Novation Impulse 61 review: specs and price

Buttons will light up when pressed, resulting in better visibility to users.

The device has an electronic display to present information to the user.

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The octave buttons are used to shift the keyboard up or down in one octave increments. This extends the range of the keyboard in either direction, which lets you play notes that lie outside the number of keys available.

A feature on some MIDI devices that allows to adjust tempo in real time based on an external input or by “tapping” a button on the device itself. It is used to allow musicians the flexibility of playing at any desired tempo based on their musical input.

Transpose buttons are used for moving a collection of notes (pitches or pitch classes) up or down in pitch by a constant interval, usually in semitone increments.

The more buttons the device has, the more complex the input can be.

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The arpeggiator is the main tool used by computer musicians to generate looped material. An arpeggiator is simply a generator of signals that controls the tempo, pitch, velocity, gate, and other parameters of the sound.

The transport controls are used to control playback, set the position of the playhead, start recording, activate the cycle region, or to move to the project start or end.

Similar to a weighted action keys, but with less resistance and a slightly springier release, semi-weighted keys are popular with many players. If you don’t need realistic piano response, but also don’t care for spring-loaded synth actions, a semi-weighted keyboard might be ideal for you.

The amount of keys the controller has on the keyboard.

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The pads section is ideal to trigger loops and samples, using your finger drum skills.

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Aftertouch keyboards are sensitive to the pressure applied to keys after the initial impact, and while the keys are being held down or sustained.

The MIDI-Out port is used for transmitting data.

When pressed, the sustain pedal allows all notes to sound and “vibrate” freely. All notes played will continue to sound until the pedal is released. This is perfect when you need a sturdy and responsive control over sustain.

Dedicated expression pedals let you have a hands-free control over your keyboard's volume, vibrato, and more.

MIDI-In Port allows data to be received by a MIDI-compliant device. The “in” port enables the MIDI keyboard to be controlled by an external device or sequencer.

Devices can communicate in both directions with each other without any additional MIDI interface. The biggest advantage is that the USB connection can be used for everything; power supply, MIDI-in and MIDI-out. This means you need less cables.

It is compatible with PCs and laptops running the Windows operating system.

With automapping technology it is easier to set up your MIDI device and assign all different controls to your software (DAW).

It is compatible with Mac OS X devices such as MacBooks and iMacs.