High peeps,
I have been simply dying for a compact / comprehensive pad instrument to replace the traditional controller keyboards I have (and the great but zero feel ‘isomorphic’ layout I have been using on the ipad) so I just thought I’d share an initial impression of the launchpad pro, used as a keyboard:
The good:
-unit weight: just right…light enough to be portable but heavy enough to bang on and not have the feeling that it is going to fly off your work surface
-aftertouch sensitivity : great- with three levels of sensitivity to choose from in the bootlaoder mode. I can get all sorts of LFO / modulation madness going with the alpha juno and prophet 08.
-velocity sensitivity : great- as responsive as any keyboard velocity I have tried without any sort of travel / tendonitis inducing issues of synth action / semi weighted keyboards
-button feel: solid, chunky and smooth- easy to bang on OR swipe your finger across and trigger the notes that you swipe…totally mad ‘free jazz’ stuff here. Four buttons have a raised dot so you can keep your place without looking at the LPP.
-octave buttons / chromatic scale shift buttons (for lack of better terminology): nice and responsive…by using scale shift, the user can shift the notes displayed on the LPP by a half step up or down (that is, a half step left or right on the LPP)
-opensource firmware https://github.com/dvhdr/launchpad-pro
-cost: made me a little wary at first but after having it in front of me for a while it seems fair, my initial impression of the quality is good. I won’t be using all the gimmicky ableton interface / ‘light show’ stuff (which probably contributed to the cost) but it is STM32F1 based which gives me the impression of stability /flexibilty.
the mediocre:
-without changing the firmware, the user is limited to a chromatic note layout…*but* if you are C madman you can change the open source firmware
***on that note, is there anyone else interested in figuring out how to make other note layouts? I am addicted to the ‘minor third’ layout I have on my ipad but I have to keep my eyes glued to it since there is no physical feedback (making it difficult to search for the knobs I want to twiddle next with my free hand).***