Launchpad Pro [MK3]’s setup menu allows you to set your preferences across many aspects of the controller. There are five pages available: LED, Velocity, Aftertouch, MIDI, and Fader Behaviour.
To enter the Setup menu, press and hold Setup. The top 4 rows will display the characters LED, indicating the topic of the menu. Use the five leftmost Track Select buttons to access the different Setup pages.
The first Track Select button accesses the LED settings for Launchpad Pro [MK3]. Here you can change LED brightness, LED feedback, and enter LED sleep
The LED brightness level slider has 8 levels, from minimum to maximum brightness. The brightly lit white pad indicates which level is currently selected.
The Vegas Mode Toggle may be pressed to enable or disable the Vegas Mode. Vegas Mode will occur after 5 minutes of inactivity. If the toggle is red, Vegas Mode is disabled, or green if it is enabled.
LED Sleep turns off all LEDs until a button or pad is pressed. Vegas Mode will not activate while LED Sleep is active.
The second Track Select button accesses the velocity (VEL) settings for Launchpad Pro [MK3].
Press the Enable/Disable Velocity toggle to enable or disable velocity globally on Launchpad Pro [MK3]. 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.
You can customise the pads to respond to very light touches, or not trigger until a heavier touch.
The four pads on the right-hand side represent the different trigger thresholds available. The selected setting is lit blue, while the others are lit dim white.
The left-most pad represents the lowest trigger threshold. With this setting selected, the pads will trigger at a very light touch. This is the default setting, and it is particularly useful for responsive pad feedback when using Note or Chord modes.
The right-most pad represents the highest trigger threshold. With this setting selected, the pads will only trigger once a greater force has been applied to them. This is useful if you wish to use Launchpad Pro primarily for triggering clips in Ableton Live, where accidentally launching a clip could heavily impact a live set. This setting also allows you to rest a finger on a pad more comfortably without triggering it.
The third Track Select button accesses the aftertouch (AFT) settings for Launchpad Pro [MK3].
The Pressure Mode can be chosen to be Aftertouch disabled, Polyphonic Aftertouch or Channel Pressure. The selected mode will be brightly lit, the other dimly lit.
Channel Pressure sends out a single pressure value for all pads/notes. The highest pressure value across the 8x8 grid will be transmitted. Polyphonic Aftertouch allows for each pad/note to send out its own pressure value. This allows for expressive playing of supported instruments.
Polyphonic Aftertouch is not currently supported in Ableton Live, and Channel Pressure should be used in this case.
The Aftertouch Threshold can be set to be off, low, or high. When set to off, pressure messages will be sent out as soon as a pad/note is pressed. When set to low, a threshold pressure must be reached before pressure messages will be sent out. When set to high, a higher pressure is required before pressure messages will be sent out.
Using an Aftertouch Threshold is useful for when you do not want to immediately engage the parameter related to aftertouch whenever a pad is pressed.
The fourth Track Select button accesses the MIDI settings.
Press Receive Clock (Rx) to toggle this behaviour on and off. When disabled, incoming clock messages will be ignored. The default setting is On.
Press Transmit Clock (Tx) to toggle this behaviour on and off. When disabled, Launchpad Pro [MK3] will not transmit clock messages. The default setting is On.
Use Out2/Thru select to choose the behaviour of this MIDI port. Out 2 will duplicate the output of Out 1. Thru will forward messages received via MIDI In.
The fifth Track Select button accesses the fader (FAD) settings. 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.
In Live Mode, all functions described elsewhere in this manual are available, such as Session Mode, Note Mode, Chord Mode, Custom Modes & the Sequencer. Live Mode is the default state of Launchpad Pro [MK3].
Programmer Mode is an alternate state that may be used to control Launchpad Pro [MK3]’s surface externally via MIDI messages. In Programmer Mode, Launchpad Pro [MK3] loses access to all other modes and functionality. Each pad and button will send out and respond to a specified MIDI message when pressed.
Legacy Mode re-introduces the User layout of the original Launchpad Pro. This brings a level of backwards compatibility that allows you to interface with legacy applications and lightshow performances designed for the original Launchpad Pro.
To switch between Legacy, Live, Programmer Mode, hold Setup. Press blue for Legacy, green for Live, or orange for Programmer Mode. The Mode will not be entered until the Setup button is released.
Launchpad Pro [MK3] always powers into Live Mode.
The pads and buttons may be lit up by sending their corresponding MIDI messages to Launchpad Pro [MK3]. For more information see the Programmer Reference Guide, which can be downloaded at:
Legacy Mode re-introduces the User layout of the original Launchpad Pro. This brings a level of backwards compatibility that allows you to interface with legacy applications and lightshow performances designed for the original Launchpad Pro.
The layout is as seen below. Unspecified numbers represent note numbers, while CC numbers (control change) are labelled. See the programmer’s reference guide for more information on lighting pads.
While the top row of buttons sends out CCs, you can also use note messages to light them. This allows for the entire view to be lit using only note messages.
Pads and buttons may also be lit via SysEx messages in Legacy mode. The layout for doing so matches that of Programmer Mode, which you can read more about in the Programmer’s Reference Guide.
The note and CC values in decimal format.
Tthe note and CC values in hexadecimal format.
Launchpad Pro [MK3]’s bootloader menu allows you to change LED brightness, LED feedback, mass storage device availability, and device ID.
To enter the bootloader menu, hold Setup when plugging in Launchpad Pro [MK3].
Device ID allows you to use multiple Launchpad Pro [MK3] units with Ableton Live at once. When different ID values are selected on each Launchpad Pro [MK3], they will each have their own Session View outline and thus can navigate the Live session independently.
MSD Mode toggles the mass storage device behaviour of Launchpad Pro [MK3] on or off. Once you’re set up with Launchpad Pro [MK3] 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.
MSD Mode is enabled by default. This is why Launchpad Pro [MK3] 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).
The LED brightness level slider has 8 levels, from minimum to maximum brightness. The brightly lit white pad indicates which level is currently selected. Certain USB host devices may not provide sufficient power to fully boot Launchpad Pro [MK3]. The power consumption may be reduced by using lower brightness levels, allowing these devices to fully boot Launchpad Pro [MK3].
Use the Bootloader Version and App Version pads to view what is currently installed on Launchpad Pro [MK3].
Pressing the Boot-up button starts Launchpad Pro [MK3] normally, exiting the bootloader menu.