Walkthrough, Review, & Using the Launchkey MK3 in a Composing Workflow

[@citygent101]

The fact that you can set custom key commands (keyboard shortcuts) mapped to the pads etc.. is game changing ...Why other companies don't let you do this is insane! Thank you for this excellent video .

[@rogerwhitacre8247]

Kati, thank you for an extremely valuable overview. I just purchased this keyboard and have no experience with DAW or Keyboard controllers. Your instruction has already shaved hours off of my learning curve, and I haven't even started using it yet! I am a long-time music educator and have written many compositions over the years, but always by hand on manuscript paper! I can't wait to have fun with this!

[@JamieR]

Superb video in every regard. Thank you! Getting back into music production after years away and this looks like a solid entry point for Ableton. Aiming towards the SL down the road.

[@Screenbience]

Thank you for this great tutorial ❤

[@camping_and_roadtrips]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain to us newbies the ins and outs of the mk3 :) please could you tell me, if I have 20 tracks on Cubase, how would I mute tracks example 16-19? I can only use the pads as far as track 8 :( please advise thank you :)

[@LessonFace]

Great question! For this, we first need to put the keyboard in session mode to control tracks with the keyboard. This will load tracks 1-8 on the pads. Then by clicking once on the right the track navigation arrow (left side control panel just below shift and settings) the pads selected will switch to tracks 9-16, and another click would get you to tracks 17-24, etc. The Launchkey pulls pad colors from the colors of your tracks, so it's a good way of double checking where you're at in the selected tracks. Let's say you're in session mode and you've pushed the right track navigation arrow once so that track 16 will be the furthest right top pad. Push the top pad once to select it, and push the Stop Solo Mute button. Now the top pad will mute the selected track and the bottom pad will solo it. I go through it pretty quickly in the video, but that's exactly what's happening around 11:30. You'd just repeat the same navigate and then mute actions to mute all the tracks you'd want muted!

[@camping_and_roadtrips]

@@LessonFace Thank you so much Kati, I have been watching and listening to some of your Compositions, such a fantastic talent, well done you, you should be so proud of your achievement's :)

[@camping_and_roadtrips]

@@LessonFace Hi, I worked out the drum mode, Create a track with Groove Agent, select a drum style, make sure you are on instrument not pattern, press shift and custom 22 on the LK49, and hey presto, all the drums are mapped out to the pads :) once again, thank you for a great tutorial, Michael :)

[@theburnerking]

Thank you for the very helpful walkthrough. Just a few questions, would you be able to explain how you assigned the various woodwind functions to the faders? Is it using quick controls in Cubase or do you assign the CC values in Novation Components? Sorry if this is obvious or I missed the info, I just haven't mapped to a keyboard before :) Great idea about the custom navigation buttons. When you are recording drums and you want the multiple banks of mapped notes do you load the custom mappings for the range of drums / keys then reload the Cubase navigation preset back again from Novation Components afterwards? I guess it's about building up a good workflow.

[@LessonFace]

Great questions! Kati here. On the woodwinds, I was assigning CC values in Novation Components rather than using Cubase's quick controls. Since Kontakt-based instruments give you the option to right click on parameters and reassign MIDI CC values, it's easy to check what's currently assigned or change to a different CC value. Once you know that number, then in Novation Components if you're mapping to the faders, you just need to enter the CC number, save and once you're done editing your new custom mode, send it to the Launchkey. You can change the CC values on quick controls in Cubase, but you will need to remember (or experiment with) which CC value controls what. Components is nice because you can add text names as reminders for controls. For drums, it really depends a lot on the library and what I'm trying to do. At this point, I pretty much keep my 3 custom drum pad modes loaded, with my custom navigation mode in that last custom slot. Most of the percussion libraries I use don't go high enough to justify keeping the 4th drum mode loaded, so it is definitely about finding the best workflow for you. It is pretty quick to swap out modes in Components if you find yourself reaching for more than 4 custom modes in any of the customizable areas.

[@theburnerking]

@@LessonFace Thank you so much for taking the time for such an in-depth reply. It works just as you explained with Novation Components. Wonderful stuff 😊

[@RichardCyberPunk]

Dear lady, does the Launchkey MK3 49/61 also work good to control an external MIDI groovebox or device such as my Roland Verselab MV-1 without using a laptop/computer ?

[@LessonFace]

Yes, you can use any size of the Launchkey to control an external MIDI instruments without a computer. In that case, you'd be using the 5-pin MIDI port on the back to connect to the device you want to control, and then use the USB input as the keyboard's power source. I tested with the wall charger/power block I normally use for my phone and it works!

[@RichardCyberPunk]

@@LessonFace Thank you very much for the fast reply.