Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 with Model Cycles

R2 · May 28, 2021, 6:41am

Is anyone using a Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 with Model Cycles and can confirm how easy or difficult it is to set up. Thanks.

bibenu · May 28, 2021, 7:09am

It’s a nice pairing. Mini jack cable from the keyboard to the m:c, change the launchkey midi channel to a suitable channel (probably 10 if you’re on m:c defaults), which is a couple of button pushes, and you’re in business.

You can also, if you dislike the pads of the m:c for live playing, map 6 of the Launchkey pads to the 6 tracks of the m:c. That requires configuration on a computer. I can go into more detail if that interests you,

R2 · May 28, 2021, 7:28am

Thanks bibenu. I did watch a youtube about the pairing but it didn’t go into how to set it up and I’m an old man who can’t grasp such things easily…) I haven’t bought the Launchkey yet because I’m curious about how simple a set up it is.
I like the idea of using the Launchkey pads with the 6 tracks on the Cycles. I use Ableton 10. When I get the Launchkey I would appreciate details about how this can be done.
Many thanks mate. Appreciate it.

bibenu · May 28, 2021, 7:30am

Sure … just remind me (say, on this thread) when you’re ready.

R2 · May 28, 2021, 7:33am

Will do… Thank you

baton · May 28, 2021, 7:55am

I’d actually recommend getting Launchpad X or Pro MK3 - where you can have Custom Mode MIDI mappings
I use it to control all my synths as well as M:S & M:C
Below is my mapping for M:C - I have triggers / pads there, Mutes, Delay settings, and most of LFO settings available (including the “hidden” one which is not available via the defice) - i.e. LFO running mode)
I like Models for immediacy (knobs), but there’s still a lot of menu diving for me (mostly for LFO settings) - this way I can get rid of it for the most part

R2 · May 28, 2021, 9:18am

Cheers for the tip… I actually already have a Maschine Jam which I use to control Ableton 10. I like the look of the Launchkey Mini MK3 because of the Keyboard. I like to play keys (I have Omnisphere and love playing the pad sounds). I have an Arturia MiniLab MKII but there’s no Midi Out so I can’t play Cycles with it. I thought about getting rid of the Maschine Jam and Arturia and using the Launchkey for everything, controlling Ableton and Cycles and playing the keyboard.

plragde · May 28, 2021, 1:03pm

I have this configuration. The size is certainly convenient. The knobs can be configured but they all have to send on the same channel. This is a problem for me with other equipment but the M:C has plenty of knobs. The Novation configuration software is not very intuitive but I managed to make the “six pads for six tracks” change, and to turn down the blinding pad colours (it goes into “Las Vegas mode” which is sort of the polar opposite of sleep mode). In retrospect I should probably have gone for an Arturia Keystep, but given that you have another controller, this calculation may not apply.

R2 · May 28, 2021, 1:18pm

Thanks for the information… Appreciate it…

algorithmtoo · May 29, 2021, 6:40am

Yes, they work well together.

R2 · May 30, 2021, 1:12pm

Hi bibenu. Hope you don’t mind my question. I bought the Launchkey Mini MKIII, nice. When I connect the Launchkey to Cycles (standalone, no Ableton) I can play the T1-T6 Tracks as individual Tracks on the pads on the Launchkey, great, but I can only play the T1 Track on the keyboard of the Launchkey. Doesn’t matter which Track (T1-T6) I choose, the keyboard only plays T1. However, when I go into the Cycles Configuration Menu, MIDI, Sync, and press In Chain then go to Auto In (8/9), if I change the 10 to 1, all individual Tracks (T1-T6) work great on the Launchkey Keyboard but nothing works on the pads. Is this right?
I’d also love to learn how to set it up in Ableton… The next level…)
I hope I have made myself clear. Many thanks bibenu.

bibenu · May 30, 2021, 1:54pm

Sounds like you’re using the default settings and you haven’t made a custom template yet ?

If I’m right then when using the pads, you’re sending on midi channel 10, which happily coincides with the channel which the M:C interprets as ‘play the currently selected track’. That channel 10 for the pads on the Launchkey is not changeable (until you delve into custom templates). So you probably need to leave the M:C settings as they are.

However when playing the keys on the launchkey, the default setting is to transmit on midi channel 1, which the M:C interprets (by default) as track 1. The easiest change to get you working with keys in the same way as pads to to change the launchkey over to midi channel 10. To do that , hold down shift and transpose, (all the the pads now go red/orange) and then hit the second pad on the bottom row (channel 10). Now the keys should behave the same was as the pads, and play the currently selected track on the M:C.

EDIT: Ooops I see you already found auto channel on the M:C. So a more concise summary is stick to using auto channel 10, and configure the LaunchKey to channel 10 as above.

R2 · May 30, 2021, 6:30pm

I didn’t know that trick with shift, transpose then hitting the relevant pad (10) on the Launchkey. Works a treat. Now I can play the keys and pads on Cycles. Thanks mate. Appreciate it.
You did say something about mapping 6 of the Launchkey pads to the 6 tracks of the m:c. Do you mean doing this in a DAW like Ableton?

bibenu · May 30, 2021, 10:29pm

The way I did it was to create a custom mapping for the Launchkey. You need to make sure that 6 pads are set to midi notes 0 to 5 . These are special notes described in the M:C manual somewhere, I think it’s under ‘external keyboard’.

This is how you make a custom mapping for the Launchkey: Components Launchkey Mini MK3 Template Editor Guide – Novation

R2 · May 31, 2021, 7:30am

Thanks. I’ll have a look and try and suss it out. I see that a mapping has been made for the Model Samples but not for the Cycles. Shame.

dchild_1982 · May 31, 2021, 8:26am

This looks cool. Keen to test this setup, would you mind sharing your template? Cheers

baton · May 31, 2021, 10:46am

Yes, will try to share it in the evening (or tomorrow) - together with some short description / ‘labeling’

DavidSparks · May 31, 2021, 3:08pm

I paired the MC with an Akai MidiMix and think I should have gone with the Novation. I haven’t been able to connect them directly together. I had to create tracks in my DAW to route the midi that way. Unless I’m missing something. I’d love to hook the MidiMix straight to the MC. I bought a converter dongle to make it happen but nothing was working. Tips?

PeterHanes · May 31, 2021, 3:24pm

The MIDIMix is a USB peripheral and therefore needs to be connected to a USB host device (such as a computer). It can’t be directly connected to another USB peripheral like all the existing Elektron instruments.

You could use Akai’s configuration software to customise the MIDI data that the MIDIMix’s controls send, but you would still need to route the data via a USB host device.

baton · June 2, 2021, 11:24am

@dchild_1982 as promised, sharing the LP3 template.
It’s setup for the following MIDI channels: 10 = AUTO, 11=T1, 12=T2 …
Below you can see the parameters, there are some ‘tricks’ inside - like e.g. Delay times having 2 values (for ON / OFF) for each button etc., so take a look at configuration in the Components
Also - LFO run mode is fun, it allows you to set modes that are not available via the device itself (like e.g. HOLD mode that is available in bigger boxes)

Elektron MC v4!.syx (432 Bytes)