Late last year I decided I wanted to learn how to play the Piano and to create some music. After a reasonable amount of research, a lot of research, I picked Ableton as my Digital Audio Workflow (DAW) and that led me to buying a Novation Launchkey 61 MK3.
Novation Launchkey 61 MK3
The main features that lead me to buying the Launchkey began with its Ableton Live integration. The quality of the really surprised me for a $250 keyboard, the keys are very “synthy” meaning plasticy and springy. But for the price, 61 keys, 16 pads, 9 faders, 8 knobs, transpose controls, a good sequencer, and arpeggiator it is pretty amazing.
But I made the mistake of going to Guitar Center too many times playing with Yamaha digital pianos and that got me to thinking I would like weighted keys or at least semi-weighted.
Novation Impulse 61
That led me to buy a used Novation Impulse 61 for $225. It’s a pretty old board and its integration with Ableton is not as good as the newer Launchkey, but it will work with other DAWs in ways the Launchkey can’t.
I really liked the keybed of the Impulse but after a couple of weeks with it I learned about the SL.
Novation 61SL MkIII
What can I say, the 5 LCD screens, CV control, semi-weighted keybed, and all those extra buttons on the Novation 61SL MkIII have really sucked me in. I love this keyboard for playing VST and other software synthesizers. Being able to see what it is the knob is controlling is HUGE! At $700 the price initially felt steep, but with all the features and the great keybed I think it is more than worth it, I think it’s a bargain.
Dig in deeper to all the features on the Novation website.
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