Launchpad Mini [MK3] User Guide

Table of Contents

Introduction

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Key FeaturesÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉ......3

In the BoxÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉ...ÉÉ.É...É3

Getting up and runningÉÉ..ÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉ..ÉÉ.ÉÉ.......4

Launchpad IntroÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.6

Ableton LiveÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉ.É...7

Using with other softwareÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉ7

Hardware Overview

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Modes

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Session modeÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ..ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.10

Keys modeÉÉÉÉ....ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉ....ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉ.13

Drum modeÉÉÉ..ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉ..13

User modeÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉ.É...É.ÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉ14

Custom modesÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉ..ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉÉÉÉ.ÉÉÉ14

Setting up a Custom ModeÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ15

Settings

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Settings MenuÉÉÉÉ.É.ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ...ÉÉÉÉÉ17

Bootloader MenuÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ19

Default MIDI mappings

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Introduction

Launchpad Mini is our most compact and portable grid controller for Ableton Live.

Launchpad Mini makes launching clips in Ableton Live a fast and tactile experience

by bringing your Session View from the screen to your fingertips in full RGB colour.

Take music making further and build tracks with Launchpad Mini, using keys and

drum modes to lay down beats and melodies.

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 Mini.

Launchpad Mini Key Features:

¥ An 8x8 grid of 64

RGB LED

backlit pads

¥ Perform with Ableton Live by launching clips and scenes

¥ Plug and Play & USB bus-powered

¥ Compact and lightweight

¥ Four modes

: Session, Drums, Keys and User

¥ Lightning fast access to performance controls with

Stop Solo Mute

button

¥ Powerful music production software - Ableton Live 10 Lite included, as

well as a range of high-quality instruments & effects

¥ Endless possibilities for controlling your software with

Custom Modes

In the box:

¥ Launchpad Mini

¥ USB-C to USB-A cable

Getting Up and Running

WeÕve made getting up and running with Launchpad Mini as easy as possible,

whether youÕre a brand new beatmaker or a seasoned producer. Our Easy Start

Tool provides a step-by-step guide on getting set up that is tailored to your needs,

whether youÕve 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 Mini

If youÕre on a Mac:

1. On your Desktop find and open the folder ÒLAUNCHPADÓ.

2. Inside the folder, click the link: ÒClick Here to Get Started.htmlÓ

3. YouÕll be taken to the Easy Start Tool where weÕll get you set up.

Alternatively, if you have Google Chrome

open upon plugging in Launchpad Mini, a

pop-up will appear that will take you

straight to the easy start tool.

If youÕre on Windows:

1. Press the Start button and type ÒThis PCÓ, then press enter.

2. In This PC, find the drive: ÒLaunchpad MiniÓ, and double click.

3. Inside the drive, click the link: ÒClick Here to Get Started.htmlÓ

4. YouÕll be taken to the Easy Start Tool where weÕll get you set up.

Double click the ÒLaunchpad MiniÓ drive

Double click the ÒClick Here To Get StartedÓ link

Launchpad Intro

If youÕre new to Launchpads,

Launchpad Intro

is a great place to start. Choose from

a variety of curated packs from Ampify Music and start performing immediately.

Your Launchpad Mini will match the on-screen grid - press pads to launch loops and

one-shots to build up your track.

To get there, plug your Launchpad Mini into your computer and visit

https://intro.novationmusic.com/. Your Launchpad Mini will be automatically

detected, and youÕll immediately be able to play beats with Launchpad Mini.

Warning: To access Launchpad Intro, you must use a WebMIDI enabled browser.

We recommend Google Chrome or Opera.

Ableton Live

(often referred to only as Live) is a unique and powerful piece of

software for music creation. Ableton Live 10 Lite is provided with your Launchpad

Mini, which gives you all the tools youÕll need to get started with making your own

music.

If youÕve never used Ableton Live before, we recommend visiting our Easy Start

Tool (see

Getting Up and Running

). Here youÕll be guided through downloading

and installing Ableton Live 10 Lite. YouÕll also find videos covering the softwareÕs

basic features so you can get started making music in Ableton Live with Launchpad

Mini.

With Ableton Live installed, get your Launchpad Mini up and running by plugging it

into your Mac or PCÕs USB port. When you open Live your Launchpad Mini will be

automatically detected and it will enter Session Mode.

More resources on using Ableton LiveÕs many functions may be found on AbletonÕs

site at:

https://www.ableton.com/en/live/learn-live/.

You may register your Launchpad Mini and obtain your Ableton Live 10 Lite license

at:

https://customer.novationmusic.com/register.

Using with other software

Launchpad Mini is made for Ableton Live, but it may also be used as a controller for

other software. If youÕre using other music production software, visit

support.novationmusic.com for more information on how to set up your Launchpad

Mini.

Having trouble?

In case youÕre having any trouble getting setup, donÕt hesitate to contact our

support team! You can find more information and answers to Frequently Asked

Questions at the Novation Help Centre:

support.novationmusic.com.

