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.
By ckbrooks Sun May 15, 2022 1:36 pm
I am a long time MPC user now considering the Force.

I plan to create compositions consisting of fairly long audio clips by playing the pads and recording the results in the arranger.

I simply want to know whether, with these audio clips, there is a way to create fade ins and fade outs in the arranger after making the initial recording of the launched clips. Something that is, of course, dead easy on Ableton in the arrangement view.

Secondly, am I able to join and crossfade audio track clips in the arranger?

Finally, can I export the complete composition to a stereo WAV like I can on the MPC Ones’s song mode.

Thank you for your kind help.

Clive
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By Koekepan Mon May 16, 2022 3:21 am
Playing pads and recording in arranger: works perfectly. I've done it.

Adding automation in arranger: works perfectly, I've done it. It sounds as if what you'd want to do would be to set up macros for your Q-links (or an external controller) and then record the automation.

Crossfade clips: don't really know, never tried, but I would imagine that if you set a macro that effectively manages one in, one out, you should be able to swing that.

Export: works like a charm, done it many times. WAV, MP3 export both work.
By HouseWithoutMouse Fri May 20, 2022 8:43 pm
I haven't found a way to do cross-fades between audio clips in this "fully-featured" arrange mode thingy. This is basic bread-and-butter audio recording functionality.

Another thing that I can't find is timing correction of audio tracks in the arrange mode, like with moving transient-detected warp markers, that sort of thing. And of course, groove-quantizing the slices. Is there any sort of audio quantizing at all?
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By Koekepan Sat May 21, 2022 5:10 am
I'm assuming here that you have tried setting up a macro with inverse gain control on the respective clips, or some effect on each.

So what happened when you tried?

Full disclosure: aside from some recorded vocals, I do extremely little with audio. I'm primarily synthesis-based, so if you ask me about the details of sound design I can get a lot deeper, but I'll see where I can offer insights.
By HouseWithoutMouse Sat May 21, 2022 8:52 am
Cross-Fade Clips on an Audio Track
It means:
    - You have an Audio Track
    - There are multiple Clips on the audio track
    - You place clips so that they _overlap_
    - During an overlapping part, the audio track plays audio from both clips simultaneously
    - The first clip fades out and the second clip fades in

Example pictures from Ableton Live

Without cross-fades
Image

With cross-fades
Image


Please explain how this is done in the Arrange mode of Akai Force. :)

It is an elementary basic bread-and-butter audio editing feature. It is needed for example when fixing takes or "constructing" vocal and instrumental tracks, to make the transitions smooth so that you don't hear a click or any other abrupt artifact. Something simple as moving the timing of a word of lyrics, or a guitar chord.

Aside from using multiple audio tracks (out of eight) to do the job of one track, the only way I've found to do this is not to use audio tracks at all, but take the recorded audio to the sample editor, chop it up to slices and treat it like a drum loop or something. This is clunky, tends to sound choppy, takes forever to do, and you end up with a MIDI-controlled clip you have to re-render back to audio, if you want it on an audio track. Far away from audio track editing as it's generally understood, and what the OP intends to do, if I understood correctly.

The manual talks about being able to add a Fade-in and Fade-out by using the appropriate "fields". What does that mean? Where in the Arrange mode's clip editor do you do that? I have not found Fade-in and Fade-out fields there. And I have not found a way to make clips overlap on an audio track.
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By Lampdog Sat May 21, 2022 2:32 pm
I suggest a pdf search in your Force manual for “crossfade”.

I suggest a pdf search in your Force manual for “overlap”.

Remember, this isn’t Ableton.



Image
By HouseWithoutMouse Sat May 21, 2022 4:12 pm
If you already found the relevant Force user guide pages on how to cross-fade clips in the Arrange mode, would it have been too much to ask to spend the two additional seconds and include the page numbers.

I found where the alleged Fade in and Fade out fields are: they are in the "Grid" editor. But they don't cross-fade, because clips cannot overlap there. First clip fades out and then another clip fades in, no cross-fade happening.

Did you mean to say that you know that cross-fading is possible in Force's Arrange mode, and you've done it? Yes or no?

Image
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By Koekepan Sun May 22, 2022 1:40 am
OK, since you haven't answered my question at all, and seem to be ducking, let's start with the basics:

did you, at any stage, attempt to assign any macros with respect to the delivery of any clips to any audio tracks, and if so to which parameters?

