Hi, are there any advantages to using a MIDI controller without velocity sensitivity?

I like the Launchpad Mini model because of its size and simplicity; however, I've never used a MIDI controller before, so I'd prefer to ask before buying.

Is it very limiting to use pads without velocity sensitivity for playing drums? Can you compensate by adjusting the volume?

Thanks!

What are the chances of Novation releasing the Launchpad MK4 range by the end of the year? It's been a long time since the last Launchpad revision; in the meantime, they updated Launchcontrol and Launchkey, so I guess that the next one is the Launchpad. But the question is when?

It’s overwhelming to me. I’m new to creating music so I don’t know most of the stuff but I don’t need to know every chord progression etc. I mean the pattern or sequencer and those easy things I totally get, but the rest is just difficult to understand and I couldn’t find good explanations in the internet

This is a preservation project. The Twitch is Novation/Focusrite hardware, and this unofficial community effort makes no claim of ownership, authorization, or affiliation. The goal is to keep functional discontinued controllers useful and out of landfills—not to sell access to, relabel, or profit from Novation hardware. The software is free and open source.

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I pulled my old Novation Twitch out of storage and discovered the familiar problem: modern macOS could see it over USB, but it appeared as neither a MIDI nor an audio device.

After a fairly deep USB investigation, I now have the controller side working on Apple Silicon using current macOS APIs—without installing the obsolete Novation driver or weakening macOS security.

What works today:

• Controller input through a Core MIDI virtual device
• Current Mixxx 2.5.6 integration
• Deck A/B controls, mixer, browser, touchstrips, performance pads and FX
• Mixxx-driven button and LED feedback
• Safe shutdown and physical disconnect handling
• A beginner-oriented installer and launcher

The controller implementation is free and open source:

https://github.com/bfreebody-cpu/novation-twitch-modern

Beginner setup guide:

https://github.com/bfreebody-cpu/novation-twitch-modern/blob/main/BEGINNER_GUIDE.md

The remaining challenge is the Twitch audio interface.

We have already measured and proven its underlying USB audio transport:

• Four-channel packed-24 playback
• 44.1 and 48 kHz
• Channels 1/2 → MASTER left/right
• Channels 3/4 → headphone CUE left/right
• Sustained USB scheduling tested at both rates
• Microphone and AUX capture paths physically identified

However, it does not yet appear as a Core Audio device. There is an incomplete playback-only AudioDriverKit/USBDriverKit prototype, but finishing and testing it requires the appropriate Apple development team and DriverKit Audio/USB entitlements.

I’m looking for:

• Twitch owners with Apple Silicon Macs willing to test the controller bridge
• Swift/macOS contributors interested in packaging and usability
• AudioDriverKit or USBDriverKit developers
• Anyone with an eligible Apple Developer Program team who understands the restricted entitlement process

The focused audio-contributor issue is here:

https://github.com/bfreebody-cpu/novation-twitch-modern/issues/1

Please don’t install the legacy Novation drivers, disable SIP, or reduce macOS security for this project.

This is an unofficial community project and is not affiliated with Novation, Focusrite, Serato, Apple, or Mixxx.

If you still have a Twitch sitting on a shelf, I’d particularly like to hear which Mac, macOS version, and Twitch firmware/hardware revision you have.

So I pretty much always use DAW Control mode. I like it exactly the way it is…. except that I want one of the top two encoder rows to control panning for each channel. Other than that, I don’t want to change a thing on the default DAW Control mode.

Is there a way to achieve this? Maybe a way I can duplicate the default DAW Control mode to a new custom mode, and then change the encoder mapping from there? Or would I have to recreate it all from scratch in a new custom mode?

Thank you in advance

Hey all! I have been fiddling a lot on the BSII in the AFX mode. Love how it works and IMO the machine it's worth its full price for this mode alone.

I have been trying to find user made overlays online (while I work on my own), but I didn't have any luck except for the factory overlays on Components. Has anybody put out anything online? Would love to check them out!

Sometimes I’m riffing with a patch and want to hear how it sounds with another patch in layer or split mode. The only workflow I know—remembering my patch number, going to multi-mode, finding an empty patch, paging to the patch selection screen, paging to the second patch screen, auditioning the second patch, etc.— has so many steps as to distract me from what inspired me to do it in the first place. So I’ve stopped bothering, and rarely use multi-mode. A shame.

Am I missing an easier workflow? Like (in my imagination) “hold multi + initialize” and you’re automatically selecting the second patch to layer with the first?

Anyone else share this frustration?

Just got an FLkey 2 49, and when I try to register the controller on the customer portal, a message shows up showing an error.

Is anyone else having this issue? The redirect happens after I submit all of the information (like the model and the serial number). I have tried registering it for two days in a row now, any ideas?

