A godsend! This is how ALL hardware tutorials needs to be produced. Assume the new user knows NOTHING and start there. I cannot thank you enough sir! Also REALLY like the time stamps so you can jump around. Outstanding!
I couldn’t have said better myself. This is an EXCELLENT tutorial. Most UA-cams aren’t really helpful in step by step tutorials because they assume the user has experience with this or that groovebox.
I’ve owned my force for about a month now and Been completely overwhelmed by doing exactly what you told me NOT to do at the start of this video just opening demos playing around with them and enjoying pressing buttons but not actually producing anything myself as I instantly got lost as I tried to record stuff. Ive watched this now three times and honestly this video is so important video to me and I can’t thank you enough for taking the time and effort in making it I really do feel like I have a good overview, you’ve explained it at exactly the pace that I need to understand, without jumping a step or assuming knowledge I don’t have - I also much appreciate the fact that you’ve chopped it up the way that you do so that I can go to different parts again thank you for that.
Hi! This sort of comment makes the time and effort to make videos worth it, thanks very much for leaving it. I’m really glad you found it helpful and I hope you enjoy making loads of music on the Force now! Thanks again, and all the best! 🙂
I still don't know how to use Reason properly and I've had it years and years. Then again I'm stuck in 8 bars and quit mode. Hopefully I can get to end of this video and learn how to use my force properly.
A godsend! This is how ALL hardware tutorials needs to be produced. Assume the new user knows NOTHING and start there. I cannot thank you enough sir! 😀
I dont have the force yet but seeing what tutorials are out there before i buy. In confident after watching this that ill be able to use the force properly. Thanks for the video, excellent work 👍
I'm sure I'll get a few chuckles with this comment, but I'm not really into the house, boom-blat type music that many would use gear like this for as I'm in my 60's, BUT would something like this work for other types of music such as smooth jazz? I've been playing drums for years so I've got the beat making part down and I'd love to play the saxophone, but for some reason I just can't get my arms, well lips around the whole mouth piece thing, so everything I try sounds like a pregnant whale. Anyway, back to my original question about this working with other styles of music? PS, I don't have a Force, but I really appreciate this tutorial you did as it wasn't rushed. I've watched a few others and it seems they talk about 100 miles and hour, but then again it might be just my aging ears and brain.
There’s no reason why not. The sample packs that ship with the Force will be of limited use as they are mostly made up of quite aggressive-sounding hip hop, but there are loads of places to get jazzy samples. The plug-in instruments can do decent electric pianos, strings, basses etc. I made the basis of the track below on the Force (I did finish it in Ableton, full transparency), it’s not jazz but it shows you can do acoustic / not overtly electronic stuff on the Force: open.spotify.com/track/3DTMVWkRrwSpZIMjnj2PqS?si=M-LEp8SlSh2ZHNnrSIwMWA
@@subiesojourner777 There aren’t any in the factory library, but Force is integrated with Splice, which has everything you could think of. One thing I’ll say though, if you are likely to be using lots of sample-based instruments, there really isn’t anything that comes close to Kontakt for that stuff. So it’s worth looking at Maschine / Native Instruments options before buying anything.
@@MaxipokMusic Thanks, I was able to snag one off eBay from a guy who bought it, never used it and it sat. I think the price was great at $800.00 and free shipping.
I don’t do dance music or hip hop on my MPC zone , which is a similar machine to this , made by the same company , I record my guitar and bass and banjo into it just fine to make the kind of sound I want to hear , the MPC one or the live might be more for you , I’m 52 and I don’t do sequenced music , like improvisation , but I like to make backing tracks and bring in different elements , I make soundtrack movie music type stuff , have a listen to my stuff on the MPC one and see if it’s for you
Mate - Akai should employ *you* to make vids. My Force is arriving today so I've been trying to bone up on it beforehand and I can tell you, yours is the best intro vid by far! The others are either too detailed ("This is the formula for the plastic in the buttons.") or too vague ("Simply switch into Mixolydian, 32nds on the arp and bob's yer uncle!") but yours is _perfect._ THANK YOU!
