When drum or audio clip tracks are focused, the Force will load samples directly to the selected pad or matrix clip. You can load samples into the background by selecting another type of track - e.g. by focusing a plugin or keygroup track, samples will just load to the project pool, and from there you can edit, chop and assign them.
There are probably other ways, but as you’ve discovered, the key is not to load samples when you have an existing drum kit (or audio clip) focused. If you start a new project with the default template, you can load a bunch of samples at the beginning with no problems. Halfway through a project, you do need to watch out…
Or when you press Load to go to the directory you want to load FROM
use finger or scroll wheel to select sample
Push and hold SHIFT
-see options at bottom of screen change, now “Load To Pool” is option
tap LOAD TO POOL
Now despite what type of track you’ve selected in Matrix or elsewhere you can load sample into machine / project and choose which track container will manipulate / playback said sample ( now loaded into sample pool ie “Flex/Static list if OT” ) later
This is the kind of feature I suspected might exist, but I couldn’t find it on the device (and quickly gave up trying to find it in the manual). Thanks!
One feature I would love is ‘Load to next layer’. Instead now you need to load to pool, then load it to a new layer.
Not a big deal, but it would be nice
Another Force feature question: is there an equivalent to the MPC’s Erase function / window for clips? Say if I want to remove pad 8 from section 2:0:0 to 3:3:0, or delete a similar chunk of automation without having to use the pencil? I use this a lot on the One, as it can be much faster than fiddling with the screen, but in the Force manual it only seems to be documented for the Arrange mode, not individual clips, and I haven’t been able to find it by poking and shifting around. But it feels like something that should be there…
With bits like this and the half-baked aftertouch, there’s an increasing case for keeping the One alongside the Force, though there’s so much redundancy there it still feels decadent…
Well, it’s the largely same as the erase function in the Force’s Arrange mode (tap Edit and then Erase). You can set an in and out point in the timeline, and choose what to erase. If you check out the Clip page you’ll find Erase is an option in the Arrange view, but not in Grid or Clip (they only have Clear, which simply wipes the lot).
It actually seems less useful on the Force, as you can only erase all events or specific automation lanes - you have finer control on the MPC. Still, it’s useful to know about for editing sections of a track, and would definitely be good to have added to clips as well as arrangements.
I hadn’t tries this yet, but I just set up my Force to sequence the A4 (via standard MIDI cables) and recorded the output to a clip (coming through my mixer). Playing the MIDI clip alongside the audio one there is a thick doubling effect as you might expect, but nothing more than I’d assume would result from this setup.
Here’s the clip view from the start of bar 2, zoomed in as far as it’ll go (the note started on the beat, of course):
Certainly with the A4, I’d say it seems fine. I expect that it’d be tighter if I sampled directly into the sampler based on the audio threshold, and as I’ve mentioned before my experience with sampling external gear running its own patterns is that I get better results sampling into the arrange view than into clips.
That’s recorded back into the Force - right? I’m thinking more in terms of playing audio loops/clips on the Force and also sending sequence note on/off data to an external synth. I’ll attempt to capture both in a DAW for comparison.
Yeah, it’s sequenced by the Force and sampled back in while playing. So what you’re looking at there is the maximum offset for the A4 (at least in my setup). That includes any delay from the audio coming back in from my mixer and the Force sampling the loop live, so if I was playing an internal Force loop alongside the sequenced A4 I’d expect it to be closer to the beat. I stuck a drum loop over the A4 sequence in this example and it sounded fine to me, but you might get different results from different gear - and I’d also add that this was a very simple setup on the Force, so the results might change for projects where a lot is going on…
Finally gave the Force a spin. Well, that’s not entirely true: I had one at launch and really didn’t gel with it. But after the (sort of) recent updates that emphasized performance features (and getting the crossfader working), I think the Force is pretty strong as a performance device. I still wish I could get more out of the internal synths—Hype is good, but tough for me to nail the sounds I want—but overall this is a really cool live performance box.
I’ve been spending some time exploring Hype - it’s a shame nobody has really documented it (as far as I’m aware). If you go right to the end of the preset list and use the init templates you start to get a feel for it as more than a simple macro/preset synth. The core of it is not unlike Plaits in many respects. The sample and wavetable modes are hampered by not having a list of the waves and tables (again, as far as I’m aware), and there are some odd features (like the wavetable sweep seeming to have a depth control but not a speed control). It’s also a shame the mix knob is currently wasted on the single mode models. But combined with the macros (and all the other Hype controls), there’s some serious potential there. It just needs a proper reference guide to bring it all to the surface.
Been eyeing this one as it seems like a perfect bridge between the benefits of ITB and the creativity of OTB.
Wondering; how does this play with the Digitakt? When even considering a change in setup; it has to play with the Digitakt
Finding a few jams, but more so wondering if they complement eachother or that youre basically adding extra steps.
They play really well together, you can sample stuff back and forth from them, have them run in parallel, sequence the force from the DT then record as midi or audio, sample clips from the DT into the Force. The sampler engine is different enough to justify both
Cool! Can you make the DT change patterns with clips on the force? never got that to work in Ableton.
Im considering trading my OT for a Force to go into a more hybrid workflow but my DT needs to have a clear SPOT
tnx