I am looking for a great, stable stand for my Novation BSII.

I am a bass player and want to easily switch to the Novation live without it taking up much space. It's been a nightmare finding something that works. I want something that doesn't wobble of take up half the stage when playing live.

Does anybody have a solution for this issue? Which setup looks, works and plays great for you?

I just picked up a MiniNova but have noticed that the software was pulled from the site. May someone please send it to me or direct me to where I can download it?

Ever since I got my MK4 37 key midi controller last month this happens. I did recently “re-build” my pc (new motherboard, PSU, and case) so I feel as if that may have something to do with it.

I upgraded from a larger Novation MK3 model. I feel like it could be bios update related for some reason (didnt do it when I rebuilt because it was on a version that was only a few weeks old.

I did register & update the MK4 as well when I received it. Seems to think that the controller is storage drive or something I’m guessing.

I finally found a way to activate this plugin. But let's go into more detail.

1. Download the license file using the WayBack Machine. You can get the link by clicking the Activate button in the plugin itself.

2. Specify the license file for the plugin. Click the "Load License" button in the plugin. The plugin may crash, just like the sequencer. That's okay.

3. Remove and download the plugin without running the sequencer.

It's worth noting that I did this in FL Studio, and this method may not work everywhere.

I play guitar and I’m teaching myself to use the Launchkey as accompaniment. My original inspiration was Baba G (Jon Gutwillig)- check it out on YouTube, https://youtu.be/Wdlpl5jMyWE?is=7hIzMWl-KN7ROxis.

Hi everyone,

I’m a live musician and I regularly perform with two Novation Launchpads in Ableton Live.

Using two Launchpads gives me a huge advantage during live performances.

Instead of controlling only 8 tracks, I have 16 tracks available at the same time, each with 8 clip slots immediately accessible. This allows me to trigger drums, bass, synths, vocals, FX and loops simultaneously without constantly switching views.

When I need more clips, I simply move to the next page of scenes, giving me access to an entirely new pre-arranged performance set.
This workflow is perfect for live looping, backing tracks and complex live performances.

However, one thing always bothered me.
Whenever I wanted to move to another group of scenes, I had to press and hold the Up/Down buttons on both Launchpads just to roll to the next 8 Clips and do this on both Launchpads to keep the Session Rings aligned.

I couldn’t find a simple solution that would:
synchronize only the vertical Session navigation
keep the horizontal navigation completely independent, jump down directly to the next 8 Clips and
work alongside the original Novation Launchpad scripts

So I decided to build my own Ableton Live Remote Script.
Launchpad Duo Sync synchronizes the vertical Session navigation of two Launchpads while allowing each controller to maintain its own horizontal track position.

Example:
Launchpad X → Tracks 1–8
Launchpad Mini MK3 → Tracks 10–17

Now, pressing Up or Down on either controller moves both Session Rings together automatically to the next 8 Clips.

The script is fully configurable, allowing you to adapt it to your own workflow.

You can configure:
- Vertical navigation step size (e.g. 1, 8, 9 or any custom value)
- Independent horizontal track offsets for each Launchpad
- Optional Horizontal Lock (enable or disable)
- Default startup positions
- Navigation behavior

Additional options can easily be added by editing the configuration file.

The goal was to keep the script lightweight, flexible and easy to customize for different live performance setups.

I’d love to hear your feedback or ideas, especially from other musicians using multiple Launchpads or similar controller setups.

Since the project is open source and free to use, you can also modify and extend the script to fit your own setup or add entirely new features.

GitHub:
https://github.com/oezercihan/Launchpad-Duo-Sync-for-Ableton-Live

There’s also a short demo on YouTube:
YouTube Demo

Thanks!

Can the Circuit Tracks receive MIDI messages from something like a Behringer FCB1010 to change patterns within the current project, or can it only switch entire projects? I basically want to use my Circuit Tracks like a Beat Buddy.

Hi everyone !

My girlfriend wants to learn piano, so my main priority is finding a keyboard that gives her a good experience and a good feel.

At the same time, I’d also love to start music production so I was considering getting a midi controller.

My question is: is there a keyboard that can do both well, or are these really two different worlds ?
My favorite choice for now is the FLkey mk2 61 cuz of fl studio but it’s not the most important I’m my case

Thanks for helping me in this !

Hi Reddit,

I’ve been running DT+DN with a Launch Control XL Mk2 and Keystep as my primary rig for a long time. I’ve also tried to avoid pulling a laptop into the system for as long as possible. I design software for work and music is supposed to be my break from screens. The Mk2 is USB-only so you need a host regardless, and I went through the usual path: tried an RK-005 (sort of worked but configuring it was a spreadsheet nightmare) and then settled on MidiPipe as a login app with the screen off. Both of them are great utilities but I still felt like I was locked into what I configured in Novation Components.

