CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 KEYBOARD SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

What’s in the Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Octave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Registering your SL MkIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Transpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Power Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 TEMPO/SWING VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Set Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
HARDWARE OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Display Clock Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Swing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Swing Sync Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Sequencer view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tap Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Steps view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 TRANSPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Patterns view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Start/Stop/Continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Automation view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ZONES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Enable/Disable Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Mute/Solo Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Select a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Activate/Deactivate a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
TEMPLATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Set Destination for a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Part Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Set Keyboard Range for a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Set Zone Octave/Transpose Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
ARPEGGIATOR (ARP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Enable/Disable Pedals for a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Turn Arp On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Enable/Disable Wheels for a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Arp Latch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Enable/Disable Channel Pressure for a zone . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Arp Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Arp Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 SESSION MANAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Load a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Gate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Save a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Sync Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Clear a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Octaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cued Session Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Session Load Using Program Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Loading a Session Using Song Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Arp Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Save Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Additional Arp Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Arp Chance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 SCALES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Enable/Disable Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
GLOBAL SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Scale Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Velocity Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Scale Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
MIDI Clock Rx/Tx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
MIDI Out 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 MIDI PORTS/ROUTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Fader Pickup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Host Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Clock Out PPQN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
CV Mod 1 Range and CV Mod 2 Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CV Mod 1 CC and CV Mod 2 CC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Pitch Bend to CV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CV Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Part LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Template Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Key LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Librarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Arp LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Firmware Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Sequencer LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 DAW Feature Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Ext. MIDI LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 HUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Firmware and Bootloader Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Ableton Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Standby Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Logic Pro X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Reason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
CV/GATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Mod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

2
NOVATION Disclaimer
A division of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.
Novation has taken all possible steps to ensure that the
Windsor House,
information given here is both correct and complete. In no
Turnpike Road,
event can Novation accept any liability or responsibility for
Cressex Business Park,
any loss or damage to the owner of the equipment, any third
High Wycombe,
party, or any equipment which may result from use of this
Bucks,
manual or the equipment which it describes. The information
HP12 3FX.
provided in this document may be modified at any time
United Kingdom
without prior warning. Specifications and appearance may
differ from those listed and illustrated.
Tel: +44 1494 462246
Fax: +44 1494 459920
E-mail: [email protected] Copyright And Legal Notices
Web: novationmusic.com
Novation and Circuit are trade marks of Focusrite Audio
Trademarks Engineering Limited.

The Novation trade mark is owned by Focusrite Audio

Circuit Mono Station is a trade mark of Focusrite Audio
Engineering Ltd. All other brand, product and company
Engineering Limited.
names and any other registered names or trade marks
mentioned in this manual belong to their respective owners.
2021 © Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited. All rights
reserved.

3
INTRODUCTION Key Features
Thank you for purchasing the Novation SL MkIII, Novation’s • 49 or 61 note velocity sensitive, individually sprung,
most advanced controller keyboard to date. Whether you synth style, semi-weighted keyboard
need software control, prefer a ‘DAW-less’ set up, or have a • 16 full-colour RGB backlit velocity sensitive pads
hybrid studio– the SL MkIII will comfortably sit at the heart • 64 customisable templates
of your studio. • Eight continuous rotary knobs
• Eight faders
This guide aims to give you the knowledge you need to get • Six dedicated transport controls
the most out of the SL MkIII. Information throughout this • RGB backlit pitch bend and modulation wheels
guide applies to both the 49- and 61-key versions of the SL • Five RGB TFT LCD screens
MkIII. This information includes detailed explanations of the • 59 Backlit buttons with tact switches
hardware, the device’s various ‘views’ and menus, and how • 49 or 61 keybed RGB LEDs
to use the SL MkIII with external hardware and/or software. • USB B 2.0, MIDI IN, OUT, OUT2 / THRU
• Sustain and Expression pedal 1/4” TRS jack inputs
Additionally, we provide ‘tips and tricks’, as well as common • Footswitch pedal 1/4” TS jack input
scenarios you might face as a producer or performer. We • CV, Gate, Modulation and Clock Out on 3.5mm jack
hope you enjoy creating music with the SL MkIII for years sockets
to come. • Eight track 16 step sequencer Sequencer with 64
Sessions
For more information, up to date support articles and a • Real time record (notes, with velocity and automation)
form to contact our Technical Support Team please visit the • Auto-quantise notes to steps and automation to 6
Novation Help Centre at: events per step
• Full automation for all assignable controls (with eight
support.novationmusic.com automation lanes)
• 16 Scale types and chromatic transposition
• Eight playable zones
What’s in the Box? • Configurable pattern chains
• Instant session switching and queued switch
Please check the list below against the contents of the • Velocity and gate per step
packaging. If any items are missing or damaged, contact the • Multiple gate lengths per step (via real time record)
Novation dealer or distributor where you purchased the SL • Automation edit per step
MkIII. • Clear step, automation parameter per pattern
• Duplicate step, pattern.
• Novation SL MkIII 49 or 61
• USB Type A to Type B cable (1.5 m)
• Safety information sheet
Power Requirements
• DC Power Supply Unit (PSU) 12 V DC; includes
SL MkIII is shipped with an external 12 V DC, 1 A power
interchangeable AC plugs
supply. This is a “universal” type and will operate on all mains
voltages between 100 V and 240 V.
Registering your SL MkIII
The centre pin of the connector is the positive (+ve) side of
You can register your SL MkIII online at: the supply. SL MkIII must be powered by the supplied AC-
to-DC mains adaptor.
novationmusic.com/register
Your SL MkIII will be supplied with the a version of the PSU
Use the information provided in the Getting Started Guide appropriate to your territory. In some countries the PSU
(Serial Number and Bundle Code). This will allow you to comes with detachable adaptors; in this case, use the one
download any additional software that comes with your SL that fits your country’s AC outlets. When powering SL MkIII
MkIII. You can find this software in the software section in with the mains PSU, please ensure your local AC supply is
your Novation account. within the range of voltages required by the adaptor – i.e.,
100 to 240 VAC - BEFORE you plug it into the mains.

We recommend you only use the supplied PSU. Power

supplies for your SL MkIII can be purchased from your music
dealer or directly from Novation if you have lost yours

4
HARDWARE OVERVIEW
The SL MkIII 49- and 61-note versions have the same front
panel controls and rear panel connections.

16

12 17 19
10 11 21
9
13 20

24 14 15 18 22 23

26

25

27

6 5 4 3 2 1
8

1. Power On/Off button 14. Up/down page buttons

2. DC power jack: 12V DC, 1A, power supply 15. 1x2 velocity-sensitive pads
3. USB Type B socket 16. Eight continuous rotary knobs
4. Three DIN sockets (5-pin) for MIDI In | Out | Out2/Thru 17. Five LCD screens, collectively known as ‘the screens’
5. Two 1/4” TS or TRS jacks with silver metal rings for 18. Right arrow buttons
Pedal one(Sustain) and Pedal two (Expression), and 19. 8x2 soft button area
one 1/4” jack for Pedal three (Footswitch) 20. RGB LEDs
6. Seven 3.5mm TS jacks for Clock Out, CV1, Gate1, 21. Rectangular Up/down arrow buttons
Mod1, CV2, Gate2 & Mod2 outputs 22. Eight faders
7. Kensington Security Slot 23. The Transport
8. Teal silicone strip: the ’feet’ of the SL MkIII 24. Save, Duplicate, Clear, Sessions, Patterns, Steps, Track
9. Shift button Left, Track Right, Octave Up and Octave Down buttons
10. Global Settings button 25. Pitch and Modulation Wheels with RGB LEDs
11. InControl, Zones, Sequencer, Scales, Arp, Tempo and 26. 49 or 61 RGB Key LEDs
Latch buttons 27. Semi-weighted keyboard with aftertouch strip
12. Up/down buttons to change pages of Sessions 1-4
13. Grid button, eight soft buttons, and Options button

5
 FEATURES
Sequencer view
The SL MkIII has a 16-step sequencer per Part. The 16 ‘Steps’ of a Part have their own ‘view’ with settings that affect just
steps, and the 16-step sequence is referred to as a ‘Pattern’, again with its own ‘view‘ where you can adjust settings relating
to each 16-step pattern.

Press and hold the Shift button followed by the Sequencer button to turn On, or Off, the Sequencer. The Sequencer button
will turn white when activated, and orange when disabled. After switching on the Sequencer, the Transport buttons (far-right
of the controller) light up, showing they can control the Sequencer.

Press the Sequencer button to enter Sequencer view, which consists of two subviews: Steps view and Patterns view
(see following sections), accessed via the Steps and Patterns buttons, respectively. While in another view (Zones view,
for instance) pressing the Sequencer button will take you back to the last selected Sequencer subview. The Grid button
toggles the function of the 8x2 pads between the last Sequencer subview and Template (see “Templates” on page 13).

Note: when the Sequencer button is orange (off) pressing it accesses Sequencer view, where you can view and/or edit the
Sequence in the current Session. Transport buttons, however, will be unusable until the Sequencer is re-enabled.

Steps view
Steps view allows you to view and edit ‘Steps’ of a Pattern. The 16 (8x2) square pads beneath the screens represent the
16 available Pattern Steps.
Shift Global INCONTROL Tempo

Templates

Save Sessions Zones Grid Options

Expand

Duplicate Patterns Sequencer

Clear Steps Scales

Track

Arp Latch

Octave
Transpose

_ +

Pitch
With the Sequencer enabled, pressing play on the Transport will show the play head ‘stepping’ through the pads, turning
Modulation

each pad (aka Step) white along the way. Steps with MIDI notes assigned will light brightly. As the play head reaches one
of these bright Steps, it will play any notes assigned to them.

To assign a note/s to a Step, select the Track using the buttons directly below the screens. Press and hold a pad, then press
the key/s you want that step to trigger. You can also do the reverse: first press and hold the key/s and then press any pads
you wish to populate with notes or sounds. Finally, you can record notes, and automation data, ‘live’ by pressing the Record
button on the Transport (see “Live Record” on page 11).

To remove a note/s from a Step press and hold a pad. LEDs of corresponding keys will light up in red. If the Transport is
stopped, notes will play out to the corresponding Part (See “Part Settings” on page 13), and with the velocities assigned
to them. Remove the note/s by pressing the key/s.