I went through the same process when I was learning it, that’s why I decided to start making tutorials! Glad I got the balance right, and enjoy your new Force! 🙂🙏
@@MaxipokMusic I'm getting there! It's a beast of a machine - I have an MPC so I'm just trying to get my head around the clips/tracks paradigm shift. :-)
This is probably the single best “how to use an Akai product” video on UA-cam. I hope Akai give you credit and maybe some free gear or something as you’ve been instrumental in me purchasing an Akai Force, and figuring out how to use it.
Hey, thank you that’s really nice feedback. I hope you are enjoying the Force! Have t had a call from Akai yet, I think my channel is a bit small for them to bother with 😀
Your keygroup disclaimer was on point. I think most here will have new machines and for myself the keygroup selection was a fail because there is nothing in the expansions folder You could have showed a work around and pretended you has a new machine as it was mighty peculiar for you not to since this is to help new users and all ...hey but its a great way to sell plugins yeah and so much so i had to see if you sold any yourself lol jk maybe just in jest but yeah I could not seem to get past this keygroup selection even though the drums were easy enough to assign giving me false hope all this was gonna be smooth... Let me ask you this how much do these add-ons cost on the general side of things and can I just create my own once I master this grounded vessel and the tide comes in so I am no longer grounded? ...Wait a minute this thing has wings?? This here ain't no boat!! Cheers
Fantastic tutorial! I just literally bought my Force last night - after MUCH research & watching many vids to be sure it met my needs (after returning the MPC Live II that I realized was not what I needed.) As many here have said, most videos assume SO much prior knowledge, and move way too fast for real beginners. I think this video alone will save me untold frustration as I get started with this machine I am already in love with! P.S. I'm a lifelong keyboard player who is determined to build my own backup band, lol!
Hey, thanks for the comment! I’m really glad you found it useful, to be honest I made the video because I was frustrated with the existing tutorials, so I’m glad it was helpful. I reckon Force is the perfect backup band in a box 🙂
Man…. Best tutorial on Force. Period. So many others gloss over the basics that are show stoppers for people like me with zero exp. I upgraded from an Electribe to the Force and have just been lost for over a year. I would just get frustrated and and not come back to it for weeks. I can’t believe how many things you explained in this video that made no sense to me and had me stumped until now. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this!!!
Hey! I’m really glad this helped you, Force’s learning curve is a bit steep for sure. I found it difficult at first which is why I made the video, so it’s great to hear it was useful for you. Thanks for watching! 🙂
Yep pretty much, except that the Force is a much better control surface than the Push 2, particularity for performance. There are some limitations, such as a finite amount of CPU and no 3rd party VSTs, but it is brilliant at controlling external gear so pairing it with something like an iPad does away with both, more or less.
I’m late to the party yet this info is timeless!!! Thankyou so much for taking the time and energy to share this info with us true inspiring and a lifesaver 😂💪🏾🔥♦️
This is not a simple tutorial; this is a masterpiece ! Thank you very much for this work ! It's great and perfectly usefull even for a non anglophone speaker like me ! -)
Wow. This is such a good video because it is so logically laid out and explained in detail. I would totally buy a course or support a Patreon to watch videos of how you use and construct songs using the Akai Force.
Thanks, I’m glad you found it useful! I’m actually working on some more structured ‘build a track’ tutorials so watch this space. I’ll post them here and you’ll have the option to download the project files to work along with the video via my Patreon 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic This is a nice offering! UA-cam for everyone in public, and who wants to go deeper has the option to support you, while the others don't miss crucial things. You are the hero of the Force :D
ALV! Hoy me llegó el FORCE que compré, acabo de ver todo este video y siento que aprendí lo necesario para empezar a sacarle jugo. Saludos desde Cholula, México.
Hi, no it doesn’t have a companion app. It does have an Ableton Live control mode, but that is very limited and not particularly useable in my experience.
@@MaxipokMusic oh wow ok well ima have to wait then because i don’t mind stand-alone but i prefer to look at my monitor when i’m working within a daw thx so much
Thank you very much for sharing!! I own the Force for almost 2 years, and every time i learn something new when looking to video's. your video is made very well!! I'm Dutch, and my English is not perfect, but the way you explain is very clear for me, thanks again for learning new things today!🥰🥰🥰
Hi Roy! I'm really happy you find the videos helpful, and I'm glad the language isn't too much of a problem too. I must look into creating proper subtitles. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, I hope you have a great new year making music on the Force!
