@@narfsounds That will greatly depend on the keygroup. They can vary in size greatly. I'm sure you'll find a balance. You are used to working within limitations. 😁
Akai needs to expand the capabilities of keygroups. Ie: Currently there’s no note-priority… so mono synth patches won’t play/articulate properly. If you hold down an A and then press a D above it for a hammer-on type effect, when you let go of the D, the A isn’t retriggered. Here’s hoping Akai is listening.
Sweet Francis! ,just bought 1. Having fun with it, love that I do not have to remove the whole bottom of the keyboard to install a SSD drive like on my Kronos.
Thanks for the video, was debating this question and glad someone put out a video answering it. My only thing is the memory/polyphony limitations and especially if you want to run sampes/loops while working with multi-sound patches/scenes can cause the machine to break. After much thought I decided to still purchase the MPC 61 and make it my studio keyboard, and when the stems feature comes out, I can use the MPC 61 to get the stems I need from songs and then take those files and samples over to my Fantom 06 for live gigs. Though I'll be missing the seamless integration/sync features of the MPC, I still want the reassurance that the keyboard can handle sample playback and produce it's synths at a high capacity.
Good Demo. You and Derrick Keels make really good tutorials. Akai? When are you gonna ship them the next product? LOL This Key 61 teaches me something new everyday thats easy to do and easy to get to without stopping my creativity to figure it out..
Nice question, nice way to get an answer. I am a pure VST live keyboard player and I found this instrument quite interesting. Future workstations MUST be more flexible. Like a computer to install and play different software simulations. If big names won't understand that, more and more live players will use a vst host (try GigPerformer) with many plugins. This machine try to innovate, it's deadly clever . But it's not the perfect solution yet, IMHO.
In my case I come from a pure VST and I loved the switch to real hardware for live performances... Is just less hassle. I don't have to check everything is working, PC, Software, midi connections, plugins, audio interface, etc etc etc. I just love the fast way to create new sounds and explore new ideas very quick
@@edrumsense Yeah exactly 👏👏👏👏 I have owned many Keyboards (Synth/Workstation/Arranger) and have played live through years.... A couple of time, I set up VSTi + DAW with my very high end laptop (32 GB Ram+Last Gen Intel processor of 2019, even with RTX 2060 Graphic card😂 and etc... for playing live.... it went well except one song 😢😭😅 When i was playing an 8 layared voices which I've made in a Sample Tank VST with my Arturia midi keyboard... I notice the sound dropping many notes 😧😫 and was sounding very weird... Anyhow I ended that particular song with that awful sound, then reset my laptop and reopend that vst with that 8 layared sound that I had made for that particular song , i was very very stressed out that any moment some problem like that woynd happen again 😓 Soft-Synths are absolutely great for Studios...
It's screen is 1st class amazing but how is this any better than just using a pedal and switching a set on the other keyboards with seamless transitions? It seems like it's got too much limitations and workarounds for this to be easy to use. Exciting to see what they do next because their OS and screen is simply the best right now.
This is exactly what I needed to know. I'm possibly looking at the Keys 37 as a super-portable option. I see it only has 2GB of ram, and I'm assuming that if you can have 12 sounds loaded with the 61's 4GB, then the 37 will do 6 sounds. That's enough for me. I'm also working on the assumption that I could midi up a weighted keyboard underneath it if needed and choose which of these sounds it'll play? Thanks for the useful content.
Now that's pushing it dude.While i'm a Akai dude all day long i wouldn't dare put this over a Korg Nautilus fuck that never ever the sound quality don't compare.Plus you can sample in it make beats just the same.Now if you save up for a mpc one after the korg then you;ll be on fire.
@@narfsoundsYou’re right but the Akai is supported more actively update wise . The question is , will the Nautilus still be the better board after the MOC update 3.0?
the sample packs you make for kronos would fit lovely in akai format...let me know when they available so I can load in my akai force! the 3 mentions keyboards are dead to me as a workstation. MPC live, 2, keys and force killed those relics
I never looked at an MPC until they introduced the Key 61, the MPCs were simply under my radar as a keyboardist, and was completely unaware of their capability. I was blown away by the fact that its sequencing and sampling functionality is exactly what I wished for the Kronos and the other boards. It's like the big 3 surrendered to the thinking that the only way to go is to use a computer loaded with a DAW. Yamaha and Roland have opted to hype their DAW integration over being standalone production boards. I think Akai's given the industry a wake-up call. The question is, how good is the Akai the other way around as a live keyboardist's instrument rather than a standalone production tool?
