Novation Launchpad X User Manual Download Page 3

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Introduction

Launchpad X is our essential grid controller 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 to understand every feature of your new grid controller

and will teach you how to take your production and performance to the next level
with Launchpad X.

Launchpad X Key Features:

•

An 8x8 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 software included - Ableton Live 10 Lite, as

well as a range of high-quality instruments & effects

•

Endless possibilities for controlling your software with

Custom Modes

Summary of Contents for Launchpad X

Page 1: ...1 Launchpad X User Guide ...

Page 2: ...th other software 7 Hardware Overview 8 Launchpad X Interface Overview 11 Session mode 10 Ableton Live s Session View 10 Mixer Mode 12 Note mode 16 Chromatic mode 17 Scale mode 17 Note Mode Settings 18 Overlap settings 20 Drum mode 22 Custom modes 23 Setting up Custom Modes 24 Lighting Pads 25 Settings 26 Default MIDI mappings 34 ...

Page 3: ...ontroller and will teach you how to take your production and performance to the next level with Launchpad X Launchpad X Key Features An 8x8 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 Power...

Page 4: ...ve never made music before or you just want to download your included software as fast as possible To access the Easy Start Tool first plug in your Launchpad X If you re on a Mac 1 On your Desktop find and open the folder LAUNCHPAD X 2 Inside the folder click the link Click Here to Get Started html 3 You ll be taken to the Easy Start Tool where we ll get you set up Alternatively if you have Google...

Page 5: ...enter 2 In This PC find the drive Launchpad X and double click 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 Double click the Launchpad X drive Double click the Click Here To Get Started link ...

Page 6: ...ch the on screen grid press pads to launch loops and one shots to build up your track To get there plug your Launchpad X into your computer and visit https intro novationmusic com Your Launchpad X will be automatically detected and you ll immediately be able to play beats using our curated packs Warning To access Launchpad Intro you must use a WebMIDI enabled browser We recommend Google Chrome or ...

Page 7: ...g 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 https www ableton com en live learn live You may register your Launchpad X and obtain your Ableton Live 10 Lite license at https customer novationmusic com register Using with ot...

Page 8: ...dware Overview Front panel Back panel Navigational buttons Session Mode Mixer Toggle Scene Launch Mixer Buttons Note Mode 8x8 Pad Grid Custom Mode Record Capture MIDI USB C Socket Kensington MiniSaver Socket ...

Page 9: ... Session Mode press Session once again to toggle Mixer Mode In Mixer Mode the Scene Launch buttons will become Ableton Live mixer functions in line with their sub text There are 4 Custom modes available When the Custom button is pressed you will enter Custom Mode 1 by default Access each of these by pressing the top 4 Scene Launch buttons after the Custom button is pressed The Custom Mode lit in p...

Page 10: ... is a grid that consists of clips tracks columns and scenes rows Session mode provides an 8x8 view of your clips in Session view on Launchpad X 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 that is assigned to that track Scenes are rows of clips Launching a scen...

Page 11: ...ulse 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 you may use the O button Session Record to enable overdub recording of the currently playing clip Pre...

Page 12: ...e tracks within the currently selected 8x8 area in Session view Volume faders are vertical Pan Control the stereo panning of the tracks within the currently selected 8x8 area in Session view Pans will show horizontally the top pan represents the leftmost track and the bottom represents the rightmost Send A Control the send level of the tracks within the currently selected 8x8 area in Session view ...

Page 13: ...ht Faders are velocity sensitive Hitting a pad on a fader hard will cause the value to move quickly while pressing a pad softly will result in a more gradual change of the value Faders also feature microvalues that may be accessed by tapping a single pad multiple times each press will output a slightly higher value This allows for more fine tuned control with faders There are four microvalues per ...

Page 14: ...14 The numbers in each fader above shows which track the fader is related to with regards to Session View s red outline The left most track becomes the top track for pans ...

Page 15: ...se functions are overlaid onto the bottom row of pads when their Mixer functions are pressed The pads for the currently Record Armed Muted and Soloed tracks will be lit brightly while the others will be dimly lit When a track is record armed all empty clips in a column will be dimly lit red When a clip is pressed it will flash red to show that it is queued to record the record button will also fla...

Page 16: ... velocity and pressure sensitive 8x8 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 W...

Page 17: ...ar with an octave being two pads up and two pads across This allows for guitar chord shapes to be used Additionally the sixth column of pads will play the same notes as the first column on the row above further mimicking a guitar layout The layout of chromatic mode can be altered in Note Mode settings accessed by holding Note See Note Mode Settings for details Scale Mode In Scale Mode Launchpad X ...

Page 18: ... alter Note Mode s layout with overlap controls and change Note Mode s MIDI channel Enter Note Mode settings by pressing and holding Note Note will pulse green when in Note Mode settings The Chromatic Scale toggle will switch between Chromatic Mode lit dim red and Scale Mode lit bright green upon being pressed Overlap allows you to alter the layout of both Chromatic Mode and Scale Mode See the fol...