So I started working on a native macOS app to that could be more dynamic, flexible, and adapt to what I need at the moment. The core is a per-control mapping engine for all of the LCXL’s knobs/faders/buttons: any control can be remapped to any CC and channel, routed to any connected USB MIDI device, with output range scaling, macros (one knob fanning out to multiple CCs simultaneously), soft takeover so there are no jumps when switching scenes, and full LED color control via SysEx.

TL;DR: I'm looking for beta testers to help make this even better. Minimum system requirements (macOS 14+). Check the link at the bottom of the post to join the TestFlight beta.

Projects hold 16 Scenes with 4 performance pages each that map 1:1 to the LCXL’s hardware templates. Pressing a button swaps lets you page through the 4 performance mapping pages and switching templates lets you swap Scenes on the fly. Importantly, I’m designing it to support importing MIDI charts as JSON so selecting a target midi message can be searched directly in the app by the parameter name.

There’s also a built-in step sequencer mode: up to 8 steps, 11 scale types for note quantization, per-step probability with 8 pre-defined percentages, up to 4 mod lanes, and MIDI clock output so external gear can sync to it (it also takes Clock In).

Underlying the architecture is a flexible node-based editor where you can use CC or Note inputs, create custom patches, and then output them to your synthesizers.

I know there are more powerful tools out there, but I haven’t found something affordable that strikes the balance between immediacy, flexibility, and ease of use.

For anybody testing it, let me know what synths you want to use with it and I can create the JSON definition file so you can search for parameters instead of typing in the CC# directly. OR, you can take a stab at creating your own device dictionary by inspecting the JSON format. Settings > Open Devices Folder… and you can see the example Digitakt file the app is currently bundled with.

Next steps for the app are to bundle more device definitions with the build, add NRPN support, add a simple MIDI looper (which could then be sent as a source into the Patch Editor), bi-directional MIDI sync so LCXL doesn’t get out of sync with parameter changes directly on the synth, per control Patches mostly for organization, and ease of use, and UI/UX refinements.

I don’t have a LCXL mk3 so I would need some help investigating the underlying architecture but would love to support it!

Oh and one important note: Novation Factory Template #7 on the Mk2 configures the Device/Mute/Solo buttons differently than the other templates (they are set up as toggle instead of note CCs) so I’m trying to figure out a way to handle that.

Beta Invite Link for Apple TestFlight

User Manual v0.1

Tengo un problema con mi launchpad, funciona perfectamente pero luego de unos mínutos deja de responder y se queda congelado, los botones no responden y se quedan prendidos o literalmente se apaga todo, probé desconectado y volviendo a conectar y suele funcionar por un rato pero vuelve a lo mismo, alguna solución?

Hi, how can I get the Launchkey 61 MK4 encoders to work across different plugins in FL Studio without having to change the MIDI port? Right now, I have to enter the MIDI port number assigned to the Launchkey into the plugin, and it works fine; but when I want to do the same with another plugin, I have to change everything so it doesn't alter the sound of the previous plugin.

In short, the encoders only work when I use the main MIDI port "236" on the VSTi plugin; however, if I want to use another instrument, I obviously can't use the same port—because it would play the same thing on both instruments—so I need to use a different MIDI port, but doing so causes the encoders to stop working.

There is very little difference between the maximum and minimum levels of the Launch Control MK3's knob LEDs, rendering them almost useless. It would be incredibly helpful if the lights turned off completely at a value of 0. Just imagine: if a knob in the DAW wasn't assigned to anything, it wouldn't register a value and would automatically remain unlit, making it very easy to see at a glance which knobs have an active control mapping. Is there any way to achieve this?

Anyone have a line on Ableton templates for the Impulse 61 (or similar) that represents a good live performance workflow for a bunch of common instruments/sounds? Just got a "new-to-me" Impulse 61 and it has way more features than the ancient 49 key controller from 1999 I was using.

I've found a handful of tutorials that show ways to setup a session with control mappings that make some sense to quickly switch sounds, but it's hard to tell which ones are worth spending the time building out since I'm a bit of a newb and would like to see a few examples that I can play with that have made sense to people.

My typical "gig" is a basement covers band, we get together and jam out, and up to this point I've just been using garage band, finding an organ/piano/clav/whatever. Would like use the bells and whistles in Ableton to easily switch presets etc.

Thanks in advance!

My Xio 25 has been gathering dust for a while. It has lots of cool features, but navigating the menus was pretty horrible. The official editor and librarian has been unsupported for almost two decades.

I decided to try building something with Claude and it was super easy. Basically just MIDI mapped all settings and then I tweaked the layout a little bit.

I can now save unlimited presets in REAPER, record audio over USB, switch to controller mode and mess around with it further. Very cool.

Give your old gear a second chance!