Free Upload for Launchpad Sounds for Mac
Novation's popular Launchpad comes of age with the new Pro model.
It's no wonder that the Launchpad has been i of the most successful and recognisable music tech products of recent years. Its tactile control of Ableton Live, affordability and programmability has been loved by Live composers, DJs, hobbyists and hackers alike. I've come and so close to buying 1 over the years (and dropped several birthday hints) but I never quite succumbed, even when they refreshed it with 'S' model; and even when the cute neoprene sleeve was killing me.
Truth is I was waiting, and hoping, that 1 twenty-four hours we'd see a model with velocity-sensitive pads that could be used for playing instruments, an all-rounder that could supercede a prune launcher and a pad controller with a single product surface. And here we have it, and what an amazing flake of kit it is...
What'due south New
Allow's first past rounding up what new goodness that 'Pro' bluecoat gets you, before digging into the details. Firstly, the flagship Launch is more than a simple upgrade of the iconic 8x8 grid to velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads. Novation have taken full advantage of the hardware-focused functionality and APIs built into Alive 9 to support Push button, giving the Launchpad Pro many of the 'beat workstation'-style workflows offered by Ableton'due south controller.
Too, the Launchpad Pro is not purely an Ableton peripheral. A well-featured stand-lonely MIDI style plays well with other software, and contained MIDI connections let you to play hardware synths. (FL Studio and Bitwig users have also seen direct support for the Launchpad being incorporated into their DAWs of selection).
The other 'Pro' distinction is that Novation have left parts of the Launchpad Pro'due south firmware open, allowing 3rd-party developers and hackers to create and upload a custom 'app' to the device to curve the Launchpad to their own desires. This could be huge, although it'south too early to tell how this possibility will be used. (See the 'Hole-and-corner Source' box for more on this).
Out Of The Box
The new Launchpad maintains the range's 'chuck it in your bag' build quality, and at present has a cool orangish grippy safe base. The Pro model is a couple of centimetres bigger on each side to conform extra button strips which now environment the pad grid on all sides. The buttons now take their functions printed directly on them on a black background, a simple alter that makes them much more distinguishable from the performance pads. Another overnice impact is a coloured LED strip on the front edge that indicates the device'south current mode.
The Launchpad provided one of the slickest unboxing experiences I've had during a review. When used with a estimator, power is provided by the USB port which features an actress-tight design to lock tightly onto your cable, making accidental disconnection shut to impossible. (There'due south also a Kensington Lock for when yous demand to foreclose more intentional removal of your Launchpad.) Once connected, all I had to practise was launch Live. That's it. Alive detected the new unit and automatically set information technology up in the MIDI Preferences.
The surface starts off in the Session view: the classic clip-launching style that displays an 8x8 bankable window into your Live Session, too every bit Scene launchers on each row. Equally expected this is profoundly enhanced over previous generations past virtue of the full-colour LEDs — pads now lite upwardly the same color as the clips they represent and then it'due south easy to meet where you are. Users of other Launchpads volition know exactly what to do, until they want to stop a clip or admission track command...
Pick & Mix
Regular Launchpads take a Mixer page to think Track controls like Mute or Rec Arm, with the option to flip into Volume, Send or Pan modes. On the Pro, all these functions have spilled out onto their own dedicated buttons along the lesser of the panel. Tapping Record Arm, Rail Select, Mute, Solo or Stop Clips steals the bottom row of pads for that function, with the remainder of the pads in clip-launch mode. This reduces button presses, and makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to see which track is which as the controls are overlaid on the clip columns.
Switching to any of the continuous parameters (Volume, Pan or Sends) takes over the whole grid, using the pad columns every bit 'virtual faders'. This we've seen on other Launchpads, but what'south new, and ingenious, is the use of velocity to command glide time between the electric current and new settings. Hitting a pad hard and the parameter will be updated almost instantaneously; hit information technology softly and information technology volition glide gracefully to its new level. This is realised in hardware: the Launchpad generates a smooth series of continuous controller messages then this characteristic volition work with anything you're connected to.
Round the back things are pretty straightforward, with just a PSU socket, a USB port and MIDI I/O on the fast-becoming-ubiquitous three.5mm jack connectors. While we're talking design genius, I should note one of the key features that makes this Launchpad really fly: momentary fashion changes. All the Pro's modes can exist accessed in two ways. Borer and releasing a button volition 'latch' it, significant you'll switch to and stay in the new mode. Holding a button will put you temporarily into some other style, whereupon releasing the button flips y'all direct dorsum to the previous mode. This is huge, peculiarly when you get into playing instruments...
