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 EnochLight Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:04 pm
Hootch wrote:Great list, and well explained...I hope Akai reads these!


They don't. Not here, anyway.
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By EnochLight Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:06 pm
misterflibble wrote:What sampler features are missing? All I’ve ever known is MPC Live so I’m curious.


Really need the ability to have free-running LFO's (among other LFo improvements) in the Program sample editor. Also need more modulation options.
By Klaus Becker Mon Dec 27, 2021 12:11 am
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
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By jabberwalky Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:49 pm
I'm convinced every single icon on the menu screen is developed by different teams of people. Consistency is a major problem on all the new Akais. Lots of powerful and great features, but songwriting in standalone on both MPC and Force is a series of flying at highway speeds, and hitting speed bumps as your car bottoms out and fly over guardrails. Still fun though haha.
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By Koekepan Mon Dec 27, 2021 3:20 pm
Klaus, I must admit that I'm having a hard time figuring out what would be good for you because you spend a lot of time saying that things are broken, without saying what would be good - most particularly because as far as I can figure out your wishlist, it's completely different from other people's wishlists. My example would be that I wish I could do everything without the touchscreen entirely - obviously, not your choice. Do you think that you could give us some more specific explanations? You did manage to give some details on the sequencer view, but maybe the disconnect between the screen and matrix view is a feature, rather than a bug? After all, if all they're doing is duplicating each other, what's the point to having both? At that point, get yourself that iPad and Gadget, or the Synthstrom Deluge.

Hot tip: sunvox is really great software for iPad, and version 2.0 should be coming soon, so if you drop the Force for that, get sunvox.
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By EnochLight Tue Dec 28, 2021 8:52 am
Klaus Becker wrote: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.


Sounds like the best thing to do for you. If you're not able to utilize Force for all of its strengths now, in its current form, then it's probably best to just move on. :nod:
By voonta Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:13 am
Absolutely loving my new Force, but I would love to have the following in a future update:

  1. Allow Midi channels to receive Audio to save a channel/track in the mixer/matrix
  2. Export/bounce clip to Audio
  3. Midi soft shift, momentary and toggle. Assignable to individual controllers (local) or system wide (global). Ideally multiple assignable shift layers
  4. Effects chain reordering
  5. Midi learn on controls similar to the Macro learn function, learn a control, move to the GUI, select by changing value with rotary encoder
  6. Allow changing Plugin presents with Midi mapped rotary encoder or setting with CC
  7. Mapping with XML I could do this on a computer and import my settings or share them with other users
  8. Independent LFO that can be sent over CV to analog gear
  9. Copy midi assignments (so I don't need to constantly select the same midi source)
  10. Complex internal audio routing like in Ableton, where I can send channel A into channel B, channel B to master
  11. Easier to re-order channels/tracks without copy and delete
  12. Change track/channel type eg from Audio to Midi to Plugin rather than having to delete
  13. Midi LED mapping - send CC's to leds to change on/off state and color where applicable

(In that order)

Cheers
By Vfire77 Thu Feb 10, 2022 12:09 am
How about INSERT TRACK! How is this not a feature.... how is it possible to make a music production studio without the ability to insert a track??? Does anyone have a clue to why this is not possible???
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By Koekepan Thu Feb 10, 2022 2:54 pm
How do you mean, insert track doesn't exist? I insert tracks all the time.

If you're talking about reordering tracks, it's not directly possible but you can work around it by copying and deleting tracks until they're in the order that you want.
By Vfire77 Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:24 pm
Yes I would like to instert a track anywhere in the project not just the end. Its really annoying to have to add/copyand delete to reorder it the way I want it.
By SPACESHEEP Wed Feb 16, 2022 10:53 am
misterflibble wrote:
1. Configure MUTE button behavior on a track so that it can either be audio mute or MIDI/event mute
I like the way that pad mute works on the MPC (I think in Track Mute?) by muting the midi notes and not the audio at the mixer, since this allows you to hear the tails of pads that were played before you muted, and prevents you from hearing the tails of pads that you are unmuting. It would be nice to be able to configure this option in the Force based on how you want MUTEs to behave.



+100000!
This strange 'audio mute mode' was the biggest disappointment in akai force.
I wonder - does anybody find it usable?

The best improvement for AKAI would let user to specify track mute type for each track - for example, existing "audio type mute" for audio tracks or tracks with long one-shot samples, and "midi type mute" for other type of tracks.
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By dnkygirl Tue Feb 22, 2022 4:46 pm
Akai has worked hard to get to this point. They have made a machine that is the closest thing ever to match abletons workflow, with great power comes great responsibility. There are some things that are bugs or just feature absent that really need to be there.

1. Bpm for both timestretch and warp is inaccurate. It makes it hard to make synced loop patterns. I don’t like having to spend hours trying to make one loop work,
2. Halftime and pitch shift tempo drift or don’t work at all. The only thing that works is pitch change which forces a full change to the clip. The real-time plugins are awful.
3. Song key detection is not working consistently. Sometimes it shows up in the clip editor and sometimes it does not. I have to exit out and move to another view at times to get it to come back, I also find that it is a one time deal, if I make a change to a sample I would like to know the new key. It would be nice if this were available in more than just the clip editor as well. It seems like all of the real time functions have some strange problem,
4. Arranger view if you select launcher to try to start record it causes the arranger to start but over write all notes then bring them back with the next loop. Either allow the launcher to be used in conjunction with the lane record button or disable it when record to arranger is on. Also why can’t we just have the arranger detect that you are using it and not have to select record to arranger.? This is really clunky and weird. It should just flow just like clip record. You don’t have to push any extra buttons to record a clip. I get it thou.. ableton you have to select tab to get to the arranger, but hey you never have to select any extra when your on the screen to record into the lanes,
5. Not enough track location tags available in the arranger. I use a standard song formatting and I run out of location tags after verse 2. Why is there a limit when the linear sequencer has no limit?
6. I can’t select all the track lanes to perform erase in arranger mode. It would be easier to be able to select specific lanes or all lanes when using erase. Or am I missing something? I for the life of me couldnt figure it out last night.