The Launchkey 88 MK4 has a set of built-in creative tools to make it easier to create musical progressions, and give you another source of inspiration.
The features covered in the next few sections include:
Scale mode allows you to pick a scale and your Launchkey helps you play in that scale more easily.
To enable scale mode, press the Scale button. When you turn on scale mode, the screen shows the currently selected scale:
You can change the scale using the first three encoders.
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Encoder 1 changes the scale's root note. The default root note is C.
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Encoder 2 changes the scale. The default scale is Major.
-
Encoder 3 changes the scale mode. There are three modes:
The Default mode is Snap to Scale.
Tip
Hold Shift and move an encoder to show the parameter on the screen without changing it.
The table shows the Scales available by moving encoder 2.
|
Scales |
|
|---|---|
|
Major |
Dorian #4 |
|
Minor |
Phrygian Dominant |
|
Dorian |
Melodic Minor |
|
Mixolydian |
Lydian Augmented |
|
Lydian |
Lydian Dominant |
|
Phrygian |
Super Locrian |
|
Locrian |
8-tone Spanish |
|
Whole Tone |
Bhairav |
|
Half Whole Dim |
Hungarian Minor |
|
Whole Half Diminished |
Hirajoshi |
|
Blues |
In-Sen |
|
Minor Pentatonic |
Iwato |
|
Major Pentatonic |
Kumoi |
|
Harmonic Minor |
Pelog-Selisir |
|
Harmonic Major |
Pelog-Tembung |
In Snap to Scale mode, your Launchkey rounds any note outside the Scale to the nearest note in the chosen scale.
In Filter out of Scale mode, your Launchkey filters out any notes not in the chosen scale. Any time you press the key of a note not in the scale, that note won't play.
In Easy Scale mode, your Launchkey maps all the notes in your chosen scale to your Launchkey's white keys.
Tip
If your chosen scale has less than seven notes, the scale won't match the octaves on the keyboard. This allows you to do harp-like runs by dragging your fingers up and down the keyboard.
Your Launchkey has three different built in chord modes to help you create ideas or push your music to the next level. The chord modes available are:
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Chord Map - set the scale and use the encoders and performance controls to discover new chord banks and play them via the drum pads.
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User Chord - define the key chords in your workflow by assigning your favourites to the drum pads.
-
Fixed Chord - set up a chord using the keys and play it in new places using a single key press.
Note
Chord modes on your Launchkey 88 may not be on the same MIDI channel as your keys. By Default, Chord modes send their notes out on MIDI Channel 3. To change this, go to: Settings → Press the Pad ˄ up and ˅ down buttons until you see Chords Channel → Set the channel using the pads or Encoder 1.
In Chord Map mode, your Launchkey's pads and encoders enable you to perform chords that fit with the Scale you select. Chord map is based on a few key functions:
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The leftmost eight pads, the Chord pads, allow you to play chords that fit the selected scale. Press the eight pads to trigger the chords. Although there are eight chords accessible, each chord map gives you access to 40 chord banks that fit the scale.
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The rightmost six pads, or Performance pads, let you perform the chords in different ways (e.g. arps or inversions). To use the performance pads, hold the performance pad and press the blue chord pads to play the chords with the performance effect (you might need to press the chord pad multiple times to hear the full performance effect).
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The encoders give you access to parameters to change the chords, Adventure, Explore, Spread, and Roll. Changing the Adventure and Explore parameters gives you access to the 40 banks of eight chords. The Spread and Roll parameters change the way the chords sound.
To access Chord Map, press the Chord Map button.
Chord map gives you a chord set to match the key and scale you've selected using scale mode.
When you play a chord, the screen shows the name of the chord and visual representation of the keyboard notes it's triggering.
