Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the new 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai. While not an MPC, it shares many similar software features to the MPC X/MPC Live including the same underlying code-base.
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By 83dude Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:22 am
Koekepan wrote:I just realised: a Force Bible sounds like a book for jedi knights.

I'm going to jedi hell for this, aren't I?


Use the Force, Koekepan, use the Force!

EDIT: IMG fail. Imagine a funny pic here. :WTF:
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By Koekepan Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:42 pm
I used the Force, then everything got all black and angry.

I didn't know they had machinery for black ambimetal - was this supposed to happen?

*DOOM*DOOM*DOOM*
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By EnochLight Sun Jun 27, 2021 1:18 am
Koekepan wrote:I just realised: a Force Bible sounds like a book for jedi knights.

I'm going to jedi hell for this, aren't I?


I’d prefer a Force Koran or Force Torah. Or better yet, a Force Bene Gesserit guide narrated by Paul Muad'Dib himself.
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By NearTao Sun Jun 27, 2021 10:46 am
EnochLight wrote:
Koekepan wrote:I just realised: a Force Bible sounds like a book for jedi knights.

I'm going to jedi hell for this, aren't I?


I’d prefer a Force Koran or Force Torah. Or better yet, a Force Bene Gesserit guide narrated by Paul Muad'Dib himself.


Now that’s a deep cut right there… you on the spice?
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By Tray Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:35 am
Enochlight wrote:
[…]

I'd also state: under no circumstances, do not EVER save anything to the built-in storage!

[…]



I am new here and not planning to use internal storage, but curious as to why not… what is the issue?
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By Lampdog Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:21 pm
Tray wrote:I am new here and not planning to use internal storage, but curious as to why not… what is the issue?

MPC's come with built in internal storage named "AZ01", for OS, updates, demo sounds, projects. DO NOT save/write or use this storage at all. It NEEDS it's default structure to stay intact. DO NOT alter it.

You can on Live and X add your own SSD/HDD, use this for your own internal read/write/storage. Mine on X is a 2tb SSD.
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By Koekepan Thu Jul 01, 2021 11:43 pm
I'd add, about not using the main storage:

It's technically possible (which is why all the warnings not to do it) and it will work (at first, which is why people do it) but if you move things around, your Force can get confused, and if you fill the storage, your Force will misbehave.

It's easier just to slap in an SDcard, USB stick, or SATA drive and use that.
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By EnochLight Fri Jul 02, 2021 2:30 am
Tray wrote:I am new here and not planning to use internal storage, but curious as to why not… what is the issue?


The main issue is that it’s very limited space, and the OS uses some of it (for updates, and as a Linux scratch disc). Fill it up or tamper with the existing file structure by deleting factory data, and your machine will grind to a hault performance-wise and/or have stability issues. It also does *NOT* show up as removable storage when in Computer Mode, so there’s no way to easily backup or transfer data (samples, projects, etc). So yeah - install a proper SSD or use SD Cards and USB sticks. :wink:
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By Tray Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:10 pm
EnochLight wrote:
Tray wrote:I am new here and not planning to use internal storage, but curious as to why not… what is the issue?


The main issue is that it’s very limited space, and the OS uses some of it (for updates, and as a Linux scratch disc). Fill it up or tamper with the existing file structure by deleting factory data, and your machine will grind to a hault performance-wise and/or have stability issues. It also does *NOT* show up as removable storage when in Computer Mode, so there’s no way to easily backup or transfer data (samples, projects, etc). So yeah - install a proper SSD or use SD Cards and USB sticks. :wink:



Thanks for the info.

Most of that occurred to me but was not sure, also ssd (if that is wgat it is) getdramatically slower when less than 20% of disk space is free.

I just got mine second hand and I saw a couple of really small user projects on there so I deleted them (but kept everything else including demo projects).

My internal says it has about 3.8gb free, is there anyway to:

1) Verify that the previous owner did not delete any factory data?
2) Restore the factory data? (I only see “reset settings” on the info page).
3) Assuming the factory data is complete, is it possible to back it all up?

4) Anyway to write protect the factory data to prevent it from getting messed up accidentally (my guess is no since it is probably an all or nothing type thing and it the Force needs to write temp files, etc…but I thought it was worth asking).

4) (This is a bit unrelated to the factory data, though it is a new user issue:) Do I need to get the previous owner to transfer the registration to me so I can register it under my name at Akai? Not really sure if he can (he was not 1st owner, so I not sure if it was ever registered to him)….but if that turns that I cannot transfer reg., am I losing out on anything if I cannot transfer the registration?

Soory for the wall of questions, but these are all new user type questions, so I felt multiple threads might be a bit overkill.

Cheers.
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By EnochLight Sat Jul 03, 2021 7:51 pm
Tray wrote:My internal says it has about 3.8gb free, is there anyway to:

1) Verify that the previous owner did not delete any factory data?


No, not that I am aware.

2) Restore the factory data? (I only see “reset settings” on the info page).


As far as I know, the Force firmware image from your Akai account should do that. Pro tip: make sure you do a “reset” under Settings after updating your firmware. Helps clear up a lot of anomalies and issues.

3) Assuming the factory data is complete, is it possible to back it all up?


No.

4) Anyway to write protect the factory data to prevent it from getting messed up accidentally (my guess is no since it is probably an all or nothing type thing and it the Force needs to write temp files, etc…but I thought it was worth asking).


No.