With the Transport either running or stopped, hold the Clear button and press a Step (briefly turning it red) to remove all
note and automation data from that Step. To copy a Step, hold the Duplicate button and press a pad, briefly turning it green.
While continuing to hold Duplicate, press the pad/s where you wish to paste. Duplicating one pad to another will erase
whatever existed on the latter - not add to it.

You can also copy Steps between Tracks. Again, hold the Duplicate button and press a pad to copy a Step. With the
Duplicate button still held, change Tracks, then press pads to paste to them. However, the automation data will not copy
with these Steps.

6
 Pattern Scrolling

In Steps mode, you can press the Up/Down buttons to the left of the pads to scroll through your patterns. Pressing the pads
takes you to the pattern before (up) or after (down). So you know which pattern you are on when you move through patterns
using the arrow up/down buttons, the 5th screen will show you which pattern is visible on the pads.

Note: Pattern scrolling will not change the active Pattern. To change patterns, you must press the Patterns button and press
the corresponding pad (1-8).

Pattern Transpose

In Steps view, you can transpose all the notes in the current pattern an octave up or down. Transpose will not work if it would
cause any notes to exceed the MIDI note range.

To do this, hold Shift and press the Up arrow next to the pads to transpose all notes in the current pattern an octave up. To
transpose an octave down, hold Shift and press the Down arrow.

Options
While in Steps view, press the Options button (right of the pads) to see the options for the current Pattern. Use the soft
buttons below ‘Velocity’, ‘Gate’ ‘Chance’ and ‘Pattern’ to call up these settings. Press the Options button again to return to
Steps view.

You can also adjust Velocity, Gate or Chance for all steps– While in the Velocity, Gate or Chance menu, hold Shift to set the
value for all steps in the current pattern with the first encoder (This will not affect steps without notes assigned).

Velocity

In the Options menu, press the soft button below Velocity to edit each Step in the current Pattern. By default, you will see
Steps one to eight on the screens (2 per screen). Use the up/down arrow buttons to the left of the screens to access steps
nine to 16 (the bottom row of pads).

INCONTROL Tempo

Zones Grid Options

Sequencer

To adjust MIDI note velocity, rotate the knob above the Step you want to adjust. You can set a Step’s velocity anywhere
Scales

between one and 127. This allows you to dial desired MIDI velocities with a fine level of precision.
Arp Latch

The screens show a single velocity for any Step of a Pattern containing one or more notes. This value is the highest velocity
of all the notes assigned to that Step, although multiple velocities might be present for that Step.

When dealing with multiple notes assigned to a Step, the SL MkIII will raise or lower the Step’s velocity to a new, uniform
value. When doing so, the SL MkIII favours higher values and snaps closest to them. To illustrate this process, imagine a
Step contains the velocity values 25 and 89: turning this Step’s knob to the right will snap those velocity values to 90 or
above (i.e., both 25 and 89 became 90 or above). Alternatively, if you had turned the knob to the left those same velocities
would have snapped to 88 or lower.

Note: after all the notes on a Step snap to the same velocity (as described above), all new notes on that Step will adopt
the ‘group’ velocity.

7
 Gate

Select Gate to edit the length of MIDI notes assigned to each Step in the current pattern. Use the up/down arrow buttons
to the left of the screens to access steps nine to 16. The screen will show a single Gate value for each step of the pattern
containing one or more notes. The value shown is equal to the highest Gate of all the notes assigned to that Step.

INCONTROL Tempo

Zones Grid Options

Sequencer

Gate can have a maximum length of 32 steps, to allow steps to be longer than a duration of a pattern.
Scales

Arp Latch

The SL MkIII measures the Gate value in two parts: steps and fractions of a step. Each step is broken into six fractions.
Therefore, Gate value shows as a step number, followed by a fraction count (five white boxes below). The default value for
notes is ‘1 step’; use the knob above each step to lengthen or shorten the Gate for every assigned note.

Since the SL MkIII operates under the rules of MIDI, how the Gate parameter influences your resulting sound depends
on the sound being triggered, as well as the MIDI instrument holding that sound. For example, a Gate of 16 steps will not
‘stretch’ a short hi-hat sample. However, its MIDI note will become 16 steps long, regardless of the audible result.

Chance

You can set the Chance, or probability, of a note playing for each step in a pattern. For example, when a step has a chance
of 50% then there is an equal chance either all or none of the notes on that step will play.

Press the button below Chance and you can adjust the Chance of notes playing using the rotary controls above each step
(displayed on the screen).

When chance is set to 0%, the notes on that step will not play, the Chance value disables this step. You can use 0% chance
as a step mute function without having to remove any notes.

8
 Pattern

The next item in the Options menu is ‘Pattern’, which itself contains four sub-options: ‘Start Position’, ‘End Position’,
‘Direction’ and ‘Sync Rate’. Editing these settings alters the playback of Patterns in interesting ways (we recommend playing
around here to achieve ‘happy accidents’). Pattern changes will take effect when playback reaches the end of the Pattern.
The adjustable settings are as follows:

Global INCONTROL Tempo

mplates

essions Zones Grid Options

xpand

atterns Sequencer

Steps Scales

Arp Latch

• Start Position - The rotary knob above ‘Start Position’ moves the start Step of the Pattern, changing Pattern length.
The pad for this Step will be lit yellow, to allow you to see where the start position is moving. If the Start Position
changes so Steps containing notes are no longer heard, these pads will light red.
• End Position - The knob above moves the end step of Pattern playback, changing the Pattern length. End Position
can come before the start position. If End Position changes so that Steps containing notes are no longer heard, these
pads will light red.
odulation
• Direction - This changes the course of Pattern playback. The following directions are available:
• Forward - As the default, ‘Forward’ shows a typical playback Pattern, which begins at the start Step (start
position) and moves to the end Step.
• Backwards - ‘Backwards’ means playback begins at the end position and step progresses to the start Step.
You could think of this as ‘reverse’.
• Ping-Pong - During the first phase, playback begins at the start position and progresses to the end position.
During the second phase, playback starts at the end Step and proceeds back to the start position. End Steps
are repeated.
• Random - The most experimental Direction option, this playback option continually selects Steps between the
start and end position in a random order, resulting in repeated notes and general chaos.
• Sync Rate - This changes the rate at which steps occur relative to the BPM (either internal or external) Choose
among the following musical time values:1/32 Triplet, 1/32, 1/16. Triplet, 1/16 (default), 1/8 Triplet, 1/8, 1/4 Triplet,
1/4 note values.
• Pattern Shift - This simultaneously nudges the start and end points of your pattern. A value between 0 and 15
shows how many steps you have shifted the pattern since it was first created.

Micro-steps

Each step of the sequencer features six smaller micro-steps for greater resolution of the sequencer. To access micro-steps,
in the steps view press the Options button. To add a note to a micro-step, choose a sequence step by pressing a pad. You
can then see the six micro-steps lit on the top row of buttons (above the faders) press and hold a micro-step button and play
keys to add these notes to that micro-step.

When you press a different step in the sequence the six micro-step buttons will change to show you which micro-steps have
a note assigned, brightly to show there’s a note, dimly to show that micro-step is empty.

9
 Patterns view
Press the ‘Patterns’ button to open Patterns view. Here you can select MIDI patterns within the current Session. The eight
Patterns for each track are laid out horizontally in rows across the 8x2 pad area. The pads represent each Pattern, and each
row takes the colour of its Part. Use the up and down buttons (left of the 8x2 pad area) to scroll through the patterns for
each of the eight parts. The bottom of the fifth screen shows the Parts each row of pads applies to.
INCONTROL Tempo

Zones Grid Options

Sequencer

Scales

Arp Latch

Press a pad to select a new pattern. If the Transport is stopped, your newly selected Pattern will begin when the Transport
starts. When you select a new Pattern with the Transport running, the new Pattern will start when the current pattern ends.
To instantly switch to a new pattern, press and hold shift and select a new pattern (This is also a way of audibly ‘combining’
Patterns in interesting ways).

Pattern Chains

Pattern Chains allow you to combine multiple Patterns to form longer sequences. Press two or more Patterns together to
create a ‘Chain’ beginning and ending with the left- and right-most pressed Patterns. This doesn’t destructively ‘merge’
Patterns together but launches discreet Patterns consecutively to form longer musical ideas.

To see more Tracks at once, or only work with two-Pattern Chains, press Shift + Patterns to access the Expand view. This
arranges the Patterns for each Track vertically. Use the up and down buttons to access more Patterns. Press Patterns again
to return to the default (horizontal) layout of Patterns. Blocks on the far-right screen show the pattern chain and the current
pattern.

To reset the pattern to its default settings, hold Clear and press a Pattern (pad). This removes all note and automation data
from that Pattern.

To copy a Pattern, hold Duplicate and select the Pattern. Continue to hold Duplicate and press a new pad(s) to paste it. You
can paste multiple times while holding Duplicate. You can also copy Patterns between Tracks. As with Steps, automation
data for a Pattern does not copy across Tracks.

The Up/Down buttons to the left of the 8x2 grid allow you to scroll through patterns whilst in Step view. Pressing the Up
button will take you to the previous pattern and Down will take you to the next pattern. As you scroll through the patterns the
5th screen will show you which part is visible on each row of pads.

If you need inspiration or want to try something new, try copying Patterns between Tracks. For example, you could copy your
drum Pattern to your bass track, and vice-versa. You never know what ‘happy accidents’ might occur.

Pattern Shift

This allows you to nudge the start and end points of your pattern simultaneously. To use pattern shift, in Patterns view press
the Options button and change the Pattern Shift value on the 3rd screen to a value between 0 and 15. This value shows
how many steps the pattern has been shifted since it was first created.

10
 Automation view
In Patterns view, press the Options button to enter Automation view. In this view, each control type, as well as the name of
any controls with automation for the selected Track, are displayed on the screens as ‘lanes’. Use the soft buttons below the
screens to select a different Track to see its automation.

lobal INCONTROL Tempo

mplates

essions Zones Grid Options

xpand

atterns Sequencer

Steps Scales

To remove automation for a control, hold the Clear button and turn the rotary control above the lane you want to clear. For
example, ‘Transpose’, or ‘Ve Attack’. After clearing a lane, you can then use it for another control.
Arp Latch

Recording
Live Record

The SL MkIII allows you to record a ‘live performance’ directly into the Sequencer. Press the Record button on the Transport
to enable live recording. You can also press Record while playing to ‘punch in’ ideas. If the Transport is currently stopped,
however, press the Record button, then the Play button to begin live recording. While recording, any notes played on the
keyboard or from MIDI (both USB and DIN) will record into the Sequence.
odulation

When recording from MIDI, Parts will record only the notes received on the selected MIDI channel for that Part. Notes are
also forwarded to the output of that Part, whether recording or not.

