Red: means that the device cannot be seen by Components. 

In this case, it could either mean the device is not connected, not powered, or you are using a browser which does not support Web MIDI. If using Windows, you may need to install the Novation USB Driver available on the downloads page.

Yellow: means the device is connected and recognised, but is in the wrong state.

In this case, it could mean the Launchpad is in Bootloader mode. Pressing the green pad at the bottom right will let it start as normal. If not, please try reinstalling the firmware from the Updates tab:

Green: The Launchpad is connected and is ready to use.

On the left-hand side of the Components section, you’ll find a browser that provides access to your templates, along with the templates we've made available for you.

1. User Custom Mode: Your custom templates are saved with your Novation account and can be accessed when you're logged in.
2. Additional Custom Modes: Extra custom modes from Novation are available and additional modes may be added in the future.
3. Factory Custom Modes: Factory modes are first loaded to your Launchpad by default and can be used to restore the device to its original state.

You can search and sort content with the browser settings on the top right.

And send the custom modes in browser to the connected Launchpad with "Send to Launchpad".

 

You can edit the Factory Custom Modes and the extra Custom Modes from Novation. This might be useful to restore these options or to select and edit them as a starting point. You'll find other premade options such as layouts for specific DAWs here too.

1. Select a Factory Pack
2. Click Edit

The available Widgets are offered in different categories relating to their function. This section of the article explains the contents of each category.

• Vertical and Horizontal Unipolar Faders allow you to send a CC message on a chosen channel - these faders start low and move to the highest value. You can use these faders to control various functions by mapping them to parameters in Ableton, such as Filter Cutoff or Effects Level.
• Vertical and Horizontal Bipolar Faders are the same but show lights on either side of the centre. This is useful for assigning pan controls, as the centre value will be equivalent to central panning.

• Chromatic Keyboard includes all 12 notes in an octave. You can customise which octave and which channel this sends out on.
• Scale Keyboard includes up to 8 notes from a scale. You can choose which scale, which root note, which MIDI channel and which octave this uses. 
• Drum Grid includes sets of 16 pads to play notes across two octaves in a square. You can customise the octave and channel. By default, this is set to Octave 3. 
• MIDI Note lets you assign a note to a single pad. Single MIDI notes can be used to build custom scales or perform key switches in sample based instruments. You can customise the note, the octave, and the channel, as well as change the behaviour of the note to be:
  • Momentary - continues to play while held but releasing stops the note
  • Toggle - Starts playing when pressed, stops playing when pressed again

 

• Program Change allows you to have the pad send a program change message on a chosen channel. This is useful for selecting certain patches on VSTs or hardware. 
• CC Button allows you to send a Control Change message. You can determine the CC number, the 'on' value, the 'off' value, the channel, and the behaviour (Momentary, Toggle, and Trigger which allows you to repeatedly trigger the message).

Control Change messages are useful for mapping to various functions, you can map them to things in Ableton such as device or transport controls. 

Widget settings example - Scale Keyboard

Here is an example of setting up a G Mixolydian Scale Keybaord widget

1. Selecting the Scale Keyboard widget from the slot
2. Set the Root Note, Octave and Scale
3. Set the colour of notes within the scale
4. Set the colour of the root note

All widgets allow you to change the MIDI channel, and Widgets on the same template can have different channels. Selecting “Global Channel” will mean this widget uses the channel selected from the Launchpad itself, allowing you to change what the control is interacting with from the hardware. 

The Launchpad Mini [MK3] & Launchpad X have buttons that let you enable or disable the octave and semitone transpose features in Custom Modes. This setting affects all Note messages in that mode, including Drum Grids. By using this feature, you can access more notes with the same pads, providing greater flexibility for the Custom Mode.

When you press the arrow buttons, you can turn the transposition feature on or off for the current Custom Mode.

1. Octave Transposition - Enable/Disable
2. Semitone Transposition - Enable/Disable

The Launchpad Mini MK3 and Launchpad X feature the ability to add Custom Keystroke widgets, which send a key or combination of keys when you press the pad. This feature is useful for integrating commonly used DAW or other keyboard shortcuts into your Custom Mode, such as copy and paste or creating and duplicating tracks. By combining keystroke and MIDI messages, you can create a unique Custom Mode that improve your workflow. Here’s an example of how to set up a keystroke:

1. Select a Keystroke widget
2. Click the box in the widget settings
3. Press the key (or combination) on the computer keyboard to assign the key combination

 

When finished, you can either send it to one of the Custom Modes using the button at the top right: 

Choose one of the slot to be overwritten:

You can also save them to your Components account or download them as a SysEx file so you can share them with others using the Save button.

If you're using Windows, and you'd like to use the Launchpad with Components and Ableton simultaneously, please install the driver found here (the same driver is used for both).