Arturia’s KeyLab MK3 is a seriously impressive MIDI keyboard controller61 keys: €549 / $599
49 keys: €449 / $499
arturia.com
Arturia is really at the top of its game right now. Following the success of its PolyBrute 12 synth and surprise AstroLab launch earlier this year, the French brand turned its attention to its popular KeyLab series.

READ MORE: Arturia’s AstroLab: The story of an instrument ten years in the making

When designing the latest generation of KeyLab keyboards, Arturia’s aim was to produce a robust and reliable controller loaded with the tools demanded by modern producers, whilst increasing the focus on expressiveness and creativity. Does the Arturia KeyLab MK3 deliver? You bet.
What does the Arturia KeyLab MK3 hardware include?
The controller comes in two sizes – 49 and 61 keys – with a choice of dark or light colours. Both finishes look slick and stylish, an impression that’s helped nicely by the real wood end-pieces and streamlined design.
KeyLab MK3 features an all-new Arturia keybed. This gives smooth key movement with a relatively firm action and a welcome sense of weight while retaining a synth-like feel. Colour-backlit pads are new, too. There are only 12 of these, as opposed to the usual layout of 16 on MPCs, Maschine and other pad-base controllers, but it’s compensated for by the pads being large in size and by there being four pad banks. There’s also a fifth bank named DAW, dedicated to controlling DAW functions.
The keys and pads are sensitive to both velocity and aftertouch, with a choice of linear, logarithmic, exponential and custom response curves. The custom curve is particularly flexible, being defined by five adjustable nodes, but unfortunately, there’s only one custom curve that is shared wherever the custom option is selected.
The MK3 in black and white. Image: Amanda Giloux
Build quality is exceptional, with a uniform feel and response across all keys and pads. There’s perfect throw, resistance and spring-back of pitch and modulation wheels. The nine continuous rotary encoders offer a nicely balanced twisting resistance, and both they and the accompanying bank of nine faders are buttery smooth in motion and rock-solid in their mountings. Buttons sit snug and firm in their cutouts and give an affirmative and satisfying clunk when pressed.
KeyLab connects to a computer via USB, from where it can also power itself. It’s also happy running as a standalone controller keyboard, connecting to other hardware via MIDI in and out ports while taking power from a suitable external power supply. A power supply isn’t included in the box, but a suitable wall wart is a relatively inexpensive add-on.
Also on the rear panel are three jacks for connecting to foot switches and controllers. Although these are labelled Sustain, Expression and Aux their functionality is fully flexible, whether connected to on/off switches or variable controllers.
The MK3 in use
What are the onboard features of the KeyLab MK3?
Configuring and customising KeyLab hardware used to be the sole domain of Arturia’s MIDI Control Centre software, but MK3 can also be configured entirely within the hardware. This would have been a nightmare task using the previous generation’s two-line screen, but MK3 features a mid-sized, high-resolution colour display. A logical navigation and control system makes light work of such tasks.
The display also aids when configuring and working with the various on-board modifiers that can be enabled. Chord mode captures a chord that you play, allowing that chord to be triggered and transposed by each key press. The chord’s spread and voicing can be selected, and there’s a Strum option to apply a guitar-like note staggering.
Of course, a basic chord shape may be out-of-key when transposed, and this can be remedied by the Scale mode. This forces all played notes and generated chords to match a selected root key and scale. There’s a wide range of scales to choose from, including modes, various non-western scales, and even a user-defined scale.
Chord and Scale modes can also interact with an Arpeggio mode, which offers the classic up and down patterns etc. as well as a programmable random mode where both the order and timing/syncopation of notes can be randomised. Arpeggio timing and gate length are adjustable, a swing can be dialled in, and the tempo can be set within KeyLab itself or be synced to your DAW.
The MK3 in black. Image: Amanda Giloux
How deeply does the Arturia KeyLab MK3 integrate with software?
KeyLab MK3 comes with two built-in operating modes or templates: Plugin and DAW. Custom templates can be created as needed too, and these can be defined directly within the hardware or with the assistance of the MIDI Control Centre software.
Plugin mode is slightly misnamed, as it is intended for interacting with Arturia instruments that are running as standalone apps. Nevertheless, the tightness of integration here is impressive, making an in-the-box soft synth such as Pigments play and feel just like a real-world synth or instrument. Presets can be browsed and loaded directly via the KeyLab display and, thanks to all knobs and faders being touch-sensitive, the assigned parameter name and current value is displayed whenever you touch one of these controls.
Achieving a similarly tight integration with a DAW demands the installation of a control script designed for that DAW, but all of the most popular choices are already supported. Additional scripts will become available over time for others, whether developed by Arturia or by users.
In DAW mode, KeyLab can direct its knobs and faders to the DAW’s mixer or to plugins (a single button press switches the focus), and so can lend a hand at all stages of production. There are dedicated buttons for controlling the DAW’s transport, tempo, quantising, undo/redo, and saving. Meanwhile, context-sensitive buttons below the display provide access to various other common functions including channel mute, solo, monitor enable and record enable. All this means you can do a lot of production work without ever once touching your computer’s mouse.
The MK3 in use
Is the Arturia KeyLab MK3 for me?
There’s an awful lot to love and little to dislike with Arturia’s KeyLab MK3. Whether working in the studio or on stage, whether playing individual instruments or producing your magnum opus within a DAW, KeyLab MK3’s impressive feature set and tight integration are perfectly balanced to help you maintain focus on the task at hand. Everything works out of the box, and there’s little-to-no configuration needed unless you require a custom template.
The MK3 hardware quality is faultless, and the included bundle of effects, instruments and software adds even more value to what is an unchanged and incredibly reasonable asking price. Controller keyboards don’t come much more in control than this.
Key features

