Applies to:

• Launchkey MK4
• Launchkey MK4 Mini

Launchkey MK4 features a standalone Arp Pattern mode that allows you to quickly build and play interesting patterns for the arpeggiator. The bottom of this article has a video demonstration of these features.

On Launchkey, to access Arp Pattern, hold Shift and press Pad 12 (Arp Pattern):

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On Launchkey Mini, to access Arp Pattern, long press the Arp button:

The top row of pads shows an eight-step pattern. When Arp is active, the arpeggiator plays a note on active steps (lit pads) and does not on inactive steps (unlit pads). The current step position lights white on the top row of pads:

Toggling a pad on the top row makes the corresponding step active/inactive:

Changing the Rhythm value (Encoder 8) changes the pattern shown in the top row and overwrites any changes made on the pads.

The bottom row offers additional functions for each step – pressing the Function button cycles between the three functions available: Tie, Accent, and Ratchet.​

Tie

Tie links two notes together. When a step has a tie on it, the arp Gate increases to 110%. Pressing a pad on the bottom row ties that arp step to the next step – the pad turns red to show the step above is tied. 

Accent

When a step is accented, the step outputs +30 velocity (compared to steps without accent). Accent caps at 127. ​Pressing a pad on the bottom row accents the corresponding arp step – the pad turns orange to show the step above is accented. 

Ratchet

The arp plays two triggers for ratcheted steps. For example, if the arp Rate is set to 1/16, a ratcheted step plays two 1/32 notes. The pitch of the notes stays the same.​ Pressing a pad on the bottom row assigns an arp ratchet to that step – the pad turns yellow to show the step above is ratcheted.

You can find a video tutorial of Arp Pattern below (starting at 4:45) - although the example is for Ableton Live, the same principles apply to any other DAW or hardware synth: