Arturia KeyLab 88 MkII [18/89] Pad mode buttons pads

2.5. Pad mode buttons & Pads

KeyLab mkII features 16 multi-function RGB pads that are velocity- and pressure-sensitive.

They will transmit polyphonic aftertouch, which is a highly expressive method of control for

your music.

Pads are often used to perform drum and percussion parts, but the KeyLab mkII pads can

also be used to trigger chords, send MIDI CC data, and select programs internally or on

external MIDI devices. Each pad can have its own settings, which can be edited within the

User preset [p.43] or by using the MIDI Control Center [p.62].

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♪: Chord-related pad functions are covered in the Chord mode chapter [p.54]. The rest are covered in

the User mode chapter [p.43] and the MIDI Control Center chapter [p.62].

2.5.1. Three Pad modes

The three buttons to the left of the pads change what the pads do:

• Pad mode: Touch a pad and it can play a note or send a MIDI message of some

sort. The response can be defined from the front panel [p.43] or by using the MIDI

Control Center [p.62].

• Chord memory mode: Each pad stores a chord that can be played from that pad.

• Chord Transpose mode: Each pad stores a chord that can be played from the

keyboard. The Chord button must be lit to use Chord Transpose mode.

To learn how to work with the chord-related functions of the pads, refer to the Chord mode

chapter [p.54].

13 Arturia - User Manual KeyLab MkII - Overview