@@narfsounds i couldnt have said better words than the ones you used. I bought akai force last year and was screaming to all my synth friends that THIS was the future. I told them akai needed to put a keyboard body on it cuz that was it was...a true fkn workstation.....obviously they heard me!! i cant wait for you to fall in love with what they call "keygroups". i have my entire history of samples dating back to 1993 loaded on my akai force ssd. POWERFUL. akai force is basically about 80% same OS as the mpc keys. look into autosampler on mpc keys as well...hook a keyboard you wanna sample...touch a button...and it samples every fkn key automatically putting in the key assignments etc etc....plenty of vids on this... enjoy!!!
Thank you for the interesting Video :) I think it's a good key, but for now I think it's an additional keyboard for a kronos/montage/fantom not stand alone. But I'm very excited if you find a solution to use it stand alone !!!
How did you disable the sustain pedal in some of the tracks? I mad a piano and pad split for my right hand and a bass in the left. How do I disable the sustain pedal I’m the bass only?
thx for the vid.Could you make a small video on how you set up the mutegroups, keygroups, plugins? Im new mpc 61 user, and i just need to set mine up with mutegroups.
Unfortunately I'm at the verge of selling mine. I've got other keyboards that are purpose built for live-band gigs so to make this work the way I want involves a lot more work than necessary and just so much easier bringing my other keyboards. The next time I fire it up, I'll write down the steps.
Great video. I have a potentially quick question. I currently use my iPad as my sound source and a small midi controller. I also use my iPad as my guitar pedal. This works great but my iPad is starting to glitch out. So I am trying to figure out next step, do I upgrade iPad or do I go with something like the MPC Key 61 or Yamaha MODX6+ for a worship key rig and keep my iPad as my guitar rig? As far as keys, I play just a little piano and pads, nothing fancy, but would want to expand but can't with my current iPad.
Nice video! Do you know if track group mutes using pads can be combined with triggering samples from other pads? for example, I see you used the first 12 pads for trackgroups, could the last 4 pads be used to trigger samples?
You are my idol with this stuff, Brother! How has your work on this thing been coming, as far as programming and gig setups go? I just sent back a Fantom 6 because of the egregiously useless (wrist-breaking) implementation of aftertouch, and handling of polyphony! Then I went out and bought one of these things, in my continuing hope to somehow fill the gap left by my malfunctioning Kronos 2. I hate all the current flagships for various reasons, except for my Kurzweil K2700 (who's only problems are it's size and weight, as well as the overwhelming nature of VAST architecture). So I'm really hoping I can make this thing happen for my GB band work.I would totally buy in if you came up with some packs for this! I've always been able to launch pretty good off of your work.
The MPC can only hold so many samples and plugins at a time. I wanted to develop more sounds for it but they couldn’t all be loaded at once and would be impossible to switch between sounds quickly due to the load times. Since there’s no sample streaming like on the Kronos, even just auditioning sounds is quite time consuming.
@@narfsounds Why did Korg have to break their shit by abandoning the Kronos series?? The Nautilus is such an unacceptable step in the wrong direction. I can't understand what they're thinking. I fear there's not gonna be another machine with that combination of control, programmability, and sonic depth! I'm really pissed at them about this! I guess I'm just going to have to master VAST. Do you do anything with Kurzweil stuff?
great demo dude. one thing I would like to know is what's the maximum polyphony of this thing. There seems no mention on it on Akai's website but I'm sure they've set a limit on this right?
Hey! :) I have one question. You did only 3 videos with this synth. May I ask why? Im contemplating buying one, and I'm wondering if there are any major dealbreakers that You found.
I just no longer see it as a practical option for live gigs especially in a cover band context. The load times are a deal breaker and everything to make this work in a gigging scenario is a workaround to what its really made for. Its a great product, but I've got other keyboards that are actually made for what I want them to do.
@@narfsounds I hear you. I know a couple of people that bought the MPC 61 for the auto sampler, hence the question. I am not looking for a workstation nor a DAW replacement, but always for tools to create a plethora of different sounds and bring that both live and into the studio.
This is the exact video I’ve been looking for-thank you.
Subscribed.
Outstanding! I didn't even know about the track groups. I always loaded a bunch of sounds in but never grouped them together!
I spent the day searching for a solution. Now I need to figure out how many key groups will fit in a single project.
@@narfsounds That will greatly depend on the keygroup. They can vary in size greatly. I'm sure you'll find a balance. You are used to working within limitations. 😁
I already fell in love with the keygroups... Gonna start autosampling my Big Fantom today.
Akai needs to expand the capabilities of keygroups.
Ie: Currently there’s no note-priority… so mono synth patches won’t play/articulate properly.
If you hold down an A and then press a D above it for a hammer-on type effect, when you let go of the D, the A isn’t retriggered. Here’s hoping Akai is listening.
Sweet Francis! ,just bought 1. Having fun with it, love that I do not have to remove the whole bottom of the keyboard to install a SSD drive like on my Kronos.