If not, why haven't you started there? A whole big part of doing that sort of thing on the Force is tied up with macros. Moreover, you seem to be blinding yourself with concerns about keeping it in one track whereas in actual fact the Force is very good about letting you do things across multiple tracks, then flattening them. Have you considered this approach at all? Have you tried it? What happened when you tried it? Does it fail to meet your needs, and if so, in what respect?

Come on, do a little homework and let us in on the secrets. Believe it or not, we can't read your mind over the internet. Only Alphabet Corporation can do that, and they only tell the federal government what they find, not us.
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By Lampdog Sun May 22, 2022 1:53 am
I looked in the Force manual and found nothing for “overlapping” like a computer daw does it. I don’t know after that.

It’s not a computer tho. If it’s not there it’s not there no matter what you want it to do.
By HouseWithoutMouse Sun May 22, 2022 9:39 am
Cross-fades on a single audio track are not possible, the Akai Force lacks that basic feature, at least in the current software version 3.1. As a workaround, you'll have to use multiple audio tracks, so the Force is not a sensible tool for the kind of music where you need to do a lot of patching and editing of audio takes recorded on a full song timeline. Or any other kind of music where you might want to have cross-fades on a single track. You'll have to use a computer based DAW for that kind of work.

Knowing the answer, it was not actually that difficult to say that.
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By Koekepan Sun May 22, 2022 3:41 pm
If this particular single feature is breath-takingly, heart-stoppingly vital to someone with a Force, and they cannot contemplate the unspeakable horror of using multiple tracks to achieve their goals because ... reasons.

It sounds as if these people need an actual MTR. The DP-24SD from Tascam is $400 new in box from Amazon, and the DP-32SD not a whole lot more. Add an audio interface, and you can parallel record eight channels from the Force into the MTR and go hog-wild.

But you can still do everything on the list straight on the Force, if you roll up your sleeves and do the homework.

I know I'm going to sound like the grouchy old man here, but back in the '90s when gear was more expensive per unit, less available in general, and PCs were a lot less capable, we actually did things by figuring out how to get what we wanted rather than complaining that whichever feature wasn't instantly built in. What would Grandmaster Flash have done? He would have turned the box upside-down and made it dance in ways that nobody else understood. What would Epstein have done? Probably accidentally cut his fingers while editing 4-track tapes, but he still rocked the world. What would Bob Johnston have done? Embraced the limitations and still made epoch-making work.

If you were one of my students, I'd have told you to multitrack, fade, and get over yourself.
By HouseWithoutMouse Sun May 22, 2022 8:45 pm
Why would anyone use a Force for doing something it's not suitable for, if they have other tools that are suitable? It makes no sense. What does make sense is, finding out what can and cannot be done with a tool, which is what I and the OP are doing. For cross-fades, you have to use workarounds. Maybe OK for some case, maybe not.

I cannot think of a possible scenario or chain of events how your "homework" crap could possibly be of help to anyone. The OP is asking a simple thing, can you add fades to clips like in Ableton. It should be fairly trivial to say no, not exactly like in Ableton, you'll have to use automation. Then the OP asks, "am I able to join and crossfade audio track clips in the arranger", and the answer is no, not like that, you'll have to use multiple tracks and automation, or alternatively the Fade in and Fade out fields but multiple tracks anyway.
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By Koekepan Sun May 22, 2022 10:50 pm
Good question.

People should not use the Force to do things to which it is unsuited, and they should use suitable tools.

If you want an MTR, go find an MTR. Hardware, software, whatever.

If you are bound and determined, come hell or high water, to do your damnedest to do a thing inside the Force (or any production hardware) for which it wasn't designed, and you then get all huffy because it isn't doing the thing seamlessly for which it was never intended, that sounds like a you problem, not a tool problem. I lubricate tractors with grease, not honey. It works better.

And, yes, once it became clear, after much jabber one way and another, what exactly the original poster was talking about, that answer did come forth. I hazard a guess that people didn't immediately leap to the conclusion of what the original poster was asking because it's not at all what the Force is about, and therefore is, to say the least, an unexpected question.

Again - the Force isn't an MTR. It can kind of fake being one, but someone, somewhere, is apparently telling dreadful lies about what it is, and this person is not your friend. Stop believing that person.
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By NearTao Sun May 22, 2022 11:37 pm
The Force just kind of looks like the Push controller, and it does kind of have a similar workflow to Ableton Live.

I guess it just makes it a natural (but incorrect) place for people coming from Ableton Live (or possibly other software) to think that it must be the same or have a similar workflow. *shrug*...