Novation

L
ast year saw Novation
overhaul their fl agship
controller keyboards
with an excellent Mk3
update for their SL
line. Now the UK brand
are turning their
attention to the other end of their
controller line, with a refi ned version
of the ultra-compact Launchkey Mini.
As with its predecessors, the Mini
is a combined keyboard and pad
device designed for plug-and-play use
primarily with Ableton Live. The
hardware itself is very compact and
neat, with a width around the size of
an average laptop and lightweight feel
meaning you could easily chuck it
into a bag and barely notice it. Size
aside though, the Launchkey Mini
feels fairly rugged and the layout
design doesn’t feel too cramped.
Novation have updated the
25-note mini keyboard itself, and the
results are one of the nicest sets of
keys we’ve tried on a controller this
size. The pitch and mod strips sat to
the top left are a nice touch for a
device this size too. The bank of 16
velocity-sensitive pads is equally
well-placed, offering plenty of room to
tap out drum patterns across the
Mini’s compact interface. The one
hardware element that does feel a
little pokey is the set of rotaries along
its top edge – they are a little fi ddly,
although not problematic.
modes available. Sadly, this requires
an adapter that doesn’t come with the
box and, due to a change in format to
adhere to a new industry standard,
existing Novation adapters for
Launchpad Pro or Circuit synths are
not compatible.
This aside, the Launchkey Mini is
an excellent compact controller
whether used with Ableton Live or
not. A tidy free plugin bundle
sweetens the deal for beginner
producers, while more experienced
users will appreciate this as a tool for
production on the go.
The Launchkey Mini is built
mainly with Ableton Live use in mind,
offering plug-and-play control over a
good selection of the DAW’s features.
This includes the ability to play Drum
Racks using the pads, tweak device
parameters with the rotaries, launch
Clips and Scenes and adjust mixer
parameters. There’s solid integration
with other DAWs too, including
Reason and Logic, and Novation’s
browser-based Components system
makes it easy to confi gure the
device’s MIDI messages.
Two of the Launchkey Mini’s best
features come from the hardware
itself, in the onboard arp and fi xed
chord modes. The former has
multiple modes, timing divisions,
rhythmic patterns and a four-octave
range. There’s also a Mutate mode
than can auto-generate variations.
Fixed Chord, meanwhile, lets users
defi ne chord shapes and then trigger
them up and down the keyboard.
There’s a MIDI output port too,
which lets the Launchkey Mini
operate in standalone mode for use
with hardware with the arp and chord
THE PROS & CONS
+
Compact and
well-built
Great arpeggiator
and chord modes
Components makes
confi guration easy
-
MIDI adapter isn’t
included with it
FM VERDICT
8.7
A compact and well-made
controller, great with or
without Ableton Live
L
ast year saw Novation
overhaul their fl agship
controller keyboards
with an excellent Mk3
THE PROS & CONS
+
Compact and
well-built
Great arpeggiator
and chord modes
Components makes
confi guration easy
-
MIDI adapter isn’t
included
with it
You could easily chuck it into
a bag and barely notice it
Novation Launchkey Mini Mk3 | Reviews
91
FMU349.rev_novation.indd 91 04/09/2019 12:57