Along with the DAW integration, the Launch Control 3 can send MIDI data from its USB and MIDI Out ports to work with other MIDI-capable software or hardware, in both musical and non-musical applications.
To send MIDI data from the Launch Control 3 you need to use one of the Custom Modes.
In each Custom Mode, you can assign different MIDI CC, Note, program change, NRPN , keystroke data to controls on the Launch Control 3 and send this to the corresponding software or hardware.
Note
The types of message you can assign varies per control.
You can edit the MIDI data the following controls send out using Novation Components:
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Encoders
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Buttons
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The following are examples of what you could do, how you'd set it up and what connections you need to make. Exact functionality of every synth, drum machine, lighting software or editing suite varies, so it's best to check the user guides for your other gear in combination with these examples.
Important
The following examples show the Launch Control 3's use cases outside a DAW, but you still need to connect it to power. You can power the Launch Control 3 from your computer, or from a USB power supply.
The simplest setup, outside of a DAW, is using the Launch Control 3 to control one device with a single MIDI cable.
This is useful if the device you're controlling doesn't have any physicial controls, or you're looking to expand the number of controls.
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In this example, the Launch Control 3 MIDI Out is connected to a synth's MIDI In to control its parameters.
Using one cable allows you to send MIDI data from the Launch Control 3 to control the synth, or other MIDI device.
When you're doing this, make sure:
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The Launch Control 3's controls send on the MIDI channel the device is set to. You can assign every control to a different MIDI channel.
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The Launch Control 3's controls are set to the correct message type and range. For more information, look at the MIDI implementation chart for the device you want to control's user guide.
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In this setup, the Launch Control 3 is a controller for two devices. We've assigned the controls to control a synth on Custom Mode 1 and a drum machine on Custom Mode 2. Also connected to the MIDI In is a keyboard controller using the Launch Control 3‘s MIDI merge function (see Editing Custom Mode Settings) to pass the keys’ data directly to the synthesiser.
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MIDI In comes from a controller keyboard.
The Launch Control 3 passes the MIDI information coming into MIDI In to MIDI Out (DIN 1) in Custom Mode 1 and MIDI Out 2 in Custom Mode 2. To setup the MIDI routing use the Merge and Output Port settings in the Editing Custom Mode Settings for each Custom Mode. This means you can play the synth with the keyboard and control the synth with the Launch Control 3.
Tip
You can set your controller keyboard to any MIDI channel and using the Merge Out Ch. in the Custom Mode Edit Settings on Launch Control 3 to convert the incoming MIDI data to a different channel. When you change Custom Modes the incoming MIDI data changes channel to the Custom Mode's Merge Out Ch. MIDI channel.
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MIDI Out goes from the Launch Control 3 to a synth.
You can set the Synth to MIDI Channel 1 (for example) and set up a Custom Mode to use the encoders to control the synth.
You could use the buttons at the bottom to toggle switches on your synth like oscillator waveform, or bypassing effects.
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MIDI Out 2/Thru goes from the Launch Control 3 to a drum machine.
You could connect another synth, but in this case, we're going for a full setup and adding drums. In a second Custom Mode, set the Output Port to DIN 2 (see Editing Custom Mode Settings). Set the controls to map to the drum machine, for example, encoders for pitch, decay, main level for each drum etc.
You could also use the Launch Control 3's buttons to send note data to trigger drums sounds or control drum mutes.
Note
To change what the Launch Control 3 is controlling you need to use different Custom Modes. Each Custom Mode is set to the channel of the device receiving MIDI.
In this setup, the Launch Control 3 acts as a controller and MIDI router in a hybrid setup (computer and hardware).
You can connect a MIDI keyboard to Launch Control 3's MIDI In and as you select different Custom Modes, the incoming keyboard MIDI data is merged with the Launch Control 3's controls and routed to different hardware devices.
In the software domain, both the MIDI keyboard and Launch Control 3 connect to Live and allow you to blend software sounds and DAW sessions with your hardware.
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A MIDI controller keyboard connects from its MIDI out to the Launch Control 3's MIDI In.
Connecting a MIDI keyboard to your synths via the Launch Control 3 allows you to route the incoming MIDI data to either MIDI Out ports on the Launch Control 3. For example, if you set Custom Mode 1 to route to DIN Out, both the MIDI keyboard and the Launch Control 3's controls route to the Peak. If you set Custom Mode to DIN Out 2 when you change Custom Mode both the keyboard and Launch Control 3 control the drum machine connected to DIN Out 2.
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A synthesiser (in this case Peak) is connected to the Launch Control 3's MIDI Out (this could be any other MIDI device with a MIDI input).
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A drum machine is connected to the Launch Control 3's MIDI Out 2 (this could be any other MIDI device with a MIDI input).
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In this hybrid setup, we've also connected both the MIDI controller keyboard and the Launch Control 3 to the computer via USB.
This allows us to bring a DAW into the workflow and use software sounds or pre-recorded material mixed with the hardware instruments. You can use the MIDI keyboard to play or control your DAW session and the Launch Control 3 in either of the DAW modes to have hands-on control of the DAW session.
Tip
The Launch Control 3's three MIDI ports and USB capabilities make it useful in many setups, hardware, software, or hybrid.
Although we've primarily designed the Launch Control 3 for music production it's well suited to controlling a range of non-musical software via MIDI and keystrokes. You can set up custom routing using Custom Modes, and map its encoders and buttons to parameters in any software or hardware that accepts MIDI, for example:
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Video software like Resolume.
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Lighting software or DMX mixers via MIDI inputs.
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Controlling other creative software like for photo or video editing using third-party software such as MIDI2LR for Adobe Lightroom.