I love arpeggiators, I still have a Roland SH101 which I spent a chunk of my formative years using on tracks whether they needed it or not, nearly always following a similar recipe - a PWM lead tone with portamento, arpeggiated in sync with the track with a single repeat from my Digitech PDS-2000 sampling delay to throw some space in to things. I must have lost months of my life to arpeggiators and whenever I’m in a DAW other than Pro Tools I seek out the MIDI effects which, despite being requested for so long are still sadly absent from Pro Tools.

Arpeggiators can be found in lots of third-party VI’s but it’s not quite the same thing as having arpeggiation “at source”. if I want to arpeggiate I can just fire up Xpand! 2 and indulge myself but tying the arpeggiation to the instrument is inherently limiting. MIDI effects are the solution presented by other DAWs and I’d love to see some in Pro Tools rather than having to work around but a solution that is nearly as clean is presented by the new Launchkey keyboard controllers from Novation.

Chord Mode

The other common MIDI effects are available too, for example, a chord function. While you might have the chops to play triads, this type of effect reminds me of the distinctly non-diatonic sounds the sampling of chords produced in early rave music, certainly the sound of relentlessly applied 9ths sounds quite exotic in the way some dance music does, even if most people who know their chords well enough to play those 9ths while playing a top line would probably mix things up a little. If its a sound you want you can have it using the Chord mode.

Scale Mode

The Scale Mode, as you would expect, restricts the MIDI output to a particular scale, in the video you’ll see how simple the implementation is and while this can be achieved to some degree using the Pro Tools MIDI Real Time Properties in combination with the Key ruler, the system in the Launchkey looks simpler and more powerful as it can be used to access Modes as well as the major and minor keys available in Pro Tools and this can be combined with the arpeggiator to give scale and mode appropriate arps.

And There’s More…

There is a lot more to the Launchkey, particularly for users of DAWs other than Pro Tools as, as we know the MIDI control options are seriously restricted in Pro Tools and although you can get a surprising amount out of HUI, there is an awful lot more which can be done over MIDI. Still, the Launchkey series seems a good solution for anyone who would like access to these basic MIDI effects but wants to stay within Pro Tools.

Learn more about the Launchkey Series at the Novation website.