This video is by far the most clear and nice to watch presentation about the Akai Force that I found on youtube (and I saw a lot :)). Thanks for your work!!! I will discover the Force more in details with your other videos but for now I'll keep watching this one few times to really manage the device and learn the workflow. Really, thanks a lot! Oh and by the way, the same kind of project about the MPC live 2 would be amazing ;) There is a lot more of MPC videos available on youtube than Force ones but it is never as clear as this one is... So who know?... If you could do a MPC live 2 version I think you would make a lot of people happy :)
This is possibly the best Force tutorial for beginners I have seen--and I've had Force since it first came out, so have watched quite a few in recent years. I'm still learning new tricks and tips and your video was a great refresher, even for someone familiar with this awesome machine. BTW, wonder if Akai will do any more updates beyond the very good 3.1?
Thanks Shane, that’s really nice feedback to hear, I appreciate it and I’m glad you found the video useful! I’m not in any of the firmware beta testing groups so don’t know if there is anything coming, but I reckon there will be, even if it’s just a few more plug-in instruments. I’d like to see some mastering-specific effects added too, even just a LUFS meter would be helpful!
Great video. The part about not using the internal drive is maybe one of the most crucial parts you need to know when starting. I've got mine since 2019 and with all the updates this is such an amazing device.
Great tutorial, your teaching style is excellent and very clear about why do you what you do. Something that is lacking in others tutorials. Well Done.
Great video! Thank you. I like others here have had a Force for awhile now and wasn't quite sure what I had gotten myself in to. With this video I am now significantly farther along in understanding this little beast then I was yesterday and excited to explore more.
Great stuff. I know MPC inside out so not expecting too much headache when my Force arrives but this awesome vid does clear up a few questions with regards to functionality and the Force seems to be everything i`ve been looking for and lacking in the MPC platform.
Thank you Sir, a great tutorial video and very informative. Saved me a heap of time wading through the full Force manual. Just one small point, not everyone may be happy or confident enough to install a SATA disk drive internally so I have found that it's important to use a USB 3 thumb drive or fast SD card if using either of these options especially with disk streaming turned on. Initially I made the mistake of using a USB 2 thumb drive for storage. My projects saved OK but I experienced some problems on playback. USB 2 thumb drives don't seem to be able to read some project data quick enough even if plugged into the Force's USB 3 slots. This may be obvious to some people but I just thought I'd point this out. Once again, thank you🙂
Great video. Dont suppose you, or anyone else knows if the Audio over USB/ 32 inputs thing can be done by connecting both the force and a compatible mixer to my PC via USB? Rather than the mixer being plugged straight into the Force? Thanks
I'm barely starting with the Force and tried following your step by step... but when I started trying to input beats or notes on the step sequencer, I noticed I can use all of the pads except the 3rd and 4rth "lines"... Whatever the instrument they just don't seemed to work. Even after a factory reset... I'm a little worried. Could it be a hardware issue ?
Thanks you.A few directions you give did not work out the way you descibed them..but I got around a different way.For example...When I perused the drum kit choices...turning the larger right hand dial gave me a soundbite example.But when I went to the synth choices I did not hear these soundbites...I had to load each one.What happened? How can I get these soundbites to play like the drum options?
How hard is it/ how much more would it cost for companies to always just add 2 analogue oscillators?? Even if digital affects are the only way to tweak there sound....
Had a force for a while but still learned some tricks from this vid thanks. Have a question though, is there any way to reduce the auto sampler time to less than 1 second ? It’s way to long for creating drum kit samples/programs 😕
Thankyou, massive help, you have also covered the little things that others miss out like how to actually edit/move notes in the clip editor, im sure I would of worked it out but I'm from a mind set of Dont push / touch buttons unless you know what they do, Again thankyou!
Amazing video mate. Had my force for a few months and as a (committed) newcomer to making electronic music I've found the Force quite complicated to get my head around. Most help videos out there require quite a bit of assumed prior knowledge which I don't have. This is the type of long form step-by-step help new users need.
