LAUNCHPAD - Day 1

[SubFunk]

what about the actual build?

could someone owning it chime in about the physical quality... built quality, feel of buttons
(especially how 'real' is the feel swiping over them in mixer mode)
weight, etc.

thanks a lot.

[squelcht]

what about the actual build?

could someone owning it chime in about the physical quality... built quality, feel of buttons
(especially how 'real' is the feel swiping over them in mixer mode)
weight, etc.

thanks a lot.

No time for that...We got bitching to do here!

The Launchpad really is like a mini APC---However with A.D.D. & a smelly yeast infection

[hoffman2k]

what about the actual build?

could someone owning it chime in about the physical quality... built quality, feel of buttons
(especially how 'real' is the feel swiping over them in mixer mode)
weight, etc.

thanks a lot.

Nick did a nice write-up on the device: http://nickstutorials.com/archives/217

I'm very satisfied with it. The build quality is nice and it has bigass rubber feet.
Some of the pads have a little dot on them, so you can navigate the grid blindly.
Don't have a scale here, but I reckon it weighs about a kilo. Exact weight is probably in the specs.

As for swiping over the pads. It works nicely since you don't require much force to trigger a pad.

[Leon Tricker]

My point was: Whenever Ableton updates Live, the previous version (Live 7) usually gets those fixes (if needed) next. So fixes for bugs being found up to the M4L beta may trickle down to Live 7 and earlier this year even Live 6.
So you're not only waiting for Launchpad support but also for improvements and bugfixes. And if you have a problem with that, let me refer you to every changelog that mentions the APC40 in past weeks.
I'd rather take the fixes than the bugs.

Anyway. I'm sorry I opened my mouth.
I forgot that some people just don't care about educated guesses and will just use it as fodder for their rants. Yeah, boo Ableton. How dare they to be weeks late! Its only been 2 days and it isn't even noon yet, but the nerve of them..

So much for reassuring words.

Ableton, Novation and Digital Village all say Launchpad works with version 7. It doesn't.

Personally I find this frustrating. Personally I would prefer they said up-front that it doesn't work with Live 7 yet. Then I could make an informed choice whether to buy it. So frankly, yes, how dare they be late.

If Ableton put a statement out saying "Live now works with Windows 7" and it didn't, would you accept that statement too?

[hoffman2k]

My point was: Whenever Ableton updates Live, the previous version (Live 7) usually gets those fixes (if needed) next. So fixes for bugs being found up to the M4L beta may trickle down to Live 7 and earlier this year even Live 6.
So you're not only waiting for Launchpad support but also for improvements and bugfixes. And if you have a problem with that, let me refer you to every changelog that mentions the APC40 in past weeks.
I'd rather take the fixes than the bugs.

Anyway. I'm sorry I opened my mouth.
I forgot that some people just don't care about educated guesses and will just use it as fodder for their rants. Yeah, boo Ableton. How dare they to be weeks late! Its only been 2 days and it isn't even noon yet, but the nerve of them..

So much for reassuring words.

Ableton, Novation and Digital Village all say Launchpad works with version 7. It doesn't.

Personally I find this frustrating. Personally I would prefer they said up-front that it doesn't work with Live 7 yet. Then I could make an informed choice whether to buy it. So frankly, yes, how dare they be late.

If Ableton put a statement out saying "Live now works with Windows 7" and it didn't, would you accept that statement too?

If you want to go into semantics, nowhere does it say when Live 7 will support the launchpad.
It'll most likely be before most launchpads arrive at their destination and I'm very sure you even realize that. But I guess arguments need to be made. Those pitchforks don't sharpen themselves.

[Hermanus]

Hi folks,

there will be an Live 7 update including Launchpad support.
I cannot yet offer a release data but it should be soon.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Regards
/Alex

That's all good_ and for those who really don't understand_ or don't are on a mood to wait a bit_
You can download the demo [fully unlocked for 2weeks!!!] and having fun with both live808 & launchpad while waiting for a live 7 update

[SubFunk]

what about the actual build?

could someone owning it chime in about the physical quality... built quality, feel of buttons
(especially how 'real' is the feel swiping over them in mixer mode)
weight, etc.

thanks a lot.

Nick did a nice write-up on the device: http://nickstutorials.com/archives/217

I'm very satisfied with it. The build quality is nice and it has bigass rubber feet.
Some of the pads have a little dot on them, so you can navigate the grid blindly.
Don't have a scale here, but I reckon it weighs about a kilo. Exact weight is probably in the specs.

As for swiping over the pads. It works nicely since you don't require much force to trigger a pad.

thanks man.

[djlimbs]

Once I got mine, I immediately went into Bome's to see if I could make it work how I wanted (I have an overly excited post somewhere in the forum).

Found that I can for the most part and am pretty happy. I found that User1 mode uses channel 5, while Session and Mixer use channel 1. So setting the first parameter in the outgoing midi message from Bome's opens up a few doors. Here's what I've found I can do with Launchpad + Bome's

- Turn the last 4 rows of Session mode pads into User1 mode pads. These can map to one drum rack, two drum racks side by side or increase chromatically as you move right, it's pretty much up to you.
- Turn the top 4 rows of Mixer mode pads into User1 mode pads. Now I can drum + launch clips or drum + record enable/solo/mute..Drum racks are a centerpiece to my method
- Add some basic transport, metronome, overdub, record quantize controls.

