- pads
- Rubber squares for finger drumming or launching clips, usually velocity-sensitive and often pressure-sensitive with RGB backlighting. 8 or 16 pads on keyboards; 64 on grid controllers.
- clip launching
- Triggering loops and scenes from a grid, Ableton Live Session View style. Grid controllers like the Launchpad and APC exist mainly for this.
- faders
- Sliders, typically nine (eight tracks plus a master) mapped to mixer levels or drawbars. 60 mm is the usual travel on controllers.
- knobs
- Rotary controls with a fixed start and end (about 270° of travel). Cheap and direct, but the position may not match the software value when you switch presets.
- encoders
- Knobs that turn forever. Because they send relative "up a bit / down a bit" messages, they never jump the software value – ideal for DAW and plug-in control.
- pitch bend
- A spring-loaded wheel (or strip, joystick or lever) that bends the pitch of held notes up or down. Usually paired with a modulation wheel.
- mod wheel
- A free-moving wheel that sends a continuous control – conventionally vibrato depth, but assignable to anything.
- touch strips
- Flat capacitive ribbons standing in for pitch and mod wheels on slim controllers. Lighter and cheaper, with less tactile feedback.
- joystick
- A single stick doing pitch bend on one axis and modulation on the other. Saves space on mini controllers.
- arpeggiator
- Holds a chord and plays its notes one at a time in a pattern, synced to tempo. Handy for instant rhythmic parts.
- sequencer
- Records and plays back a pattern of notes from the controller itself – useful for driving hardware synths without a computer.
- scale mode
- Restricts the keys or pads to a chosen scale so every note you hit is "in key". A safety net, or a way to play melodically on a pad grid.
- chord mode
- Plays a full chord from a single key or pad – either a fixed voicing you set, or chords chosen to fit the selected scale.
- note repeat
- Holding a pad retriggers it in time with the tempo (8ths, 16ths, triplets…) – the MPC trick for hi-hat rolls and trap hats.
- display
- Screen for parameter names and values. OLED is the small monochrome panel on most mid-range controllers; a colour LCD shows more but costs more.
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