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The Keyboardist from the band THELIOHEAD, who wears the Thelio Mega with pink accent on their head, holds a pink mechanical keyboard while animated lines move behind her. Hear her new single, "FLOW", on System76's YouTube channel.

Turn Your Launch Keyboard into a MIDI Controller

If you can type, then you, too, can play a musical instrument! For this fun weekend project, we'll guide you through the steps to transform your Launch keyboard into a versatile MIDI controller end those sweet, sweet melodic signals to your computer to perform. In a few simple steps, you'll unlock the full potential of your Launch keyboard and embark a musical adventure for the ages.

Materials

  • Any System76 Launch Keyboard
  • Any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) (Ardour, Reaper, Ableton, etc.)
  • Your computer
  • Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS (Recommended)
Square icon of a musical keyboard with a 1 highlighted in blue representing the first step to create a midi keyboard

Install on the keyboard

With your Launch keyboard plugged into the computer, open the terminal and type the following command:

  1. git clone https://github.com/garrettjwilke/qmk_firmware
  2. cd qmk_firmware
  3. ./launch-midi.sh

  4. Hit Enter to run it. If a question pops up asking if you want to install dependencies, type “Y” and hit Enter again. Wait a few minutes for the command to process.

    Once it’s done, you’ll be given the option to install either the piano or ghoti instrument. Ghoti here is a piano configured for a vertically oriented keyboard...though in reality it's actually a fish. Note: If you have a Launch Lite, only the piano will be installed.

  5. A screenshot of the instrument download selection in the Terminal. Option 1 is a piano, option 2 is a ghoti, with 32 drum pads included in both. Option 3 is the facctory default firmware for the keyboard; q is quit.

  6. Type the number or letter in brackets of the option you’re going with and hit Enter, then hit Enter again. Unplug the USB cable from the keyboard.

    Hold ‘Esc’ on the Launch until you see this message:

  7. A screenshot of the confirmation message in the terminal that the MIDI firmware has been flashed.

  8. Congratulations! You just flashed MIDI firmware to your keyboard. To confirm, hold the Fn key and it’ll light up green.

    Launch Heavy Keyboard with green backlights. A finger holds down the Fn key.

  9. From here, use Fn + 1 for piano or ghoti, or Fn + 2 for drums. Hold Fn again to change instruments using the alternate shortcut. For the regular QWERTY layer, use Fn + Tilde after holding Fn to toggle the Function layer.

Square icon of a musical keyboard with a 2 highlighted in blue representing the second step to create a midi keyboard

Understand Your Controller

  1. Legend showing notes laid out on the keyboard horizontally, like a piano.

  2. Notes in piano mode are laid out horizontally like a piano, while notes in ghoti mode are laid out vertically in half-chromatic steps.

  3. Legend showing notes laid out on the keyboard vertically in half-chromatic steps.

  4. Drums are made up of 32 pads, laid out in 4x4 grids (two 16-block grids):

  5. Legend showing 32 drum pads laid out in two 16-key grids

  6. Lastly, the key function layer, where you can switch instruments:

  7. Keyboard layout showing possible functions after holdiing Fn on the Launch MIDI, including the QWERTY layer (Fn + ~), Piano layer (Fn + 1), and Drum layer (FN + 2).

Square icon of a musical keyboard with a 3 highlighted in blue representing the third step to create a midi keyboard

Harmony.

Open your DAW and select the Launch keyboard you used for this project. Play a fun tune. Groovy!

And, if you’re feeling brave, share it with us!

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