Arturia KeyLab Mk 1

Manufacturer’s product page · Forum thread

New in version 2.5.1.

Overview

The Arturia KeyLab 88 (retroactively called the “Mark 1”) is a full size piano keyboard that includes various encoders, faders, buttons, and velocity sensitive touch pads. It also includes a two-line dot-matrix display.

Note

Arturia also made 61 and 25 key versions of this keyboard. This mapping has only been tested with the full size version and it is unknown whether it works for the smaller versions.

Menu Controls

On the left side of the controller is an unlabeled section of controls surrounding the screen and the KeyLab logo. These global controls are used to select the deck, and to perform various tasks using the built-in menu which will be displayed on the screen.

Control	Label	Function
Knob	Volume	Main output gain
Menu Nav	Param (rotate)	Scroll between menu items on the display
Menu Nav	Param (press)	Enter into the selected submenu
Menu Action	Value (rotate)	Select value of active menu item
Menu Action	Value (press)	Toggle or activate selected menu item
Deck 1/3	Sound (short press)	Select deck 1
Deck 1/3	Sound (long press)	Select deck 3
Deck 2/4	Multi (short press)	Select deck 2
Deck 2/4	Multi (long press)	Select deck 4

The on screen menu contains the following options:

Main Menu

Label	Action	Function
Key	Rotate	Change the key of the selected deck
Key	Press	Reset the key of the selected deck to the detected key
Beatloop	Rotate	Change the length of a loop
Beatloop	Press	Activate or deactivate the last loop
Library	—	Open the Library Menu
Skin	—	Open the Skin Menu
FX1	—	Open one of the FX Menus
FX2	—	Open one of the FX Menus
FX3	—	Open one of the FX Menus
FX4	—	Open one of the FX Menus

Library Menu

The library submenu contains options for navigating and selecting items in the library view.

Note

Currently Mixxx must be focused for the library navigation options to have any effect. This is an open issue that will be addressed in a future version of Mixxx.

Label	Action	Function
Search	Rotate	Select previous library searches
Search	Press	Clear the current search
Focus	Rotate	Change the focused pane in the library view
Scroll	Rotate	Move vertically in the selected pane
Scroll	Press	Perform the default action for the selected item (configurable for tracks, open drop downs, etc.)
Sort	Rotate	Select sort order column
Sort	Press	Toggle the sort order between ascending and descending
Maximize	Press	Maximize the library view, shrinking the decks and other UI elements
Font Size	Rotate	Change the font size
Back	Press	Go back to the Main Menu

Skin Menu

The skin submenu contains options for configuring and changing the Mixxx UI.

Label	Action	Function
Effect Rack	Press	Show or hide the effect racks
Coverart	Press	Show or hide the album coverart
Samplers	Press	Show or hide the samplers
Vinyl Control	Press	Show or hide the vinyl controls
Back	Press	Go back to the Main Menu

FX Menus

There are four FX menus for controlling individual effect racks. Each one has the following options:

Label	Action	Function
FX Preset	Rotate	Select one of the effect rack presets
FX Preset	Press	Enable or disable the given effect rack for the selected deck
FX Focus	Rotate	Change the currently focused effect in the UI
FX Focus	Press	Show or hide the focus indicator on the given effect rack
Back	Press	Go back to the Main Menu

Main Controls

To the right of the KeyLab logo are the main bank of controls labeled, simply, Controls. Currently Mixxx only uses the first bank, so the Bank 1 button should be illuminated, otherwise the other controls in this section may not work.

Control	Label	Function
Gain Knob	P1	Deck gain
High Knob	P2	EQ highs
Mid Knob	P3	EQ mids
Low Knob	P4	EQ lows
Effect Knob	P5	Quick effect rack
D3 Fader	F1	Deck 3 volume
D1 Fader	F2	Deck 1 volume
D2 Fader	F3	Deck 2 volume
D4 Fader	F4	Deck 4 volume
D3 Fader	F5	Deck 3 tempo
D1 Fader	F6	Deck 1 tempo
D2 Fader	F7	Deck 2 tempo
D4 Fader	F8	Deck 4 tempo
X-Fader	F9	Crossfader

Snapshots

Below the main controls are a collection of 10 physical buttons labeled Snapshots.

Control	Label	Function
Intro/Outro + Hotcues	1	Configure first four drum pads to be the intro and outro markers and the remaining pads to be hotcues.
Hotcues	2	Configure all 16 drum pads to be hotcues.
Samplers	3	Configure all 16 drum pads to be velocity sensitive samplers.

Transports

To the right of the snapshot buttons are a collection of buttons labeled Transports. Each of these is bound to the currently selected deck except for the record button.

Function	Name	Function
Rewind	⏪	Beatjump backwards
Fastforward	⏩	Beatjump forwards
Cue	⏹	If track is playing: stops the track and resets position to the main cue point If playback is stopped: sets the main cue point
Cue	⏹ (hold)	Play the track from main cue point, release to stop playback and return to the main cue point. Playback must be initially stopped on the main cue point.
Play/Pause	⏯	Play/pause playback
Record	⏺	Toggle recording the mix
Loop	🔁	Toggle the previous beatloop

Hint

The actual behavior of CUE and Play/Pause buttons depends on Mixxx settings. See Using Cue Modes for more info.

Drum Pads

To the right of the main controls are a collection of 16 drum pads that are individually labeled Pad 16 (top right) through Pad 1 (bottom left). In Mixxx we invert the numbers so that eg. Pad 13 in the top left maps to Sampler 1. If the pad is not illuminated, pressing it will load the currently selected track into the given sampler. If it is illuminated, pressing it will cause the sampler to play and the pad to blink for the duration of the playback. The pads are velocity sensitive and the harder they are hit the louder the volume of the sampler.

Mapping Options

Several options are available for configuring the controller in the Mixxx settings:

Setting	Values	Default	Description
Soft Takeover	On/Off	On	Enable or disable soft takeover mode for all encoders.
Disable Pads	On/Off	Off	Disables the pads so they can be used with with an external synth.
Output Delay	Duration (ms)	100	The number of milliseconds to wait before setting output LEDs or writing to the screen. The controller sometimes sets LEDs by itself, meaning they no longer match the value expected by Mixxx. If you notice LEDs being set to the expected setting, then flickering to an unexpected setting, increase this number.