The Arturia KeyLab Essential 61 Mk3 Black Controller at a glance:
The KeyLab Essential 61 Mk3 from Arturia is a neatly designed USB/DAW & MIDI controller with an elegant and modern look. In a compact space, the master keyboard offers room for an arpeggiator, 8 pads, 9 knobs, 9 faders as well as scale mode and Chord Mode offers. The modernized hybrid synth-piano feeling keyboard has a well playable keyboard with 61 keys, is sturdily built and is equally suitable for use on stage and in the (home) studio. The eight velocity-sensitive pads are ideal for recording accented drums & percussion. The built-in arpeggiator can be used directly via the keyboard with several playback patterns. In addition, a chord function is integrated that allows you to play entire Chords with just one finger. Thanks to the scale mode, scales other than the widely used 12-tone scale can be played effortlessly. The highlight of the Mk3 version is the larger, graphics-capable display with its four context-sensitive buttons, which further simplifies software control. Preconfigured DAW scripts for Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase and BitwigStudio allow for an especially comfortable start.
Further features
On the back is the switchable pedal input (sustain, foot switch or expression) as well as the MIDI output. This can be used to play other MIDI instruments that do not have their own keyboard. The Arpeggiator can also be activated at this output. Thanks to the transport function, you can control global functions of a DAW, such as start/stop and recording, directly from the KeyLab Essential 61 Mk3.
Free software package
Free of charge to the KeyLab Essential 61 Mk3 Black the manufacturer provides a comprehensive download software package. For changes and executability on Windows and Mac systems as well as DAWs, please refer to the Arturia homepage.