The Akai Force is AMAZING for Jamming
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2022
- I walk you through and perform a live jam on the Akai Force, including showing you the layering, pattern and clip launching and organization, macro knobs, the song mode, and automation.
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Sorry for the heavy limiter on the walkthrough portions of this one, I had it set in OBS and didn't notice it until it came to editing, and by then it was baked into the audio. I've fixed it for future videos. I mixed the final jam in post, so that should sound totally fine.
Crispy Cake
Another good tip, is that if you are playing a bunch of different clips in different scenes, you can then create a new scene with all those active clips and it will automatically create a copy of each active clip into their appropriate tracks. To do this, hold edit and press a scene launch button, an edit menu will pop up, then select "Insert & Capture". Now you have a new scene with all the clips that were actively playing.
One other important feature I think most people miss is setting clips to "Legato". What this does is allow a clip to continue playing from where it was in its loop into the next scene. This is useful for let's say you have a long melody or volcal clip of let's say 16 bars. If you want to have a change up to other clips during that time and create a new scene for those you can do so and keep the "melody/vocal" clip still playing through where it was but it is now active in the new scene, this way you don't need to have the volcal clip playing in one scene and the other clips in a different scene. If a clip is not setup as legato then it will automatically start from the beginning if it is a scene upon launch of that scene. Can really help for organization. Hope that makes sense. I can explain further if needed.
Great tips! 👍
These are both so helpful.
FYI, for the knob going back issue, it is because you have that knob set as momentary and to return to previous value upon release. This is an option that can be very useful, an example would be you want to open up the filter from its current position and once you let go you want it to snap back to the original value. I think you can even control the velocity curve of it returning, but I can't remember for sure. You can change these settings on a per knob basis in the "Macros" edit. if I remember correctly it is in the bottom right corner. You can also set different values you want it to snap back to, the polarity, etc. Also obviously, you can set it to not snap back at all.
I love how I can just jam and have a good time on my Force, almost like a fancy looper, but after jamming I have all the parts I need to turn it into a song. Then just play it into the arranger, tweak anything which needs tweaking, and render to a .wav. It's a great workflow.
yeah once you learn the goddamn thing
@@icareg Anything with as much power as a Force is going to take some time to learn.
May the Force be with you, Gabe .
I got my Force shortly after it’s release, still learning things to this day, best piece of music gear I have ever owned.
Really best gear im thinking about one . Got a MPC one and MK3 and many keyboards and ect
Cool video!TX!! best wishes from Bruxelles and loocking forward to more Force videos!!
My dude, you're the one that made me finally pull the trigger on the Force, and it's easily been the single best investment in my studio setup. I almost got one when I got my MPC Live 2, but overall more people were using the MPC lineup and so I figured it was my better option. The Force is just absolutely incredible.
I even just set it up so that I have my external synths all routed via an audio/MIDI interface so I can control it all in one place, record all in one place, etc. Will be interesting to see how it goes when it comes to arranger mode, but dang I'm excited. And seeing this video just motivates me that much more. I want to try completely recording and mixing a track on the Force now.
Also, I can't help but notice your clips make the letter P. Anyway, great work!
The Rolls Royce of grooveboxes. And that sells it short. Love mine.
it is such a slept on device. it is the centerpiece of my studio. i even use the CV gates to fire stuff on the eurorack and it is my main clock. i'm really looking forward to the next update. thanks for covering this device!
I bought a Force after checking out lots of videos on it. I loved yours.
Great teaching thanks for putting the time
Holy shit! I was not expecting what you did at 11 minutes and 30 seconds! I know this is an older video and I’m just now getting comfortable with my Mpc, but I’ll be damned I gotta go get a force now!
Really good to seeing your experience with the Force is positive .. seen way too many on youtube seem to think that love of one device is somehow a diss to another .. for my workflow .. Force fits me perfectly
Yeah so far I'm really digging it! It's got its quirks but I love the jamming/building a full song user experience.
I am so glad I see videos from you with Akai Force. I still think Force remains one of the most underrated gems along with Roland MC 707-101
13:15 I got the solution. You go to the button ´´macros´´ -> in the right corner you can choose under the category ´´momentary´´ how your automation knob behaves ( jump to 0 after letting it go or stay there etc.). I hope that was helpful.
the FORCE may be the best music gear i ever bought. I was super fan of the MPC's had some in my life. Im Ableton guy, so i was working on launchpads, and push 2. when i saw that akai made grid workstation i was instantly sold :D took it home the day it premiered and had a fire time to this day. It have some flaws (weak warp engine, not being able to bounce plugin track to audio track directly from the performance screen, and some minor life comfort things. But it's still evolving! For me The FORCE Is the best Workstation they ever made. trust me, You will love it more than MPC if You come from ableton workflow :)
More force videos on either channel would be tight just workflow insights. I appreciate the way you explain stuff
A tool you might find useful for fairly straightforward automation like the cutoff here, go to the step sequencer (from menu, not the step seq button), select your parameter and input steps for it there. Also, the macros system is incredibly deep. Prob the one aspect Akai took to its full potential. Extremely useful for both performance and recording automation.
