Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the iconic 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai.
By 1uca5 Mon Aug 24, 2026 12:27 am
Hello MPC Forums!

I've been using DAWs for decades, primarily Logic and Ableton recently, and I've had a Force for a while without ever getting fluent on it. My problem isn't sound design- it's the architecture. Tracks vs. clips vs. scenes, how a project is meant to be laid out, when to commit a clip to the arranger, where things live. I open it, poke around, and never get to a finished idea.

What's making it harder: almost everything on YouTube predates 3.5, so the modes and navigation on screen don't match what I'm looking at. Main Mode, the XL Channel Strip, Sounds Mode- none of it appears in the tutorials I can find.

Two questions:

1. Is there anything post-3.5 (ideally 3.7–3.9) that walks through project structure and workflow? Video, written, or paid course all fine.

2. For those of you who came from a DAW- how did the clip/scene model finally click? Was there a specific mental model or a project layout convention that made it stick?

Genre wise I'm making straightforward lo-fi/techno, so I'm not asking for anything exotic. Just want to sit down and finish something. Reggae, Hip Hop, downtempo, EDM variants... I'm down for anything, I just want to feel moderately proficient on it.

I'm running 3.9.x.

Maxipok and Healthy Music and others haven't published much tutorial-wise in the 3.5+ era.
I did buy the https://elbowmediastudios.com Force tutorial but it's not updated.

Would be grateful for any direction. I've had my Force for a few years and it mostly just sits. Feels like there's tons of potential there, but I can't put it together.

Thank you in advance.
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By Lampdog Tue Aug 25, 2026 2:16 pm
64hz wrote:Just use it.

THIS.

When I started experimenting with and using Clips is when it made sense after an hour or two (Key 61, MPC XL).
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By MPC-Tutor Tue Aug 25, 2026 3:07 pm
While not created specifically for the Force, the MPC Bible is updated for MPC 3.9, and will continue to be updated for future 3.x releases, including the upcoming 3.10 release. MPC 3.9 is in most areas pretty much identical to Force 3.9, so will teach you about many of the features that are missing from all those outdated courses (e.g. advanced keygroups, oscillators, slice motion etc). Beyond that, all other topics are covered in significantly more depth than any MPC/Force course out there.