Using the Novation Launchpad

Introduction

Controller support for the Novation Launchpad was introduced with Numerology version 2.3. This feature allows you to program and control all the "Note Sequencer" modules in Numerology from the Launchpad, including the MonoNote, PolyNote, Chord Seq, Drum Seq, Matrix Seq and Matrix Arpeggiator. In addition, there is a dedicated mode for triggering presets and for accessing the most important settings of the Mixer.

There are some limitations:

• Only the first 16 stacks can be controlled (the Clock stack is ignored).
• Only the first 32 steps of any sequence are supported.
• Only the first 4 Note Sequencer modules of any stack can be edited.
• A few parameters of each Note Sequencer module are not available (but most are).
• Only one Launchpad is supported at a time, and only the first one connected to your computer.
• When using the Launchpad with Numerology, you cannot use it with other programs.
• There is little on-screen support. The Numerology UI will reflect changes made by the Launchpad, but doesn't auto-navigate or auto-scroll.

Getting Started

• Download and install the Launchpad drivers for OS X from Novation's website (http://www.novationmusic.com/support/launchpad/)
  
  
• Plug in your Launchpad. No buttons will light up just yet.
  
  
• Start Numerology (version 2.3 or later).
  
  
• In Numerology's prefs, set "Enable Launchpad Support" to On. This is a "live" preference, you can turn it on and off at any time.
  
  
• Once Numerology has communicated with the Launchpad, the "User 1" button will light up. This indicates that it is in "Rack Navigation" mode.
  
  
• If you are using Ableton Live, you need to be aware that it will try to "take over" the Launchpad when it starts up. Currently, only one app can control the Launchpad at once. To keep Live from using the Launchpad, open Live's prefs and disable the Launchpad as a control surface (in the MIDI / Sync tab).
  
  
• Additionally, if you have Novation's Automap Server running, you will need to take the Launchpad "offline" from automap while using it with Numerology. To do this you use a special button combination: Hold down the User1, User2 and Mixer buttons and push the "down arrow" button on the Launchpad. To reverse that setting, use the same button combination.
  
  

Online Tutorials

Perhaps the easiest way to learn how to use the Launchpad with Numerology is to watch the online tutorial videos. These videos can be viewed at http://five12.com/t-lpad1.html. This documentation serves as a reference companion to those tutorials.

Overview

Numerology's Launchpad support covers editing of all the Note Sequencer modules (MonoNote, PolyNote, Chord Seq, Drum Seq and Matrix Seq), as well as preset selection and audio mixing. That's a lot of stuff to pack into 80 buttons, so some conventions and structural metaphors are used to keep things in order.

At the highest level, there are 4 major modes:

Presets
Rack Navigation
Rack Editing
Mixer

These four modes are accessed through the Preset, User 1, User 2, and Mixer buttons on the top of the Launchpad. You can switch between them at any time.

Along the right-hand side of the Launchpad are eight circular buttons in a column. They are typically referred to as "scene" buttons, as when one uses the Launchpad with Ableton Live, they are used to trigger scenes. When used to control Numerology, these buttons are used to access parameter pages within the Rack Edit and Mixer modes.

The four "cursor" buttons on the top left of the Launchpad are used to "scroll" the Launchpad's view of whatever it is controlling so it can access more than 8 steps of a sequence, or more than 8 channels in the mixer. For instance, in Mixer mode, the up and down buttons are not active, but the left and right buttons are used to scroll the stack channels that the Launchpad controls through four sets: stack 1-8, stack 9-16, stack 17-24 and stack 25-32. Remember, the Clock stack is ignored by the Launchpad.

The 64 grid buttons on the Launchpad are used to edit various parameters on the many different parameter pages available. The color and layout of the buttons varies from page to page, so that as you learn to use the controller, you will be able to identify what page you are looking at just from the grid.

Keeping track of all these specialized functions is much easier if you use some stickers on the Launchpad to help your memory along. You can find some pre-made templates for such stickers on the download page at five12: http://www.five12.com/download.html. That download also includes a quick-reference sheet that you can print out.

Rack Navigation Mode

When you first startup Numerology with Launchpad control enabled, or whenever you load a new project, the Launchpad is set into this mode. This mode gives you a one-page overview of all the modules in your project that can be edited. Up to 16 stacks can be viewed. The top four rows show the first 8 stacks, one column each. The bottom four rows show the next 8 stacks, with one column again for each stack.