Side note Gabe. You're a bad ass producer. That track is sic
Just a heads op regarding Battery. Have not used mine for a couple of weeks...just grabbed it to see how it was holding charge..still FULL(apparently). For whatever thats worth. Great Vid I still have not had time to sit and get my Noob head around the M8...determined and thankful for the vids you and All My Friends are Syths do a great job explaining the M8 and all its POWER....
This is DOPE you got serious skills, you should get this placed, synced, or something bro. Love it!! Peace
Great vid pal. Keep them coming. Maybe some deeper tutorial bits too. Are all the sounds from this track from the force?
Check out the second channel video linked at the end of this one, it'll show the sounds and process! And yeah definitely more Force content coming soonish.
I did an impulsive buy last weekend and only spend little time exploring, being an MPC one owner.
It seems really promising for my workflow.
Two additional things I wish for are usb audio out (seems implemented in computer mode, not sure how that is useful) and routing between audio tracks to mixdown tracks while jamming.
Handling the knobs seems way better than on the one, having oleds for each and 8 instead of 4 makes a huge difference to me.
I do find the rubber buttons require a bit much force though (no pun)
Yeah, I done the same this week! I agree, the buttons really do require some force. I know it’s probably to stop accidents, but these are unreal.
Loving the workflow compared to One though!
Have a Live but never really connected to it. Just got a Force. Will see how it goes.
I had this device an returned it!
The Matrix wa version 0.4!!
Touch display, Sounds etc. very good, but the haptic working with the matrix was a desaster using the step sequencer.
Got mine about a year ago (3.0.6) .. found it everything I could want it to be ... my Maschine MK3 has gathered dust since
Yes, it is. That's why I got rig of it after a year. Never finished anything :)
On Maschine Plus almost everything gets to finish (and I'm not using Maschine soft much, just Ableton)
Fair enough! For me personally, the ability to jam out a song but do all of the fine tuning and structuring I want actually helps force (heh) me to finish songs, but different workflows work for different people. I definitely enjoy the process of making a beat on the Maschine, exporting the tracks, and then speedrunning the arrangement process.
@@GabeMillerMusic Totally. I hopes for Force to be Standalone and Push. For me M+ plus Push work better somehow. One detachable (M+ went to Maui, Force would not), Push with 8x8 pads for studio and Ableton/VSTs,
If I see M+ idea develops to a full song structure, I also edit the M+ project in-place with the mouse and have it back to standalone. Even after that M+ project sometimes goes to Ableton project as a VST track, so yet not printed to Wavs. I keep using Midi from of M+ project to drop midi to a new Live track to expand and play more with other VST or with full studio hardware.
Just sharing. Even screen and button locations, needless to say sample libraries and on-board synths, is a matter of personal preference. Though yes, Force as a jammn' device is super phunn, and I miss the bugger by now :)
He finally found it 🎉
Thank you for showing how to record into the arranger view. I have been trying to figure out how to do exactly what you just demonstrated here but everytime I record my clips into the arranger, they don't play back correctly when playing back the recorded arrangement.
Now that you mentioned turning off the time correction in the arranger, that's what I need to try. I believe that might be the key right there.
I'm gonna try it and report back.
Okay. Thanks to this video and your demonstration, I figured out exactly what I was doing wrong and why my arrangement never recorded correctly or played back correctly. I didn't know to turn the global time correction OFF!!!! I did not know the global time correction was separate from the clip launching quantization until now. I just went back to my Force and tried launching rows of clips (scenes as you called them) while recording to the arranger and I even tried solo on some tracks as well. This time, I turned the global time correction OFF before recording to the arranger. As a result, everything recorded and played back correctly this time....and I do mean EVERYTHING!!!!!
Thank you so much for this video!!!!!!
Now, I know this Force truly is a hardware Ableton Live. And ironically, it's more complete as a standalone unit than Ableton's own newly released Push 3 that cost twice as much!!! The Force is a very powerful beast that seems to be slept on these days. Well, I'm glad I "woke up" and got one almost a couple of years ago. Now, I'm finally spending more time with it and learning it. I've been on my MPCs mostly, which is why I haven't really messed with the Force much. The plan is to use both the MPC X and the Force together and have them both synced. That will be a crazy setup with the MPC driving the drums and the Force driving samples and loops as well as hardware midi synths.
