Hey all fellow beat makers and quest for groove learners
I am currently in the quest of purchasing a new controller to begin my beatmaking journey.
I am actually a beginner guitar player ( just under a year of practicing ) with no previous music or piano training and I wanted to add beatmaking and midi melody lines to my dictionary.
I have already purchased a launchkey mini mk3 to be my all in one device for beatmaking and melodic midi line, but I can not follow the tutorials with it or even start beatmaking on my using it.
I need they new controller to help me achieve the midi melodic lines and beatmaking as easily as possible without hindering me. I really love how the Launchpad Pro MK3 will work as an all in one for melodies and drums especially with ableton. The only downside is the small pads which I do not know if it will be of a problem or what 
Is it the same size as the pads of the launchkey mini mk3 ?
What are your suggestions, should I get the Launchpad Pro MK3 or the Machine Mikro MK3 or do you suggest an other option ?
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If youāre interested in also playing melodic lines I would just get the Launchpad pro mk3. Itās great, and by using a layout like this one (basically the same as the normal QFG layout)
or this one (more ergonomic but still easily translatable to normal qfg layout)
Youāre gonna have a blast. If melodies is not as important the bigger pads are nicer to drum on, but you can definitely play the launchpad as well. The pads are big enough to hitā¦ it will jsut take some more accuracy.
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Thank you so much for your reply 
I will definitely get the Launchpad Pro MK3 for the built-in sequencer and the melodic lines in addition to the drumming.
Will the size difference in the pads make it hard to get started quickly ? or will I just get used to it ?
Also, how does the size of the pads of the launchpad pro mk3 compare to that of the launchkey mini mk3 ?
The pads of the Launchpad Pro MK3 are 2x2cm. You can measure the pads of your Mini for comparison.
I donāt know the size of the Maschine pads to compare.
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I think the launchkey has approximately the same size (1.9*1.9 cm) but I really canāt decide 
.
Did the pad size cause any trouble for you while finger drumming ? as the ones on the launchkey are made with a layout in a way that makes me just canāt imagine it in any real life scenarios other than clip launching 
.
I actually prefer the launchpad pro over the maschine for its melodic capabilities and its software independant features like the 8 custom layouts and midi out.
So any suggestions 
?
(P.S I have a semi-fat and short fingers if this matters )
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No, but I actually started to learn finger drumming on a Maschine Jam (pads are 1x2cm) and the ONLY reason Iāve got a launch pad Pro mk3 itās beause Jamās pads are not sensitive (they are not pads, they are more like buttons that click when you press them) so I was missing dynamics in my practicing.
I choose the Launchpad Pro MK3 instead of a Maschine MK3 because:
- more pads, more sections of a drumkit
- I can setup up a chromatic scale similar to the accordion with 4 octaves and play plenty of melodies and chords, even though I prefer to play melodies in my keyboards when jamming around.
- I can eventually sequence other gear without the need of a computer
- If I fell like learning ableton in the future I can handle it from the Launchpad without touching a mouse
- Novation has a Launchpad app that allows me to connect the Launchpad to the IPhone (with an adapter that lets me connect a powerbank), and I am free to fingerdrum either in a friends house or on top of a mountain without bringing a laptop (and probably this was the most important feature for me)
That being said, you are the only one that can decide what suits you better. Try to play around with rhythms in your launchkey mini (just put 2 kicks 2 snares and 2 hihats) and check for yourself if the pads are large enough.
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Hey Rob, Thanks for all your efforts in providing this information, putting out your content on Youtube & creating this site. Iām just now learning my way around, & have the Launchpad Pro MK3. Iāve been using Melodics for a couple months but definitely read the thread that justified your course as a nice companion to that learning, so I may start that endeavor soon.
What I would like to know though, is if you have a comprehensive guide on how to set up this Launchpad Pro inside the Novation Compenents web app, to make sense of these complex 8x8 layouts that youāre suggesting, how to select which pads will be on which key/octave & midi channel, etc.