While live recording, ‘note on’ events are quantised to the sync rate of the playing pattern; ‘note off’ events are quantised
to the nearest 24 PPQN tick. The sequencer will loop through each pattern chain, which allows you to overdub new notes
as the sequence repeats. Set up your desired Pattern Settings (see “Sequencer view” on page 6/”Options” on page
7/”Patterns view” on page 10) and Pattern Chain length (see “Sequencer view” on page 6/”Patterns view” on
page 10) to accommodate your performance before you begin recording.

Momentary Record

You can use Momentary Record so the Sequencer only records notes whilst the Record button is held down. To enable
Momentary Record, press and hold the Record button while the Sequencer is playing, while Record is held, play the notes
you wish to add. You can then release the Record button to stop recording leave the Sequencer playing.

Record Quantise (Non-Quantised Record)

For a less rigid performance, you can record using Non-Quantised Record. If you disable record quantisation, any notes you
record live will record to the nearest Tick (1/6th) of a step. To enable/disable Non-Quantised Record Press Shift and the
Record button. The 5th screen will briefly show the status of Record Quantise.

You can edit the position of the recorded notes between step using the Micro-steps view (see “Micro-steps” on page 9
for more details).

11
Automation
With the SL MkIII’s Sequencer recording, you can automate the movement of the following Template controls:

• Rotary Knobs
• Faders
• Soft Buttons
• Pads (press/release & pressure)
• Pitch & Modulation Wheels
• Pedals

Once a control moves its corresponding LED or screen will light red, and the control will begin overwriting any of its existing
automation data as the Transport advances. Movements are recorded and played back at a resolution of 24 PPQN regardless
of the current pattern sync rate (equivalent to six data points for each Step at the default 1/16 sync rate). Automation will
record or overwrite until recording or playback stops; we recommend you disable record as soon as possible to ensure you
do not overwrite automation when the Sequencer loops back around.

You can automate up to eight controls for each Track in a Session. The 5th screen will let you know when you have used
another automation lane or it will display, ‘Automation lanes full for part’ when there are no more available lanes for the
selected track.

You cannot record automation for rotaries and controls assigned to song position. Also, pads and buttons that output note
messages record into the note sequence rather than as automation.

Hold the Clear button to highlight all the controls with automation data in the current Pattern and hide those that do not. For
example, if you automate the Pitch Wheel its LED will illuminate as you hold Clear. While still holding Clear, move a control
to clear its automation in the current pattern.

You can also manually assign values to a Step, which is useful when more accuracy is needed. With the sequencer stopped,
press the Transport’s Record button (Transport). Select a Step (by pressing a pad) to enter Step Edit mode. This action will
audition the Step. Move a control to the desired value to assign this value to the Step and deactivate record. In the case of
the Pitch Wheel, move it to the desired position, then disable record before letting go of the wheel.

Only the most recent control value is assigned to a Step. This means while in Step Edit mode, pressing and releasing a
button or pad with a momentary function will only record the release message. To record the press message of a button or
pad, turn off record or select a new Step to record the release before releasing the pad.

Mute/Solo Parts
In Sequencer view, click the soft arrow on the far-right of the controller (left of where it says 49SL MkIII or 61SL MkIII) to
access Mute/Solo view. ‘Mute’ and ‘Solo’ will appear on the far-right screen.

Options

Mute a Part by pressing a Mute button (top row of yellow soft buttons) corresponding to that Part. When muted the
Sequencer will not output MIDI for that Part, but you can still play keys or audition pads for that Part.

To Solo a Part, press the Solo button (bottom row of blue soft buttons) corresponding to that Part. When you Solo a Part,
any other Part that is not also soloed will be silent (if it was not already muted). The Mute button for a silenced Part/s will
pulse yellow to show it is silent.

12
 TEMPLATES
Each Part works within a Template. In other words, each Part uses a Template to determine which MIDI messages should
send for each control and on which MIDI Channel and output it should send those messages. You can access and edit
Templates in Templates view. To access Templates view, press the Shift + Sessions buttons (Templates appears above the
Sessions button). A Template determines the type of MIDI message sent from each control. The Template contains mapping
data for:

• 16 Rotary Knobs (across two pages)

• 16 Pads (both hit and pressure)
• 8 Faders
• 16 Buttons
• The Modulation Wheel
• Footswitch, Expression and Sustain Pedals

You can manage and design custom Templates with Components; a standalone application available here:

components.novationmusic.com

With Components, you can configure each control to send one of many different MIDI messages with different ranges,
values and behaviours.

If a mapping is not enabled, the LED or screen associated with the control will be blank to show it is disabled

When a control with a mapping moves, a notification will appear on the far-right screen showing the message type as well
as the associated value (e.g.,0-127).

Part Settings
The SL MkIII lets you customise the destination of your Parts. The SL MkIII has eight Parts each with its own sequencer,
template, destination and more as explained in this section. You can configure elaborate setups using up to 16 external
devices or software. You can set these configurations with ‘Templates’ through the following process.

INCONTROL Tempo

Zones Grid Options

Sequencer

Scales

Arp Latch

13
Select Template Channel (MIDI Channel)

To change the Template for a Part: The SL MkIII doesn’t have a global MIDI channel, each Part
has its own MIDI channel. The MIDI channel for a Part is set
1. Press Shift and Sessions buttons to enter the using the Channel control on the third screen. Move rotary
Templates view. knob six to change the MIDI channel from 1 to 16.
2. Select the Part you want to change using the soft
buttons below the screen. By default, these Parts Note: Channel 16 is used as a global channel for certain
have the label ‘MIDI’. messages such as program change and song select. If you
3. Use the left-most rotary to select a Template. The set a Part to channel 16 and then change the Session on a
rectangle around the selected Template will turn connected device, you might accidentally also change the
grey while the Template loads, and white when the Session on SL MkIII and lose unsaved progress.
Template has fully loaded.

If the Template doesn’t yet have a name, it will appear Input Monitoring
as ‘Template X’. To rename a Template you can use the
Components software (See “Components” on page 28). When Input Monitoring is on (it is off by default), MIDI
note messages received by each Part (on the correct
channel) will forward to the Part’s destinations. The internal
Select Destination
Sequencer will always record external MIDI note messages
regardless of this setting.
Each Part can go to one or more destinations. These
destinations can be MIDI or analogue CV/Gate/Mod. To
change the destination for a Part:
Edit Part Colour
1. Press Shift and Sessions buttons to enter the
To change the colour for a part, select a Part and press one
Templates view.
of the eight coloured pads.
2. Select a Part using a soft button below the screens.
3. Set the rotary knobs above USB, DIN 1, DIN 2, CV/
Gate one or CV/Gate two to change them (options
listed below).
• USB: Off/On
• DIN: Off, 1, 2 or Both
• CV/Gate: Off, 1, 2, or Both

The Session stores your destination preferences, so

changing Sessions will change these Destinations.

14
 ARPEGGIATOR (ARP)
The SL MkIII’s Arp (Arpeggiator) gives you the ability to program classic, ‘machine-like’ arpeggios, perfect for techno and
many other electronic genres.

Tempo

Grid Options

Latch

Turn Arp On/Off

To turn the arpeggiator on or off hold Shift and press the Arp button. This Arp button will light white showing it is on.

With the arpeggiator on, held notes on the keyboard will arpeggiate.

The Sequencer also routes to the arpeggiator. When recording to the Sequencer, held keys record into the Patterns as long
notes. Assuming Arp is still on, these long notes will be route back into the Arp for playback.

Arp Latch
Using the Latch feature of the SL MkIII is a fun way of augmenting Arp’s functionality.

Pressing the ‘Latch’ button toggles Arp Latch on and off. When on, any notes you play hold, and their note-offs are delayed
until you release all the arpeggiated notes and play a new note/s.

Note: Latch will work whether Arp is on or off– Latch triggers a continuous MIDI note, regardless of Arp’s on/off state. Latch
is useful, for example, if sending MIDI to an external arpeggiator, or an external synth patch with lots of sustain.

Latch will apply to the selected Arp destination Part only.

Arp Settings
Pressing the Arp button (while not holding Shift) reveals the following settings on the screens.

• Part • Octaves
• Type • Velocity
• Gate • Length
• Sync Rate • Chance

Changing these settings will significantly change the sound of your arpeggios. The following sections explain these settings
in depth.