The chord sets and the matching scales are shown in the table below:
|
Chord Set |
Scales |
|---|---|
|
Major |
Major Major Pentatonic Whole Tone |
|
Minor |
Minor Minor Pentatonic Blues Melodic Minor Hirajoshi Kumoi Hungarian Minor |
|
Dorian |
Dorian Dorian #4 |
|
Mixolydian |
Mixolydian |
|
Lydian |
Lydian Lydian Augmented Lydian Dominant |
|
Phrygian |
Phrygian In Sen Iwato Pelog-Selisir Half Whole Diminished |
|
Locrian |
Locrian Super Locrian |
|
Harmonic Minor |
Harmonic Minor Bhairav Whole Half Diminished |
|
Harmonic Major |
Harmonic Major |
|
Phrygian Dominant |
Phrygian Dominant Pelog-Tembung 8 tone spanish |
Each Chord Set is made up of 40 chord banks. If you imagine there's a table of the chord banks with a scale of Explore and Adventure, as you increase each parameter you progress across the chord banks. The higher the Adventure and Explore parameters, the more gnarly the resulting chords get.
The right-most six pads (Pads 6-8 and 14-16) enable the Chord map performance functions. To use them, you hold the performance pads then press the chord pads. When you hold the performance pad, it changes how you play the chord.
To use the performance pads, hold, or latch, a performance pad on the right, in this case Split: Left and right, and press a chord pad to play that chord with the performance element.
The performance pads change the chords in the following way. For detailed descriptions, see the relevant section.
|
Pad |
Behaviour |
|---|---|
|
6 |
Manual Arp Up - each press on the chord pads cycles through the chord's notes. |
|
7 |
Inversion Up - Plays through the chord's different inversions with each press. |
|
8 |
Split: Bass + Chord - Two presses of the chord pad play the bass note, followed by the rest of the chord's notes. |
|
14 |
Manual Arp Down - each press on the chord pads cycles through the chord's notes. |
|
15 |
Inversion Down - Plays the chord's first inversion down. |
|
16 |
Split: Left and Right - Two presses of the chord pad play what would be the left and right handed versions of the chord. |
Note
You can only use one performance pad at a time.
To latch a performance pad, so you don't have to hold it:
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Press the Scene launch button > to enable latching.
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Press the performance pad you'd like to latch.
When Latch is on, the Scene launch button > lights white and the performance pads toggle between on and off.
Turning latch off, turns off any active performance/modifier pads.
The manual arp performance modes (there are two modes, Manual Arp Up and Manual Arp Down) change the chord pads from playing a chord to playing each note of the chord, with each press of the pad. For example, to play a three note chord (a triad) you need to press the chord pad three times to play all three notes of the chord.
Changing chord or releasing the performance pad resets the arp cycle.
In Manual Arp Up mode, the chord notes cycle from the lowest note of the chord to the highest note of the chord, then reset.
In the case of a C Major chord the notes are C, E and G; Manual Arp Up plays the notes in the order C, E, G, C, E, G, C etc.
The Inversion performance pad allows you to play through different chord inversions each time the chord pad is played. In music, a chord inversion is a different way of playing a chord where the root note (the chord's name, e.g. C) is no longer the bass, or lowest, note in the chord.
To do this, hold the inversion performance pad and each time you press the chord pad it pitches the notes in the chord up (Inversion Up) or down (Inversion Down) by an octave, starting with the lowest note. After all notes have been pitched up (four presses) the chord resets to the original chord.
The cycle resets whenever you play a new chord or release the performance pad.
With Inversion-Up held, a C major triad (C, E and G) looks like this:
|
Action |
Chord output |
|---|---|
|
Chord pad played without the performance pad |
C3, E3, G3 |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 1st press |
C4, E3, G3 (1st inversion) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 2nd press |
C4, E4, G3 (2nd inversion) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 3rd press |
C4, E4, G4, (Octave up) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 4th press |
C3, E3, G3, (Original Chord, Cycle resets) |
With Inversion Down held, a C major triad (C, E and G) looks like this:
|
Action |
Chord output |
|---|---|
|
Chord pad played without the performance pad |
C3, E3, G3 |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 1st press |
C3, E3, G2 (2nd inversion) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 2nd press |
C3, E2, G2 (1st inversion) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 3rd press |
C2, E2, G2, (Octave down) |
|
Inversion pad held, chord pad 4th press |
C3, E3, G3, (Original Chord, Cycle resets) |
The Split modes emulate playing the keyboard with two hands.