Thanks for the video, was debating this question and glad someone put out a video answering it. My only thing is the memory/polyphony limitations and especially if you want to run sampes/loops while working with multi-sound patches/scenes can cause the machine to break. After much thought I decided to still purchase the MPC 61 and make it my studio keyboard, and when the stems feature comes out, I can use the MPC 61 to get the stems I need from songs and then take those files and samples over to my Fantom 06 for live gigs. Though I'll be missing the seamless integration/sync features of the MPC, I still want the reassurance that the keyboard can handle sample playback and produce it's synths at a high capacity.
Good Demo. You and Derrick Keels make really good tutorials. Akai? When are you gonna ship them the next product? LOL This Key 61 teaches me something new everyday thats easy to do and easy to get to without stopping my creativity to figure it out..
Nice question, nice way to get an answer. I am a pure VST live keyboard player and I found this instrument quite interesting. Future workstations MUST be more flexible. Like a computer to install and play different software simulations.
If big names won't understand that, more and more live players will use a vst host (try GigPerformer) with many plugins.
This machine try to innovate, it's deadly clever . But it's not the perfect solution yet, IMHO.
In my case I come from a pure VST and I loved the switch to real hardware for live performances... Is just less hassle. I don't have to check everything is working, PC, Software, midi connections, plugins, audio interface, etc etc etc. I just love the fast way to create new sounds and explore new ideas very quick
@@edrumsense Yeah exactly 👏👏👏👏
I have owned many Keyboards (Synth/Workstation/Arranger) and have played live through years....
A couple of time, I set up VSTi + DAW with my very high end laptop (32 GB Ram+Last Gen Intel processor of 2019, even with RTX 2060 Graphic card😂 and etc... for playing live....
it went well except one song 😢😭😅
When i was playing an 8 layared voices which I've made in a Sample Tank VST with my Arturia midi keyboard... I notice the sound dropping many notes 😧😫 and was sounding very weird...
Anyhow I ended that particular song with that awful sound, then reset my laptop and reopend that vst with that 8 layared sound that I had made for that particular song , i was very very stressed out that any moment some problem like that woynd happen again 😓
Soft-Synths are absolutely great for Studios...
It's screen is 1st class amazing but how is this any better than just using a pedal and switching a set on the other keyboards with seamless transitions? It seems like it's got too much limitations and workarounds for this to be easy to use. Exciting to see what they do next because their OS and screen is simply the best right now.
This is exactly what I needed to know. I'm possibly looking at the Keys 37 as a super-portable option. I see it only has 2GB of ram, and I'm assuming that if you can have 12 sounds loaded with the 61's 4GB, then the 37 will do 6 sounds. That's enough for me. I'm also working on the assumption that I could midi up a weighted keyboard underneath it if needed and choose which of these sounds it'll play? Thanks for the useful content.
Thanks! I’ve been looking for this since I bought it. Pz
oh ....forgot to mention...could just use a translater to convert your kronos packs to mpc format...assuming your packs are in wav format...
They're in the format of their respective boards but looks like I'll be using the auto sampling feature of the MPC to sort it out.
1. Can I do finger drumming at the same time on the pads as I do piano playing .
Nice playing. Was considering the Nautilus but this looks like a better bet .
Now that's pushing it dude.While i'm a Akai dude all day long i wouldn't dare put this over a Korg Nautilus fuck that never ever the sound quality don't compare.Plus you can sample in it make beats just the same.Now if you save up for a mpc one after the korg then you;ll be on fire.
For music production probably but the Nautilus is still the better board overall.
@@narfsoundsYou’re right but the Akai is supported more actively update wise . The question is , will the Nautilus still be the better board after the MOC update 3.0?
the sample packs you make for kronos would fit lovely in akai format...let me know when they available so I can load in my akai force!
the 3 mentions keyboards are dead to me as a workstation. MPC live, 2, keys and force killed those relics
I never looked at an MPC until they introduced the Key 61, the MPCs were simply under my radar as a keyboardist, and was completely unaware of their capability. I was blown away by the fact that its sequencing and sampling functionality is exactly what I wished for the Kronos and the other boards. It's like the big 3 surrendered to the thinking that the only way to go is to use a computer loaded with a DAW. Yamaha and Roland have opted to hype their DAW integration over being standalone production boards. I think Akai's given the industry a wake-up call. The question is, how good is the Akai the other way around as a live keyboardist's instrument rather than a standalone production tool?
@@narfsounds i couldnt have said better words than the ones you used. I bought akai force last year and was screaming to all my synth friends that THIS was the future. I told them akai needed to put a keyboard body on it cuz that was it was...a true fkn workstation.....obviously they heard me!!
i cant wait for you to fall in love with what they call "keygroups". i have my entire history of samples dating back to 1993 loaded on my akai force ssd. POWERFUL.
akai force is basically about 80% same OS as the mpc keys.
look into autosampler on mpc keys as well...hook a keyboard you wanna sample...touch a button...and it samples every fkn key automatically putting in the key assignments etc etc....plenty of vids on this...
enjoy!!!
