know, if the shift-look feature was implemented by now?

[@itsBoo]

@@robinn3813 yeah, 1.1 update

[@Xxmeca421xX]

@@itsBoo really? Sweet I need to go check out their site to get it

[@valdir7426]

@@itsBoo as well as arp lock

[@AmbarishDeenadhayalraj]

This is the most detailed review of this device I've come across. Amazing work!

[@topdazzle]

Brilliant - the best I have seen so far on this device. Thank you 🙏

[@tomelwich49]

Another 5 star tutorial...thank you Loopop!

[@cmbrouns]

Absolutely excellent review! Sub'd! answered all the questions I have at the moment!

[@WincklePicker]

Great review my man. You sold me on it. Subscribed 👍🏼

[@ilanonbass]

Because of your review I got the Arturia stepkey 37 Now because of your review I want to get the launchkey mini mk3 … Lol Great reviews ! Yours are the only reviews I don’t skip the talking too much !!

[@gama1639]

Beautiful, amazing details. Thanks from Goa India

[@whormongrmuzik]

i actually am really impressed by this

Time 15:20 - For swapping the device when in Device Mode, just use Shift < Track >. The first device on the track will be under control. If you have multiple devices on one track, just group them to an instrument rack and assign the most important controls to the device Macros.

[@davidcp7957]

Thanks for your videos, brilliantly explained with the right amount of depth, you should get paid by these guys as I am buying 2 of their controllers due to your videos 👍

[@jamesblake1662]

Was really hoping to see a step sequencer on the mk3, that or maybe a mod/firmware update for the mk2, 16 pads is just right for something like that!

[@RonCavagnaro]

Whoa yeah this is great! Keeping my SL mk3 but great work novation and loopop of course

[@Thatsit36]

A very thorough video. Thank you!

[@kuba017]

Great and helpful review and dive into this product. Thank you!

[@seanhayes2998]

You sir are a putting quite a strain on my wallet. Would love to here more of this paired with the 0-coast.

[@gru_day]

One setup, that i can recomend, is Volca Sample (Pajen firmware is a must) and LaunchKey MK3. After update u can use all samples on pads in LK MK3 (midi channel 11, can be set via components app) and still play all 10 samples chromatically on 10 first midi channels. That is sick combo!

[@TheAlxender]

Thanks for making this video!! Appreciate very much!

[@shitmandood]

That's a ton of bang for the buck. I was going to get a different small MIDI controller, but nothing that small has all of these great features. Add in the Launch Pad X and it looks like a force to be reckoned with, perhaps even outside of the Ableton ecosystem.

[@zoned7609]

im so glad i found this. best portable midi keyboard EVER

[@zoned7609]

i liked it so much i got the less portable LaunchKey 25 full size for home noodling

[@mgrollins]

Thanks very much for this and your other content!

[@whaleheadcoda]

Big fan of your reviews and product demos! Great work.

[@Wendel_Kos]

dude, this is the only good review of this controller...thanks man

[@madstation]

Fantastic review, even 4 years later.

[@qwe1212bb]

Great review, thank you. Everything to the point. thinking about purchasing it to use with my iRig pro duo I/o.

[@sriharshaeati]

Excellent walk-through. As usual!. Quick question. Do you know if there is a way to store multiple custom modes in a memory bank within the unit?. i am trying to use it with the 1010 Blackbox and am looking to create a second bank of the knobs to control volume levels of the 9-16 channels. Thanks.

[@mehdisahaby6430]

Super dooper reviews 👍 thank you

[@user-rj8hn1cb1w]

thanks for explaining the TRS A/B confusion! Now I got the solution, before I thought anything wasnt working properly and got really angry, because Novation doesnt offer a solution on the first view

[@arthurvincentsimon5651]

Amazing video! I think the only thing that would make this perfect is that the knobs should be endless!

[@drissaitkassimusic]

appreciate the effort you put on this videos great content thank you

[@unfairfair]

This vid should be linked in all the official documentation of the MK3 IMO. Perfect jumpstart even for those who don't know anything of music theory or production as me but still like to experiment something new

[@SoulSheIS]

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the midi lesson. :-)

[@SoulSheIS]

I could totally see this as two key octave device, while keeping the same form factor. Ideal!

