Novation Launchpad
By Christy Matte,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Great professional remix tool is cool, complex.
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Novation Launchpad
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What’s It About?
NOVATION LAUNCHPAD is a professional tool for creating and remixing electronic music. Kids choose from a variety of beats, vocals, bass lines, melodies, and FX to create their own music. They tweak the tempo or adjust the key, and pick and choose elements from different musical styles. They can also record and share their music or pair it with other high-end music tools and software, such as Ableton. The layout is customizable, and kids can swap out different elements, save favorite elements, and create just the board they want for their new composition. If they want more features, they can buy additional content packs.
Is It Any Good?
While most kids won't access or understand the more professional features, any kid can enjoy mixing elements to create his or her own music. Creating amazing music with Novation Launchpad is as simple as tapping buttons to turn various elements on and off -- the app does the rest. Sure, there are a lot of buttons, but kids can freely explore to see what each option does and then just remember their favorites. In terms of overall friendliness, the only thing that stands out as a struggle is the record feature. It doesn't quite act like other record buttons, and it's not obvious where to find the recording when finished. Kids will eventually figure it out, but it could be clearer. If you've got kids who like music, give this freebie a chance. Just be prepared for the in-app purchase requests to start rolling in.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about music and creating with Novation Launchpad. What's a beat? A melody? A vocal? How do the different components come together to make music?
Discuss in-app purchases and how/if kids can request purchases from an adult. What are the family rules?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Arts: improvising and music analysis, music, rhythm
- Skills: Creativity: producing new content
- Pricing structure: Free (in-app purchases $1.99-6.99 for more features)
- Release date: June 6, 2018
- Category: Music
- Publisher: Novation
- Version: 7.6
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 10.0 or later
- Last updated: June 25, 2018
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