Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the iconic 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai.
By kapseeta Mon Jul 15, 2024 2:13 pm
Hi! I am trying to build a live performance using the Force as the brains of the operation. I've created stems for the various songs (in various tempos) but when I try to add the samples to the clips, the Force quantizes the clip length to the nearest internal bar, which makes the clip slightly longer or shorter than the sample. Since there will be multiple songs in multiple tempos, I can't rely on the default project tempo.
Is there a way to make so the clip is precisely the same length as the sample?
By HouseWithoutMouse Mon Jul 15, 2024 6:24 pm
If you're trying to use the Force as a master sequencer for doing a complex "theatrical" live show with multiple songs in the same arrangement and song-length stem tracks, expect to fight an uphill battle. Search this forum for details. There are no tempo changes or enough locators, and when the timeline gets long enough, it starts to do weird glitchy stuff.

It is suitable to work as a component in SOME kind of a live show. viewtopic.php?f=49&t=217026
In that scenario, the Force is a MIDI clock slave, and the musical genre is basically semi-improvised techno/dance, not a theatrical show.
By kapseeta Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:15 am
Thanks for your input. Seems that I might be able to pull this off using the mockba mod.

If anyone else is interested, here's a how-to from the mockba discord:

Open a midi track
Set the track's output to Mockba Automation In and channel 1
Create a clip on the track
Tap and hold the clip and go into clip settings in the drop down menu
Go down to Program Change at the bottom
Tap where it says "From track" and change it to "From clip"
Tap below Bank Change where it says "From track" and change it to "From clip"
Use the following guide for how to set the desired tempo:

Bank Change LSB (CC#32) and Program Change :The BankChange and Program change combined
Perform Absolute Tempo Change.
Bank: 0-9 Sets a Base Multiplier value and Program Change Adds to that Creating any required tempo.
for example Bank: 0 Program change: 110 := (0 x 100) + 110 = 110 BPM
Bank: 1 Program change: 28 := (1 x 100) + 28 = 128 BPM
Bank: 7 Program change: 53 := (7 x 100) + 53 = 753 BPM
By HouseWithoutMouse Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:31 pm
If you have the energy to try that hack, it would be interesting to know if you can get the show going reasonably, and especially if it runs reliably night after night. According to people who have tried, reliability has been a problem.