15
Arp Part Arp Sync Rate
Arp can only arpeggiate one Part at once, so by default, this This changes the musical rate the Arp runs relative to the SL
is set to ‘Selected Part’. However, using the soft buttons MkIII’s clock. The Arp can be set to these sync rates:
below the screens, you can send the arpeggiated pattern
to parts one through eight instead. In other words, you can • 1 • 1/8 Triplet
send your arpeggiated patterns to different Parts to audition • 1/2 • 1/16 (Default)
them on various elements of your song.
• 1/2 Triplet • 1/16 Triplet
• 1/4 • 1/32
Arp Type • 1/4 Triplet • 1/32 Triplet
• 1/8
You can set Arp to the following pattern ‘Types’:

• Up (default) - Notes held or latched (with the Latch Arp Octaves

button) play in an upwards direction at the Arp Sync
Rate, one after another, then the pattern repeated. This setting increases the output range of the Arp by octaves.
• Down - Notes held or latched play in a downwards For example, if you set Octaves to two the sequence plays
direction at the Arp Sync Rate, one after another, then and then Is immediately repeated one octave higher. Three
the pattern repeated. means the Sequence will repeat one octave higher, and then
an octave higher still. By default, Octaves is set to one but
• Up/Down 1 - Notes held or latched play in an
can go as far as six.
upwards direction, then downwards direction with no
repeated notes, at the Arp Sync Rate, then the whole
If arpeggiated notes go out of range, the Arp will correct the
pattern repeated.
notes to within the top octave (G#6 to G7). There are no
• Up/Down 2 - Notes held or latched play in an duplicated notes when you change Arp Octaves.
upwards direction, then downwards direction with
the highest and lowest notes repeated, at the Arp Octaves interact with Types in different ways. These
Sync Rate, then the whole pattern repeated. scenarios are a reference when programming with octaves
• Random - Notes held or latched play in a random in mind:
order at the Arp Sync Rate until keys are released.
• Played - Notes held or latched output in the order • When Type = Up/Down 1 or Up/Down 2 the Arp will
they were played, at the Arp Sync Rate, then the play up the full octave range before playing down.
whole pattern repeated. • When Type = Played the notes play in the first octave
• Chord - Notes held or latched play as a chord on before repeating in additional octaves.
each Arp step, at the Arp Sync Rate, until the notes • When Type = Random, the sequence of notes is
are released. randomised across the whole octave range, and
every note is picked at random.
Arp Gate • When Type = Chord, additional octaves will cause the
held notes to repeat according to the octave setting
The Arp’s Gate control shortens the length of arpeggiated in an upwards direction. For example, if Octaves =
notes from the maximum length of one arpeggiated step 3, the held notes will be played as a chord at the
(100%) down to 1/100th of an arpeggiated step (1%). Gate pitch, then +1 octave and then +2 octaves, before
is set to 100% by default, with an adjustable range of one to the pattern repeats.
100%. Gate considers Arp Sync Rate and tempo; therefore,
as Sync Rate changes and tempo increases/decreases the
Arp gate length will remain a consistent percentage of the
Arp step length.

16
Arp Velocity Additional Arp Notes
Arp note Velocity can be between 1 and 127 (standard for While using Up/Down 1 with an octave range greater than
MIDI velocities) or ‘Played’ (default). one, when the arp moves down, reducing the octave range
to one will cause the Arp to continue falling through all the
When set to Played, the output notes from the arpeggiator octaves until it reaches one. At this point it will stay within the
will inherit the velocities of the notes you physically played. 1-octave range. If moving in the up direction, the arpeggiator
will reset to the first octave after it has completed all the
When set to a value of 1-127, the output notes from the notes in the sequence within the current octave it is playing
arpeggiator play at a fixed velocity as specified by this in.
setting. For example, if set to ’65’, all notes heard will have a
velocity value of 65. When you use Up/Down 2, if the top/bottom note is
released after it has played once, Arp will immediately switch
direction and play the next highest/lowest note only once
Arp Length and continue in that direction. This behaviour maintains
timing if you remove the top note replace it with another note.
This sets the length of the Arp pattern, measured in steps.
By default, the Arp loops through 16 steps, but you can When switching between directional arpeggiator types
make it shorter (from one to 15 steps). The ‘Arp Sync Rate’ during playback, Arp will not reset position but will continue
determines the length of a step (1, 1/2, 1/2 Triplet etc.). moving in the same direction (if supported by the new Type)
until it reaches a limit. For example, if switching from Down
You will see your Pattern on the 8x2 pad area, where each type to Up/Down one Type, the arpeggiator will continue
pad represents a single step in the Pattern. moving down until it reaches the lowest note.

Arp Pattern Arp Chance

Finally, the Arp Pattern feature lets you customise the rhythm You can set the probability of a step playing in an arp
of your arpeggios. After pressing the Arp button, each pad sequence for any of the eight arpeggiators. To enable this,
will represent a step in the arpeggio pattern. You can then go to the Arp Settings Menu and using the encoders you can
toggle a step on or off by pressing its corresponding pad, change the arp step to a chance between 0% and 100%.
thus altering your pattern’s rhythm. A pad will light brightly 0% giving that step no chance of triggering and when set to
when the step is set to play, and dimly when the pad will 100% that step will always play.
not play. A white cursor moves across the pads as the
arpeggiator plays.

This resulting rhythm only affects the timing of the played

notes and does not change the order they play.

17
GLOBAL SETTINGS MIDI Clock Rx/Tx
Press the Global button to enter the Global Settings view. MIDI Clock Rx
Any settings changed in this view affect the whole device
and do not change with the Session. These settings save The following steps enable or disable receiving of external
when you turn off the SL MkIII via the power switch. If you MIDI clock messages:
remove the power cable these settings will not save.
1. Press the Global button.
When you’re in the global menu, you can press Global again 2. The menu item labelled ‘MIDI Clock Rx’ shows either
to return to the last view you were in. ‘On’ or ‘Off”, showing whether the device can respond
to an external MIDI clock.
Press the Up/Down arrows next to the screen to navigate 3. Turn the rotary knob above to the right to enable or
through three pages of global settings and information. disable reception of MIDI clock.

Set to ‘On’, if the SL MkIII detects MIDI clock at either MIDI

Velocity Curve input (USB or DIN) it will synchronise to the external clock.
Make sure you send MIDI to USB or DIN, and not both, as
You can change the responsiveness of your SL MkIII this might cause a loss of synchronisation or erratic tempo.
keyboard via the ‘Velocity Curve’ setting:
To confirm the SL MkIII is receiving external clock press the
1. Press the Global button to navigate to the Global Tempo button. Here the screen shows the synced-tempo
Settings menu. value, as well as the word ‘External’. Changes to the external
2. The menu item labelled ‘Velocity Curve’ will show the device’s or software’s tempo show here. If the SL MkIII loses
current velocity curve. sync while the transport is playing, the message ‘Sync Lost’
3. Next, choose from the following velocity options: will appear, and the device will not switch to its internal clock
until you stop the Transport.
• Low • Normal+
• Low+ • High
• Normal • Fixed MIDI Clock Tx

The SL MkIII can either send its internal MIDI clock or sync
‘Low’ skews MIDI toward lower values. In other words, it is
to an external clock – convenient when using the SL MkIII
easy to render low velocity values but getting velocity values
alongside other devices or software.
of, say, 127 will require a lot of physical force. With ‘Low +’
it is slightly easier to get higher velocities; with ‘Normal’ and
The following steps allow you to enable or disable
‘Normal +’ achieving higher velocities gets even easier.
transmission of MIDI clock messages:
‘High’ means velocities skew toward high values. Even when
1. Press the Global button to reveal its menu.
pressing keys lightly, it is difficult to achieve low velocities.
2. The menu item labelled ‘MIDI Clock Tx’ shows clock
This could be, for example, a helpful feature for a player with
transmission as either ‘On’ or ‘Off’.
a light touch who wants their velocities to lean toward higher
3. Turn the rotary knob above to the right to enable clock
values.
transmission (‘On’), or to the left to disable clock
transmission (‘Off’).
If you select ‘Fixed’ the SL MkIII will output the same MIDI
velocity regardless of how hard or soft you press a key.
When set to ’On’, the SL MkIII sends clock tempo. Devices
When you select Fixed, a menu item next to Velocity Curve
or software configured to receive the SL MkIII’s MIDI clock
called ‘Fixed Velocity’ will appear; this is where you specify
will now operate in sync. MIDI clock messages send at 24
the MIDI velocity for each key press.
PPQN (pulses per quarter note) to the USB MIDI and both
MIDI DIN ports.

When using the SL MkIII’s analogue clock turn the rotary

knob above the menu item labelled ‘Clock Out PPQN’ to
choose between 1, 2, 4, eight or 24 PPQN.

To adjust the tempo of the SL MkIII’s internal clock press the

Tempo button. The first screen then shows the tempo as a
BPM value, you can raise or lower the tempo with the above
rotary knob.

18
MIDI Out 2 Clock Out PPQN
When set to ‘Out’, the SL MkIII can use two MIDI DIN When the Transport is running, the Clock Out sends ‘clock
outputs. This means the device can send MIDI clock to two pulses’ for each quarter note. This setting determines pulses
separate destinations via, for example, the ‘OUT’ and ‘OUT sent in PPQN (Pulses Per Quarter Note). PPQN can be set
2’ DIN sockets on the back of the SL MkIII. to 1, 2 (default), 4, 8 or 24.

It’s also possible, to change MIDI Out two from an output to

a ‘Thru’. When set to ‘Thru’, the second MIDI output copies
CV Mod 1 Range and CV Mod 2 Range
messages from the MIDI DIN input to the MIDI DIN output,
These two settings allow you to specify the output voltage
and the SL MkIII will not send any internally generated MIDI
of each mod port. Available ranges are ‘-5 to 5V’ or ‘0 to 5V’.
to this output.
Any CC messages directed to the mod port map to one of
these ranges.
If Parts (see “Part Settings” on page 13) are being routed
to MIDI Out two when the setting changes to ‘Thru’, the
previously configured Part destination will not change, but CV Mod 1 CC and CV Mod 2 CC
MIDI will no longer send from the device. MIDI from the Part
will no longer send from MIDI Out 2. You can give each Mod port a specific CC number, which
you can set individually for each port using the rotary knobs
above ‘Mod 1 CC’ and ‘Mod 2 CC’. When a message
Fader Pickup
sends with this CC number using the surface, Sequencer
automation, or from external MIDI to a part that routes to a
Fader Pickup changes the way the faders and Mod Wheel
CV port, this will control the CV Mod output.
behave for their current value. You will find four options for
this behaviour:
Pitch Bend to CV
• Off (Default): Pickup is off for faders and Mod Wheel.
• On: Pickup is on for both faders and Mod Wheel. Both CV outputs can react to the Pitch Wheel. You can
• Faders: Fader pickup is on, but pickup is off for the set the range of Pitch bend from +/-1 semitone to +/- 12
Mod Wheel. semitones (+/-1 Octave).
• Mod Wheel: Pickup is on for the Mod Wheel but off
for faders.

When fader pickup is on for faders/Mod Wheel, data will not

send from that control until the physical position of the control
matches (or passes) the previous value. This behaviour
prevents sudden jumps in the value after switching between
Parts, for example. The default value for these controls will
be at the lowest position (i.e., fader all the way down).

Please note the SL MkIII’s fader pickup behaviour does not

apply when using InControl. The controller will therefore
adopt the pickup behaviour of HUI or your DAW.

Press the down arrow to the left of the screens to show more
Global options. These further options are described in the
following sections.

