Now Novation is taking its well regarded LaunchKey series, giving it a light facelift and rebranding it as FLKey– the very first keyboard MIDI controller created specifically for controlling FL Studio.
FLKey comes in 2 varieties, the FLKey 37 and FLKey Mini. What makes the FLKey stand out, however, is its out-of-the-box mapping for managing FL Studio. With the pots and pads you can easily control volume and panning both from the mixer and channel rack, manage numerous of Image Lines native plugins, and play chords with a single button. I actually believe that the FLKey lineup uses much deeper control than its Ableton-focused brother or sisters in the Launchkey series, at least when it comes to producing a complete song from start to end up.
Its hard to think that FL Studio (née Fruity Loops) has actually been around for 24 years. Its even harder to think that it took twenty years for somebody to make devoted hardware for the DAW. Which it was another 4 years prior to a 2nd company had a stab at it, after Akais Fire. Now Novation is taking its well regarded LaunchKey series, offering it a light facelift and rebranding it as FLKey– the very first keyboard MIDI controller developed exclusively for managing FL Studio.
FLKey comes in two ranges, the FLKey 37 and FLKey Mini. The only real distinction is that the FLKeys are gray rather of black, and the labels on the controls are a little different.
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The build is strong, but not what you d call rugged. I probably would not take the FLKey out on tour. Everything is plastic, and the secrets have a minor springiness to them. The pads are speed delicate, and have polyphonic aftertouch, however are a little and stiff. Theyll get the task done for finger drumming, however cant compare with those found on an Akai gadget. Theres a little screen that gives you useful details at a look, like predetermined names. And the eight knobs throughout the top are smooth and have a good quantity of resistance, but are quite little. They make sense on the Mini model, however on the 37 they look a little out of place. Still, considering the nearly rock-bottom rate of $200, this is all pretty outstanding.
What makes the FLKey stand apart, however, is its out-of-the-box mapping for managing FL Studio. With the pads and pots you can easily manage volume and panning both from the mixer and channel rack, control a number of Image Lines native plugins, and play chords with a single button. You cant ditch the mouse entirely, but you can carry out many standard jobs straight from the controller.
If youre totally acquainted with FL Studio, chances are youll be able to get even more with the keyboard than me. I have not utilized FL Studio much since I remained in college and it was still called Fruity Loops. I had to relearn some terminology and try to unlearn some practices I d developed after years of utilizing Ableton Live as my primary DAW. But once I overcame the initial hump, I discovered it fairly easy getting the rough summary of a track down with just the keyboard.
Terrence OBrien/ Engadget
I in fact believe that the FLKey lineup offers deeper control than its Ableton-focused brother or sisters in the Launchkey series, at least when it comes to producing a complete tune from start to complete. Whereas the Launchkey lineup appears more focused on Lives efficiency functions, FLKey feels built more with production in mind. That probably has as much to do with the distinction in the DAWs approaches as anything else.
Its super fast and easy to lock the keyboard into a particular scale, or to designate the pads throughout the top to the chords in said scale. The latter is specifically helpful for me considering that I am what is frequently described as a terrible keyboard gamer. It also takes just a single button push to quantize an efficiency after youve taped it which, once again, is incredibly useful for somebody like me whos just faking their method around a keyboard.
Terrence OBrien/ Engadget
If youre staying with FLStudios built-in plugins the knobs are often mapped to controls automatically, however, it appears a little random in terms of what they actually control. This is probably the biggest concern with the FLKey (once again, most likely more to do with FLStudios peculiarities than anything else)– consistency.
Ableton Live was developed really consciously from minute one with UI consistency being high on the list of top priorities, so mapping controls is a much simpler and more foreseeable affair. Every plugin has its own distinct user interface with controls spread around, and often presented in strangely skeuomorphic ways. And the mod wheel doesnt seem to do anything in a lot of plugins.
Terrence OBrien/ Engadget
Its likewise worth quickly discussing that while the back is largely spartan, there is a full-sized 5-pin MIDI DIN there. When youre not knocking out beats with FPC or chopping up samples in SliceX you can control your hardware synths too.
FL Studios quirks can be part of its charm. But it does make it hard to construct on top of what Image Line has currently done. Still, if theres any company I d trust making it work, it would be Novation. Over the years its established a track record for non-stop updating its items and including brand-new functions. Theres a decent opportunity that FLKeys rough edges will get smoothed out.All items recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial group, independent of our parent business. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through among these links, we may make an affiliate commission.