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In Split: Bass + chord, the first press plays the bass note. The second press plays the rest of the chord's notes.
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In Split: Left and right, the first press plays the two lowest notes. The second press plays the rest of the chord's notes.
Like the other modes, these cycles are reset when the chord changes or if you release the performance pad.
In both modes, the first press plays straight, the 2nd press follows the roll function.
User Chord mode allows you to input your own chords.
When you're in User Chord mode, if you've not added any chords yet the pads are blank. In the following example we've added chords to five pads:
To play a chord, press a blue pad. The pad lights white when you're playing a chord.
To assign a user chord to the pads:
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Press and hold a blank pad. The screen shows a representation of the keyboard.
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Press the notes on the keyboard you want to assign to the chord. You can either play the entire chord, or play each note independently (e.g. for chords you can't play with one hand). You can assign up to six notes– the Launchkey ignores any extra notes.
The screen shows the notes you've added to the chord and the chord name:
-
Release the pad.
In User Chord mode you can use the pad ˄ up and ˅ down buttons, to the left of the pads to transpose the entire User Chord bank.
To transpose by a single semitone, press either the pad up or pad down button. You can transpose up to 12 semitones (one octave) up or down.
To transpose by an octave (12 semitones) hold shift and press the pad up or pad down buttons. You can transpose up to three octaves, up or down.
Fixed Chord mode allows you to assign a chord to the keys. You can make chords up to six notes using the keyboard, then play and transpose the same chord harmony playing the keys up and down the keyboard.
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Press and hold the Fixed Chord button.
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Press the notes on the keyboard you want to assign to the chord. You can either play the entire chord, or play each note independently (e.g. for chords you can't play with one hand). The screen shows a visual representation of the chord's notes and name.
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Release the Fixed Chord button.
Fixed Chord remembers the notes and intervals, and Fixed chord mode is now on.
To turn Fixed Chord mode on/off, press the Fixed Chord button. The last saved chord is available. To reassign the Fixed Chord, repeat the steps above. This clears the previous chord.
An arpeggiator (arp for short) allows you to hold a number of notes, e.g. a chord, and your Launchkey plays each note individually in a sequence.
To enable your Launchkey's arp press the Arp button. When the Arp is on, the Arp button lights and the screen shows the arpeggiator controls in the order they are assigned to the encoders:
Tip
Holding Shift and pressing Arp latches the arpeggiator. Any notes you press last indefinitely while the arp continues to play them. You can trigger a new set of notes to overwrite the arp notes.
Arp latch is really useful for experimenting with arp settings without keeping your fingers on the keys.
With Arp on, the Launchkey's encoders map to the arp's controls. Moving an encoder temporarily displays the parameter and the value on the Launchkey's screen.
Tip
Hold Shift and move an encoder to show the parameter on the screen without changing it.
The following arp controls are available on the encoders:
|
Encoder |
Parameter |
Default value |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Tempo (BPM) |
120 |
|
2 |
Swing |
0 |
|
3 |
Rate |
1/16 |
|
4 |
Gate |
50% |
|
5 |
Type |
Up |
|
6 |
Octaves (Oct) |
1 |
|
7 |
Mutate (Mut) |
0% |
|
8 |
Rhythm (Rytm) |
0 |
Tempo controls the arp's speed in beats per minute (BPM) when your Launchkey isn't receiving a MIDI clock.
You can set the internal tempo of the Launchkey from 40 to 240 BPM using encoder 1. The default tempo is 120 BPM.
When your Launchkey is receiving MIDI clock, and you move encoder 1, the screen displays the tempo it's synchronising to instead of the internal BPM.
By default, each note in an arpeggiator pattern is equally spaced in time. At the default tempo and rate of 120 BPM, 16th notes the pattern repeats every two seconds, making the steps one-eighth of a second apart.
Changing the Arp Swing parameter from its default value of 0% changes the timing of even-numbered steps (the offbeats).
You can adjust swing using encoder 2 in the range of -80%, negative swing, to +80%, positive swing.