I want to see if it's possible to combine Session and Mixer mode, but they seem to use the same Midi channel. I can't control the lights with Bome's, but I'm a beginner with the software so will leave it up to the experts to hack that together!

Oh yea, feel wise I love it. I map my drums so that I don't really need velocity sensitivity and I like the satisfaction of pressing a button down. It's a personal preference that some might not dig. I wish there were a few more buttons for customization but holding something down as a shift isn't that bad, just hard to remember sometimes. It's lightweight, smaller than my MPD24 and depending on how much I can program and if I can find a good compact knob/fader setup could end up replacing my MPD+APC setup. We'll see, I have a couple weeks to return the LP if I run into a major deal breaker, but so far the size + convenience are winning it for me!

[scientist]

does anyone know if you can change octaves on the drumrack? from the video's it seems that you only get 16 buttons in the bottom left part of the user section...

all 64 buttons are mapped to pads in user mode 1. the beauty of this thing is that any midi mappings you make in a session only override the individual buttons they are assigned to, leaving all the other automagically assigned stuff intact...

[dom]

That's all good_ and for those who really don't understand_ or don't are on a mood to wait a bit_
You can download the demo [fully unlocked for 2weeks!!!] and having fun with both live808 & launchpad while waiting for a live 7 update :wink:

That's not true...

... make that even 30 days now!

http://www.ableton.com/downloads

Cheers,
Dom

[Leon Tricker]

If you want to go into semantics, nowhere does it say when Live 7 will support the launchpad.
It'll most likely be before most launchpads arrive at their destination and I'm very sure you even realize that. But I guess arguments need to be made. Those pitchforks don't sharpen themselves.

I ask again: why not mention up-front that Live 7 MAY be supported in the future, but isn't right now? The published specs as they stand are meaningless.

Clearly I'm in a minority so I'm going to shut-up now (loud cheers from the forum! )But for me this isn't about pitchforks, it's about the principle. If Steinberg had done something like this, people would be lining up to shoot them down. If Microsoft stated that Windows 7 needed only 1GB of RAM to run, but in reality needed a minimum of 4GB, we'd all be on here criticisng them.

The Launchpad issue is the same principle, in my view, but I am in a minority and have different expectations of the line "Launchpad requires Ableton Live 7 or higher."

As I've said before, in the past I have defended Ableton, for example over upgrade prices. I'm a reasonable guy usually, honest! But in my view this is a case of out-and-out misleading the consumer. And I don't just blame Ableton for this, but Novation and Digital Village.

As it happens, I am going to keep my order of Launchpad and try it out with the cut down version of Live 8 that comes with it. Who knows, the limitation may force me to be more creative?! I wouldn't be surprised if the upgrade price to the full Live 8 is less from than the upgrade from my Live 7 licence!

[hoffman2k]

If you want to go into semantics, nowhere does it say when Live 7 will support the launchpad.
It'll most likely be before most launchpads arrive at their destination and I'm very sure you even realize that. But I guess arguments need to be made. Those pitchforks don't sharpen themselves.

I ask again: why not mention up-front that Live 7 MAY be supported in the future, but isn't right now? The published specs as they stand are meaningless.

Clearly I'm in a minority so I'm going to shut-up now (loud cheers from the forum! )But for me this isn't about pitchforks, it's about the principle. If Steinberg had done something like this, people would be lining up to shoot them down. If Microsoft stated that Windows 7 needed only 1GB of RAM to run, but in reality needed a minimum of 4GB, we'd all be on here criticisng them.

The Launchpad issue is the same principle, in my view, but I am in a minority and have different expectations of the line "Launchpad requires Ableton Live 7 or higher."

As I've said before, in the past I have defended Ableton, for example over upgrade prices. I'm a reasonable guy usually, honest! But in my view this is a case of out-and-out misleading the consumer. And I don't just blame Ableton for this, but Novation and Digital Village.

As it happens, I am going to keep my order of Launchpad and try it out with the cut down version of Live 8 that comes with it. Who knows, the limitation may force me to be more creative?! I wouldn't be surprised if the upgrade price to the full Live 8 is less from than the upgrade from my Live 7 licence!

If you are reasonable as you say, then you can clearly see this is just Ableton missing a deadline rather than a conspiracy to mislead you. I'm not suggesting I condone it, but shit happens. You have not been misled. At the very worst you've been disappointed and you'll get over that as soon as you have your launchpad. Nothing more satisfying than to have one less reason to use a mouse or even the screen.

[ze2be]

That's all good_ and for those who really don't understand_ or don't are on a mood to wait a bit_
You can download the demo [fully unlocked for 2weeks!!!] and having fun with both live808 & launchpad while waiting for a live 7 update

That's not true...

... make that even 30 days now!

http://www.ableton.com/downloads

Cheers,
Dom

There's no excuse now for the thieves

Thats just awesome.

[djsynchro]

It's an evil conspiracy so you'll get the 30-day Live 8 demo after which you'll be hooked on the new features so you'll buy that as well.

[Clean]

Yea, I am saddened by the incompatibility to live 7, hopefully they make a patch to fix it asap.
Its still a great device nonetheless.