Thank you for the interesting Video :) I think it's a good key, but for now I think it's an additional keyboard for a kronos/montage/fantom not stand alone. But I'm very excited if you find a solution to use it stand alone !!!
Very cool!
How do I add my own samples/instruments, etc? If there is a way to
Fantastic 🎹🎶👍
How did you disable the sustain pedal in some of the tracks? I mad a piano and pad split for my right hand and a bass in the left. How do I disable the sustain pedal
I’m the bass only?
thx for the vid.Could you make a small video on how you set up the mutegroups, keygroups, plugins? Im new mpc 61 user, and i just need to set mine up with mutegroups.
Unfortunately I'm at the verge of selling mine. I've got other keyboards that are purpose built for live-band gigs so to make this work the way I want involves a lot more work than necessary and just so much easier bringing my other keyboards. The next time I fire it up, I'll write down the steps.
Do you know how you would control the volumes quickly?
Especially if you have 3+ sounds at once?
Not yet, I’ve just had it for a few days, will continue to explore and hopefully discover a way to do so.
@@narfsounds Great!
I setup the QLinks for volume of each tracks. You can control 4 tracks at a time, but still one q-link knob = one track volume
Great video. I have a potentially quick question. I currently use my iPad as my sound source and a small midi controller. I also use my iPad as my guitar pedal. This works great but my iPad is starting to glitch out. So I am trying to figure out next step, do I upgrade iPad or do I go with something like the MPC Key 61 or Yamaha MODX6+ for a worship key rig and keep my iPad as my guitar rig? As far as keys, I play just a little piano and pads, nothing fancy, but would want to expand but can't with my current iPad.
It looks like the tracks are flickering on the screen when you play. that looks like it would get annoying real fast. Is there a way to turn it off?
I don’t think so… I should update this video. It’s not ideal for live band gigs. At least not for me.
Nice video! Do you know if track group mutes using pads can be combined with triggering samples from other pads? for example, I see you used the first 12 pads for trackgroups, could the last 4 pads be used to trigger samples?
You are my idol with this stuff, Brother! How has your work on this thing been coming, as far as programming and gig setups go? I just sent back a Fantom 6 because of the egregiously useless (wrist-breaking) implementation of aftertouch, and handling of polyphony! Then I went out and bought one of these things, in my continuing hope to somehow fill the gap left by my malfunctioning Kronos 2. I hate all the current flagships for various reasons, except for my Kurzweil K2700 (who's only problems are it's size and weight, as well as the overwhelming nature of VAST architecture). So I'm really hoping I can make this thing happen for my GB band work.I would totally buy in if you came up with some packs for this! I've always been able to launch pretty good off of your work.
The MPC can only hold so many samples and plugins at a time. I wanted to develop more sounds for it but they couldn’t all be loaded at once and would be impossible to switch between sounds quickly due to the load times. Since there’s no sample streaming like on the Kronos, even just auditioning sounds is quite time consuming.
@@narfsounds Why did Korg have to break their shit by abandoning the Kronos series?? The Nautilus is such an unacceptable step in the wrong direction. I can't understand what they're thinking. I fear there's not gonna be another machine with that combination of control, programmability, and sonic depth! I'm really pissed at them about this! I guess I'm just going to have to master VAST. Do you do anything with Kurzweil stuff?
great demo dude. one thing I would like to know is what's the maximum polyphony of this thing. There seems no mention on it on Akai's website but I'm sure they've set a limit on this right?
Seems that polyphony depends on the plug-in used. I’ll have to experiment with the key groups.
Awesome work mate very keen to try one of these instore … sonically would you say it’s on par with the big players (Kronos , Nord , modx etc?)
Sonically, it will probably compete with the mid-range workstations but not the flagships.
Hey! :) I have one question. You did only 3 videos with this synth. May I ask why? Im contemplating buying one, and I'm wondering if there are any major dealbreakers that You found.
I just no longer see it as a practical option for live gigs especially in a cover band context. The load times are a deal breaker and everything to make this work in a gigging scenario is a workaround to what its really made for. Its a great product, but I've got other keyboards that are actually made for what I want them to do.
Thanks Francis, will follow this closely.
Will you also install a drive in your Akai?
I will at some point. What it needs is more RAM and disk streaming.
@@narfsounds I hear you. I know a couple of people that bought the MPC 61 for the auto sampler, hence the question. I am not looking for a workstation nor a DAW replacement, but always for tools to create a plethora of different sounds and bring that both live and into the studio.
How’s the quality of the plug-ins on this keyboard to you? I’m listening through phone speakers and I can’t tell
how many tracks can be recorded and played simultaneously ??
That depends on the size of the plugins and keygroups. I managed to freeze the MPC Key when I turned on several of these layers and played.