19
 CV Calibration
You may need to calibrate the CV Pitch output ports to precisely represent the pitch range. Press the soft button under
‘Calibrate’ to enter calibration mode.

Tempo

Grid Options

Latch

To calibrate a CV Pitch port:

1. Press the soft buttons under ‘CV 1 Low’ or ‘CV two Low’. This sets the voltage of the port to approximately 220 Hz
(A2). You will need to connect the port to a sound source to either tune by ear or use a tuner. Otherwise, you can
connect the port directly to an oscilloscope or measuring device to verify the tuning
2. Use the Tune knob above to increase or decrease the voltage and fine-tune the output until it matches 220 Hz exactly.
3. Press the soft buttons under the ‘CV 1 High’ or ‘CV two High’ and do the same for 880 Hz (A4).
4. Once you are happy with both tunings, press the orange soft button under ‘Apply’ to save these settings.

The full range of the CV Pitch port will now calibrate. Click the Reset soft button to remove your calibration and restore the
factory default settings. Press the Exit soft button to return to Global Settings.

Part LEDs
When ‘Part LEDs’ is set to ‘On’, and Zones are enabled (See “Zones” on page 23)the key LEDs (above each key) will
light up to represent the colour of the Part those keys are assigned to.

Key LEDs
When ‘Keys LEDs’ is set to ‘On’, the key LEDs (above each key) will light up white when you play notes on the keyboard.

Arp LEDs
When ‘Arp LEDs’ is on, the key LEDs will light up white according to which notes the arpeggiator triggers. Arp LEDs help
you confirm what notes your arpeggiator is playing.

Sequencer LEDs
When ‘Sequencer LEDs’ is on, keyboard LEDs will light up white with notes (chords, melodies, etc.) playing from either the
Sequencer or external MIDI.

Ext. MIDI LEDs

When ‘Ext. MIDI LEDs’ is on, key LEDs will light up white according to external MIDI notes being received via the SL MkIII’s
MIDI ports.

20
Firmware and Bootloader Version KEYBOARD SETTINGS
These show the firmware installed on your SL MkIII. Knowing Octave
this information may be helpful in the case of troubleshooting.
The octave up and down buttons (+ and - buttons) change
To check for and install firmware updates, visit components. the octave offset of the keyboard. To reset the keyboard to
novationmusic.com and follow the instructions for installation. its default Octave (+/- 0) press both Octave up and down
buttons together.

Standby Animation Keyboard zones can have additional or independent octaves

applied. See “Zones” on page 23 for details.
When left unattended for five minutes, the SL MkIII enters
Standby Animation (referred to as ‘Vegas Mode’). This
animation stops when you interact with the SL MkIII, or if Transpose
MIDI data arrives at the device. The SL MkIII will not go into
Standby Animation while the Sequencer is playing. To transpose the keyboard MIDI notes in semitones, hold
Shift and press the Octave Up or Down buttons. Hold Shift
Setting ‘Standby Animation’ to ‘Off’ will prevent the SL MkIII and press both the Octave Up and Down buttons to reset
from entering the standby animation regardless of how long the transpose.
you leave it unattended.
Keyboard Zones can have independent transposition
applied. See “Zones” on page 23 for details.

CV/GATE
Notes TEMPO/SWING VIEW
You can route Parts to either or both CV/Gate ports using the Set Tempo
Part Settings view (to enter this view press Shift+Sessions).
When the SL MkIII is controlling tempo (not following an
Routing Parts this way sends all note information to the external device’s tempo) you can adjust the tempo by:
specified port(s). MIDI notes 24 to 108 will map into a CV
pitch voltage range of 0-7V. Notes outside of this range will 1. Press the Tempo button to enter Tempo/Swing view.
clamp to the maximum or minimum voltage. 2. The display will change to show the internal
sequencer’s Tempo (BPM) and Swing values.
CV/Gate is only capable of monophonic communication so 3. Turn the left-most rotary knob to change Tempo to
the polyphonic stream of notes from the sequencer, keys and integer values of 40-240 beats-per-minute (BPM).
MIDI will convert to a mono stream using the most recently
played note. The Gate port will remain high (open) while a Display Clock Source
note is active. When you release all notes, the gate signal
will fall back to low (closed). When the SL MkIII receives MIDI clock (and MIDI Clock Rx
setting is on), the tempo screen will show ‘External’.
Mod The tempo value may fluctuate at first, but it will settle to a
received clock value. Since the keyboard is ‘following’ an
When a part routes to a CV/Gate port, it will also be able
external clock, it is not possible to change the tempo using
to control the respective Mod port. Each Mod port is set to
the above rotary control.
respond to a single CC number, as configured in the Global
Settings (see “Global Settings” on page 18/”CV Mod 1
If the SL MkIII’s loses clock or its clock signal stops then it
CC and CV Mod 2 CC” on page 19).
will revert to its internal tempo, and you can use the rotary
knob to adjust the tempo.
When a part that routes to a CV/Gate port outputs this CC
number via the surface, the sequencer or MIDI, it will output
Clock source can only change while Transport is stopped.
as a voltage in the range of 0 to +5V from the Mod port.
If the Sequencer is running synced to an external clock, and
the signal stops or is lost, the display will show ‘Sync Lost’.
The Sequencer will remain in this state until the Transport
stops. After pushing Stop on the Transport, the Sequencer
will revert to external clock if the external signal is available.
Otherwise, it will use the internal clock.

21
Swing TRANSPORT
The SL MkIII’s Swing function moves MIDI notes off their Located at the far-right side of the SL MkIII is a row of buttons
mathematically precise positions to achieve a more natural known as the ‘Transport’.
or human sound.

The result is more ‘swing’ or ‘feel’. In other words, if your Start/Stop/Continue

arpeggios or patterns feel rigid, try adding some swing to
them. The following points explain how to start, stop or continue
the Sequencer in all modes (excluding InControl mode).
Swing works by pushing even-numbered beats of the swing These messages will only send if MIDI Clock Tx is on:
sync rate closer to the odd-numbered beats. For example,
with a common beat pattern of ‘1-2-3-4-1’ etc.: • Press the Play button to start Sequencer playback
• Positive swing pushes beats ‘2’ and ‘4’ later, towards and send a MIDI Start message.
beats ‘3’ and ‘1’ (this ‘1’ is the start of the next • Press the Stop button to stop Sequencer playback
measure). and send a MIDI Stop message.
• Negative swing pushes beats ‘2’ and ‘4’ forward in • Hold Shift + Play to start Sequencer playback from the
time towards beats ‘1’ and ‘3’ respectively. current position and send a MIDI Continue message.
You can adjust global swing from 20% to 80%. By default, • Press Play while the Sequencer is running to send
swing is 50%, which applies no swing (i.e., no change in the a MIDI Stop message followed by a MIDI Start
rhythm). Greater than 50% adds positive swing, and less message. Pressing Play will restart the sequencer
than 50% results in negative swing. from the beginning of the Session.

Swing Per Track External Control

Swing can be enabled or disabled per track. You can find
You can control The SL MkIII’s Transport externally. If the
this in the Tempo menu. When swing is set to ‘Off’, both the
SL MkIII receives any of the following external messages the
sequencer and arpeggiator steps for that track will not follow
Sequencer will respond accordingly:
global swing (it will default to 50% swing). Tracks set to ‘On’
will follow the global Swing value.
• A Start message: Sequencer playback starts.
• A Stop message: Sequencer playback stops.
Swing per track information is stored in the session when
you save that session. • A Continue message: The Sequencer will continue
playback from the current position.
• A Start message during sequencer playback: the
Swing Sync Rate message is ignored.

Changing the Swing Sync Rate adjusts the length of the

The above messages are known as system Real-time
swing period. The setting defines the tempo interval the
messages and the SL MkIII receives them at the DIN MIDI In
Swing parameter will shift alternate notes.
or USB MIDI In ports.
The default is set to 1/16, meaning the Sequencer and Arp
will swing in pairs of 1/16ths. Triplet sync rates are denoted
Song Position
with a “T” after the sync rate.
The SL MkIII’s internal song position can also move
Tap Tempo according to an external source. Providing you have stopped
the Sequencer, if either the MIDI In or USB MIDI In ports
To set a tempo press the Tap button at the intended tempo. receive a Song Position Pointer (SPP) the internal song
Before a SL MkIII calculates the tempo you must press the position will update, and the message will retransmit.
Tap button at least three times. If the SL MkIII is synchronised
to an external clock, tap tempo will be unavailable. If the sequencer is running, however, the SL MkIII ignores
song position messages.

22
 ZONES
Zones is a powerful feature that divides the keyboard into areas, aka ‘Zones’. Zones can be one note or the whole keyboard.
Zones are customisable: you could, for example, set your drum sounds to play in one octave, bass in another, synth sounds
in another etc. This makes this feature ideal for live performance or a personalised production setup.

Tempo

Grid Options

Enable/Disable Zones
Latch To enable Zones, hold ‘Shift’ and press the ‘Zones’ button.

Key LEDs Represent Zones

A coloured LED above each key represents the Zone and destination Part assigned to it. These lights help understand
where your Zones lie along the keyboard. The different colours correlate to the destination Parts. The LEDs only light above
the active keys in the Zone range; when using Scale, for example, keys outside of the scale will not light up.

When Zones overlap, the zone with the lowest number takes priority. For example, Zone 1 takes priority over Zone 2, so
Zone 1’s range shows on the LEDs, overriding the LEDs of Zone two where there is an overlap.

Entering Zones view

In Zone’s view, you can customise your Zones according to your needs. To enter Zones view, press the ‘Zones’ button.

While in Zones view, only the LEDs for the selected Zone will light up.

Pressing the up/down arrows to the left of the screens will move between pages one and two of Zone Settings. Between
these two pages, there are fourteen adjustable parameters for each Zone.

Select a Zone
Enter Zones view (by pushing the Zones button), select a Zone by pressing the soft buttons under their names (‘Zone 1’,’
Zone 2’ etc.). The SL MkIII supports up to eight independent Zones.

Activate/Deactivate a Zone
After you select a Zone, you can activate it (‘On’) or make it inactive (‘Off’). To do this turn the left-most rotary knob directly
above the word ‘Active’.

Set to ‘Off’, all other Zone parameters (from ‘Dest. Part’ to ‘Channel Pressure’) will be greyed out. When moved to ‘On’,
however, these parameters will brighten.

