Custom Novation Launchpad Pro firmware for using a Novation Circuit's sampler as a midi instrument.
The Circuit's sampler supports changing a sample's pitch by using the first control knob. It also allows this to be automated by the sampler, unlocking four additional melodical instruments on top of the two synths. Getting the pitch right, however, is really hard when doing it by hand, limiting its use.
This project aims to improve this by converting the Launchpad Pro into a control surface for the Circuit, allowing you to play the sampler as if it were another instrument. The tool is only designed for an original version Launchpad Pro and the original Circuit.
The Launchpad Pro runs an ARM Cortex M3 processor, so you need a cross compiler to build the firmware. The easiest way, is using the provided docker image:
docker build . -t launchpad-pro-circuit
docker run -v $(pwd):/opt/sources launchpad-pro-circuit makeIf you have the GCC ARM toolchain installed, you should be able to directly run make in the project's root.
Afterwards, you should be left with a launchpad_pro.syx file in the build directory.
You'll need a sysex tool to upload it to the device.
On linux, I use amidi, from the ALSA project.
To flash the device, first put it in bootloader mode by holding the "Setup" button while connecting the host. Then, use:
amidi --list-devicesto get the device id of the Launchpad Pro. Send the firmware with:
amidi -p hw:3,0,0 -s build/launchpad_pro.syxwhere hw:3,0,0 is the device id returned by the first command.
The original firmware bundled by Novation is included in the resources/ directory.
You can flash this file to get your Launchpad to its factory state.
This project is based on the open launchpad firmware released by Novation. It is released under the same 3-clase BSD license:
Copyright (c) 2015, Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.
Copyright (c) 2025, Antonio de Haro
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