Hello, from Victoria, British Columbia

I bought a Roland SP-404 mkII a couple weeks ago as my introduction to hardware based sampling and beat-making, but the tiny display and required menu deep-diving, did not work for me. So I returned the Roland and “upgraded” to The Force. Around the same price as the MPC Live, so it was a tough choice between them.

I have friends using the MPC 1 and MPC Live, so some personal help would be available. On the other hand, after watching a bunch of videos and tutorials, the workflow of the Force seemed to be much more intuitive to me.

I’m here in the Akai Force forum so you can guess which Akai I went with. Wish me luck on my journey!

Papa Dafoe wrote:I bought a Roland SP-404 mkII a couple weeks ago as my introduction to hardware based sampling and beat-making, but the tiny display and required menu deep-diving, did not work for me. So I returned the Roland and “upgraded” to The Force. Around the same price as the MPC Live, so it was a tough choice between them.

I have friends using the MPC 1 and MPC Live, so some personal help would be available. On the other hand, after watching a bunch of videos and tutorials, the workflow of the Force seemed to be much more intuitive to me.

I’m here in the Akai Force forum so you can guess which Akai I went with. Wish me luck on my journey!

Welcome to the dark-side!

What type of music do you make with the Force?

I have both Force and SP-404mkII, and they're quite different animals. I wouldn't say one is better or worse than the other.

The SP has been much more difficult to learn for me, though the size of the display is not a problem. Actually I like how well they've managed to use the display, and how quickly and intuitively the screen responds and how nice it is to adjust and slice the samples with the knobs. The hard thing with the SP-404 mk II is to memorize the numerous inexplicable button-press combinations. In many cases, there is absolutely no way to figure out by looking at the buttons or the screen, what functions are available and how to do things. You have to read the manual A LOT, and try things out, and it will take a long time. A few days is nothing. Try a few months.

BUT, I've made some beats with the SP-404 mk II that I wouldn't have made with the Force, simply because I had to think about things differently, and focus on things in a different way. With the SP, I have to think about each sound, each note, more carefully, and to have a very clear idea. What is the real essence of the music I'm creating now? With the Force, it's easier to throw stuff together effortlessly without thinking. Sometimes that's a good thing.

They're instruments, like piano or guitar. You have to learn to play the instruments, and discover your own style, your kind of music you make with the instruments.

B-Wise wrote:

Papa Dafoe wrote:I bought a Roland SP-404 mkII a couple weeks ago as my introduction to hardware based sampling and beat-making, but the tiny display and required menu deep-diving, did not work for me. So I returned the Roland and “upgraded” to The Force. Around the same price as the MPC Live, so it was a tough choice between them.

I have friends using the MPC 1 and MPC Live, so some personal help would be available. On the other hand, after watching a bunch of videos and tutorials, the workflow of the Force seemed to be much more intuitive to me.

I’m here in the Akai Force forum so you can guess which Akai I went with. Wish me luck on my journey!

Welcome to the dark-side!

What type of music do you make with the Force?

So far not much! Still figuring things out . I intend to make backing beats to play guitar, flute or harmonica against. Possibly use the Force to record the performances too.