Comes in 49-key and 61-key variants
Choice of light or dark colour scheme
12 velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive pads
4 pad banks plus additional DAW control pad bank
9 touch-sensitive continuous rotary controllers
9 touch-sensitive faders
Full sized pitch-bend and modulation wheels
High resolution colour display
DAW transport buttons and additional DAW function buttons
Built-in Chord, Scale and Arpeggio modes
USB-2 connectivity via USB-C (cable included)
Bus-powered or external PSU (not included)
MIDI in/out ports
3 flexible foot pedal / external controller jacks
DAW script compatibility (at the time of writing): Logic Pro; Cubase (should also work with Nuendo); FL Studio; Ableton Live; Bitwig Studio

Included software

Arturia Analog Lab Pro
Arturia Mini V
Arturia Piano V
Arturia Augmented Strings
Arturia Rev PLATE-140 reverb
Ableton Live Lite
Native Instruments The Gentleman piano
Melodics subscription and bonus lessons
Loopcloud subscription and sounds

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OpenAI reportedly in talks to close a new funding round at $100B+ valuationWhatever size the tranche ends up being it'll be OpenAI's biggest outside infusion of capital since January 2023.
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Hardware Bug in Raspberry Pi’s RP2350 Causes Faulty Pull-Down BehaviorErratum RP2350-E9 in the RP2350 datasheet, detailing the issue.
The newly released RP2350 microcontroller has a confirmed new bug in the current A2 stepping, affecting GPIO pull-down behavior. Listed in the Raspberry Pi RP2350 datasheet as errata RP2350-E9, it involves a situation where a GPIO pin is configured as a pull-down with input buffer enabled. After this pin is then driven to Vdd (e.g. 3.3V) and then disconnected, it will stay at around 2.1 – 2.2 V for a Vdd of 3.3V. This issue was discovered by [Ian Lesnet]  of [Dangerous Prototypes] while working on an early hardware design using this MCU.
The suggested workaround by Raspberry Pi is to enable the input buffer before a read, and disable it again immediately afterwards. Naturally, this is far from ideal workaround, and the solution that [Ian] picked was to add external pull-down resistors. Although this negates the benefits of internal pull-down resistors, it does fix the issue, albeit with a slightly increased board size and BOM part count.
As for the cause of the issue, Raspberry Pi engineer [Luke Wren] puts the blame on an external IP block vendor. With hindsight perhaps running some GPIO validation tests involving pull-up and pull-down configurations with and without input buffer set could have been useful, but we’re guessing they may be performed on future Pi chips. Maybe treating the RP2350 A0 stepping as an ‘engineering sample’ is a good idea for the time being, with A3 (or B0) being the one you may want to use in actual production.
In some ways this feels like déjà vu, as the Raspberry Pi 4 and previous SBCs had their own share of issues that perhaps might have been caught before production.
(Note: original text listed A0 as current stepping, which is incorrect. Text has been updated correspondingly)

Beggars Group is now a £100m+ annual revenue companyNevertheless, the record company has seen its operating profit slide amid rising costs
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FLOSS Weekly Episode 798: Building the Rust Desktop with COSMICThis week Jonathan Bennett and Rob Campbell chat with Carl Richell about System 76, COSMIC, Wayland, Rust and more! What was the “last straw” that convinced System 76 to write their own desktop environment (DE)? What’s the story with smithay, and why did that jump start the whole process? Listen to find out!

https://system76.com/cosmic

Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show Right on our YouTube Channel? Have someone you’d like us to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us! Take a look at the schedule here.

Direct Download in DRM-free MP3.
If you’d rather read along, here’s the transcript for this week’s episode.
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Back to School, Back to Music: Universal Audio Supports Save The Music Foundation with Charitable GiveawayUniversal Audio, a worldwide leader in audio production tools, partners with leading nonprofit organizations through its philanthropic arm, UA Giving. UA Giving is proud to continue its long‑standing partnership with Save The Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps students, schools, and communities reach their full potential through the power of making music.

To support this goal, Universal Audio is running a back-to-school giveaway campaign from August 28 to September 1, encouraging donations to help fund a Music Technology Grant, which will allow students in grades 9-12 to learn the fundamentals of electronic music creation, recording, and production.

"We're thrilled to continue our partnership with Universal Audio, an incredible supporter of music education," says Danielle Zalaznick, Deputy Executive Director & Chief Development Officer at Save The Music. "Their commitment ensures that students can create music during the school day, fostering creativity and learning."

