Pro Pack and Clips

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:What could be the reason, technical or commercial, why Flex Beat and the clip matrix are not MIDI-controllable ?

A long time ago it was said they didn't have enough midi messages/addresses in standalone.

That was the same reason that was floated on why sample edit start and stop points aren't midi assignable in sample edit mode in standalone but are in the software.

Have no idea if any of that was true or not but I stopped asking once one of the dev posted that. This was around when standalone user mapable templates were introduced in MPC 2 standalone .

I was able to trigger clips in the matrix with the pads from my X SE. Not with my MP now, so dont remember how though

kaydigi wrote:

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:What could be the reason, technical or commercial, why Flex Beat and the clip matrix are not MIDI-controllable ?

A long time ago it was said they didn't have enough midi messages/addresses in standalone.

That was the same reason that was floated on why sample edit start and stop points aren't midi assignable in sample edit mode in standalone but are in the software.

Weird hypothesis, because a major benefit of the MPC's MIDI Learn scheme is avoiding mapping the whole collection of functions - only what is being used is associated to MIDI, so almost no project comes t anywhere near exhausting the CC+notes space and I don't imagine the size of the lookup table being a problem.

Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:What could be the reason, technical or commercial, why Flex Beat and the clip matrix are not MIDI-controllable ?

The programmers don't use the product.

kaydigi wrote:A long time ago it was said they didn't have enough midi messages/addresses in standalone.

MIDI 2.0 is here, but almost no controllers support it yet.

But they could still add dedicated controller Support for their own controllers (APC, etc.).

oldwired wrote:They could still add dedicated controller Support for their own controllers (APC, etc.).

I don't understand. I would rashly criticize Akai for only supporting their own proprietary protocol à la Ableton, but I would simultaneously instantly order an APC Mini Mk2... Akai leaves so much money on the table !

SakisX wrote:

Zack Zerox wrote:Had a brief play on my Live mk 1 earlier. Aside from setting the pads as launch controls, I think it is all on screen. However, it's a pretty good interface - long-press clips to get a menu (delete. copy etc) and on the 'Main' screen it's easy to launch clip recording, select the next clip slot (with the main encoder), and duplicate the current clip to a new empty slot (it then moves so you're playing/editing the copy).

I've got a Force which obviously has dedicated controls, but even so, I think some of these upgrades to clips will improve things on there too.

Thanks , can you move up/down , left/right using the buttons of "Pad Bank A/B/C/D" like Live3 ?
Also , if you are in Rec mode , can you trigger with the pads the clip you want to record ?

Yes to both. Pretty easy to navigate and use.

Incidentally, I've also been able to switch projects between the Live and Force now they are both on the same OS. Nice to have the option.

Zack Zerox wrote:

SakisX wrote:Thanks , can you move up/down , left/right using the buttons of "Pad Bank A/B/C/D" like Live3 ?
Also , if you are in Rec mode , can you trigger with the pads the clip you want to record ?

Yes to both. Pretty easy to navigate and use.

Incidentally, I've also been able to switch projects between the Live and Force now they are both on the same OS. Nice to have the option.

Nice , thanks ! It seems it can be used as a (real) looper . Is there by chance Akai implemented *proper* quantisation on non fixed (free) recording like Ableton Move ? Hard to describe it , here's a video from loopop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmR5FIHBuS0&t=285s

Didn’t know you guys were running into the same problems/limitations but I just made a thread adressing some of the issues you guys discussing:

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=219775

It’s just me giving the Akai engineers some tips for Gen 1 devices with the Pro Pack and future plans for Gen 2 devices.

SakisX wrote:
Nice , thanks ! It seems it can be used as a (real) looper . Is there by chance Akai implemented *proper* quantisation on non fixed (free) recording like Ableton Move ? Hard to describe it , here's a video from loopop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmR5FIHBuS0&t=285s

For variable-length clip recording, unlike Move’s capture feature, you need to manually trim any empty space at the start. However, the start and loop settings are more flexible than on the Move, and can be set in beats or ticks.

A tip I learned in another forum: You can rearrange the icons of the main menu. So you can move the Clip Launcher forward for easier access. AND: there is a quick access to the menu items via the pads. Just press menu and then press the pad according to the icon position. That's almost as good as a dedicted button.

oldwired wrote:A tip I learned in another forum: You can rearrange the icons of the main menu. So you can move the Clip Launcher forward for easier access. AND: there is a quick access to the menu items via the pads. Just press menu and then press the pad according to the icon position. That's almost as good as a dedicated button.

Funnily, that is even quicker than the menu's side bar that was meant for quick access.

mpc_fan_2022 wrote:

Masi wrote:But can the clips be launched via MIDI?

Right now in standalone, the answer is NO.

This is why clip programs were so important IMHO - it wasn't perfect, but one could launch audio clips in sync from any MIDI controller. But they were removed in OS 3.X.

Interesting. I have not as yet invested in the pro pack and I am still on 2.15.1 on my Live2. Most of my live sets rely on clip launching.
Some time ago I did invest in a novation launchpad mini. I did get it to launch clips via midi so that I could launch any 64 clips instead of using the pads and banks on my live2. HOWEVER.
I could not get them to launch in a quantised manner, for example launching at the next bar- is that what you mean by 'sync'? I eventually went back to using the live2 pads and banks because no matter what settings I fiddled with it just seemed that quantised launching was a no-no with the launchpad. Have you any info on how to get this to work - is it a a particular setting or type of midi controller that can do the quantised launching?
Any info would be helpful

I put in a support request asking for controller support for clip launching.

I gotta say the new clip launcher is a game changer. I think the people that miss the old program workflow could really benefit from this feature once they figure it out

I am not happy with the way Clip launch is working in 3.6. Yes, you can do almost the same as 2.x clip programs, but for me the main difference is that you should have pre-defined clip matrix with all the clips, to launch them.
So, if, for example, I have a live playlist of 20 tracks, each having a separate Clip Program (which is now just a drum program) - I should load all the Programs to one project, and create clip matrix for all the tracks. But here it comes the memory limit, you can't actually do that e.g. on MPC One. In 2.x I can just load/unload clip programs on the fly and play my loops no matter how many of them do I plan and which combinations. Each My Clip Programs may have e.g. - Bass Clip, Drum Clip, Keys Clip, Percussion Clip. There's no way I can just combine them on-the-fly without pre-creating matrix with all the combinations. Why can't akai just support legacy Clip Programs for people that need them (I am sure I am not the only one)
Still be downgrading to 2.16 before live gigs and then upgrading to 3