23
Set Destination for a Zone Enable/Disable Pedals for a Zone
In Zones view, the second rotary knob from the left (above On page two of Zones view, the first, second and third knobs
‘Dest. Part’) selects the destination Part for a Zone. This decide whether expression pedal (‘Expr. Pedal’), sustain
destination can be ‘Selected’ (default) or Parts 1 to 8. Upon pedal or footswitch signals will work with the currently
choosing a new Part, you will see LED colours change above selected Zone.
the keys.
All three options are set to ‘On’ by default. Turn the knobs
above these settings to move between on and off states.
Set Keyboard Range for a Zone
On the 49-key version of the SL MkIII, each Zone’s default Enable/Disable Wheels for a Zone
range is C1 to C5 (all 49 notes), on the 61-note version of
the device the default range is C1 to C6 (all 61 notes). On page two of Zones view, the fourth and fifth knobs select
whether the ‘Pitch’ (pitch bend) and ‘Modulation’ wheels
affect the currently selected Zone.
From a Menu
By default, they are both ‘On’. Rotate the knob above the
In Zones view the third and fourth knobs set the range of the respective settings for Pitch and Modulation to turn the
Zone from lowest to highest key. This range is inclusive of effect of these wheels on or off.
the low key and high key.

Zones Mode supports overlapping zones. Overlapping is Enable/Disable Channel Pressure for
useful if you want to blend sounds, such as a piano with a a zone
synth, or an acoustic drum with a synthetic one. Of course,
how you layer your Parts is up to you. On page two of Zones view, the sixth knob selects whether
the keyboard channel aftertouch (pressure) affects the
currently selected Zone. Aftertouch is on by default. Turn
From the Keyboard the knob above ‘Channel Pressure’ to choose between on
and off.
You can also set the Zone range using keys. After selecting
Zones view, press a Zone button below the screen then Aftertouch messages can also be customised using the
press it a second time. The key LEDs will pulse, and the SL Novation Components software editor.
MkIII will prompt you to choose a low key on the keyboard
followed by a high key, thus setting the Zone range.

Set Zone Octave/Transpose Settings

In Zones view knobs five to eight select if the Zone will
adhere to the overall keyboard Octave and Transpose
settings. You can also apply an Offset to the selected Zone
with the Octave and Transpose parameters. By default, the
Offset values are ‘0’, and both Follow settings are ‘On’.

Turn the knobs above the ‘Follow’ settings to select between

‘On’ and ‘Off’. When ‘On’, the Octave and Transpose
buttons influence the Zone’s behaviour, when ‘Off’, Octave
and Transpose will not affect the Zone. Turn the knobs
above the Offset parameters to set a permanent Octave and
Transpose shift for the Zone.

24
 SESSION MANAGEMENT
A ‘Session’ on SL MkIII contains the eight Parts on the SL MkIII with each made up of eight patterns (containing 16-steps).
The Session also contains the Templates, Scales, Arp settings, and Zones. By sending a Session to SL MkIII, from
Components, you can restore all the steps, automation data and assignments. To enter Sessions view, press the ‘Sessions’
button. In Sessions view, the square 8x2 pads become locations for saving and loading your Sessions.

The arrows to the left of the 8x2 pad area are used to change pages of Sessions view. There are four available pages, each
containing 16 Sessions laid sequentially across the 16 pads. These four pages give you a total of 64 Sessions.

Shift Global INCONTROL Tempo

Templates

Save Sessions Zones Grid Options

Expand

Duplicate Patterns Sequencer

Clear Steps Scales

Track

Arp Latch

Cued Session Switch

Octave
Transpose

_
Sessions
+ have names (re-nameable in Components), and
you can change their colour. To select a colour, press the
While the Sequencer is playing, you can prepare a new
Save button once, then use the first two soft buttons below
Session in Session view. When you press a pad, it will flash;
the screens to select a colour. Press Save again to confirm.
this shows the Sequencer has ‘cued’ this Session to start at
the end of the currently playing pattern on track one (main
Load a Session track). At this point, the Session pad will turn white to show
its selection.
To load a session, enter Sessions view and press a pad in
Pitch the 8x2 pad area.
Modulation
Instant Session Switch

While the Sequencer is playing, it is possible to ‘instantly’

Save a Session change to a new Session in the Session view. Hold Shift
and press a pad. The new Session will pick up from the
You can save your current Session at any time. Press the corresponding position in the currently playing pattern.
Save button once, and it will begin to flash. Press Save
again to confirm the Save.
Session Load Using Program Change
Select Sessions view and you have the option to save
the Session to a new location or change the colour of the You can load a Session by sending a ‘program change’
Session. Press the Save button once so the Save button message to the device on channel 16. By default, the shown
is flashing. You can now use the two left-most soft buttons Session will load instantly. If you add 64 to the program ID
below the screen to scroll through session colours. the Sequencer will cue the Session load (see “” on page
25).
Once you have found your preferred colour, either press
the Save button again to save in place or select a different
session pad to save the Session to a new slot. This will
Loading a Session Using Song Select
overwrite any data currently saved to that slot.
It is possible to load a Session by sending a ‘song select’
message to the SL MkIII while the Sequencer is stopped.
Clear a Session The Song ID shows the session to load.

To clear a session of all data and reset the Session’s

Save Lock
settings to default: select a Session, hold Clear and press
‘Save Lock’ allows you to stop the SL MkIII from saving
the current Session’s pad.
Sessions. To do this, hold Shift + Save and turn on the SL
MkIII. Turning the SL MkIII off with the power button will save
this setting. To show Sessions cannot save, the Save LED
will be off. To turn save lock off, repeat the same steps.
25
 SCALES
Enable/Disable Scales
Scales view provides an excellent entry point for beginners to start learning the fundamentals of chords and scales. It also
serves as an excellent refresher for intermediate players whose knowledge of harmony has become rusty.

Tempo

Grid Options

To enable/disable Scales view hold Shift then press the

Scale Type
Latch

Scale button.
Turn the rotary knob above ‘Type’ to choose one of the
following scales:
When Scales view is active notes will adhere to the scale
you select, whether playing the keys or using the Sequencer.
• Natural Minor
These scales range from traditional scales of Western music • Major, Dorian
(C Major, E Dorian etc.) to non-Western ones like Marva. • Phrygian
You can switch between scales in the Scale Settings (see • Mixolydian
“Scale Settings” on page 26). • Melodic Minor
• Harmonic Minor
When Scale is enabled the LEDs above the keys have the
following behaviour: • Bebop Dorian
• Blues
• Root notes light brightly. • Minor Pentatonic
• Notes in the scale light dimly. • Hungarian Minor
• Notes outside of the scale are off (unlit). • Ukrainian Minor
• Marva
With Scales view on, playing keys (either dimly or brightly lit)
• Todi
guarantees you are playing notes within your chosen scale.
• Whole Tone
• Chromatic.
Scale Settings
Pressing the ‘Scale’ button brings the Scale Settings onto Sequence Transpose
the screens.
Turning the knob above ‘Sequence Transpose’ applies
Root Note a transpose value to the played notes coming from the
Sequencer. In other words, it shifts sequenced parts by a
The left-most option labelled ‘Root’; lets you change the root set amount (e.g., five semitones).
note of the scale. Turn the rotary knob above to set the root
of the scale from the following chromatic notes: C, C#, D, E, It also functions independently of Root and Type, which
Eb, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, and B. apply a scale to Sequencer parts without transposing notes.

You can transpose your Sequence up or down by 11

semitones (half-steps).

26
Sequence Transpose with Pads Turn Scale On/Off per Part

When you’re in the Scale Setting menu you can also control You can enable scales mode for each Part. To do this press
the Sequence Transpose setting with the 8x2 grid of pads. the soft buttons above the pads (below the screens). A Part
This method of transposition gives you a more performable with a white background has Scales enabled, a part with a
way of transposing the sequence. black background will not have scales enabled.

By default, the pads display a chromatic keyboard, and you This setting is useful for drums. Since a typical drum bank is
can set the transposition to between 0-11 semitones. You not arranged by pitch, playing it with a scale wouldn’t work.
can use the Down arrow to the left of the pads to access You might want to turn Scale mode off while playing your
negative transpose values in the range of -11 to 0 semitones. drum parts and keep it on for your synth, bass, strings etc.

Scale Mode

The screen area labelled ‘Scale Mode’ changes the way

Scale view handles notes not in the selected scale. These
settings behave as follows:

• Snap - Notes outside the scale ‘snap’ up or down to

the nearest scale note.
• Filter - Notes not in the scale don’t play (i.e., not
snapped to a correct note).
• Display Only - Notes not in the scale pass
unmodified. This setting makes key LEDs a ‘guide’
for your playing, leaving you free to use non-diatonic
notes (notes not in the scale).

27
MIDI PORTS/ROUTING
When you connect the SL MkIII via USB the following MIDI ports will be available in your software

Host Inputs
• MIDI - This input sends MIDI from Parts routed to USB.
• InControl - Your DAW uses this port for communication using the InControl or HUI protocols.
• From DIN 1 - This forwards MIDI received from physical MIDI DIN 1, to use SL MkIII as a MIDI Interface.

Outputs
• MIDI - This sends MIDI to Parts to record to the sequencer.
• InControl - Your DAW uses this port for communication using the InControl or HUI protocols.
• To DIN 1/DIN 2 - The SL MkIII forwards all MIDI sent to these two ports directly out of their respective MIDI DIN
ports, unchanged, and with no interference from the SL MkIII’s features.
• To CV/Gate - Note information sent to this port is sent directly out of the CV/Gate ports, unchanged and with no
interference from the SL MkIII’s features. MIDI channels one and two are used to send to CV/Gate ports one and two,
respectively. CC messages sent to this MIDI port with the CC number assigned to each mod output (see “Global
Settings” on page 18) will be output directly to that mod port.

