Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 Review

It doesn’t always have to be the big cutlery. Sometimes a small, mobile controller is enough, but it should still have all the important functions. You don’t want to carry another device around with you.

The Novation Launchkey Mini Mk3 is an ultra-portable USB/MIDI controller keyboard including knobs, drum pads and extensive Ableton Live control, but not only that!

Novation Launchkey Mini MK3: A small controller keyboard with all the bells and whistles

The Novation Launchkey Mini mk3 is the latest mini keyboard from Novation and with its dimensions of 330 x 41 x 172 mm and a weight of around 700 g it is ideal for all laptop musicians.
Launchkey Mini connects to a computer via USB or is used stand-alone with an appropriate USB power adapter.

Launchkey can also be connected to iOS as well as Android devices with a camera connection kit, as it is class-compliant. On the back there is a 3.5 mm jack for MIDI output as well as a 6.35 mm jack for a sustain pedal to connect, the USB cable is included, adapter or power supply are not part of the delivery.

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Launchkey Mini mk3 has eight knobs, an extensive arpeggiator, and 16 colorfully illuminated and velocity-sensitive drum pads that also serve as a launchpad.

That means there’s pretty good integration with Ableton Live, as well as Logic Pro X and others, thanks to bidirectional communication and smart scripts. But first things first.

Professional mini keyboard

The Launchkey’s keyboard comprises 25 mini keys and plays solidly.

It is also touch-sensitive, but does not offer aftertouch. There are also buttons for octave selection, program change, and MIDI channel, as well as two touch-sensitive touch strips, one for modulation and the other for pitch bend.

Extensive arpeggiator with many modes

A highlight of the small controller keyboard is the extensive arpeggiator.

It knows the modes Up, Down, Up/Down, Played, Random, Chord and Mutate and plays in the rates 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 as well as Triplets. It also operates an octave range from 1 to 4 as well as various rhythms. Additionally, there is a latch and also a chord hold function..

But that’s not all, because tempo, swing and gate can also be changed as well as the parameters mutate and deviate.

The latter are random generators and act with the pitch and rhythm respectively.

The whole thing can be operated while holding the Arp key via the keyboard, which has a corresponding secondary label, or selected with the drum pads.

 

Small 2 x 8 Launchpad (Session, Drum & Custom)

The cursor on the right, obtained by shift, navigates a square in Ableton Live and its Session view, the clip selection.

This is two by eight clips in size and shaped like the arrangement of the drum pads.

In the session mode of the Launchkey, the corresponding clips can now be started, stopped, or even recorded with the drum pads, as well as entire scenes can be played.

In addition, it is possible to select, activate (mute) and even solo associated Ableton tracks, all nicely color-coded. Selected tracks are automatically rec-armed. So equipped you can create a lot of overdubs directly on the device!

There is also a dedicated play and record button.

Via Shift-Rec you can even directly activate the Ableton Live Capture MIDI function.

This is handy and allows you to convert just played sequences directly into a clip without having activated the recording standby! This is ideal for quickly capturing flash ideas.
Session mode is activated by shifting and pressing the top left drum pad. The pad next to it activates the drum mode.

On top of that, you can also use the pads as drum pads, crazy! A bit strange is the organization in two 2 x 4 blocks, but you get used to it.

There is also a custom mode for own assignments. All this is noted as a label above the top row.

Eight knobs with multiple functions ( Device, Volume, Pan, Sends & Custom).

The labeling above the drum pads continues to the right: Device, Volume, Pan, Send and once again Custom.

It also applies here: If you hold Shift and press the drum pad buttons below it, you switch to the corresponding mode, but now change the function of the knobs.

In Ableton Live, the volume, panorama, Send A and B of the selected eight tracks can be controlled and the Device Control function can be used.

In the case of Send, there is a subpage to switch between Send A and B, but Device Control only knows one page and thus a maximum of eight parameters, this is sufficient in most cases, especially since you can always take the detour via a rack and its eight macros.

Components:  The Online Editor

Now I have already mentioned two custom modes, the one for the pads and the other for the pots.

Let’s take a closer look at them now. If you visit the Components website with a Chrome browser, you can easily personalize your Launchkey.

The possibilities here are not as “complex” but quite extensive.

There are ready-made mappings for current hardware devices such as Volcas, Circuit, Electribe, Model:Samples and ready-made scales for the pads.

All of this works very straightforwardly and intuitively. In general, Novation’s online presence with all its resources including videos and setup guides is to be highly praised.

Also worth mentioning: Not only Live is easy to use, but also Logic is supported, which is also well integrated, including Select, Arm, Smart Controls and more.

Even Cubase, Pro Tools and FL Studio are supported, but the range of functions is much smaller, which is why I will not go into more detail here.

Here is the Novation video for Logic Script, which covers all the features:

Conclusion

The Novation Launchkey Mini mk3 is more complex than it looks and despite its mobile dimensions, it is a “full-blown” controller keyboard, especially for Ableton Live and also for Logic Pro X.

The interlocking is solved in an exemplary way and allows many operating steps to be done comfortably on the device. Of course, it is not as extensive as a Push 2, but it also only costs a sixth of it , in this respect, the price-performance ratio is more than right here.

The two buttons Shift and Arp are often needed due to the many double assignments, which is why I would have liked them to be larger. But that’s not a bad thing. After a short period of getting used to the Launchkey, it is quite fast.

I had the APC Key 25 in use for a long time, but the Novation Launchkey Mini mk3 is better for me in all respects and will now replace it. 5 stars.

Features

• USB MIDI controller keyboard
• 25 mini keys, toucstrips for pitch bend and mod, 8 pots, 16 RGB pads
• Velocity for keys and pads
• Keys for playback and recording, MIDI channel selection and program change
• Arp and fixed-chord buttons, extensive arpeggiator
• Optimized for Ableton Live: stop/solo/mute button, scene start, scene up/down, track change function, MIDI capture function, device control, etc.
• MIDI output: 3.5 mm mini jack
• Sustain pedal input
• Incl. USB cable and software bundle
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 330 x 41 x 172 mm
• Weight: 689 g

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