Each module that is controllable will be visible as a glowing button on the grid. The modules are color coded:

• The MonoNote is Red
• The PolyNote and MatrixSeq are green
• The ChordSeq is Amber
• The DrumSeq is Yellow

When you push one of those lit buttons, the Launchpad will jump into Rack Edit mode, with the module you selected as the target module for it to edit.

Rack Edit Mode

In this mode, you can edit the most of the parameters of an individual sequencer module. To switch modules, jump back into Rack Nav mode to select another module.

There are up to 12 pages of parameters that can be accessed for a module in this mode. To access these pages, use the "scene" buttons along the right side of the Launchpad. Here is the complete list of pages:

• Primary Edit
• Play
• Start, End, Skip
• Sequence Control
• Gate
• Step Length
• Velocity
• Groove
• Divide
• Repeat
• Random Jump
• Pitch Glide

Not all pages can be accessed for all sequencers. For instance, the Pitch Glide page is only active for the MonoNote.

And yes, you really are going to want to print out those labels...

Primary Edit

The behavior of this page varies a bit based on each type of sequencer, but it is always is for editing the "primary" settings for the sequence. For pitched sequencers (MonoNote, PolyNote, etc) it is for setting pitch values. For the DrumSeq, it is for programming velocity values. Of all the pages for editing a sequence, this is the one you will probably use the most often. First we'll cover off on how to use all of the param pages just for the MonoNote. Except for the Edit and Play pages, and part of the SeqCtls page, all pages work the same for all sequencers.

MonoNote Edit

In Numerology, the MonoNote sequencer allows you to set pitch interval values in semitone increments over 2, 4 or 8 octaves, with sequence lengths of up to 128 steps. If that were fully implemented in a grid, it would span 95 rows high and 128 columns wide. Even with scrolling, that is too much for an 8x8 grid to try to cover, so in mapping the Launchpad to the MonoNote a few compromises are made:

• Only the first 32 steps of a sequence can be accessed (using the section left and right buttons).
  
  
• Only the notes "within the current scale" can be programmed, which means you get 7 "scale degrees" per octave. If the current scale is set to chromatic, then the major scale is assumed. (Support for accidentals will be added in a future release).
  
  
• All 8 octaves can be accessed.
  
  

The top row of the grid is used to pick the "current" octave of the sequence pattern to be edited. The 5th button of the top row is selected by default and represents the intervals in the first octave above "0", where 0 is the key chosen for your sequence. The 6th button is the octave above, and the 4th button is the octave below.

The other 7 rows of the grid are used to program intervals in the sequence, where the bottom row (the 8th) is the "I" or base tone, and the 2nd row (one below the top) is the VII'th scale degree.

To program an interval, just push any of the buttons. One thing that is special about the Launchpad mapping is that it will auto-set a gate value for a step if none is present. Also, you can 'clear out' a step by pressing a programmed button a second time. In order to preserve the gate value for that sequencer step, Numerology will actually just mute that step. When the step is programmed again, it will un-mute it. This may sound confusing on paper, but is actually quite a natural way to work in practice.

To program intervals in other octaves, just change the current octave and push some buttons. As you change octaves, the color of the interval buttons will change. If the color is green, then that interval is in the current octave. If the color is red, then it is in some octave below. If it is amber, then it is in some octave above.

To view all steps in a 16 or 32 step sequence, use the section buttons to scroll left and right. Note how the colors of the section buttons change as you move from one sequence section to another, that will help you keep track of where you are.

Play

This page is not implemented yet. It will be used for 'live' playing and recording of sequences.

Start, End, Skip

This page allows you to change the start and end step values of a sequence, as well as control the skip steps. The top four rows are for setting the start and end step, and covers 32 steps, with step 1 at the top left of the grid, and step 32 on the right most button of the 4th row (counting from the top of the grid).

To set the End Step of the sequence, just push any button in this 4 row x 8 column area.

To set the Start Step of the sequence, hold down the end step with one finger, and push another grid button with another finger. This somewhat unusual setting method allows you to quickly set both the start and end steps with one 2-finger gesture.

The bottom 4 rows of the grid are used to turn the skip step values for the sequencer on and off. Thirty-two steps are covered, with the first button of the 5th row (counting again from the top of the grid) being the 1st step of the sequence, and the last button of the bottom (8th) row being the 32nd step. You can set and/or clear multiple skip steps at one time, which is incredibly useful.

Note: the first and last steps of the sequence (i.e. the start step and end step) cannot be skipped.

Sequence Control

The sequence control page gives you access to the direction and speed of the sequencer, as well as key and octave settings for pitch-based sequencers.

