The choice for those looking for a new portable MIDI keyboard just got rather more difficult thanks to the launch of Novation’s third-generation LaunchKey Mini.
As well as its 25 mini keys - which Novation says are its best, most responsive yet - this sports new pitch and modulation touchstrips, a sustain pedal input, and new RGB backlighting for the 16 pads.
There’s more, though, with the Fixed Chord mode and arpeggiator enabling you to trigger chords with a single note and turn held chords into riffs, melodies and sequences.
This being a Launch-branded controller, there’s special provision for those using Ableton Live. You can trigger Live 10’s Capture MIDI feature with a dedicated button, operate the transport and mixer, and tweak Device Macros with the eight included rotary controllers. As such, you should be able to cut down on your mouse and keyboard time.
LaunchKey Mini Mk3 comes with mapping templates for other DAWs, too, while a MIDI Out means that it can be used with hardware synths as well. The supplied software bundle includes virtual instruments and plugin effects from AAS, Softube, Spitfire Audio, XLN Audio and Klevgrand, while membership of the Novation Sound Collective means that you’ll get new free content from Novation’s plugin partners every couple of months.
We’ll have a review of the Novation LaunchKey Mini Mk3 very soon. In the meantime, check out the Novation website for further details. It costs £100.