Instruments
And then at this betoken nosotros're already talking nearly the all-time Launchpad yet, and we've barely got started. Alongside the Session manner button you'll see the Notation button. This turns your Launchpad Pro from a clip launcher into a MIDI instrument controller. In that location are different modes for controlling Drum Racks and other instruments; the mode is set automatically depending on which kind of device is on the armed runway. In Drum manner, the pads map to the Alive drum device starting from the bottom left xvi pads. Any pads that accept a audio calorie-free up yellowish. All 64 pads are available for playing the Drum Rack, a much requested feature on the Push that has only recently been implemented. Anyone who'due south had a bad experience trying to depository financial institution a 4x4 pad controller up and downwards a large Live Drum Rack is probably nodding appreciatively about now.
The pads feel good to play, and are very solid and stable. They answer to a wide range of velocities, and the sensitivity level can be tweaked in the Settings folio. I actually enjoy playing these smaller, closer pads more than traditional 4x4 grids. I was really happy with how the Drum Racks control has been implemented, although there was 1 issue that I encountered a fair fleck: it's quite like shooting fish in a barrel to accidentally hit the mode buttons underneath the filigree. When this happens information technology's a show stopper because you get dumped into a new view, and you need to go dorsum and re-enable Annotation mode. Maybe I'1000 merely cack-handed, and I practise similar to play the boot drum pad with my thumb which probably doesn't help, simply I think Ableton possibly made the right option not to put whatsoever buttons under the main grid.
Switching to a different musical instrument rail is simple: yous just agree the dedicated Rec Arm push which will temporarily switch you to Session View. Tap the pad at the lesser of the track you want to play, so release Rec Arm and the Launchpad will snap back to Note mode.
When playing anything that'southward not a Drum Rack, Note mode maps MIDI notes to the pads starting at C1. A diatonic scale from the bottom pad is indicated by bluish pads, and all octaves are regal. The notes don't only keep chromatically from i row to the next. Each row is one fourth college than the one below, the same equally the tuning on a guitar. This is very handy if you're a guitar player as familiar chord shapes and scale patterns translate.
The arrow keys transpose the notes past simply shifting the whole grid left or correct, with the position of the Cs remaining indicated. Unlike some other pad controllers there are no alternative scale options, either for indication of scales or modes by colour, or for excluding notes that aren't in key. Nor are there whatever machine-chord functions. While these features would be welcomed, Live users tin merely drop in MIDI event devices such as Scale and Chord (and Arpeggiator) to emulate some of these niceties.
Production
Ableton made a number of tweaks to Live 9 to create a smoothen workflow for composing with Push, and thankfully they've made admission to these available to other hardware manufacturers. Novation have done a cracking task integrating these features into the Launchpad Pro, elevating it from a pad controller to a total-fledged beat-product workstation.
Functions for recording, duplicating, deleting and quantising clips are arranged down the left-manus side of the surface. Equally with Push, hit the Session Record button volition offset a new clip recording on the armed rail. You can also start recording a prune into a specific slot by holding Rec Arm and tapping a pad. Tapping record again will finish recording and start the new clip looping. You can overdub into the clip by hitting record again. Alternatively yous hold Duplicate and tap to create a copy of the clip and start information technology playing. Subsequent overdubs will be directed to this prune. This is exactly the workflow that I like to use in Live, and which I've tried to emulate with keyboard commands for years. Having this on a single button button is sky!
Clips can be quantised and doubled with dedicated buttons, and Record Quantise tin too exist enabled from the hardware. The previous record pass can be scrapped with the Disengage button, and a clip can be removed by holding Delete and borer its pad.
The Device button along the top row gives you a page for controlling the instruments and furnishings in your Live tracks, and also toggles the software betwixt Prune and Device views. For whatsoever Rack-based device, Device view gives you control of the viii Top-level macro controls, via the same virtual fader system as mixer command. In other devices you'll go command of eight pre-picked parameters.
The Launchpad-controlling role of the Session, and a Drum Rack's pads and macros. Device mode essentially takes the place of dedicated control knobs. As a MIDI instrument controller this is arguably the biggest affair missing on the Launchpad Pro, especially compared with other devices like Push or many stand-lone pad controllers. This rather limits your power to tweak or modulate sounds while playing them. I'chiliad pretty sure that Novation idea about this carefully and decided against knobs in favour of robustness, and perhaps price. The limitation is mitigated in a couple of ways. First, I discovered that if you're playing notes/drums in Note mode, you can go along them held while switching to Device mode. Yous tin then brand your parameter changes without interrupting the held notes. And thank you to momentary fashion changing, you can simply concord Device while tweaking, then allow go and you're back to playing notes.
Some other option is to extend your physical control options past adding a companion device similar the LaunchControl or LaunchControl XL. This will give you some knobs. I thing I investigated was the possibility of pairing the two devices and so that rail cyberbanking could be linked, or that selecting/arming a rails on the Launchpad would focus it on the LaunchControl. This functionality is not bachelor by default, but Novation did betoken me to a great company chosen Isotonik who've developed Max patches that provide this kind of functionality, as well equally lots of other cool stuff.
