Whether starting out or locked in a groove, Launchkey is the controller keyboard to take you further on your musical journey. The knobs are upright, cylindrical, feel slightly rubberised to the touch, and are taller and much more solid than the ones on the Launchkey Mini. Having a dedicated MIDI capture button is a nice addition as well, because I don't record every jam, so this is a lifesaver.

Launchkey is Novation's intuitive and fully integrated MIDI keyboard controller for making tracks in Ableton Live and with your external equipment. Other than that, all the Mk3 Launchkeys are similarly equipped with 16 backlit, velocity-sensitive pads, eight rotaries, a compact parameter screen and a decent crop of buttons for browsing and transport control. No slim, short, mini, 30% scaled down keys; you got 37 standard sized keys to shred and lay down chords with USB and MIDI OUT. There's also a new double-tap shift function for arp and fixed chord modes that latches the shift button which enables one-handed control of shift-modified buttons.Programmable using the browser-based Novation Components tool, Custom Modes let you customize the behavior of your Launchkey, giving you total mastery over control assignments, MIDI routing, pad color, and more. The Scale Mode lets you choose a scale and map it to the keys which enables beginners to achieve pitch-perfect melodies without much experience of scales, and lets more advanced users experiment with their sound.

Launchkey is Novation's intuitive and fully integrated MIDI keyboard controller for making tracks in Ableton Live and with your external equipment.

Pads are now over on the left with faders in the middle, just off-centre, and only the transport controls on the right. Wherever you happen to be in the world, you can rely on a three-year warranty if any Novation hardware needs repairing or replacing due to a manufacturing fault. A big new feature is the addition of Strum Mode, a great inspirational tool to help you explore new ideas and add a new dimension to your sound. The arpeggiator lets you explore new melodies and find ideas quickly, while the mutate function reconstructs your patterns into exciting new forms. Programmable using the Novation Components browser-based tool, Custom Modes let you design the behavior of your Launchkey, with control over control assignments, MIDI routing, pad color and much more.

The arpeggiator lets you explore new ideas and nail the perfect melodies quickly, while the mutate function reassembles your patterns into exciting new musical statements.

As an Ableton user, I was pleasantly surprised this thing worked flawlessly right after installing the lightweight drivers. Now with the 3rd-gen Launchkey, you can lay down a smokin’ Mixolydian bass line or rock out a sweet solo in Dorian mode without getting bogged down in music theory. Although the Launchkey series is optimised for seamless integration within Ableton, it does provide deep support for Logic and Reason users. Customizable for Convenience: Custom Modes simplify the relationship between controller and software, with more power than ever in your hands. Common to all of Novation’s ‘Mk3’ devices is a sleek, matte-black look and low-profile design, along with a series of new features designed to take advantage of updated elements of Ableton Live.

The Launchkey Mk3 is primarily designed as an Ableton Live controller and Novation worked closely with Ableton to ensure a deep level of integration. Launchkey 37 MK3 is equipped with a full-size five-pin MIDI DIN output, enabling simple connection to the universe of MIDI devices — new and old. If you want a MIDI keyboard controller that can bring all your favourite DAW functionality right to your fingertips, then the Novation Launchkey 37 MK3 is here for you. All controllers in the Launchkey range gain a hardware MIDI out, so users can take advantage of these features to control hardware synths too.The Scale and Chord Modes, arpeggiator and Custom Modes can all be used to control an all-hardware studio or live rig.