They are easy to activate, but not too easy, which I grew to like as they never double-triggered clips or notes. The Launchpad buttons have a unique feel to them they aren't as 'immediate' feeling as, say, an MPC, but rather have an almost double-throw feel. With all the visual feedback the Launchpad has to offer, on occasion, I still found myself reaching for my PTouch labeler to make a few tiny notes at the bottom of the button columns for reference. A neat shortcut feature helps to 'zoom out' and gain perspective with larger sessions. A red rectangle in Live changes position as you scroll, corresponding to the active clips on the Launchpad's grid. Much like the Akai APC40, you use the Launchpad's directional arrow buttons to move through Live's session view.

(Note that the Launchpad works natively if you already own Live 8.) After installation of Novation USB drivers, I was able to set the Launchpad as my control surface in Live and begin playing around. Our unit came with PC and Mac drivers plus a Launchpad edition of Live 8. Two additional User pages allow for custom MIDI mapping, and a Mixer page offers access to available track controls like volume, pan, and send levels.

Additionally, the Launchpad has eight scene launch buttons to the right of the grid and eight navigation buttons above the grid. The grid design perfectly complements Live's Session view, and this integration is enhanced by the multicolor LED buttons - green for clips that are active/playing, amber for clips that are loaded but not playing, red for currently recording clips, and unlit buttons are empty clip slots. It's a compact and lightweight USB MIDI interface organized around an 8x8 grid of 64 LED-backlit buttons, similar in design to the partially open-source Monome controller (#62). The Launchpad has, well, landed and seems certain to become a ubiquitous tool for users of Ableton Live ( Tape Op #72).

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