Hi Sean, I’m really glad you found it useful. I was in the same boat to be honest, I started learning a couple of years ago and found there were gaps in the zero-prior-knowledge space, so I’m really happy to hear this has helped! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, I appreciate it 🙂
When the Akai Force came out I went straight to a music shop in order to test it and became quickly disappointed: On one hand because I missed some functions (but the recent firmware update changed everything). On the other hand I didn’t get the workflow as quickly as I thought to be able of. The more I see tutorials like this, the more I adore this beast. I‘m going to grab one next week. Great tutorial! Sharp and straight to the point. Thank you so much! Like and notification buttons are on!
Thanks for subscribing, I appreciate it! Yeah the recent firmware updates have really lifted it to another level, I really love the Force now. Have fun when you get yours next week! 🙂
I don't even own a Force (had the MC707 for a brief time, but did struggle with it) and your video is great! Especially since its very up-to-date. Might buy one as an addition to my DJ gear (Denon Prime), since it features Ableton Link! Maybe I can get a bit into hybrid stuff :D
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I had the 707 for a while, really loved the sound of it but the sequencer was very clunky I thought. It would be fun to use it as a sound module with the Force. Thanks for watching! 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic Exactly my thoughts! The ZenCore Synth is powerful, but the whole unit was rather cumbersome to control and understand. Even basic things like Arp (hidden) or Undo (missing), while the big screen of the Akai is especially helpful when you forgot specific shortcuts - you can still access most things via Menu or Touch. Also the split function (have clips in the GUI but notes/drums on the pads) is incredibly powerful. I got my Force now and I love it. Thanks again for your great video. You really covered all essential basics within 1hr, kudos for that!
Not really the best workflow , you started of simple and you got lost on tips and tricks and thus you lost your flow of doing a simple start for getting started. One Gramm of doingness is More . valuable than a ton of theory . I can imagine a lot of buyers are frustrated as I read in the comments. Great machine but the fun factor is not present .to complicated.
Damn I was in the market for my very first MPC and was set on the Live 2 until I watched this. Now I’m torn between the 2. This seems way more powerful and streamlined than the Live 2.
I’ve owned both and much prefer the Force. I find the clips / scenes workflow makes it easier to create full songs, and it’s better for performance too. And having the arranger mode is really powerful, I think Force is more flexible to be honest…
@@MaxipokMusic yeah that’s what I noticed watching a few of your videos. I come from a FL Studio and Studio One background so full song structure is key. Keep the dope content coming fam. Subbed!
Great video...easy to follow. I've just bought the Force...it's pretty overwhelming at first...but thanks to your video and others .... I am slowly getting there... Thanks again....you are doing a great job...!!! ONE LOVE one mother earth.. 🌍
Should you always normalize a sample you're about to chop up even if you got it from a sample pack? Is it worth normalizing every sample used in my project, even the ones I didn't chop?
8 days with the Force. Have been using many tips from this video. It's a great machine. I sometimes get lag when scrolling through synth presets while playing the track. Would an ssd solve this?
Not sure to be honest, I have an HDD in mine. I’ve noticed the lag when scrolling through presets but wouldn’t know if an ssd would help. Might be worth asking in one of the Facebook groups…
Very good and clear tutorial. I have a force coming tomorrow and so glad I came across this. Gonna start playing with trance packs and hopefully a microphone 🎤 for silly noise samples....THE WIFE..Subscribed to your channel as I will definitely will get stuck 🙂 Keep up the great work
Ok, so that's the tutorial I was waiting for. Many months my force was looking at me and I just couldn't pass the threshold of "I need to understand everything". So I didn't do anything at all with it. I've seen your video and in an hour I made a very simple but finished prototype for a bigger project. Thank you !
Thank you @@MaxipokMusic ! Right now, I am at my first stop: Do you know if it is possible to record crossfader assignation changes to the arranger ? I clicked every automation Write button I found but no way I could save those crossfader changes (you know, going From A to B and muting some tracks)
@@starflek I’ve used the crossfader to record track mute automation and it worked fine, not tried it using the a/b group method. As far as I know that should be possible, I’ll have a go and see if I can get it working at the weekend…
@@MaxipokMusic I found a way using macros and learnt a lot of things during this process. So that's what I have done thanks to your awesome little tutorial: ua-cam.com/video/GpoagfbycXg/v-deo.html Cheers :)
Great video! Just got my force and love it! Came from an MPC, so already know some of the semi advanced features stuff, but was lost on the basic navigation items that are totally different than MPC 🤣 thanks for such an in depth tutorial!
