Akai is back at NAMM this year

Massada posts here yes it's great video

I’m liking the new Advanced Keygroups and don’t find the inability to set separate filters per key an issue. Any Ableton Sampler or Logic Sampler user knows those programs behave the same with 1 or 2 global filters for all keys within the instrument.

I think they did a global filter so we can finally have q-link control over filter for keygroups. There was no way previously inked they Keygroup instrument only had one keygroup.

On the MPC we can layer other sounds on other tracks using “send to” then so you can play 2 at once, or use splits, so there are workarounds.

The mod matrix, multiple LFOs, voice drift, ramps and extra envelope make it way more powerful.

T-Monk wrote:I’m liking the new Advanced Keygroups and don’t find the inability to set separate filters per key an issue. Any Ableton Sampler or Logic Sampler user knows those programs behave the same with 1 or 2 global filters for all keys within the instrument.

Ableton's Drum Rack gives you a full envelope, filter and LFO per pad. That is 64 envelopes, filters and LFOs available in just one Drum Rack instrument.

The new Akai Advanced Keygroup is just for the entire instrument, and is not available to Drum programs.

jpeg wrote:

shout out to this brother for doing what Akai could not be bothered to do; Akai NAMM 2025 has been shody

Thanks for posting it. There were a lot of gems dropped for sure. I also shared it elsewhere. I like how Linn kept saying there wasn't anything special in his machines sound wise, but it was more about how great artist used them. Akai may had to delay posting it to edit out the N-words & who the hell know whatever else. Many things that we wouldn't even think of that can cause a delay. Plus, when have Akai ever released anything on time?

John Schaefer wrote:

T-Monk wrote:I’m liking the new Advanced Keygroups and don’t find the inability to set separate filters per key an issue. Any Ableton Sampler or Logic Sampler user knows those programs behave the same with 1 or 2 global filters for all keys within the instrument.

Ableton's Drum Rack gives you a full envelope, filter and LFO per pad. That is 64 envelopes, filters and LFOs available in just one Drum Rack instrument.

The new Akai Advanced Keygroup is just for the entire instrument, and is not available to Drum programs.

FYI for Drum Programs in 3.4.1, you have a lfo, filter and filter envelope available per pad, so that's 128 filters and envelopes per drum program.
Load up a Drum Program, go to Menu --> Track Edit --> Envelopes ---> Envelope again --> Envelope again, so you are at Env: Filter Here you can set a Filter per pad and the Envelope settings are set per pad as well. Click A1 pad and add a filter, change the cutoffs and change the envelope then Click the A2 pad and do the same, but make sure they are different then A1's settings and then click A1 you can see those filter & envelope settings and click A2 and you can it's Filter and Envelope settings.

Same with LFO. Click the LFO tab. Hit A1 - change to Triangle wav , Hit A2 - change to Saw Wav. Now click A1 and then click A2. Notice how the LFO settings change per pad. With 16 pads and 8 banks, that's 128 different lfo's, 128 different filter envelopes and 128 different filters per Drum Program.

There's also the regular envelope & pitch envelope. So 3 Envelopes, 1 LFO, 1 Filter per pad, but let's not forget the special Drum FX that are only available on Drum Programs. If you do the same. Hit A1 when in the Drum FX page and change the FX and the settings and then click A2 and change the 8 different FX and the settings. Now click A1 and then click A2. You can see that these special Drum FX selections and settings are PER drum pad.

As well as the standard 4 FX is also available per pad.

So quite powerful. I believe this is the same for 2.15 as well. So nothing new for the MPC OS to have individual FX per drum pad as well as single lfo, envelope filter and filter settings per drum pad/sound

Yes, but Drum Racks in Ableton are not pitched instruments like an MPC keygroup. If you want individual filters per Pad, use a Drum program. Problem solved.

My point is that in many respects the new Advanced Keygroup Tracks are more powerful than the built-in samplers in Ableton and Logic.

renegadebliss wrote:

John Schaefer wrote:
Ableton's Drum Rack gives you a full envelope, filter and LFO per pad. That is 64 envelopes, filters and LFOs available in just one Drum Rack instrument.

The new Akai Advanced Keygroup is just for the entire instrument, and is not available to Drum programs.

FYI for Drum Programs in 3.4.1, you have a lfo, filter and filter envelope available per pad, so that's 128 filters and envelopes per drum program.
Load up a Drum Program, go to Menu --> Track Edit --> Envelopes ---> Envelope again --> Envelope again, so you are at Env: Filter Here you can set a Filter per pad and the Envelope settings are set per pad as well. Click A1 pad and add a filter, change the cutoffs and change the envelope then Click the A2 pad and do the same, but make sure they are different then A1's settings and then click A1 you can see those filter & envelope settings and click A2 and you can it's Filter and Envelope settings.

Same with LFO. Click the LFO tab. Hit A1 - change to Triangle wav , Hit A2 - change to Saw Wav. Now click A1 and then click A2. Notice how the LFO settings change per pad. With 16 pads and 8 banks, that's 128 different lfo's, 128 different filter envelopes and 128 different filters per Drum Program.

There's also the regular envelope & pitch envelope. So 3 Envelopes, 1 LFO, 1 Filter per pad, but let's not forget the special Drum FX that are only available on Drum Programs. If you do the same. Hit A1 when in the Drum FX page and change the FX and the settings and then click A2 and change the 8 different FX and the settings. Now click A1 and then click A2. You can see that these special Drum FX selections and settings are PER drum pad.