The top row sets the direction of the sequencer. There are five possible values, one for each setting, and each is color-coded:

• Forward : Green
• Backward : Red
• Alternating 1 : Amber
• Alternating 2 : Amber
• Random : Red

The second and third rows on this page control the speed of the sequencer. The second row is for setting 'even' divisions of a beat, and the third row is for odd and dotted-note based divisions:

Gate

This page controls the Gate value for each step of a sequence. You get 8 non-zero values plus a zero value. Pushing any button in a column sets the value for that sequencer step.

This parameter page use a "double tap" technique to zero out the gate value: If the gate value is greater than 'one button', then double tapping on the bottom-row button will zero-out the gate. If the gate value is already only 'one button', then single-tapping will set it to zero.

Step Length

This page is an 'alternate' page on the same scene button as the Gate page. To activate it, just push the Gate button until it goes red. Currently 8 values are supported:

• row 1 : 2 beats
• row 2 : 1.5 beats
• row 3 : 1 beat
• row 4 : 3/4 beat
• row 5 : 1/2 beat
• row 6 : 3/8 beat
• row 7 : 1/4 beat
• row 8 : 1/8 beat

Velocity

This page allows you to set the velocity for a sequencer step. As with the Gate parameter page, there are 8 non-zero settings, and you can "double-tap" to zero out the value.

Groove

This is an alternate page to Velocity; to access it, press the "VEL / GRV" button until it goes red. 9 value settings are supported.

• row 1 : 0.5
• row 2 : 0.375
• row 3 : 0.25
• row 4 : 0.125
• rows 4 & 5 : 0.0
• row 5 : - 0.125
• row 6 : -0.25
• row 7 : -0.375
• row 8 : -0.5

Zeroing out the value here is just like doing it for gate or velocity, but you use the buttons on rows 4 & 5. If the groove for a step is greater than zero, push the button on row 4 for that sequencer step until it becomes "low green" on both rows 4 & 5. If the groove for a step is less than zero, do the same thing, but push button 5.

Divide

This parameter page allows you to set the divide value for a sequencer step. It ranges from 1 to 8, with the bottom row (row 8) being a divide value of 1.

Repeat

This is an alternate parameter page to divide. It allows you to set the step repeat value from 1 to 8, just like on the divide page.

Random Jump

This page allows you to set the Random Jump value of a sequencer step. This is a probability value that ranges from zero to one and determines the likelihood that the sequencer will jump to some other randomly chosen step. This page uses the "double-tap" method to get a zero value.

Pitch Glide

This is an alternate parameter page that is only supported for the MonoNote sequencer. It sets the PitchGlide for a step and ranges from 0 to 1.0 in 9 steps. It also uses the "double-tap-for-zero" method.

Primary Edit Modes For Other Sequencers

PolyNote Edit

The edit page for the PolyNote works just like the MonoNote except that you can program multiple pitches for each step.

MatrixSeq Edit

The MatrixSeq mapping for the Launchpad splits the 12 rows of the matrix across two "sub-pages" of the grid, each with six rows. This is much like the PolyNote and its octaves, but instead of having 8 octave pages with 7 note values in each octave, you get 2 pages each with 6 notes. The bottom 6 rows are used to program the matrix. Row 2 of the grid (2nd from the top) is not used at all.

Of course, the notes that are triggered for each row can be any that you define in the Matrix Sequencer module itself.

DrumSeq Edit

The primary edit page for the Drum Sequencer has two different modes. You can switch between the two modes by pressing the edit button. Remember that the edit button is the top-most of the round "scene" buttons.

In the first mode (the edit button is green), you can view and edit 16 steps across 4 tracks of a drum sequence. Each drum track is laid out across two rows. Track one is on rows 1 and 2 (counting as always, from the top of the grid), track two is on rows 3 and 4, etc. Odd numbered tracks have their programmed steps appear in red, even numbered tracks are in amber.

This "paired" approach to arranging drum parts makes it super-easy to program 16 step patterns, as you can often program all the 'hits' for that part with a one or two sets of multiple presses.

To program a step for a drum track, push the button for the appropriate step. That will set the velocity value for that step to full (1.0). To clear it, push again, that will set the velocity to 0. To switch between viewing steps 1-16 and 17-32, use the left and right "section" buttons. To switch between viewing tracks 1-4 and 5-8, use the up and down "range" buttons.