A negative swing value shortens the time between an even step and the previous odd step, a positive Swing value has the opposite effect.
This diagram gives a rough visual representation of what happens in each swing setting:
You can control the Arp rate, or the musical division of the arp notes, using encoder 3. Arp rate defines how often the notes play per bar.
The Rates available are:
Encoder 4 controls how much of the time between the arp notes each note fills. The range is 0% to 95%.
Tip
It is possible to have longer gates, see Arp Tie for more information.
Encoder 5 changes the Arp Type. Arp Type refers to how the notes, or chord, you are holding are played by the arpeggiator.
|
Arp Type |
Behaviour |
|---|---|
|
Up |
Plays each note from the lowest note to the highest note. |
|
Down |
Plays each note from the highest note to the lowest note. |
|
Up/Down |
Plays each note from low to high, then back again. The highest and lowest notes are not repeated. |
|
Up/Down 2 |
The highest and lowest notes are repeated. |
|
As Played |
Plays the notes you're holding in the order you played them. |
|
Random |
Plays the notes you're holding in a random order. |
|
Chord |
Plays all notes as a chord on each arpeggiator step. |
|
Strum |
Notes play when you move the modulation control. Hold some keys and as you move up or down with the modulation control the notes (or Latched or Chord mode notes) play. This emulates the way chords are strummed on a guitar. |
Encoder 6 adjusts the number of octaves the arpeggiator plays the notes over. You can select from one to four octaves.
Encoder 7 adjusts how much the mutate control affects the arpeggiator. Arp mutate affects all arp types.
Turning encoder 7 adds variation to every note in your arpeggio. A new ‘mutation’ happens each time you move the encoder or retrigger from the keys. When you stop turning the encoder, the notes are set and repeat indefinitely.
|
Encoder position |
Possible mutation applied (semitones) |
|---|---|
|
0 |
No additional notes |
|
1 - 19 |
+12 |
|
20 - 63 |
+12, -12, -7 |
|
64 - 100 |
+12, -12, -7, +7 |
|
101 - 115 |
+12, -12, -7, +7, +3, +4, +10 |
|
116 - 127 |
Any note from -12 to +12 |
Encoder 8 changes the arp's rhythm and shows a representation of the steps on the screen.
Turning the Rhythm encoder makes rhythmic variations. Every time you move the encoder, you’ll create a different pattern of rests.
Arp Pattern is a pad mode that brings your arpeggiator steps onto the pads and gives you extra arp functionality for more interactive arp editing.
To access Arp Pattern mode, hold shift and press Drum Pad 12.
When you select Arp pattern mode, the screen temporarily shows Pad Mode Arp Pattern.
In Arp pattern mode:
-
Active steps are lit blue and inactive steps are unlit. The arp plays active steps and mutes for inactive steps. When the arp is playing, the current step position lights on the top row of pads.
-
You turn off arp steps using the top row of drum pads. Press a pad to remove the step from the arp sequence.
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The bottom row of pads gives you more arp functions you can control per step. Press the Function button to cycle between the three functions available: Accent, Ratchet and Tie.
These steps are the same as the arp rhythm pattern. Arp rhythm mode affects the grid, changing the arp rhythm value changes the pattern shown in the grid and overwrites any changes you make.
When Arp Tie is on, the Function button lights red and any steps with arp tie light red.
Arp tie, links two notes in an arp pattern together. In arp tie mode, press a pad on the bottom row to tie that arp step to the next step. The pad turns red to show the step above it is tied.
When a step has a tie on it, the arp gate increases to 110%.
When Arp Accent is on, the Function button lights orange and any steps with arp accent light orange.
When you add an accent to a step, the arp step's velocity jumps by +30 velocity compared to the step without an accent.
The accent velocity value is capped at 127.
Note
Accent affects both notes when accent and ratchet are both active for a step.
When Arp Ratchet is on, the Function button lights yellow and any steps with arp ratchet on light yellow.
When you add arp ratchet to a step, the arp plays two triggers for that step. For example, if the arp is at 1/16 a step with ratchet on plays two 1/32 notes. The pitch of the notes stays the same.