Can't get into my akai force, help needed.

Hello Everyone
As the topic says, I can't get into my akai force.

Each time I switch it on,I get bogged down with how it works and do not find it very logical to work with.
Will this feeling go away with time?
Any tips or great YouTube videos I should watch that will help?

I've been using music tech since early 90s, so I understand most daws and grooveboxes.
I'm finding even the simple stuff tricky to do on the akai force.

Any hints and tips will be warmly recieved.
Cheers
Rusty

Have you not find anything at all that's easy to do?

Here are some things I find easy:

* Delete a track: hold DELETE and press the track's select button
* Copy a track: hold COPY, tap source track, tap destination track
* Make a drum beat in the step sequencer: select the drum track and STEP SEQ, tap tap notes, couldn't be easier
* Play notes from pads in various pad modes: press the NOTE button
* Access the knobs/macros page: hold EDIT and tap a Q-link knob
* Assign tracks for A/B cross-fading: hold ASSIGN A or ASSIGN B and press a track's ... whatever the pad row is called that's lit up when you hold the assign button
* Play a launch clip scene by pressing one of the LAUNCH buttons

On the not-so-easy side... I don't want to list those. Repeat them enough and you'll get better.

More info would be helpful.

How long did you have the Force?
Did you read the whole manual?
Did you watch tutorials?
What type of music do make?

Look up on YouTube:
Joe Filburn
Pink Buddha
Nicethings
Maxipox
The Crates Motel (MPC dude but usable info for Force mainly about mixing/mastering).

I've post many of their videos here & other places.

To be honest the button layout sucks. I've had it since 10/2021 & it still doesn't feel right. Like its too many buttons on 1 side.

But most stuff will become second nature over time so don't worry, just put in the work.
At first read each chapter of the manual while using the Force. This is a very deep machine so don't rush in.

I'm not sure if this will be of any help at all but I had a similar kind of 'how do I do the most simple thing' when I tried using Ableton Live a while ago. None of it made sense to me - I guess because my background is more 'linear' recording via tape or more traditional DAWs like Cubase etc. That whole 'clip launching' thing just didn't click with me at all.

However, for some reason I still went ahead and bought a Force, and it actually started to make more sense. I could see how clips related to tracks and scenes in a more physical way I guess without trying to doggedly treat it like a digital multi-track recorder (the Force Arranger wasn't a thing at that point). Since then I learned more - from experimentation and many of the YouTube channels mentioned above (and even bought Bitwig which has many similarities to Live).

So, I think what I'm saying is; stick with it, spend some time on YT, try out lots of little ideas even if they don't build up to a full track and maybe even get into the Force more via something like the freebie versions of Live or Bitwig (so kinda going the opposite direction than I did). It does really depend on exactly what it is that's causing you a problem though I guess.

I'm pretty much a total convert by now - if I'm doing anything musical then the Force is the first thing I switch on. I still have a bunch of DAWs on my Mac but they don't see much use these days. There is maybe a bit of a learning curve (like most things) but it's definitely a very capable and dependable box.

Take the time to create a custom project template with most things set up the way you want, like the powerful macros. Tedious as hell but it's how really learned the Force.

I shall give it another go.
I'm a bitwig user since v1 so familar with loops etc, thank you for the tips.

Cheers
Rusty