As well as the standard 4 FX is also available per pad.

So quite powerful. I believe this is the same for 2.15 as well. So nothing new for the MPC OS to have individual FX per drum pad as well as single lfo, envelope filter and filter settings per drum pad/sound

You're describing the env/filter/LFO situation for drum programs that already existed in 2.15

The LFO on drum programs is not an LFO. It retriggers on every press, meaning that it is an envelope. People asked Akai to make that LFO free running and they ignored this request, built a new Advanced Keygroup you can only run *one* of in an entire program, and that program cannot be a drum program. So as of 3.41 the situation has not changed one bit, you still cannot apply an LFO to any drum program pads, since the only option is the legacy LFO which retriggers all of the time. There is simply no way to for example make a filter slowly sweep around on a bandpass filter on a hi hat or something, because it retriggers the LFO cycle with each press.

They clearly have no plan to ever do this now, so I'm out and done with the MPC, especially since the desktop app is so utterly broken that it's not even possible to use a third party Audio Unit or VST to get the same result - so, impossible on hardware, impossible on the software.

What I'm describing is perfectly possible on multiple software samplers and was always possible on rack hardware samplers of the past including Akai's own classic models.

They just don't listen.

T-Monk wrote:Yes, but Drum Racks in Ableton are not pitched instruments like an MPC keygroup. If you want individual filters per Pad, use a Drum program. Problem solved.

My point is that in many respects the new Advanced Keygroup Tracks are more powerful than the built-in samplers in Ableton and Logic.

There isn't a single thing the sample engine in MPC 3.41 does that the combination of Ableton Sampler/Simpler/Drum Rack doesn't already do, and Ableton Live doesn't have the severe CPU restriction of the MPC that will ultimately mean hardly any instances of the new modulation matrix will be available to use.

40Beatz wrote:

Straker wrote:Why do you think it's silly?
These are not complicated features, they were present on samplers of the 90s with fractions of the cpu power of today.
Is it MPC not a sampler?
At least, did it not start as a sampler?
And is it not itself a computer running Linux with Arm chip and 2gb Ram?
These kind of features just require the wish to do them, it's nothing so difficult, it's not even high tech, it's basic sampling features of the 90s.

Its Silly to rely on One Piece of Gear for a Live Performance. The MPC can accompany the Live Performance indeed.
The MPC started out as a Sequencer that had Sampling Capabilities. Akai had a Whole separate Sampling line of Products.
Yes a Trimmed down version of the Linux Software!
I agree...Akai should implement more sampling Features...But as of now...Its a Powerful Sampler in my book!

man i have to reply to this...
i've done multiple livesets over the years with various kits, but many of them were performed on a single mpc 1000 or 2500, before that on a 4k...
of course in later years i did some with the mpc live...but this is to say you can quietly perform a 2hours live set with just one 1k (especially with jjos)... no need for a laptop at all, my laptop livesets have always been the most boring for me to perform....

John Schaefer wrote:Ableton Live doesn't have the severe CPU restriction of the MPC that will ultimately mean hardly any instances of the new modulation matrix will be available to use.

“Eppur si muove”



Well John, I must be doing it wrong then, because I can get plenty of instances of the mod matrix to run on my Live 2.

EnochLight wrote:

John Schaefer wrote:Ableton Live doesn't have the severe CPU restriction of the MPC that will ultimately mean hardly any instances of the new modulation matrix will be available to use.

“Eppur si muove”



Well John, I must be doing it wrong then, because I can get plenty of instances of the mod matrix to run on my Live 2.

And you have to make a new program for each one because you're not allowed more than one in a program. Genius work Akai.

John Schaefer wrote:And you have to make a new program for each one because you're not allowed more than one in a program. Genius work Akai.

Wait, which workstations allow for multiple numbers of mod matrixes in a single program? And what purpose does it serve?

EDIT: So with multiple layers with a different sample for each layer/zone, considering we're talking about a keygroup program and not a drum program, wouldn't some common uniformity in modulation throughout all layers/zones typically be exactly what you're after anyway?

John Schaefer wrote:And you have to make a new program for each one because you're not allowed more than one in a program. Genius work Akai.

I'm not debating that it's a PITA to have to create an entirely new Keygroup track to assign Filter/LFO/mod matrix etc to different Keygroups. I'm debating that your statement that we can't have hardly any instances of the new modulation matrix on a (presumably separate?) Keygroup is horse pucky.

The way the keygroups work in OS 3 sounds extremely confusing. I was going to wait until things got more stable but now I'm contemplating whether or not to install it just to get a better understanding. Seems for the time being at least that I should be able to go back to OS 2. Well as long as I'm able to reboot after a crash that is...

Will it get hold of all my backups through Wi-fi and silently corrupt all my files without my knowledge?

EnochLight wrote:

John Schaefer wrote:And you have to make a new program for each one because you're not allowed more than one in a program. Genius work Akai.

I'm not debating that it's a PITA to have to create an entirely new Keygroup track to assign Filter/LFO/mod matrix etc to different Keygroups.

How so? Isn't a keygroup tied to its own program and track? Can the mod matrix in one program affect a keygroup in anotherprogram? If not then what problem do you solve in regards to that first keygroup program by creating a new keygroup program?