When you first open Play, you'll see the main window split into a few different sections, including presets, macro controls and effects, along with an onscreen keyboard and drum pads.
The next sections go through an overview of the Play window.
-
Macro controls – adjust the sound
-
Presets – navigate through your presets. There's a bank of factory presets we've made and the ability to save your own presets.
-
Settings – click the cog to open the Settings page.
-
Global effects – use the knobs to tweak the effects (or FX) of your presets. Effects are saved with your presets.
-
Pitch, Mod, and keyboard – see what notes you're playing and where the wheels are set, or use your mouse to try out settings and sounds.
-
Drum pads – see which drums are assigned to which pads, or use your mouse to play and try out settings.
-
Pad FX – performance pads which add extra on/off effects (FX). These effects are saved with your presets.
-
Output volume – set the output level for your preset. Output is saved with your preset, to balance loud and quiet presets.
If your Launchkey is on an older version of firmware, you need to update it the first time you use Novation Play. You'll see a warning in the top right corner of Play if you need to update:
-
Click the Update firmware button in Play.
This opens Novation Components in your web browser. If it doesn't open, go to components.novationmusic.com.
-
Click Update in Components.
Your Launchkey takes a few seconds to respond, and the Scene launch button > lights up.
-
Press the Scene Launch button >, when prompted
-
Wait for the update to complete.
Once Components completes the update, you can dismiss the Update successful window and go back to Play. Where you saw the error before, you should now see a picture of your Launchkey model and the word “connected”.
By default, Play routes sound to your computer speakers, but you can change the audio output to headphones, or for best results, your audio interface.
To change the audio output
-
On macOS: Go to Novation Play in the top-left corner of your screen and click Audio Options
On Windows: Click the Options button in the top-left corner of Play.
-
Click the Output dropdown.
-
Select the audio device you'd like to use.
In the Audio options menu, there's a dropdown called Audio buffer size. Buffer size is a balancing act between getting low latency and clean audio.
If you're experiencing latency, reduce the buffer size.
Setting a lower buffer size means your computer has to work harder; in some cases, it results in glitches in your audio. If you're getting glitchy audio, increase the buffer size.
Tip
Generally, using your computer's speakers or headphones connected to your computer is worse for latency/glitchy audio than using a dedicated audio interface.
You can change Presets in two ways:
-
Press the Encoder bank buttons, ˄ up and ˅ down, on your Launchkey's top panel.
-
Press the left and right arrows either side of the preset name at the top of the window.
You can also click on the preset name to open the preset browser and choose a specific sound, based on the type of sound, or which synth it was modelled on.
To tweak the sound of the preset, you can use the encoders on your Launchkey MK4, or your mouse, to adjust the macro controls.
Each macro control has a label beneath it to show you the parameter it's controlling. Some presets have different parameters to others.
The graphic behind the macro controls changes to give you a rough impression of what that control is doing to the sound.
You can add effects to the preset to add extra depth to the sound or help it fit into your mix.
There are two places you can add effects:
-
The effects controls (Reverb, Delay, and Compressor).
-
The pad effects (Chorus, Cassette, Spinner, Freeze).
You can only adjust the effects controls using your mouse. They also have pencil icons to allow you to edit the effect further; for more information, see Effects: In depth.
The pad FX are either on or off; you can control them using the four pads on the far right of your Launchkey MK4.
We've made sure the level of all the factory presets is balanced, but if you need to adjust the level, you can use the Output level fader.
You might want to use the Output level fader to:
-
balance your own user presets if any are louder or quieter than others.
-
balance the level of the plugin with other sound sources on your computer, for example other tracks in your DAW or backing tracks you're playing along to.