"Keeping music education in schools is something we care about deeply at UA," says Bill Putnam Jr., CEO of Universal Audio. "It's our goal to make the art of creating and recording music accessible to as many people as possible, and Save The Music is an incredible organization focused on making that dream a reality."

Throughout the giveaway campaign, participants can enter for a chance to win an exciting prize package from Universal Audio consisting of a Sphere DLX Modeling Microphone, Bock 187 FET Condenser Microphone, Apollo x8p Thunderbolt Audio Interface, UAFX Dream '65 Reverb Amplifier Pedal, UAFX Lion '68 Super Lead Amp Pedal, UAFX 1176 Studio Compressor Pedal, UAFX Teletronix LA-2A Studio Compressor Pedal, UAFX Del‑Verb Ambience Companion Pedal, and UAFX Orion Tape Echo Pedal.

The post Back to School, Back to Music: Universal Audio Supports Save The Music Foundation with Charitable Giveaway first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

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The post Yelp drops TicketNetwork after NIVA exposes fake, overpriced ticket sales appeared first on Hypebot.

Chappell Roan manager Nick Bobetsky: An InterviewChappell Roan manager Nick Bobetsky offers insights into his career, from starting to managing top artists. He shares his most significant risks, upcoming projects, and advice for aspiring managers and artists.
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OVM Plugin releases Diatonica, a FREE mono sequencer synth for Windows
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Essential Financial Strategies for Touring MusiciansIncome from live performances has become less reliable, but there are financial strategies for touring musicians that help turn a road trip into a profitable success. Avoid common pitfalls and learn how to maximize your earnings while on the road.
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Instagram reported to be working with Spotify on continuous music sharing featureInstagram and Spotify appear to be working on a new feature that would let Instagram users continuously share what songs they’re listening to via the app’s Notes section.
Though not yet official or confirmed for a launch, the potential feature has been leaked by app researcher and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi on Threads. If true, it looks like we’re heading ever-closer back to the days of Myspace, when music was more widely shared on online profiles.

READ MORE: Spotify gained 10 million more paying users in the first half of 2024

Paluzzi’s Threads post shows a screenshot with a new option that would allow users to “continuously share” their music from Spotify, instead of selecting a song from Instagram’s catalogue, though it states that you can “stop sharing at any time”.
Instagram already launched the ability to share 30-second song clips over a year ago via Notes. The Notes feature itself arrived in December 2022, and began allowing users to share small status updates via thought bubbles. These display above a user’s profile picture on their profile page and via the direct messaging feature.
In other Spotify news, CEO Daniel Ek revealed in July that a deluxe tier of the streaming platform is indeed on its way, following rumours of a Hi-Fi subscription plan with lossless audio circulating for a number of years.
It’s been suggested that it could bring more AI-powered features, headphone sound quality optimisation, and advanced library management. Ek said it may arrive “at around a $17 or $18 price point”, and will be “sort of a deluxe version of Spotify that has all of the benefits that the normal Spotify version has, but a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board, and some other things that I’m not ready to talk about just yet”.
It is currently predicted that Spotify will release the deluxe version later this year.
The post Instagram reported to be working with Spotify on continuous music sharing feature appeared first on MusicTech.

“I used to be very shy but I would observe what everyone was dancing to and what worked”: How The xx’s Romy found her confidence as a DJRomy has revealed how she found her confidence to enter the world of DJing in a new video series produced with White Claw.
The Grammy nominated DJ and vocalist/guitarist for The xx has collaborated with the hard seltzer brand to launch its Refreshing Sounds Series, in which she dives deeper into the stories and connections that have influenced her solo career.

READ MORE: “Apple leaked it so I can say it”: Flying Lotus confirms he made two of Apple’s iPhone ringtones

Since embarking on her solo DJ career in 2022, Romy has collaborated with the likes of Fred again.., Calvin Harris, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa and HAAi. Exclusively via MusicTech, you can now get the first-look at Episode 2 of the series, which offers fans a look “behind the decks” into Romy’s world.
Speaking of her first steps into DJing, Romy recalls how watching from the sidelines helped her to navigate her own shyness and find the confidence to become one herself.
Image: Romy x White Claw for Refreshing Sounds
“[In] UK club culture, there’s a unity and a hopefulness,” she states. “There was a club in Soho called Ghetto, it is now Tottenham Court Road tube station. I used to go all the time and I used to be very shy but I would observe what everyone was dancing to and what worked and that really stayed with me.
“When these other amazing DJs have been part of the gig I just go out into the crowd. I love feeling the energy, and it makes me feel less nervous. It’s all about discovery, and about leaving the night with something that you didn’t come there with.”
You can take a look at the episode below:

The episode forms part of a three-part series which complements Romy’s exclusive mix of fan favourite track Twice. The Refreshing Sounds series captures exclusive BTS content on Romy’s musical journey across London and Ibiza, where she is set to debut the track to an intimate crowd.
To find out more, or catch up on Episode 1, head over to White Claw Refreshing Sounds.
The post “I used to be very shy but I would observe what everyone was dancing to and what worked”: How The xx’s Romy found her confidence as a DJ appeared first on MusicTech.