For further context, I use Logic Pro X as my Digital Audio Workstation. I am indeed trying to use the MK3 for both melodic & primarily drum parts. I also have the xKey Air 25 Bluetooth as well that Iām practicing with.
What would be really awesome, is if I could set up different Custom Scenes on my MK3, some with 4x4 setups, & others with a couple different 8x8 layouts that youāve suggested, while also being able to configure one or two scenes to trigger a specific MIDI channel, & have my xKey Air trigger another MIDI channel so that I can simultaneously control two different instruments inside of Logic without having to switch the track or something like that.
Furthermore, Iām not sure if youāve used Logic Pro X, or their new Drum Machine Designer (DMD), but thatās what Iām attempting to use to configure my drum layouts & save those presets inside of Logic. The challenge there is that each DMD instrument channel is limited to 48 inputs currently instead of 64.
Thatās current scenario & the endeavor that I wish to overcome, if you made it this far in this long-winded post, I appreciate you haha.
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And for even further context with a visual example of what Iām trying to implement here:
I donāt know whatās the best approach for mapping 54 Midi notes & getting them to make sense as far as the direction/flow/arrangement of the Pad Notes, Midi Channel, & Octaves on a layout this big, or the most efficient workflow for getting the samples mapped to them & easily configured.
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Hey! Thanks for your kind words.
Iām not a logic user but I think I understand your question in that the drum software instrument does not accept all the notes the launchpad sends out because those are supposed to be (more or less) 64 unique notes and the drum machine does not accept those notes.
The way to get around the limitation I think is to give all the sounds that have two or more instances (so all the kick drums for example) the same note. Then, if you map the kick to that note, all those pads will trigger the smae note and the same sound (they will also light up simultaneously).
If you also do that for snare, hihat, ride etc. I think youāll keep everything under the limit.
Thanks for that Rob! Is that the standard practice for how you have your layout setup? And just chromatically assign each note from the bottom up?
If thatās the case I will go ahead & take a shot at implementing it that way, doubling the notes where it makes sense to do so.
It will take me some time to figure out the fundamentals of this layout anyway, so I will be patient & trust the process as I begin to explore what your course has to offer. Perhaps I was being a bit too overzealous in trying to implement this & get it perfectly setup & in use by the start of this consistency challenge Iām doing yet again for the month of February lol.
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Yes just go up chromatically!
Have fun and feel free to share questions or progress or anything over here. Iād love to hear about it, as are many here in the community.
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Hi, Iām also a Logic Pro X10.6 user and new to fingerdrumming. In fact I just got me a launchpad X. Which virtual instrument do you use, Drum Machine Designer or Ultrabeat?
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Nice, I think the Launchpad was a great option Bart. Iāve been enjoying mine fully since I got it.
I use Drum Machine Designer, which gives you different āQ-Samplersā for each pad, which has a better UI in my opinion ā itās easier on the eyes lol.
If iām doing something melodic using my MIDI keyboard Iāll just use the new āSamplerā plugin that replaced the ESX24. (which is just like a more robust Q-Sampler but allows you to do very specific mapping to each note).
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Thanks for the info. Am I right that āmidi learn modeā doesnāt work with the Launchpad? I tried to use this method, but it looks like this is only intended for manipulating parameters like filters, etc and no ānotesā. I still have to program the launchpad using Novationās components app.
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Midi learn does work, but you first need to set up 64 unique notes 
So that requires you to first create that cusotm layout in Novation components. Once all the notes are in place you can click āmidi learnā in your drum software and then hit a note. But before the notes are in place all the pads are āinactiveā so theres no signal being sent.
Logic Pro X has the midi learn function, but you can only assign 1 pad to a particular sound. this way itās impossible to mirror the layout for the left and right hand. I had to manually program the pitches used in Drum Machine Designer using Novation components.
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