To reach the second edit mode for the Drum Sequencer, press the edit button so that it goes red. In this mode, you can only edit one track a time, and only 8 steps at a time, but you can set velocity values for each step. To pick a drum track to edit, press on of the 8 buttons along the the top of the grid -- just like picking an octave in the PolyNote's edit screen. Then, you can use rest of the grid to set the velocity value for each step; one sequencer step per column, with 7 non-zero values per step. To "zero out" a step, press the bottom button for that step until it turns off.

ChordSeq Edit

Because the Chord Sequencer has several unique parameters that affect the chord, all of which are useful, its mapping to the primary edit page is the most complex. Like the PolyNote and MatrixSeq, it uses a set of "sub-pages" to access these parameters. Access to these sub-pages is done using buttons on row 1, and are color coded:

• Col 1 : Scale Degree : Green
• Col 2 : Chord Type1 : Amber
• Col 3 : Chord Type2 : Amber
• Col 4 : Chord Family : Red
• Col 5 : Inversion : Amber
• Col 6 : Spacing : Amber
• Col 7 : Octave Offset : Green

Only one sub-page is active at once. You can switch sub-pages by using the buttons of row 1, or by using the "range" up and down buttons at the top of the grid.

For the scale degree mode the bottom 7 rows of the grid are used to program chords based on the 7 scale degrees of the scale you are working in.

There are two sub-pages for Chord Types, which allow you to access up to 14 chord types of a given family. The "7ths" chord family has 10 chord types, the others have fewer.

The Chord Family sub-mode allows you to pick the chord family. Currently Numerology only had 4 chord families: Dyads, Triads, Triad+1 and 7ths.

The Inversion and Spacing pages allow you to set values from 0 to 6 for each of those parameters.

Finally, the Octave Offset page allows you to set octave offsets ranging from -3 to +3.

Rack Edit Actions

In addition to the 12 editing pages described above, there are 5 specific actions you can use in Rack Edit mode. These actions are all triggered by holding down the Rack Edit button and pushing another button:

• Rack Edit + Preset : Duplicates the current preset (just like the "dup" button in Numerology).
  
  
• Rack Edit + Scene Button 5 : Shifts the sequence left.
  
  
• Rack Edit + Scene Button 6 : Shifts the sequence right.
  
  
• Rack Edit + Scene Button 7 : Inverts the sequence (for sequencers that support that action).
  
  
• Rack Edit + Scene Button 8 : Randomizes the sequence.
  
  

Preset Mode

In this mode, you can select presets for several stacks at once. This corresponds to the top half of the Mixer panel in Numerology. Each column of the grid represents the mixer channel for a stack, you can see presets for 8 stacks at once out of 16 stacks total. To switch to the other 8 stacks, use the section buttons.

For each stack, up to 32 presets can be viewed. To scroll between them, use the range buttons (up & down). There are four ranges:

• Presets 1-8
• Presets 9-16
• Presets 17-24
• Presets 25-32

For any stack's channel:

• If a button is green, that preset is active.
• If a button is amber, a preset exists but is not active.
• If a button is red, then the next preset has been queued and will trigger according to the preset Quantize setting for that stack.

To trigger a preset, just push the appropriate button.

As you add an remove presets, the display will update appropriately.

Mixer Mode

This mode allows you to edit volume, mute, pan and all 8 aux sends in the mixer. For all parameter pages in this mode, each column represents a stack and its mixer channel. You can access up to 16 stacks. To scroll between the first 8 stacks and the second 8 stacks, use the section buttons.

There are 3 parameter pages:

Volume & Mute

In this mode, the top 7 rows are used to set the volume level, and the bottom row is for mute.

Pan

In pan mode, you get 8 pan values plus zero. To pan to the right, chose one of the top 4 rows for a stack. To pan to the left, chose a button in the bottom 4 rows. Panning to the center is just like zeroing out the value on the Groove page in Rack Edit mode: Repeatedly press a button in rows 3 or 4 to set the value to zero. Either one or two presses will do it. When the pan value is zero, buttons in rows 3 and 4 for that stack will glow "low amber".

Aux Send

On this page, the top column allows you to pick which of the 8 aux sends you will modify. The seven rows below that allow you to set the aux send level, where the lowest value is none and the highest value is full.

IMPORTANT: Remember that aux stacks have their own set of aux sends, and that you can easily set feedback loops by having an aux stack send to itself. This is a feature!

Transport Control

In Mixer mode, you can also start and stop the transport. To do this, hold down the mixer mode button, and press the top-most scene button. This will toggle the transport (play, stop, play, etc).