WEIGHT & DIMENSIONS

49 SL MkIII 61 SL MkIII
Weight
Metric (Imperial) 5.56kg (12.26lbs) 6.54kg (14.42lbs)
Dimensions
Width 817mm (32.12”) 981mm (38.62“)
Height 100mm (3.937“) 100mm (3.937“)
Depth 300mm (11.81”) 300mm (11.81”)

COMPONENTS
Novation Components is the librarian and editor software for the SL MkIII. Components is available as an online application
and standalone to your computer for use without an internet connection. You can access both versions of Components from
the following link:
components.novationmusic.com

Template Editor
You can edit Templates using Components, allowing you to customise the messages sent and behaviour of rotary knobs,
faders, buttons, pads wheels and pedals.

Librarian
With the SL MkIII’s Librarian you can transfer Sessions and Templates over SysEx. Components handles this transfer.
When content arrives at the SL MkIII, the device enters ‘Content Transfer Mode’. In this mode, it stops the transport and
disables UI controls. The screen will show the progress of the transfer. When the transfer is complete, the SL MkIII exits
Content Transfer Mode and returns to its previous view. If the transfer is incomplete or not successful, the device will enter
the content transfer screen after a short timeout (1 second).

Firmware Upgrade
If new firmware is available, you can update the SL MkIII using Components. Components will let you know if there is an
update available.
28
INCONTROL
Press the ‘InControl’ button to enter InControl mode. InControl integrates the SL MkIII with DAWs like Pro Tools, Cubase,
Reaper, Logic, Reason and Ableton Live. The chart below shows which DAW features InControl supports.

To exit InControl, you can either press any other view or press the InControl button again to take you back to the previously
selected view.

DAW Feature Support

Feature Pro Tools Cubase Reaper Logic Reason Ableton

Channel Controls
Control Volume Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
using Faders
Control Pans using Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
Encoders
Select Track Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
Mute Track Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
Solo Track Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
Arm Track Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes
Transport Controls
Rewind Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Fast-Forward Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Stop Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Play Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Record(arm) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Loop Yes Yes NA Yes Yes Yes
Track Navigation
Track left / right Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Track Name No No No Yes No Yes
Other
Save Yes Yes N/A No N/A Yes
Undo Yes Yes N/A Yes N/A Yes
Pre-Roll Yes Yes N/A No N/A Yes
Post-Roll Yes Yes N/A No N/A Yes
Count-in No No No Yes N/A No
Control Send Yes Yes N/A Yes N/A Yes
Groups A-E using
Encoders
Metronome No No No Yes Yes Yes
Clip Control N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Yes
Device Control NA NA NA Yes Yes Yes
Smart Controls N/A N/A N/A Yes N/A N/A

29
HUI Track Left and Right

The HUI protocol allows the SL MkIII to act like a Mackie HUI The Track Left/Right buttons move the bank (eight channels)
device and interact with DAWs that provide HUI support (for one channel to the left or right. If you have more than eight
example, Steinberg, Cubase and Pro Tools). channels in your session you can hold Shift and press Track
Left and Right to bank eight channels at a time.

HUI Heartbeat
Keyboard Shortcuts
After pressing InControl, the SL MkIII switches to HUI view
as soon as it detects a Heartbeat message (sent by a DAW). Hold Shift to access several keyboard shortcuts on the left
If the SL MkIII does not receive a heartbeat message for over soft buttons. Again, the way these button LEDs function
three seconds, it switches back to InControl mode. depends on the DAW.

• Press Button 01 (furthest left) to Undo. In Pro Tools

Channel Control this button will flash after undoing, showing the
possibility to Redo.
Volume • Press Button 2/3 to toggle Pre-Roll and Post-Roll.
• Press Button eight (far-right) to save your DAW
You can change channel Volume with the eight faders session. In Pro Tools, for example, the Save button
toward the right side of the SL MkIII. The LED above each will begin to flash after clicking. This is Pro Tools’
fader shows its value. The fader after the last DAW track way of asking for confirmation. Press the button once
fader controls the main output fader in your DAW session. more to save.

Pan
DAW Setup
You can change a channel’s Pan position using the rotary
Pro Tools
knobs. The screens below each knob display the current
Pan position.
To set up the SL MkIII in Pro Tools:

1. Go to: ‘Setup’, ‘Peripherals...’

Mute/Solo/Arm
2. Click on the ‘MIDI Controllers’ tab.
3. Set your ports the same as the screenshot below.
The right soft buttons control Mute, Solo and Arm functions
4. Set Type to ‘HUI’, Receive From and Send To to one of
on individual channels. By default, you will only see the Mute
the following (Operating System dependent):
and Solo buttons; use the page up button to access the Arm
• ‘Novation SL MkIII’
buttons. Depending on the DAW you are using, button LEDs
may behave differently. For example, in Pro Tools the Arm • ‘SL MkIII InControl’
button will flash when on. • MIDIIN2/MIDIOUT2 (Novation SL MkIII)

Send Control

Press the Options button to access the encoder assignment

menu. You can set the encoders to control send levels. Use
the page up/down buttons next to the screens to access
send groups A through E.

Transport Control

The Transport buttons control the equivalent functions in

each DAW. The function of each button depends on the
DAW. The functionality is (from left to right) as follows:
Rewind, Fast-Forward, Stop, Play, Loop on/off, Arm/Record.

30
Reaper Cubase

You will need Reaper version 5.941 or newer to work with To set the SL MkIII up as a HUI control surface in Cubase,
the SL MkIII. go to ‘Studio’ > ‘Studio Setup...’ > ‘MIDI Port Setup’.

1. Set your ports as shown below, the ‘Novation SL MkIII

SL MkIII InControl’ port (MIDIIN/OUT2 on Windows)
MUST NOT have “in ‘all MIDI ins’” enabled.

To set up the SL MkIII as a HUI control surface in Reaper,

navigate to ‘Options’ > ‘Preferences…’ > ‘MIDI Devices’. Set
your ports as shown below, the ‘Focusrite A.E. – Novation
SL MkIII – SL MkIII InControl’ port MUST NOT say ‘!! N/A...’.
If this is the case, you might solve this by right-clicking the
device and choosing ‘Forget device’: 2. Click the ‘+’ or ‘Add Device’ icon in the Cubase
‘Studio Setup’ window and select ‘Mackie HUI’.
Navigate to the ‘Control/OSC/web’ tab in the ‘Reaper 3. Go to the ‘Mackie HUI’ tab.
Preferences’ window and click ‘Add’ to add a new control 4. Set the input and output port to: ‘Novation SL MkIII
surface. SL MkIII InControl’ (Mac) or ‘MIDIIN/OUT2 (Novation
SL MkIII)’ (Windows) as shown below.
Now, in the ‘Control Surface Settings’ window, set the 5. Click OK to close the window.
Control surface mode to HUI (partial) and set the input and
output port to ‘Focusrite A.E. – Novation SL MkIII – SL MkIII Note: The ‘Novation SL MkIII InControl’ port may show as
InControl’ as shown below: ‘MIDIIN(put)’/’MIDIOUT2’ or similar on Windows.

31
Ableton Live Live Set Navigation

Set-Up Selection Ring

The screenshot below shows you how to configure Ableton In your Ableton Live Set, you will see a ‘selection ring’ (red
Live to work with the SL MkIII on macOS and Windows. rectangle) in Session view. When you enable InControl,
the track names in this selection ring will display on the SL
MkIII’s screens. The SL MkIII can control these tracks in
various ways: Pads control the track clips in the selection
ring, faders control track volume, and rotary knobs alter Live
device parameters, to name a few of InControl’s features.

Track Selection

You can navigate tracks in Live using the Track Left and
Track Right buttons. Selecting a track does not arm it but
does allow you to view or change its devices.

The selection ring is a visual aid, you can move beyond its
scope by pressing the right/left Track buttons. The selection
ring moves to include the newly selected track. The selection
ring can only contain eight tracks at a time.

To move by eight tracks, hold ‘Shift’ and press the Track

Left/Track Right buttons. A selected track will stay in the
same relative position. For example, if you select the second
track and move the selection ring eight tracks to the right,
the selected track will become the second track inside the
new ring position, in other words, the tenth track.

When your selected track is the last in a direction, the

Track button for that direction will become dark to show you
cannot go further. For example, if Live’s track number one is
currently selected, the left Track button will not light green
since there are no tracks to the left.

Up and Down Buttons

Press the Up and Down arrow buttons to move vertically in

Live’s Session view. These buttons move the selection ring
up or down one scene and allow you to launch, record or
stop many more clips and scenes in your Live Set.

Soft Keys
Follow these steps to replicate the above set up:
1. Navigate to your Live Preferences by going to the To directly select a track/s within the selection ring use the
‘Live’ or ‘Options’ menu, ‘Preferences’. eight soft keys (beneath the screens and above the pads).
2. Click the ‘Link Tempo MIDI’ tab. This is sometimes faster than using the Track Left and Track
3. Select ‘SL MkIII’ in the Control Surface menu. Right buttons.
4. Select ‘Novation SL MkIII InControl/Port 2’ in the
Input and Output drop-down menu options. These soft keys correspond to the tracks in order (left to
5. Finally, in the ‘MIDI Ports’ section set ‘Track’, ‘Sync’ right). For example, if tracks 1-8 are within the selection ring,
and ‘Remote’ to ‘On’ for ‘Novation SL MkIII (SL the left-most soft button selects track 1, the next from the left
MkIII MIDI). Be sure to do this for both Input and selects track 2, and so on.
Output options. Additionally, switch Track to ‘On’
for both ‘SL_MkIII Input’ and ‘SLMkIII Output’.
32
The Screen Label Grid

The screen label provides an overview of which controls Pressing Grid changes the pads to a ‘drum view’. The Grid
currently display across the screens. When a Live device button will turn green. This view is ideal for playing Ableton
changes or you bank through the parameters of a device, Live’s Drum Racks as it allows you to use pads to play drums
this label will update to show what you can currently control. or samples, which some producers find more ‘drummer-
friendly’ than using a chromatic keyboard.

Control Notifications The leftmost pad on the bottom row triggers C1. The pad
to its right triggers C#2, and so on until you reach the
At the bottom of the notification screen is an area that gives top row’s rightmost pad, which triggers D#2. To access
you instant feedback on the changes you make to certain different octaves, click the green up/down buttons left of
parameters. This feedback is a ‘pop-up’ notification. This the pad area.
only appears when you make changes and disappears again
after a brief time. This notification area also shows volume With a Drum Rack on a track, pads containing audio samples
changes when you move a fader. will appear yellow. The last played pad will be blue. Muted
pads turn orange, while pads in solo mode take on a purple
colour. Finally, empty pads will be dark.
Pads
Press the Grid button again to return pads to their clip-
Controlling Clips and Scenes launch capabilities.