5) (This is a bit unrelated to the factory data, though it is a new user issue:) Do I need to get the previous owner to transfer the registration to me so I can register it under my name at Akai? Not really sure if he can (he was not 1st owner, so I not sure if it was ever registered to him)….but if that turns that I cannot transfer reg., am I losing out on anything if I cannot transfer the registration?


You should be able to register the Force serial in your Akai account - give it a try. If you have a problem with it being accepted, then reach out to the seller (and Akai). As for losing out - yes - there is some content that is provided to Force owners under your account once it is registered.

Soory for the wall of questions, but these are all new user type questions, so I felt multiple threads might be a bit overkill.

Cheers.


No worries. Good luck!
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By Tray Mon Jul 05, 2021 6:28 pm
EnochLight wrote:
Tray wrote:
No worries. Good luck!


Thank you so much for all the info/help.

It is greatly appreciated!
By MableMunroe Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:40 pm
Been rocking the force now for ab 6 months.

Made a pretty huge leap of faith in buying this dude. Hardware journey was microkorg, Electribe EMX, Minilogue, SV1 (sensing a pattern?) and then force. Theres a few refaces, decks, and ton of midi controllers scattered in there.

Now, because of mistakes and life I only have the EMX, the SV1, and the force. Sometimes, you don't have the luxury of dropping your force for a couple weeks to groove with something else.

The first 3 months were frustrating. I didn't really see how the force fit as it was being presented. The hype and tube synths are great for stand ins and ideas, but really they just dont do the trick for PRO audio textures. Some digital sounds work amazing tho. Perc? I mean its amazing. 64 pad mpc. I've been making 64 pad kits for months. Game changer. Every time I have a track in a daw im like, needs some english on it. Bounce everything to a single stem and get to adding drums on force.

However, for live use I found I was just trying to get every song I've written into clips to launch. Here's the breakthrus that I think I needed to make in order to really start falling in love with my force:

1. Buy a mixer.

Yep. Two ins on a device with this functionality is straight up not enough imo. I understand that its prolly not feasible to add more, but thats my opinion. Sending a stereo out of a larger board was absolutely night and day. I sample or record whatever is coming out of the mixer, and when I've got that set I just scoot on over to another instrument and lay it down the same way. So much better than ripping cables out and patching everything as needed. Really opens things up creatively. Get your computer sending desktop volume to it too, sample that. I've got guitar rigs and keys, and vocal mics, lots of options to get grooving.

2. Don't sleep on the looper

Its NOT the most amazing looper, I get it. But combined with the forces functionality the looper is kinda super dope. Unlimited overdubs, no need to sync midi to another device, great monitoring control, cue functionality, and the loop can be exported to a clip, and then you can get to starting a new loop. Great way to start getting creative and building tracks.

3. Create your own plugin presets

The presets, especially in hype, are esential to the way this device functions. However, theres really a lot of them. If you save a preset in a folder on one of your storage options, something kinda magical happens. When you load one of the presets IN the folder you just created, the dropdown menu that you can use the main rotary for displays all of the other presets IN THAT FOLDER. That way, you can create folders in any way that suits your live performance or workflow. You can set up templates for a bass, pad, lead, and fx hype instance in four different folders, and then each of those plugin instances will be loaded from individual folders that would correspond with the the type of synth. That way you can tap on a channel on the screen in matrix view, or hold one of the dedicated track buttons on the force to select the channel. Then shift clip will bring up plugin controls, and you can just use the rotary encoder to select between a select GROUP of presets.

4. Use the arranger

Akai force 3.0.5 ( i think? maybe 3.0.6?) introduced the arranger view. It is a godsend. This is the solution to my building every song ive written in clips for NO REASON. If you're just going to launch them in the same exact sequence every time, theres litterally no reason to add an extra point of failure. Instead, build your track out of stems in the arranger, and add performance effects that take advantage of the fact that you can run w stems in a live environment. WAY more milage. I get that it can feel weird and close to the "press play, walk away" vibe. Make it so that that isnt the case! automate changes in vocal chain! send voice thru channel 1 and instrument thru channel 2! Add multiple hype instances for performance! Go wild with macro performance effect mappings! dont tie yourself down to the clip launching page all the time, as you may be doing something more impressive, but the listener cant really tell the difference. Spend your energy on adding to the live performance.

5. Build your own kits.

The akai provided kits actually come with some good samples. However, when you try and select them they SCREAM an entire melodic beat. Horrible if you've already got a beat running, you're playing live, and you cant stop playback but need to find a new kit.

First, the akai kits most all have melodic componants. There's no way to know what key they're in unless you play them in cue and have perfect pitch or VERY good relative pitch. Also, I find that there's some components of kits that I can get more milage out of if I seperate it into another kit. Alt percussion, cymbals, risers, lifters, fx, vocal chops, melodic instruments. All either in keygroups or their own properly organized kit or keygroup.

That way too, you can organize by key, genre, and more. It also lets you apply effects to individual drum tracks, so you can do things like throw modulation on just alt percussion. Very, very good.

The other problem with the akai kits is that they only use 4x4 layouts. Litterally do not know if this device is really worth it without larger kits than 4x4. It's really what pushes this thing over the edge into love territory for me. Before anyone says it, yes, i know that you'd be sacrificing advanced 16 levels, but having a MASSIVE comprehensive kit for each style of music that I like to perform? playing a 8x8 kit feels 100% different. New instrument. Cannot overstate this.

Dunno if this helps anyone. Might start making force videos at some point!