Applies to:
- Launchkey MK4
- Launchkey MK4 Mini
Chord Map allows you to quickly build and play interesting chords, using the pads and the encoders.
On Launchkey, to access Chord Map, press the Chord Map button:
On Launchkey Mini, to access Chord Map, hold Shift and press pad 12 (Chord Map):
- The leftmost eight blue pads are the Chord pads.
- The rightmost six orange pads are the Performance pads.
- Encoders 1-4 control Adventure, Explore, Spread, and Roll, respectively.
Pressing one of the eight blue Chord pads triggers a pre-defined chord set related to the current selected scale (accessed using the Scale button). Whenever a Chord pad is pressed, the selected chord is displayed on the screen.
It's possible to switch between the Scale, Chord Map, and Arp views, without toggling them on/off, with a long press of the Scale/Chord Map/Arp buttons - this allows you to change the Scale/Chord Map/Arp parameters using the encoders.
Chords can be transposed up/down in octaves using the Up and Down buttons next to the pads.
Holding down one of the orange Performance pads and pressing the blue Chord pads plays the chords with the performance effect - this allows you to perform chords in different ways. Only one Performance pad can be used at a time.
The Performance pads let you play chords in the following way:
| Pad | Behaviour |
| 6 |
Arp Up – each press on the Chord pads cycles from the lowest note to the highest note of the chord, then reset. |
| 7 |
Inversion Up – causes the notes in the chord to be pitched up by an octave each time a Chord pad is pressed, starting with the lowest note. |
| 8 |
Split: Bass + Chord – the first Chord pad press plays the bass note. The second press plays the rest of the chord's notes. |
| 14 |
Arp Down – each press on the Chord pads cycles from the highest note to the lowest note of the chord, then reset. |
| 15 |
Inversion Down – causes the notes in the chord to be pitched down by an octave each time a Chord pad is pressed, starting with the lowest note. |
| 16 |
Split: Left and Right – the first Chord pad press plays the two lowest notes. The second press plays the rest of the chord's notes. |
The Performance pads will display their function on the screen when pressed.
Performance pads can be latched by pressing the Scene Launch (>) button. When latch is on, the Performance pads can be toggled on/off. Turning latch off, turns off any active Performance pads.
Changing Chord pad or releasing the Performance pad resets the chord cycle.
- Adventure (Encoder 1) controls how harmonically complex the chords are.
- Explore (Encoder 2) provides different chord sets at each Adventure level.
- Spread (Encoder 3) spreads out the notes in the chord over multiple octaves.
- Roll (Encoder 4) strums the notes - as you increase the value, you'll hear the notes played later over time.
Chord Map outputs on MIDI channel 3 by default - if you're not hearing your instrument playing when pressing the Chord pads in Chord Map, make sure the instrument is set to listen to the correct MIDI channel (i.e. 3 by default). The MIDI channel for the Chords can be changed in the Launchkey's Settings menu.