Hardware Overview

Front panel

Back panel

Navigational buttons

Session Mode

Scene Launch

Buttons

Stop/Solo/Mute

Custom Modes (Drum, Keys and User)

8x8 Grid

USB-C Socket

Kensington MiniSaverª Socket

Modes

Modes are the core of the Launchpad Mini interface. They allow you to switch

between views, offering different functionality in each.

There are four different modes available Ð

Session, Drum, Keys

and

User

Simply press a mode button to enter the respective mode. The currently active

mode will be lit green. Currently available modes will be lit white.

Drums, Keys and User are all

Custom

modes. Using the Novation Components

editor, you are able to edit the 8x8 grid of these three modes and customise them

to your own needs (see p.12).

Session mode

is designed to control

Ableton LiveÕs Session view

, seen below.

If youÕve never used Ableton Live before, we recommend visiting our Easy Start

Tool (see

Getting Up and Running

). Here youÕll be guided through downloading

and installing Ableton Live 10 Lite. YouÕll also find videos covering the softwareÕs

basic features so you can get started with making music in Ableton Live using

Launchpad Mini.

Session view 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

MiniÕs pads.

Clips

are typically loops that contain MIDI notes or audio.

Tracks

represent virtual instrument or audio tracks. MIDI clips on instrument tracks

will play back on the instrument that is assigned to that track.

Scenes

are rows of clips. Launching a scene will launch all clips in that row. This

means that you can arrange clips into horizontal groups (across tracks) to form a

song structure, launching scene after scene to progress through a song.

A row on the grid

represents a

scene

highlighted is scene

Ò9Ó.

The yellow

column shows a

track

, titled Ò1

RhodesÓ.

Clips

on the

Session View grid

The ·½å ¿ buttons let you navigate Session view. The red outline in the Session

View grid shows the area currently visible on Launchpad Mini. · & ½ will move the

outline across scenes, while å & ¿ will move the outline across tracks.

Note: This outline may appear in any colour - this wonÕt affect its function.

¥ Press a pad to play the corresponding clip in Ableton. The colour will match

between the screen and Launchpad MiniÕs pads.

¥ When a pad is pressed it will flash green, indicating that the clip is queued

and will soon begin to play. When a clip is playing, the pad will pulse green.

¥ Only one clip may play at a time per track. Pressing an empty clip will stop

the current one on that track.

¥ An entire horizontal line of clips is called a

Scene

. Scenes can be launched

using the

(scene launch) buttons on the right-hand side of Launchpad Mini.

When a track is armed for recording in Live, empty clip slots will appear in dim red.

Press one of these slots to start recording to the pressed clip.

The bottom row of pads can provide

track

controls:

Stop

(stop clip from playing on

a specific track)

Solo

(solo a specific track) or

Mute

(mute a specific track). These

three functions are cycled between using the

Stop Solo Mute

button:

When the device is powered on, the bottom row will at first represent clips in the

same way as the rest of the 8x8 grid. After cycling past Mute, the bottom row will

return to showing clips. The Stop Solo Mute button will be lit white when in this

state.

¥ In

Stop:

Brightly lit red pads on the bottom row indicate that clips are

currently playing on that track and may be stopped. Dimly lit pads indicate

that no clip is currently playing on that track.

¥ In

Solo:

Brightly lit blue pads on the bottom row indicate that the track is

currently soloed. Dimly lit pads indicate that the track is not soloed.

¥ In

Mute:

Brightly lit yellow pads on the bottom row indicate that the track is

currently unmuted (audible). Dimly lit pads indicate that the track is muted,

and so will not be heard.

White = Clips

(default)

Red = Stop

Blue = Solo

Yellow = Mute

press

Keys mode

Keys mode allows you to play your Launchpad MiniÕs grid as a chromatic keyboard.

The layout presents 4 octaves of notes in a piano layout, with the octaves stacked

vertically. The lowest pitch is at the bottom, with the highest at the top. The range

of notes is C2-C6.

In Ableton Live, load an instrument (such as Simpler) into a MIDI track and you will

be able to play it in Keys mode. Do this by double clicking an instrument or preset

from the browser (on the left-hand side of Ableton Live), or drag it to a chosen

track. If you cannot hear anything, ensure that the track is record armed, and that

monitor is set to auto (see diagram below).

Drum mode

Drum mode lets you play Ableton LiveÕs Drum Rack on Launchpad MiniÕs grid. Each

section of a drum rack consists of 16 slots, arranged into a group of 4x4 pads. There

are 4 of these groups for a total of 64 drum rack slots.

In Ableton Live, load a drum kit into a MIDI track from the browser and you will be

able to play it in Drum mode. If you cannot hear anything, ensure that the track is

record armed, and monitor is set to auto.

Monitor is set to Auto.

Red arm button indicates

that track is record armed.

User Mode & Lighting Pads (Advanced)

User Mode has the same layout as Drum Mode, however no pads on the 8x8 grid

are lit. MIDI Note messages sent to Launchpad Mini will light pads according to

note number and velocity. The note sent will determine which pad lights up, and

the noteÕs velocity will determine the colour. This is useful for creating light displays

using the 64 RGB

pads.

The RGB LEDs are capable of outputting 127 colours, the index of which can be

found in the ProgrammerÕs Reference Guide.