[@Brudi]

Cool video as always man!

[@myrenmusic1611]

the arp functions are soo coool

[@TheRedAnvil40]

Thank you so much for this. So informative! You got a new sub.

[@ruffnutts]

Would love to see more on this using the BlackBox with it :)

[@havokcc]

Agree, I basically clcked on the video because I saw the blackbox

[@mercedesescobarmusic]

I feel like I LOVE this and would like to buy one, but the lack of an undo button bothers me. Do you think it could be mapped to any of the other keys? i would never use the "fixed chord" function, for example. Do you think i could map it there?

[@lisuardo5280]

Wena compare!! Esta buenísimo , me quedo todo muy claro !!! Gracias!!!!

[@gastondartevelle]

Excellent review!

[@kierenmoore3236]

* 18:40 Pros & cons

[@boimesa8190]

So what about the transpose function, why didn't u quickly show it off? And what could be a good use for the program change and midi channel shift controls??

[@docdoak870]

This is everything I wanted as I'm finally ready to upgrade from my RemoteSl37 mk1... And then I hear there's no aftertouch. Now i'm looking back at the SL mk3... How does everyone else feel labout aftertouch? It is a feature I primarily look for when I'm Controllin'

[@Kevinschart]

this is my first "hardware" piece. I've had midi keyboards, but no drum pads. and certainly nothing with this amount of DAW integration. This this is so much fun. Do yourself a favor and buy a controller that helps you get out of the computer a bit. This is where ableton shines. I might go for a launchpad sometime in the future.

[@st0rmchild]

Nice upgrade overall. Would have been nice to have separate track select buttons, as that's something I'll use a lot more frequently than the Arp or Chord mode. Ideally they should have added four arrow buttons (in a north east south west arrangement) for both track and row selection in the space above the Arp and Chord buttons. I also wish the pads could be configured to send CCs instead of notes in custom mode. But even with the limitations, I can't find a better compact controller, so I bought one of these. It has better DAW integration than the Akai MPK Mini (not just with Ableton Live but also Logic and Reason) and it's way smaller and lighter than the Arturia MiniLab mk2. I would have preferred 32 keys, but the Arturia KeyStep and NI Komplete Kontrol M32 are both too big to fit in any normal size backpack. The KeyStep also has no knobs, which is really unfortunate, because it does have many unique features like aftertouch and CV. I don't care that much about pads, so I've come close to buying an M32 on many occasions, but it's just a bit too big, and NI still hasn't gotten around to letting you make custom MIDI templates. It also doesn't play nicely with other KK keyboards, so I wouldn't be able to use it together with my S49.

[@CHUCKYCHUCKYBOBUCY]

@19:10 this so much... I just got mine today, and I wish it had 2.5 or 3 octaves. Also, no ability to disable velocity right on the device (LaunchKey 49 has this)?

[@DethTyrant]

Hello great overview as always. Just wondering what cables or adapter would I need to use my iPad with this.

[@BackspinZX]

I wonder if you can pair the Fixed Chord Mode together with the Arpeggiator a la Arturia's Keylab for arpeggiated chords? I also wonder if there's the ability to switch what MIDI Channel it's playing on? Possibly something I should go manual-diving on...

[@AllaMortify]

How does this compare to Arturia's Keystep? I had thought this was basically just for PC/MAC/Laptop use, but I see that it can be connected to a variety of different types of gear.

[@trimusfree]

Excellent! Can You fingerdrum and use the keyboard when using with 1010? ThanKs

[@thutivi1982]

Hello. I bought Novation Launchkey 61 and got solfware yesterday but the keyboard is not working. I don't know how to set up for the audio. Can you hlep me please.

[@SamsonBrock42]

Curious if Novation fixed the problem with the shift key and Session Navigation? I read somewhere else this issue presented a problem with Live Looping.

