AKAI Force

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#1053

Quick save: shift+c Is my new best friend

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#1054

Anyone done much transferring ALS files from Ableton on Force? How’s that going?

I assume that effects need re-applying, so wondering how easy that might be…?

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#1055

Sounds great. :slight_smile: yeah, I’m really just trying to build a live set with some flexibility, and stumble a bit here and there, but overall, for my usage, it’s been excellent so far. :slight_smile: will take you up on that!

#1056

I’ve been importing quite a few als files, but only for audio clips, with no effects applied - that’s been working flawlessly. I assume you need to apply any effects you have when importing though, unless you render them in live with effects before exporting, of course.

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#1057

Anything special work-flow rise, which makes it easier? Limiting to 8 columns maybe, for example?

#1058

Seeing as you can only have 8 audio tracks on the Force as per now, that’s a good idea, I think. Say you have Operator on one channel, you can’ import that into Force, for instance (but I do believe it can import some of the instruments in Live - Impulse, I believe?).

I also tend to make sure that all the clips I use have the same BPM as the project, and that they’re all set to the same amount of bars (I have mine set to 8 bars long). Then just remember to “collect all and save”, and you’re good to go. It’s really as easy as it seems in this video:

But this guy ran into a lot of trouble when trying to import native Ableton instruments and such, so be sure to check this one out as well, if you’re unsure on what works and what doesn’t.

I would say for me though, just importing audio clips, works a charm, and couldn’t be easier. :slight_smile:

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#1059

Is there a way to see the colors of the clips currently playing in a scene? I’d like to know which clips will be changing when I change scene, to do some volume fading and stuff like that when changing scenes, but when a scene is playing, the entire row is blinking green on the pads and white on the screen, so it’s hard to tell (unless I name every clip something).

Any way to do this?

#1060

Hold Edit, tap the Clip (the pad not the screen). Each clip can have its own color, or follow its track color.

#1061

Yes, thanks, I know that. :slight_smile: but you don’t actually get to see the color of the clip while it’s playing.

#1062

Good point. No idea.

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#1063

so can MPCs import force projects yet?

#1064

Don’t think so, but I’m hoping for a bit of a merge in functionality soon. I have an MPC Live, but not a Force.

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#1065

Finally got the iPad to send Bluetooth MIDI to the Force. The trick is to not set it up in AUM, but rather in the iOS Settings. Having fun will Rozeta, Thesys, Fugue, Autony, cykle. Still on 13.7, don’t know if iOS 14 will break it.

Someone might find this useful:

  • Think of the PLAY + STOP buttons in the upper-left as Master Clock Start/Stop.
  • Use the pads to start the individual clips/sequences + CLIP STOP + STOP ALL buttons at the bottom.
  • Use legato play and alternate clip-launch options for polymetric rhythms. (i.e. 0:1:24 is a 5-step sequence).
  • When pushing PLAY, the Arranger always runs, even if you’re not using it. So if you set your project default to, say 64 bars, then it’ll stop after 64 bars, even if you’re only using session view/clips. Also turn off looping in the Arranger.
  • Before recording your pad performance to the arranger, be sure to disable TC so MIDI is recorded correctly to the arranger. Also enable write automation so any clip automations are recorded to the arranger.
  • Automation in the Arranger isn’t copied when moving MIDI data around or copying it to a clip. Automation in clips/session view/step sequencer is.
2 Likes
#1066

Hi guys!
Did any of you manage to control from an external midi controller the new drum synth from the Force?

I am controlling any plug in from Force but not being able to control the Drum synth and I do t understand why… :frowning:

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#1067

DrumSynth:Multi - Pad 1(Kick)=MIDI Note#0, Pad 2(Snare)=1, and so on.

DrumSynth:Individual - MIDI Note#36 appears to coorespond to Pad 1, when root is C, octave=1. Kick, Snare, and Percussion machines can be chromatic.

Also, MIDI Monitor needs to be enabled for each track, or set to Auto when a track(s) is record-armed. It helps to enable Multi Rec Arm in settings.

#1068

No guarantee that this sees the light of day but it sure looks interesting :

P.S. I’m not sure it qualifies for another thread since it’s still an Akai Force ?

1 Like
#1069

man if they drop this before a force mini I’ll be peeved but otherwise if nothing else it’ll be an interesting pairing of workflows

#1070

Hopefully they add keyboard step-entry for the Step Sequencer like on the Elektrons. The space between the keyboard and the controls is rather large. And I hope the rear is higher than the front, since the Q-Link OLED text is tiny. Looks like the same 7" touchscreen? Maybe it’s tilt-able?

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What would a Force Mini look like? If all Akai did is remove half the pads, it’d only be ~2" less deep. It’s currently 13.8x15.3x2.85"; 8.53lbs. The 7" touchscreen is about the smallest I can handle for editing MIDI. Its pads could be square instead of rectangular, smaller buttons from the MPC One…

#1071

like a launchpad x with some knobs, I wouldn’t go any larger than the launchpad pro mk3…
I wouldn’t expect full functionality but as long as you could get the waveform displayed like on an Ableton push that would be good enough of a screen for me… the main thing would be getting the core workflow into a light and portable formfactor that you could take with you, keep composing/sketching on the go as opposed to dragging that behemoth the force around.

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#1072

This is really interesting. Big if true! I wonder if this would lead to more plugins being created for the Force products? If it’s going to be keyboard focused, you’d think they’d want to beef up the synth options.