Summary
Just in instance it's non clear yet, I love the Launchpad Pro. Information technology gives me exactly the workflow I want in Live, and it also has stand-lone Drum, Note and User modes that hateful I can use it in Reason and Pro Tools as well, not to mention with hardware synths. Information technology might non have all the deep features and visual feedback of Push button, only it does accept very slick recording and limerick workflows in improver to the new velocity-sensitive pads and traditional launch grid. What's more, while I establish Push initially confusing to get to grips with, I was up and running with Launchpad Pro in Alive most immediately. Eight onboard knobs would have been nice, and of form a footstep sequencer, but the latter may be taken care of by third-party enhancements — Launchpad Pro builds on the already impressive hackability of the Launch range.
When asked most comparisons with Push, Novation's messaging really focuses on distinguishing the Launchpad Pro equally a performance device. If anything this rather sells the Launchpad's first-class studio product abilities brusque, only I see their point: in terms of robustness, mobility and speed of operation, it'south virtually every bit practiced as it gets. Tin I go two?
Alternatives
Inevitably we need to talk almost Push at some point in this review, simply depending on what yous need to achieve information technology's not the only alternative to the Launchpad Pro. If you lot're mainly looking for a Live prune launcher, and then you should likewise consider the other Launchpad models, as well as Akai's APCs. If information technology's mainly a MIDI pad controller you need, so there are many other options, including Akai'southward new MPD range, some of which have faders, knobs and a stride sequencer.
But for an all-circular Live controller that can launch clips, play instruments and control mixer and device parameters, it's going to come up down to the Launchpad or Ableton's ain Push. (Although don't dominion out Livid). So how do they compare? Clip and Scene launching are much the same betwixt the ii, they both offer pad modes for drum rack and other instruments, and they both include controls for composition workflows. All of this Launchpad does impeccably, but Push'south Live feature prepare is richer. Push'southward knobs and displays not just give you persistent, bear on-sensitive control of devices with parameter names on the surface, they are also used for browsing and loading sounds which is outside the scope of Launchpad. At that place are many dedicated controls for Live functions, a bear on strip performance controller, and of course the built-in step-sequencing interface.
On the other paw the Launchpad Pro is significantly cheaper, is very easy to learn and use, and is about as robust and portable as you could get. It also has genuine stand-alone functionality, and if some developers accept upward the challenge to hack the open-source firmware it could start to be a very interesting platform. If this attribute intrigues y'all and so bank check out the Monome, but you'll need much deeper pockets.
Undercover Source
Novation are clearly aware of how many people accept taken the Launchpad and used it for unexpected things. Many enthusiasts have used the Launchpad in identify of the more expensive Monome to create deep software controllers, performance surfaces, art installations, etc. Of particular annotation is the Light Prove phenomenon. Thanks to the ability to light upwards the Launchpad'due south pads with incoming MIDI data, many people take used Live sequences, Instrument Racks and MIDI Effects to create light displays that tin can either be played back or triggered from the pads. YouTube is full of these performances. The colour palette of the new Launchpads is available from MIDI notes, or you can even use SysEx messages to transport RGB colour blends and brightness commands to the pads — Novation say they've even had 25fps video playing on the filigree!
The level of control you can have over the Launchpads from external commands allows third parties to add rich Launchpad back up to their software. Just as a few examples, software can remotely switch the device between Drum, Note and User modes, control pad colours and flash pads in time to MIDI clock. This has been used by mainstream apps like FL Studio and Bitwig, but can besides be used by independent hackers or Max MSP programmers to give hardware integration with their creations. For instance I've previously seen a Reason remote codec that allow you visually program the ReDrum pulsate auto's pace sequencer from the Launchpad. It's just a matter of time before we go some Max For Live devices that add together animated sequencing and more than.
With the Pro, Novation accept added another possibility for innovation from the 3rd-party community. Areas of the firmware have been released as open source, and calls to lower levels of the hardware have been provided so that developers can upload their own code to the Launchpad Pro. This replaces the default Alive characteristic gear up with whatever new functionality a determined C programmer can devise. Put more simply, you can upload 'apps' to the Launchpad. Information technology's early days and experimental at this point, but could exist fascinating if it gets picked up, and correct now has to be the hottest selection for a university project. Ideally someone will make a friendly utility for managing and uploading people'due south creations to the Launchpad.
Pros
- Velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads.
- Total-colour LEDs.
- Easy, fast workflows.
- Stand-alone modes.
Cons
- Some Mode buttons are a bit close to the performance pads.
Summary
A Launchpad upgraded with full-colour, velocity-sensitive pads would accept been great; but one with total Live product workflows and stand up-alone operation is crawly.
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Source: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/novation-launchpad-pro