Additionally, all pads and buttons can be lit in

Programmer Mode

For detailed information on lighting pads, see the Programmers Reference Guide

which can be downloaded at

https://customer.novationmusic.com/support/downloads.

Custom Modes

User Mode, Drum Mode and Keys Mode are all

Custom Modes

that provide a

deeply customisable 8x8 grid.

Custom Modes can be created & edited using

Novation Components

Ð our online

hub for all Novation products. You may also back up any Custom Modes you create

here. We have several Custom Mode templates for you 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 compatible between Launchpad Mini [MK3] and Launchpad X.

Setting up a Custom Mode

Custom Modes are created and edited on Novation Components. When

Components is loaded on your computer, Launchpad Mini will connect

automatically.

If the product name next to the home icon (in the top right-hand corner) is not

Launchpad Mini, press the home icon and select Launchpad Mini from the list of

products.

Within a Custom Mode, each pad within the 8x8 grid may act as a

Note

, a

MIDI CC

(control change)

, or a

Program Change

message.

The pads may behave either as

toggles, triggers or momentary

switches.

Momentary behaviour will turn on a note when the pad is pressed and release the

note when un-pressed. Triggers will always send a specified CC value or program

change message.

Full rows and columns of pads may also act as

faders

. Faders can be assigned CC

values and may be unipolar or bipolar. Faders may be positioned horizontally or

vertically.

Pads within a Custom Mode may be assigned an ÒonÓ and ÒoffÓ colour for when

pads 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 ÒonÓ colour per Custom

Mode, but each pad may have a unique ÒoffÓ colour.

Custom Modes may have any combination of notes, CCs, program changes and

faders Ð you can set up your own personalised control surface for your studio.

For more hands-on information on how to create your own Custom Modes, visit

Novation Components for an interactive tutorial Ð itÕs easier to get started than it

may sound!

Ghost Mode

is a sub-mode of custom views that will un-light all function buttons

around the edge of Launchpad Mini when in a custom mode.

To enter Ghost Mode, press Session followed quickly by either Drums, Keys or User.

Following this action, only the 8x8 grid will be lit. To re-enable the outer button

LEDs, press any button outside the 8x8 grid.

Settings

Settings menu

Launchpad MiniÕs settings menu allows you to change LED brightness, LED

feedback, enter LED sleep, and switch between Live and Programmer Mode.

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.

The

LED brightness level slider

has 8 levels, from minimum to maximum brightness.

The brightly lit white pad indicates which level is currently selected.

LED feedback (internal)

toggles whether pads on the 8x8 grid light up when

pressed in Custom Modes. Bright green indicates that LED feedback (internal) is

enabled, whereas dim red indicates that it is disabled. The setting is enabled by

default.

LED feedback (external)

toggles whether pads on the 8x8 grid light up when MIDI is

received externally in Custom Modes and Programmer Mode. 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 Mini. Press any button

or pad to wake up the device. This is useful for when you are not using Launchpad

Mini but you do not want to disconnect it from your computer.

Live Mode and Programmer Mode

are the two states that Launchpad Mini can be

used in. In Live mode you may access Session Mode and Custom Modes and the

device will function as normal. In Programmer mode Launchpad Mini loses access to

Session Mode and Custom Modes and the entire surface (pads and buttons)

becomes a clean slate. Each pad and 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 Mini. For more information see the ProgrammerÕs

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 briefly. Press the green Scene Launch button to enter

Live Mode, or the orange Scene Launch button to enter Programmer Mode (See

above image).

Launchpad Mini will always power on into Live Mode.

Bootloader Menu

Launchpad MiniÕs bootloader menu allows you to change LED brightness, LED

feedback, mass storage device availability, and device ID.

To enter the bootloader menu, hold User when plugging in Launchpad Mini.

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

Mini.

Application Version

will inform which version of the Application is on Launchpad

Mini.

Pressing the

Boot-up

button will start Launchpad Mini normally, exiting the

bootloader menu.

MSD Mode

toggles the mass storage device behaviour of Launchpad Mini on or off.

MSD Mode is enabled by default. This is why Launchpad Mini appears as a mass

storage device when plugged in to your computer. Inside the LAUNCHPAD folder is

a link to our Easy Start Tool, which will help to get you set up with your Launchpad

Mini (see

Getting Up and Running

). Once youÕre set up with Launchpad Mini 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 Minis with Ableton Live at once.

When different ID is selected on each Launchpad Mini, they will each have their own

Session Ring (grid outline) and can navigate the Live session independently. On

Windows, the latest Novation USB driver should be installed to correctly utilise this

functionality.

Default MIDI mappings

Shown below are the Note numbers for each of the default Custom Modes &

Programmer Mode. Note 36 is Middle C.

Drums Mode (Custom):

8x8 grid,

Momentary, Note On

Keys Mode (Custom):

8x8 grid, Momentary, Note On

User Mode (Custom):

8x8 grid, Momentary, Note On

Programmer Mode:

Includes buttons and pads (full 9x9), logo LED may be

addressed, Momentary, Note On