Hakai on the MPC one = the best of both worlds
Oh dang I didn't know that was a thing... I'll have to look into that.
Add your MC-101 and maybe a TR-6S to your Force and watch Jaws DROP……. Under $2000 , all the amazing abilities of the Force PLUS Fantastic Roland Sound. Shame Yamaha seems to have abandoned the Module/Rackmount a Rackmountable MODX or Desktop Module version would be a MUST have for me but fitting a MODX6 even in my space just not going to happen.
Yet again, quality video Gabe! Do you see the Force becoming your go-to music production device? I imagine you wouldn't necessarily take it everywhere, or move it around too much, I assume you'll mostly use it for at home jamming and production. The Force seems like a DAW in a box with a great workflow.
I can definitely see it becoming a go-to for full, polished songs, I've got a proper pop/EDM song with vocals coming soon and producing it on the Force was lovely. For casual beatmaking though, I'll probably still reach for the MPC or something more potable.
I wonder if an APC can be used with the MPC but I suspect the MPC won't send it the signals to toggle the lights in the APC buttons.
It's a Monday-I guess everybody must argue about AKAI. It's like an Atari Teenage Riot. 🙂
the other thing that is majorly different with force and MPC platform is clips. Doing polymeter is sooooooo much better on the force. Force is hands down the winner for me.
I've been trying to figure out these macros for so long thanks so much. The are some track effects I've seen people use, specifically a record stop effect, and they set it up to trigger when the knob is pressed down, have you figured out anything like that?
Hi Gabe, First of all the fan been following your videos for a while some of them I washed multiple times because your reviews are amazing. After following your videos for a while I purchased both the Akai force and The circuit tracks. I’m having one small issue with my table top full of gear. I have a the (expressive e touche) which I really recommend to someone like you. My issue is properly connecting yet to both the circuit tracks and force at the same time. It has both USB midi and mini midi. First question does the force have midi through? Because I’d like to hook it up USB midi through the force and send that through the midi into circuit tracks. But I think I have to go first into circuit tracks and Midi through circuit tracks out into the force to make it work. If circuit tracks is USB midi to the force as well as expressive e touche. At that point she’ll not be able to control circuit tracks with expressive e touche through akai force? Your videos are really informative and I really hope you can help me out with this question. It feels like a simple question but I’ll have you know that I almost sold my force before you released your force video FORR JAMMING. Truly could not and still can’t figure it out
My finger has been hovering over the 'Buy' button for over a year now. My dilemma is ; IF the gig is for the performer, well worth it : But if the gig is for the audience, then who'd know ? Maybe I'll buy a ukelele instead ? (still tempting though... ). Nice demo.
I've been thinking about this quite a bit. Tbh I think it's best for doing basically a one-take music video, kinda like what I did for the final jam. If I was to start doing gigs, I would be tempted to bring the Force, but I'd probably ultimately just go for more traditional DJing.
Had this device for a year or so and haven’t been able to figure out if I can play on it non-stop for a DJ set. Is there a way to load a project without it stopping the current project?
Use the Stop all clips button, this way the clock ia still running and you stay in the tempo!
Yeah I noticed it not long after filming this and have been using it since!
🏆🏆🏆🙏🏿🙏🏿
i gave you sub can you do video abut vocal how to cenect microphone and sing?
I want that bass growl sound ❤. How do you make it?
OH! GUY! Your music! Your wee diggity dawg MUSIC! Do you have a soundcloud or other channel that features your music to listen for free like when I am working on the house? The music is so dark synth wavy I am having a fit here LOL!
Haha thanks! I do have soundcloud: soundcloud.com/gabemillermusic1
Plus the Beat Goblin soundcloud for my more experimental stuff.
I also have a bunch of albums and songs on Spotify, the Gabe Miller - Topic channel, and all the other regular streaming platforms.
I want to know do you think the Force will work good with Ableton as the Push 2 does?
Thanks a lot for your video's!
I've a question, two weeks ago I bought an akai force (B-stock). Sometimes it's just not reacting or launching things automaticly. I don't have an SSD card yet, just a SD card, could be that the reason?
If they would allow this to olay VSTs it would be a all star! As of now it awesome but there are other options that do just as much if not more and better.....
Workflow on this looks like WALK THROUGH HELL haha, really enjoy your videos man - but this one is just confusing :D
I just bought one, it seems confusing at first. But it’s probably the easiest thing I own! Really good fun
Hey, how many clips can you have per track? Could I record 50 drum patterns and chain them all together in a song mode or arrangement?
Does the Force have automatic Plugin Delay Compensation? Related to that, how does it handle midi and audio latencies when using external synths? Thanks :)
I haven't used it with external synths, but I had no problems when I did with the MPC One. I've had no observable latency issues with plugins on the Force.