Just subbed your channel, im keen to get a Force, to run along side a Boss RC505, Strymon Big sky, strymon delay, and mixer etc for live looping , i was just wondering, does the Force have inbuilt sidechaining?
Thanks Jeffry, I’m really glad it was useful! I had the MPC Live for a while, really enjoyed it, but I find the Force’s clips and scenes workflow much better for making full tracks rather than just loops. I think it’s easier to perform on too, haven’t looked back since I got it!
great tutorial. Just got my Force Didn't bother to look at the manual just went straight to this. I will work my way through all of your tutorials before I start to work on my own stuff. Thank you Subscribed
I brought a New Force about 1yr ago, updated it then played around with the demo things and got overwhelmed with everything else. I then packed it all away back in its box and not used it since. I have been watching videos here on UA-cam over last year trying to build up my knowledge and gain courage to give it another go. I need to update it to latest version but want to expand the memory 1st. I'm un decided on weather to get an internal sata or get a SD card. yet again I'm overwhelmed but this time with what memory upgrade to go with. what would you recommend I go for? Also what size memory should I go for? I found your channel back when I was building up my knowledge and subscribed straight away. re watched this video yesterday and it motivated/inspired me to actually get the force out the back of cupboard and finally attempt to give it another go. Thanks sorry for long comment
Hi! I’ve got a 160gb sata in mine, it works fine and I doubt I will ever fill it up. That’s probably the best solution, especially if you are going to be streaming long samples from disk as they are a bit faster. Having said that, an SD card will work absolutely fine, I also keep one in my Force as I find it easier to export files to that and then take it out to transfer the tracks to my PC. Just quicker than going into computer mode etc. If you don’t want to spend a lot on an SSD at first, you can start out with an SD card and if you stick with the Force and decide to upgrade storage, you can just copy the SD card contents across. So there’s no wrong approach really, especially when you are just starting out. As long as you have somewhere to save your projects and samples, you will be good to go. Glad you’ve found the video helpful, and don’t worry, once a few of the key concepts click, Force stops feeling so overwhelming. Just takes a bit of time 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic Thank you so much for replying it's very much appreciated. Only a 160gb? There was me looking at samsung 1tb sata thinking will it be enough. Yes I agree a sd card will definitely be good to transfer from force to PC to transfer stuff. I'm now thinking I should get both, If I get a sata around 256 It will be way cheaper and with what I'm saving I can get a sdxc card. Yes I'm definitely going to stick with the Force and get to grips with it. I originally brought it as was looking at the Ableton push 2 to go with ableton then stumbled on the Force being compatible. After watching UA-cam videos and learning how the Force was a standalone unit I went and brought one. I'm still overwhelmed with ableton but been learning bits and pieces each time I play around on it. So should be the same with the Force, more I use it more I should learn. Expecially with great videos like yours. Thank you yet again 🙂
I’ve been trying to find out how to delete tracks for hours now, Google didn’t have an answer, 3 minutes in you solved my problem and now I also know there are hidden menus and shortcuts. Love my Force, happy I decided to go for it instead of an MPC but I hope they’ll make a Mk2 with the labeling sorted out (and hopefully a tilting screen).
Glad the video was helpful! Yep, I’m the same. Will never understand why Akai didn’t give Force the same screen as the MPC X, would make such a difference!
Hi there. It took about 3 hours to get through my first hour with you it was a fantastic help though and has me started now. This may be too advanced for me right now but I have a question please. On the Maschine mk3 there is the freeze and morph feature is there such a feature in the Force? I’m looking forward to going through your other tutorials as well, I particularly enjoyed the episode about playbox and look forward to being competent enough to deploy those techniques. Thanks so much.
Hi, I’m glad you found this useful! Force doesn’t have anything exactly like Maschine’s lock states, but you can sort of do a similar thing. If you create one track and get it sounding as you like, then duplicate it and make a load of processing changes to the second track, you can then map each one to a different side of the crossfader. This means you can instantly (or gradually) swap / morph between then two. It’s a bit like scenes on the Octatrack. Not quite as flexible as lock states, but in the same sort of ballpark.
actually this is first video with any explanation on pads for playing notes Thank you very much but could you go into pads how to change octaves shapes can you play pads like a keyboard but where is Middle c I paid over 1300 +tax for this thing had for 7 month and sitting gathering dust
I just don’t understand why you can’t simply arm a track , go into clip view of a clip on said track , press record , press play , and record. It’s mind boggling that you have to launch into overdub first before that can be done.
