Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the iconic 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai.
By KlausTangam Thu Jan 22, 2026 10:57 am
Hi there,

I got my Akai Force a bit more than a week ago now and am learning how it works, little by little, and I still seem to have a lot to understand!

There's one thing which is bothering me right now, and I couldn't find any information about it in the manual, here or elsewhere online. (sorry if this has been already asked...)

So I wanted to understand what I would be able to do with some long samples, used as textures or made into kind of living rhythmic sounds... One thing I'd like to do would be to modulate the sample start of such a long sample, for example by randomizing it. I'd like to get an idea of how deep I can get into modulation with this machine, so I went for a Keygroup track type which seem to offer the widest possibilities. But no matter the way I try to randomize the sample start parameter, or sample offset (using the "Randomize" tab, or the modulation matrix for example), all I succeed to do is to make the sample start vary in a very subtle way. But if the sample I use is, say, one minute long, I'd like the start point to be randomized to any possible value whiting the whole sample length.

Am I missing something, or is there a way to do what I'd like to, which I didn't see ? (I have already ideas for workarounds, but at the moment I'd like to understand if what I want to do is possible using the modulation matrix - maybe I missed the right set of parameters ?)

Thanks in advance !
Lucas
By KlausTangam Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:04 pm
Thanks for your reply !

Unfortunately that doesn't help much : my problem is not that I'm unable to modulate the "sample start" parameter in some way (I wanted to try with some randomisation but could have try with any modulation source like velocity for example). My problem is rather that the maximum modulation value doesn't seem to lead to a significant sample start change for longer sounds.

I don't understand how the scale of the modulation (0 to 100) is supposed to translate for a given parameter. In that case we're dealing with a sample start parameter, which value refers to the actual sample of the sound (the digital sample I mean). Would the problem be that there's not significant scaling between the 0-100 modulation range and the sample start range which can go from 0 to several hundred thousands of digital samples ?...

Unfortunately the manual doesn't seem to give consistent information regarding that.
By henneduscht Sun Jan 25, 2026 9:59 pm
The sample start modulation via mod matrix doesnt work, but for me I found another solution:

1. track edit mode > mod > velocity sensitivity > sample start > 127
2. open Q-link tool > env follower > source Lfo 1 or 2, sample and hold
3. env follower, right side > + > parameter > track > your drum track with the sample you want to modulate > Pad xyz > velocity scaling (parameter in track edit mode / global)

Enjoy :)
By KlausTangam Mon Jan 26, 2026 9:54 am
Hi, and thanks for this hint!

Any info why it doesn't work in the modulation matrix ? (I wonder if that's indeed a problem of scaling between the modulation value and the modulated value : I wonder if the problem could occur for other types of parameters) Anyway it looks like a kind of bug... Is it a "known" bug which has been reported already?

I found another workaround using slices, which saves on the other hand the velocity, in case you want to use it for something else :

- In the sample editor, set up a reasonable amount of slices (bases on grid) for your long sample (for example 60 slices for a one minute sample gives you slices of one second)
- In the modulation matrix, set up a random source to modulate the slice index
(- In addition you can also set up the same random source to modulate the sample start : if your slice is one second long this modulation will be enough to shuffle its start point consequently)

I'm not sure but this workaround might be more demanding on cpu though.
User avatar
By MPC-Tutor Thu Jan 29, 2026 12:24 pm
This is also possible using slice motion

https://www.mpc-tutor.com/mpc3-tutorial ... on-vocals/

KlausTangam wrote:Hi, and thanks for this hint!

Any info why it doesn't work in the modulation matrix ? (I wonder if that's indeed a problem of scaling between the modulation value and the modulated value : I wonder if the problem could occur for other types of parameters) Anyway it looks like a kind of bug... Is it a "known" bug which has been reported already?

I found another workaround using slices, which saves on the other hand the velocity, in case you want to use it for something else :

- In the sample editor, set up a reasonable amount of slices (bases on grid) for your long sample (for example 60 slices for a one minute sample gives you slices of one second)
- In the modulation matrix, set up a random source to modulate the slice index
(- In addition you can also set up the same random source to modulate the sample start : if your slice is one second long this modulation will be enough to shuffle its start point consequently)

I'm not sure but this workaround might be more demanding on cpu though.