@@GabeMillerMusic thanks for your prompt reply! Love your channel :)
Does the MPC One (or the Akai Force) have an External Instrument or External Effect plugin to adjust for latency in midi and audio card latency (similar to Ableton Live/Bitwig/Studio One)?
Pressing the buttons, scenes, clip launches is one thing for performance, try doing that all at the same time as live looping external synths and vocals like Youngr does. Suddenly performance is a real skill regardless of whether the keyboard player is grade 8 skill level or not. It’s all relative. A DJ can’t play a piano to grade 8 concert pianist well in a week but a classical pianist can learn this in two weeks. That where relatively comes into play. Sadly not reflected in classical musicians wages.
Can you automate those macro controls? Also can you export each clip/track as wav forms?
Haha. You answered my questions later in the vid
How easy is it to add the vocals across the whole song and maybe other effects, transistions or a guitarr etc??
Pretty easy. Easy enough that vocals are how I usually start my song process. On an empty project, I just add an audio track, plug in a mic, hit record, and then sing/hum/beatbox whatever comes to mind. When I reach what feels like the end of a phrase and want to start another, all I have to do is tap the next pad and it'll record into that, so I can set up a song structure without even having to stop recording. Then I typically convert those notes into instrument tracks, add more layers, and mute the vocal track since it was only a scaffold. But it's easy to add vocals/etc later in the process too... and if recording to clips doesn't seem like the right solution, it's also possible to record directly into the arranger, so you basically build your whole song, then hit record-to-arranger, then hit play, and record a new track on top of the entire song.
@@ToyKeeper You need to record it as a clip then I guess??
Bought a force yesterday - coming from using the Akai Bought a force yesterday - coming from using the Akai studio 2 and MPc software this is a serious step backwards for warp functionality. I can’t even go up 2 semitones on drum loops with out it falling apart.
The fact that the MPC software has the extra algorithms it is leagues ahead when warping. Sadly I really wanted this to work the same as the software on the mac but will be returning this until the next iteration. They really need 4gb of ram or more and better stretch capabilities.
Tried everything from bpm detect, warp and time stretch. All pretty useless going up semitones. Down was bearable
😀
Gabe - now I'm totally lost. I thought in your review is the Force still relevant in '23 in another video - I thought you said it was NOT a good jamming instrument?! No tempo changes, 8 tracks 8 instrument.
What am I missing?
I think it's a great for jamming in studio instrument, but it's risky/a bit much to manage in a live setting.
Also, while the instruments and audio tracks are more limited, you can stack drum and keygroup programs as long as you have processing power.
Sorry for the confusion, hopefully those clarify things!
When does the jamming part start??
The Force is gonna be a sleeper just like the 808 was. On Force you slowly stop using your other gear.
I wish they’d built that screen to be angled the way it is on the X. Ergonomically this device is lacking despite it doing literally everything that most people want out of a groovebox
Yeah that's the biggest downside, it's just so tall.
Yeah, it'd be awesome if they made one with the top section tilted up, with batteries inside for portability, with narrower pads/buttons and overall lighter weight. Since that doesn't exist though, I keep mine on a stand which holds it at a 40 or maybe 45 degree angle. It helps a lot.
Mine is on a 3d printed stand at an angle.. makes big difference
I put my on a mini foam-roller from Targets.
I have mixed emotions when I see a video like this. I LOVE my Force so much that I kind of want to keep it secret. It's so conducive to my performance style. I'm a little afraid if it really catches on I might eventually find others in my lane and cease to enjoy it. I suppose I may have a new evolution in my practice by the time that happens so maybe it doesn't matter. It's just such a special piece of gear to me that I kind of want it all to myself if that makes sense
It's got a steep price and learning curve, so I'm guessing it'll always be somewhat niche. On the flip side, if it stays at least somewhat popular, hopefully that incentives Akai to continue updating and supporting it.
@@GabeMillerMusic speaking of updates, am I the only Force user who is disappointed we didn't get probability with the MPC users?
No, thats weird
P
When your G. A. S. makes you stop buying hardware? ✋🚫
I haven't bought hardware because of GAS in ages, I mostly buy hardware to review on the channel. I've ended up enjoying the vast majority of it, because I definitely factor in what I'm interested in when deciding what to review, but I wouldn't have nearly as much gear as I do if I wasn't doing gear focused videos.
jamming is the death of music production, so therefore not interested. mpc´s cue list-like song mode is way better imo.
You can’t jam without music production
@@truechristianity74 bs. jamming is improv. music production is making songs. no improv at all.
Ever heard of Autechre? Or JS Bach?
@@l8sk8r86 jamming is for losers.