By default, the SL MkIII’s 8x2 pads represent clips in Live’s

Session view. More specifically, the pads show which clips - Mute and Solo
or empty clip slots - are within the selection ring, and which
clips you can record, launch or stop. By default, the 8x2 soft buttons function according to bank
one where the top row (the yellow buttons) mutes and
When you arm a track, available clip slots turn pads red. unmutes tracks, and the lower row (the dark blue buttons)
Press these red pads to begin recording. Press them again toggles solo on and off. When muted, the yellow soft
to stop clip recording and start playback. A recorded clip buttons will become a dark yellow, when soloing a track, the
ready to launch or play will pulse green; a recorded clip that corresponding soft button will become bright blue.
is idle will take the colour of its track. In other words, press
any coloured pad (assuming it is not bright red) to launch
playback. Monitor and Record Arm

Press the play button (green right arrow button) to the right You can move to bank two by pressing the green down arrow
of a pad row to launch a scene (i.e., all clips in the same to the right of the 8x2 soft button area. Now, the rightmost
row). This play button, as well as available clips, will flash screen will show the top row of soft buttons (again in yellow)
until the scene successfully launches. To stop a clip on an cycles through MIDI/Audio Monitoring options. By default,
unarmed track, press the dim (unlit) pad above or below on Ableton Live tracks are set to ‘Auto’, but pressing the top
the same track. row of buttons will allow you to change monitoring to ‘Off’
or ‘In’. The bottom row (dark red) controls the ‘record arm’
To stop a clip on an armed track, or to stop all clips, hold the option. When you set a track to ‘Monitor In’ its soft button
Shift button. This turns the lower row of pads and the lower turns ice blue, and when you record arm a track its soft
scene launch button red. Pressing a red pad will stop the button becomes bright red.
clip on that track and pressing the red play button will stop
all playing clips (equivalent to how the ‘stop all clips’ button
acts in Live). Options

Within InControl mode, pressing the Options button opens

8x2 Soft Buttons the Options view. Options view allows you to view and edit
track parameters, displays device chains and select from
The 8x2 soft buttons area (above the faders) allow you to the devices in the chain.
change the state of your tracks quickly. The button labels
show on the rightmost screen the current function of the
soft buttons.

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Displaying Device Chains and Device Selection

In Options view, the upper part of the screens show the device chain on the currently selected track. These devices may be
Ableton instruments, audio/MIDI effects, or third-party plug-ins.

• Click a pink pad to select the devices you wish to control. This turns the pad bright pink and selects the name of the
device on the screen above.
• Press the Options button again to return to the default InControl view (where pads control clips).
• Now, the first eight parameters for the device you selected display on the screens and moving the rotary knobs above
will adjust those parameters.

This image shows an Ableton Live device chain. We have Faders

selected the Limiter on the SL MkIII. This is confirmed by the
‘blue hand’ symbol on the Limiter (far-right), and a bright pink Faders control track volumes in your Ableton Live set.
pad and highlighted device name on the SL MkIII’s screen. These eight faders correspond to the eight tracks within the
selection ring.
If you want to select another device (coming from elsewhere
in Options, like Pan) the first soft key under the screens
called ‘DevceSlct’ will get you back to the Device Chains LED Indicators
and Device Selection view.
The LEDs above the faders give visual feedback of the
volume settings on the selected tracks. Since you can
Device Parameter Banking use the faders on multiple tracks by moving the selection
ring (see “Live Set Navigation” on page 32), the actual
The SL MkIII allows you to change device parameters position of the physical faders may not match the faders
beyond the first eight (most Live devices contain more than on-screen. The LEDs provide a solution by brightening and
eight parameters). With a device selected, pressing the up dimming if the volume on an Ableton Live track is higher or
or down arrow buttons (to the left of the screens) will switch lower, respectively.
through the available ‘banks’ of parameters. As per usual,
the rotary knobs above will change these new parameters.
Undo, Redo, Metronome and Capture

Displaying and Editing Pan and Send Controls While in InControl, holding Shift turns the first three soft
buttons above the pad area into Undo, Redo and Click
After pressing the Options button, select the yellow ‘Pan’ controls. As expected, Undo and Redo perform those
button to access the pan controls for the eight tracks within functions on your Live Set’s most recent actions. Pressing
the selection ring. Click toggles Live’s metronome on or off.

The green soft key selects the Sends view. The screens will Holding Shift will also display a Capture button if you recently
display a single send control for each track shown on the played - but did not record - MIDI notes. Press this last soft
screens. To bank through the available sends, click the up button under the screens to grab the MIDI you just played
and down arrows to the left of the screen. Raise or lower the and place it in a clip, even though you were not recording in
send amount with the corresponding knob (above the send the traditional sense.
you wish to edit).

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Logic Pro X Shortcuts

Installation Press the Options button followed by ‘Shortcut’ to access

shortcuts. These include:
To set the SL MkIII up with Logic Pro you can download the
installer from our Downloads page or follow the steps below: • Undo
• Redo
novationmusic.com/downloads • Count In
• Toggle Logic’s count in on/off
Once downloaded the SL MKIII will be auto-detected in
Logic. If Logic does not detect your SL MkIII, please use the • Metronome
following steps: • Toggle Logic’s metronome on/off

1. From the Logic Pro X menu choose ‘Control Surfaces’, Mute/Solo

then ‘Setup’.
2. Choose ‘New’ followed by ‘Install’. The soft buttons above the faders control mute and solo for
3. Choose Novation 49SL MkIII or Novation 61SL MkIII eight tracks. When you solo a track, the muted tracks will
and click ‘Add’. flash on and off.
4. Select the SL MkIII InControl port for both the output
and input port Record Arm/Input Monitoring
5. Close the control surface window.
Press the down button to the right of the soft buttons (above
the faders) to change the buttons from mute/solo to record
Track Select arm/input monitoring.

To select a track, press the button under the track name. It Transport
will highlight to show you have chosen it.
The SL MkIII’s Transport buttons control Logic’s transport.
These include:
Pans
• Rewind
To control track pans, press the Options button and choose
• Fast-forward
‘Pans’. From this view, the eight knobs will control the pans
for eight tracks at a time. • Stop
• Play
• Cycle on/off
Volume
• Record

To control track volumes, move the faders. The LED above

the fader shows the current track volume.

Sends

To control track sends, press the Options button followed by

‘Sends’. The eight knobs will then control Bus levels in Logic.
Press the up and down arrows to the left of the screens to
change the selected send. You can control up to four sends
with the SL.

Smart Controls

Logic uses smart controls to choose eight parameters for

the selected plug-in on a chosen track. To control these on
the SL MkIII, press Options followed by ‘Smart’. In this view,
the eight knobs will control the eight parameters assigned
by Logic to be smart controls for the selected plug-in.

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Reason
Reason Setup

After starting Reason, you can set up the SL MkIII.

1. Connect the SL MkIII to your computer via USB.

2. Go to Preferences > Control Surfaces.
3. Click ‘the Auto-detect Surfaces’ button. A dialogue window with a progress bar will appear.

Enable ‘Use with Reason’, and ‘Novation SL MkIII SL MkIII From DIN 1’ and you can control Reason with the SL MkIII. You
can control all Instruments, Effects and Utilities in a Reason Rack (see picture below), as well as move between tracks.

Control Layout

With the SL MkIII’s InControl mode you can take advantage of the following features in Reason:

• Track Left and Track Right buttons - Use these buttons to move between tracks in Reason’s Sequencer.
• Rotary Knobs - These change various parameters for Instruments, Effects, Utilities and Players. Active knobs display
on the screens with their parameter name and value.
• Pads - These control parameters in Reason. When using the Kong Drum Designer Instrument, pads select Kong’s
drum sounds. The drum’s main parameters appear on the screens, and the rotary knobs can adjust those parameters.

Effects, Utilities and Instruments

Each time you load a new Instrument (and create a new MIDI track) Reason will assign the SL MkIII to that Instrument.

To control Effects and Utilities from the SL MkIII, you need to create an audio track. Find the device in the Rack section,
right-click on the device and select ‘Create Track for device name’. A new track will appear in the sequencer; select this new
track using the Track buttons on the SL MkIII.

When you select an Effect or Utility its controls appear on the SL MkIII’s screens, which you can then change with the above
knobs. The drum’s main parameters appear on the screens, and the rotary knobs can adjust those parameter values.

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Soft Buttons 1-24 Option button
You can use these buttons to navigate inside Reason’s This toggle’s Reason’s metronome On/Off. It will light white
devices. For example: when active, and orange when off.

For Redrum, the eight soft buttons under the screens select Up/Down buttons
channels 1-8; after you choose a Redrum channel, you can The up/down buttons left of the pads change presets when
adjust its parameters (pitch, pan, sends etc) with the knobs you have an Instrument, Effect, or Utility selected.
above the screens.
Pitch Wheel
With Mixer 14:2, the soft buttons above the SL MkIII’s You can use the SL MkIII’s Pitch Wheel to change the pitch
faders select mixer channels, at which point you can turn of Reason’s Instruments.
knobs above the screens to adjust parameters like volume,
bass, treble, and so on. Mod Wheel
You can use the Modulation Wheel to affect various
Faders parameters of selected Reason devices. A common
These control device parameters. When you use a fader to destination for the Mod Wheel is a synths filter frequency.
change a parameter value, a notification on the fifth screen
(from the left) will display the parameter name and value. Sustain Pedal
After plugging a sustain pedal into the SL MkIII’s ‘Sustain’
For example, if you have selected the Europa Synthesizer port you can use it to affect Reason parameters.
the first fader (from the left) will raise and lower the volume
of Oscillator 1. ‘Osc1 Level’ will appear on the fifth screen, Keyboard
along with a decibel value. The SL MkIII’s keyboard allows you to play Reason’s various
Instruments.
Transport buttons
These buttons on the far-right of the SL MkIII control
Reason’s transport, including Rewind, Fast Forward, Stop,
Play and Record. You can also use the SL MkIII’s Loop
button to turn Reason’s Sequencer Loop On/Off.

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Copyright 2016 STMicroelectronics

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