Hello everyone, it's Lena here and in this
video I'd like to present to you Arturia's Universal Music making controller, MiniLab
3. in this video we'll explain what it is, how
it works, and why you should make it your go-to controller keyboard for any style. Let's get into it. MiniLab 3 is a universal MIDI controller keyboard
that gives you intuitive controls, 25 great-feeling slim keys, and a fully integrated all-in-one
software package that's ready to get creative right out of the box. Whatever your style, whatever your ability,
whatever your setup, MiniLab 3 is built to get the job done and make it fun, always. With Plug-and-play DAW integration, versatile
controls, 500 presets from Analog Lab, and a bundle of world-class music making software,
this is your chance to get truly immersed in your creative process. Before we start, let's play a few sounds to
hear MiniLab 3 in action. Let's now dive deep and see what it can do. First off let's do a quick tour of all the
front and back panel features. The front panel features a 25-key slim keyboard,
which feels great, and is perfect for playing keys, basslines, and chord progressions. Next we have eight colorful pads which are
great for triggering drums or samples. On top of that, MiniLab 3 features eight newly
designed high-quality encoders to control your favorite virtual instruments or external
devices, as well as four faders that will be great for controlling volume, effects,
envelope shaping, or anything else in your DAW. In the top left corner you'll see the pitch
bend and modulation touch strips... As well as octave or transpose switches, and
the shift plus hold buttons for accessing other features, which we'll cover later on. MiniLab 3 also features a new high-res OLED
display that shows information about your faders, knobs, pads, touch strips, and more,
and the clickable encoder lets you quickly browse through sounds in Analog Lab and navigate
various DAWs. Lastly the back panel has a USB-C connection
for connecting MiniLab 3 to your computer, iPad, or power source, a control input for
connecting a sustain, footswitch, or expression pedal, and MIDI output for controlling external
devices like desktop synths. What's great about working with MiniLab 3
is that once you plug it in and fire up your DAW, it will be instantly linked to all the
useful settings and controls, thanks to custom mapping with Ableton Live, Bitwig, Logic,
FL Studio, and Reason. This means that MiniLab 3 can control both
your DAW and your sound in Analog Lab with its pads, knobs, and faders, so you can tweak
settings without even touching your mouse. You can find out more details on the integration
between MiniLab, Analog Lab, and major DAWs in our dedicated tutorial series which you'll
find in our YouTube playlists. MiniLab 3's 25-note keyboard feels great and
guarantees a comfortable playing experience. At any time you can easily extend its octave
range with the octave minus and octave plus switches like this. You can also transpose the notes of your melodies
by semitones if you'd prefer to use different keys. To do so simply press shift, plus octave minus
and octave plus buttons, like this. The octave plus button will flash white when
you've transposed by octaves, blue when you've transposed by semitones, or it'll fade between
white and blue if you've used both. It is also worth noting that you can easily
change the keyboard MIDI channel by pressing shift and the corresponding key labeled just
above the keyboard. This is useful for controlling multiple virtual
instruments or hardware synths at the same time. Another way of using MiniLab 3 creatively
is to trigger its pads. These eight velocity-and-pressure-sensitive
pads work in two modes. The first mode is for finger drumming and
triggering samples... While the second pad mode is a DAW control
mode and behaves differently depending on the DAW. In the case of Ableton Live, it triggers Clips
in session view like this. More on that in the dedicated tutorial series. Triggering samples with these pads perfectly
complements MiniLab 3's keyboard workflow. The pad's velocity levels are always visible
on the OLED display, and can change even if you press and hold the pad. This means you can easily play your melodies
first and add drums or samples afterwards, or vice versa. Once your melodies are playing back, you can
use MiniLab's knobs or faders to tweak your virtual instruments like this. MiniLab 3 comes with some playful features
and the arpeggiator is definitely one of them. The arpeggiator turns any note or chord into
a repeated sequence that loops like this. To activate this function in MiniLab 3, all
you have to do is to press shift plus the arp pad. this will engage the arpeggiator as shown
on the display. After enabling, simply press whatever notes
you want, and MiniLab 3 will arpeggiate them. This arpeggiator by default is set to trigger
notes at a certain speed, direction, and time division, and has many other options that
define Its behavior. You can edit all of these options using the
Arp menu. Press shift plus hold the Arp button to open
the menu, where you'll find an on off switch and the arpeggiator mode option, which lets
you choose the order in which your notes are played. This includes up, down, random, and much more. Let's hear some of them in action. As well as changing the arpeggiator modes,
you can adjust their musical time divisions, swing, the length or shortness of the notes
with the gate option, and the number of octaves you use. As you can see, each of these controls can
be tweaked in real-time using the eight encoders, letting you easily create and customize arpeggiated
melodies in seconds. The hold button lets you hold the notes or
arpeggio you're currently playing, even if you let go of the keys. If you play another note, chord, or arpeggio,
it will replace the last one. Another major feature of MiniLab 3 is its
chord mode. This function allows you to play chords and
multiple notes with just one finger, like this. To enter chord mode, press the shift plus
chord buttons. After this, the display will show that chord
mode is on. Now when you again press and hold shift plus
chord, the screen will say 'create user chord'. To create your chord, simply play up to 16
notes, and MiniLab 3 will save them as a chord shape. Once you're done, whenever you press a key,
it'll play your newly created chord, like this. To switch chord mode off just press shift
plus hold again. MiniLab 3 will remember your last chord even
after you've turned it off. For more details, make sure you check our
dedicated 'how to use the arpeggiator and chord mode' video. As I mentioned earlier, MiniLab 3 integrates
perfectly with many DAWs, as well as with Analog Lab and all Arturia software instruments. This means that you can control the basic
functions of your DAW without touching your mouse or trackpad, making music production
easier than ever. By pressing the shift plus prog buttons, you
can toggle between Arturia meaning Analog Lab control mode and DAW, meaning a DAW control
mode. You can find out more about this in our dedicated
tutorial series which you'll find on our website and YouTube channel. MiniLab 3 also comes with a great software
bundle which allows you to start making music straight out of the box. The list of softwares include Analog Lab Intro,
Arturia's vintage and modern sound library based on the award-winning V Collection and
Pigments; Ableton Live Lite, probably the world's most famous creative DAW; Native Instruments'
The Gentleman upright piano; UVI model D grand piano; and finally, subscriptions to Loopcloud
for millions of royalty-free samples, and Melodics for learning music theory and production. This package truly contains everything you
need to make music and become a better producer. It's worth mentioning that you can configure
your MiniLab 3 with MIDI Control Center, an app that you can download when you first register
your purchase. Before you get going, you'll also need to
update your MiniLab 3's firmware which is also done via MIDI Control Center. Once you're registered, make sure you download
the latest version and install it for the best music-making workflow. MIDI Control Center will automatically recognize
your MiniLab 3 when you connect it. Once connected, you can adjust the settings
for the knobs, faders, MIDI, and even the colors of the pads. You'll find all of the advanced settings right
here. And that's really it. Hopefully this tutorial showed you how interesting
the MiniLab 3 is, and how exciting it can be to produce your own music with. Don't forget to check out the rest of our
MiniLab 3 videos for tips and tricks on how to get the most out of it. Thank you guys for watching and see you soon!