Page 19: ...t lets you choose from 16 different 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 ...

Page 20: ...le For example with a 4 Finger overlap you are able to play a scale going vertically up the grid with only 4 fingers This is great for playing with a single a hand Sequential overlap behaves differently from 2 3 4 and 5 Finger overlaps In Chromatic Mode notes will be laid out linearly and are unique to each pad In Scale Mode only octaves of the root will be overlapped Sequential layout in Scale Mo...

Page 21: ...21 ...

Page 22: ...s divided into four 4x4 areas each of which represents the areas of the Drum rack shown below The visible area of the Drum rack may be scrolled through in sets of 16 slots using the buttons or in sets of 4 slots using the buttons The bottom left 4x4 area will always correspond with the currently visible slots in the Ableton Drum rack If there is a sample loaded in the areas 2 3 or 4 in the diagram...

Page 23: ...ou to download and explore on Components To access Components visit https components novationmusic com using a WebMIDI enabled browser we recommend Google Chrome or Opera Alternatively download the standalone version of Components from your Account page on the Novation site Custom modes are fully compatible between Launchpad Mini MK3 and Launchpad X Default Custom Modes Four custom modes are avail...

Page 24: ...coming notes Custom 4 is a non lit layout with different note values to Custom 3 The note values match Programmer Mode but for the 8x8 grid only Setting up a Custom Mode in Novation Components Custom Modes are created and edited on Novation Components When Components is loaded on your computer Launchpad X will connect automatically If the product name next to the home icon in the top right hand co...

Page 25: ...s within the 8x8 grid are pressed toggled e g when a note is being played or a temporary CC change is toggled There may only be one On colour per Custom Mode but each pad may have a unique Off colour Custom Modes may have any combination of notes CCs program changes and faders you can set up your own personalised control surface for your studio For more hands on information on how to create your o...

Page 26: ...side the 8x8 grid Settings Launchpad X s settings menu allows you to set your preferences across many of its aspects There are four pages available LED velocity aftertouch and fader To enter the settings menu press and hold Session briefly The top 4 rows will display the characters LED indicating the topic of the menu Use the top four Scene Launch buttons to access different pages LED Settings The...

Page 27: ...ode Bright green indicates that LED feedback external is enabled whereas dim red indicates that it is disabled The setting is enabled by default LED sleep may be pressed to turn off all LEDs on Launchpad X Press any button or pad to wake up the device This is useful for when you are not using Launchpad X but you do not want to unplug it ...

Page 28: ...s the Enable Disable Velocity toggle to enable or disable velocity globally on Launchpad X The pad will be lit bright green when velocity is enabled and dim red when disabled Three Velocity Curves may be selected between Low requires higher force to trigger high velocity values and high requires lower force for high values The selected curve is lit bright orange while the others are lit dim white ...

Page 29: ...a choice of three thresholds for triggering aftertouch Choose between Aftertouch disabled Channel Pressure and Polyphonic Aftertouch The selected mode will be brightly lit the others dimly lit Three Aftertouch Thresholds may be selected between Low requires a lower force to engage aftertouch and high requires greater force The selected threshold is lit bright purple while the others are lit dim wh...

Page 30: ...gs for Launchpad X Here you may enable or disable velocity sensitivity for faders independently of global velocity sensitivity Enable or Disable Velocity for Faders by pressing the pad The pad will be lit bright green when fader velocity is enabled and dim red when it is disabled ...

Page 31: ...nd button will send out a specified MIDI message when pressed The pads and buttons may be lit up by sending their corresponding MIDI messages to Launchpad X For more information see the Programmer Reference Guide which can be downloaded at https customer novationmusic com support downloads To switch between Live Mode and Programmer Mode enter the settings menu by pressing and holding Session brief...

Page 32: ...r menu hold Capture MIDI when plugging in Launchpad X The LED brightness level slider has 8 levels from minimum to maximum brightness The brightly lit white pad indicates which level is currently selected Bootloader Version will inform which version of the Bootloader is on Launchpad X Application Version will inform which version of the Application is on Launchpad X ...

Page 33: ...hich will help to get you set up with your Launchpad X see Getting up and Running Once you re set up with Launchpad X you may no longer want it to appear as a mass storage device Use this toggle to disable the behaviour completely When the pad is brightly lit MSD mode is enabled and it is dimly lit when disabled Device ID allows you to use multiple Launchpad X units with Ableton Live at once When ...

Page 34: ...34 Default MIDI mappings Custom 1 8x8 grid Momentary Note On messages note numbers below Custom 2 8x8 grid Momentary Note On messages note numbers below ...

Page 35: ...35 Custom 3 8x8 grid Momentary Note On messages note numbers below Custom 4 8x8 grid Momentary Note On messages note numbers below ...

Page 36: ... grid logo LED may be addressed Momentary Note On messages note numbers below For more detailed information regarding the MIDI implementation of Launchpad X please see the programmer s reference guide at https customer novationmusic com support downloads ...

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