[@82herz996]

Thank you so much! Got this thing and feel just awesome, because now I understand how it works! Sometimes it's so hard to read user guide when yor're russian :D So that was really informative and understandably. Now the question is how to combine it with Whammy IV))))

[@rickvestuto]

Would love to see a video of whats the best Midi controller for BlackBox The touch screen on the BB is awesome but I believe the BB needs a dedicated Controler/Keyboard don't you? Best regards, Rick

[@zoned7609]

also: if youre not an expert pianist, you can still load up a custom scale for the mini (or access the built in scale mode if you have the full size keys home version) the mutate and deviate options are amazing. it will stay in the right scale so the random notes is more harmonious

[@jtoobacc18239]

how do you load custom scale on the mini?

[@fishtage]

As always amazing video!! do you know if its possible to control metronome and loop via the novation? thanks

[@juanfra3722]

When I go up 2 octaves, and I press the last key C, it doesn't play the note, it start recording, how can I change that?

[@Sugapapii]

Can i play this with headphones? Like my headphones are plugged in to my laptop and my controller is plugged in to my laptop

[@hiroprotagonitis]

how would you compare the drumpads and keys to the akai mk2? thanks for the thorough review!!

[@mikebike_0474]

The fucking best video for undersand quickly your Launckey MIDI. THANKS A LOT

[@ZukunftBilden]

Is Novation launchkey mini mk3 or the akai mpk mini mk2 better - if you work with ableton live10? (why?)

[@ruffnutts]

You can use the LaunchKey MK3 with the blackbox over USB as the Blackbox has a USB midi host port for plugging in class complient devices :)

[@Bredofication]

Can I use as midi interface? I.e for sending midi notes from my DAW to other MIDI devices?

[@xselfcreative]

Thanks alot 🙏 another great review. A question, I have Waldorf Blofeld synth it has 5 pin midi in and also usb midi in and out. I was thinking about getting this midi keyboard to use with blofeld but I wonder can Blofeld power Launchkey via it’s usb output? Thanks in advance.

[@stainlexz]

Hey! do you knwo if this keyboard is working the same good way with FL Studio??

[@hickscorp]

Nice! As always.

[@stellacadente8877]

Great review as always! I ordered the mk3 before watching your video. It’s even more satisfying to know I made a good choice :) The midi out was my tipping point. About the TRS, I’ve ordered a custom made cable and hope the polarity will be the right one. Does the Launchkey needs a TRS A or B? Thanks to albedo0point39 for the tip about the adaptor.

[@acidperex]

Another way to connect TRS A with TRS B is with RCA/TRS cables but with one adapter that allows you to connect RCA in opposite colors (red with white). Not sure if I made myself clear.

[@benjaminbrodie9801]

Excellent video! Cheers!

[@tikufarkas]

Question? Are there any Project Files for the Launchkey, like on a Launchpad? thanks in advance =)

[@liminal6823]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@karelimants5102]

Very nice review, thanks! Is it possible to duplicate clips with the MK3 without the use of a mouse?

[@ConeyIsland1952]

how do you transpose key on launchkey mk3 25? .I am trying with transpose lit,.. holding shift pushing +/- but it only changes the sounds not transpose what am I doing wrong?

[@patrickhayes1004]

I'm looking to upgrade from an akai mpk mini for one reason in particular - the key action is way too stiff. Hard to be expressive with that much resistance and I find myself missing a lot of notes - what is the keyboard action like on this?

[@agathauy2709]

Does changing the midi channel change the midi channel of the knobs as well? This thing would really be awesome if it could be used for the many knobs of soft synths.

[@Shaku4Shintai]

In software, do the limited knobs mess up the software much especially if you're doing something live? I found on older devices that for knobs that controlled more than one thing, wherever they were left at would mess up the next thing when you used them. So if the physical knob was at the max, and you switched to something that was set at 50% in software, the moment you touched the knob, it would jump to a blaring 100%. How does this address that?

[@francescocorasaniti6077]

could I connect it for ex. with the ampli (directly) with the midi out, correct?

[@Treggify]

This was awesome 👌

[@espressivsymbols3220]

So I tried to get the launchpad app but it looks like its not pc friendly. does this mean i have to custom map the pads in abelton or can i not do it at all? I feel like i should just be able to do it through abelton

[@aaronkhayes]

So can you run this through a Scarlett audio interface that takes midi input, freeing up a USB port?

[@profet1385]

Not if you want any functions besides MIDI input.