Big Hello to You!
Nice Idea this List!
Honestly I am thinking about giving my Force back to the shop, because I am disappointed and I am missing so many things that are quite normal on other gear.
I am an IT guy, worked in a music store, studied music, making Arduino and Raspberry Stuff and owned a lot of gear over the years. So it's not that I would not understand routing, workflows and diverse concepts of user interfaces. What I found in Force is a mess.
Here is my brutal List:
There is no user consistent concept in operating the Force.
On different areas there are different concepts. Labels are printed only for some SHIFT functionality.
- SHIFT
- Pages
- press longer (e.G. SEQUENCER)
- press more often (KNOBS)
- double klick
- press 2 buttons (e.g. LAUNCH+NOTE)
- sometimes 3 little dots on soft buttons (Plugins)
- swipe the display (in MIXER you get to Subgroups, Eff returns, Master)
If You hit something wrong, very often there is no ESC / back / exit button. So You go the long way over menus to get back, where You have been before. Sometimes Your last tweaks are there (in Sampler there is even the old clipping bar from 2 hors ago), sometimes You loose 10 minutes work.
Working with the touch display is evolved and absolutely professional. It seams that AKAI benefits from other devices like MPC One. On the other hand: An iPads with e.g. Korg Gadget 2 and a Pencil offers much more.
I want to work with the matrix! But the Matrix?? For me unusable!
Guys like to start clips here, o.k. that works. For my taste stopping clips here directly would be nice. At the moment You have to use CLIP STOP + Track buttons (for Solo, Mute, Rack Arm).
But the STEP SEQUENCER is a real shame (or I still did not find the correct buttons)
Missing most: FOLLOW:
On the Touchscreen I am able to zoom, switch to bar 3+4 for example, or use follow, where the playhead follow the notes in the clip.
But doing this, the Matrix shows the first 2 bars and makes a break until the playhead is back.
Pressing STEP SEQ longer brings You to a page on the matrix where in the upper left corner You can switch to 1, 2, 3 or 4 parts for Your Clip. But there seems to be no FOLLOW
If I switch to another SEQ page, sometime I see nothing in the matrix but on the screen there are my notes. I figured out, that in LANE mode You must change the base note, when Your baseline leaves the matrix (e.g. 1 Note lower). So SHIFT+STEP SEQ, klick on base note (sometimes there is only root note) turn dial, klick on close.
Most of my gear has just 2 buttons for that (up/down)
Sometimes the events from the screen were stil not visible on the matrix after that. After fumbling around, I changed the scale to chromatic and my notes appeared. Chromatic needs 12 half tones for an octave instead of 8. So my melody does not fit in the matrix anymore in height (SEQ LANE mode).
So, change the root note, no follow, change SEQ pages (SHIFT+SEQ)...
Playing the matrix offers OKT + / - but no chromatic steps, right? My Melodies sometimes don't fit. Often I need the middle.
So I tried to use another SEQ mode instead of lanes: Melodic and DRUM.
The problem here is, that whenever I try to check, what note is playing on a certain step by holding it down, instead of highlight the note in the lower part of the Matrix, Force deletes the Note. Combination with SELECT doesn't work either.
So the Step Sequencer shows me 16 lit Clip buttons and I do not know WHAT a step is playing
If Your Eyes are fast enough, You can see some flickering in the lower part at a certain beat. The difference in brightness for ON and OFF have no high contrast (yes I was in preferences to dim).
So I am starring at the lights to fugure out, what is going on. Or I use the Screen again...
The 2nd Step Sequencer You get via MENU / STEP SEQUENCER offered me a bug trying to change Reso-CCs on a certain step (had to delete my Reso Line). And it works only with ONE pad at the same time. Maybe good enough for Drums but not for base lines and melodies.
I hoped to get some solutions reading the 398p manual. I am not finished with that.
Whenever I try to explore the Force while making music, it has to be stoped, because I am stuck somewhere. Even after 2 weeks of usage.
My impression is that AKAI makes updates for the upper part (touch screen) and forgot the matrix.
Yesterday I found that it seems exactly that. Go to Menu / preferences / info:
Force Firmware 3.1.2
Control surface v0.43. (YES ZERO point 43!)
I bought the Force, because I wanna work hapticly. Not only for drumming. I want do push note in and out and let the flow decide
I do not want big menu diving, neither work with the touch screen so much. For Load / save etc. that's ok, but making music is using Your muscles in time, not reading, finding the soft button with my eyes. For me MAKING music should be fun doing it.
This all works when the clips are 1 BAR. If You make them longer, the matrix looses it's workflow (no FOLLOW).
Some hardware sequencers I know, do much much better here:
- Novation Circuit Tracks (no Display at all!! But I learned my moves in 2 hours. Fast, reliable workflow, pure fun!)
- Launchpad Pro (Standalone build in Sequenzer)
- Arturia Beatstep / Beatstep Pro / Keystep
- Native Instrument MASCHINE (has only 16 Pads, good for drumming, bad as Sequencer-Matrix and melodies)
But I still have the Force here, because It is such a fantastic thing on the other side.
I will try to use it in it's limitations and use the screen more often.
Sound quality seems to be good. Nice Effects, the Synths are not as powerful as VSTs, but if You turn the filters, decays, parametric EQs etc. the overall sound is amazing!
Maybe I can get on of the MASCHINE JAM things to add more Seq-Buttons to my MASCHINE. Then I kick the Force. Unfortunately they are not selling this nice extension anymore.
So my one big wish: Pimp the Matrix!
Look, what Circuit Tracks, Launchpad Pro and Arturia do.
Dear Developers, TRY USING FORCE WITH THE NATRIX without fumbling on the touchscreen.
Because in my opinion there is NO CONSISTENT WORKFLOW in making music on Force at the moment.
A cheap Controller or MASCHINE or PUSH 2 with my Macbook offer another dimension in Producing Music. So the haptic usage of a Groovebox is the point for me that matters. I would spend 2,000.00 EUR as soon as I find a Groovebox that really makes fun and where the solutions for an ideas are exactly where I suppose them to be, so the conformity to expectations are given (that's software ergonomics!)
Musicians should produce a track on Instruments like this without stoping the music at all. Just play, try, copy, modify, chain, play more... You know, what I mean. FLOW!
If anyone has a solution for some of my problems with the STEP SEQ I would be very happy!
Merry Xmas!
May the force be with You...
Klaus