You can do that, when the sequencer is not running, if you hit record it will start flashing. Then launch the clip you want to record into and it’ll give you a pre-roll and then start right up recording.
Great vid, shame you didn't use that radio sample in the track though as it was so random, but would fit really well!! Massively enjoyed the style of vid though, been thinking about buying Force to replace some of my other gear, so currently just researching it to make sure it does what I need it to do. cheers
Great tutorial ! Thks for that as it’s even better than official Akai tutos. Although i’m not totally new to the Force, i learned few tips that will make my process faster. Looking forward next modules. 👍 !
Thanks, I’m glad it was useful! There are a few more advanced subjects covered in the Tutorials playlist, so hopefully you’ll find something of interest in there. Thanks for watching 🙂
How does the force handle long projects as in 1h+ livesets. Interested in getting one as a standalone device for performing. How doe the CPU hold up in this scenario?
Good and bad. It has disk streaming, so you can use an unlimited amount of samples / stems. But the built in synths don’t have program change for patches, and you can’t automate tempo changes. So it’s a mixed bag at the moment for long sets.
Really great tutorial, thanks. Just to clarify though, you can only ever play one scene at a time? So no matter what, you're only ever going to be able to use 8 tracks/instruments or samples at the same time? Thanks
Thanks! Nope, if you go over 8 tracks you can tab left and right to view them. You can have 8 audio tracks, 8 plug-in tracks, and theoretically 128 sample tracks playing simultaneously, although you would run into memory and cpu issues before you hit that limit.
Thank you very much for creating this tutorial! Looking forward to the advanced concepts/techniques video if that’s something you’re tackling down the road.
Thanks, I’m glad you found it useful. Planning some more videos at the moment actually, are there any subjects you’d like to see specifically? Cheers! 🙂
I have one last question before I go out and get myself a 2nd hand Force. Are the first force identical to the most recent force, ie: if I update the firmware on a first production run force, is it exactly the same as me going out and buying a brand new one on the latest firmware? Or are there mk2 force units?
Just open the box, turn it on for the-first time , very grateful but can’t play all the bass patch some will work other won’t, i did not put any sd card or ssd disk inside still waiting for it to arrive…anyone else
A godsend! This is how ALL hardware tutorials needs to be produced. Assume the new user knows NOTHING and start there. I cannot thank you enough sir! Also REALLY like the time stamps so you can jump around. Outstanding!
Thank you! I’m glad it was helpful, and thanks for watching! 🙂
I couldn’t have said better myself. This is an EXCELLENT tutorial. Most UA-cams aren’t really helpful in step by step tutorials because they assume the user has experience with this or that groovebox.
I’ve owned my force for about a month now and Been completely overwhelmed by doing exactly what you told me NOT to do at the start of this video just opening demos playing around with them and enjoying pressing buttons but not actually producing anything myself as I instantly got lost as I tried to record stuff.
Ive watched this now three times and honestly this video is so important video to me and I can’t thank you enough for taking the time and effort in making it I really do feel like I have a good overview, you’ve explained it at exactly the pace that I need to understand, without jumping a step or assuming knowledge I don’t have - I also much appreciate the fact that you’ve chopped it up the way that you do so that I can go to different parts again thank you for that.
Hi! This sort of comment makes the time and effort to make videos worth it, thanks very much for leaving it. I’m really glad you found it helpful and I hope you enjoy making loads of music on the Force now! Thanks again, and all the best! 🙂
I still don't know how to use Reason properly and I've had it years and years. Then again I'm stuck in 8 bars and quit mode. Hopefully I can get to end of this video and learn how to use my force properly.
Agreed. This has been a lifesaver
A godsend! This is how ALL hardware tutorials needs to be produced. Assume the new user knows NOTHING and start there. I cannot thank you enough sir! 😀
I wish I could give you more than one thumbs up... THANK YOU!
This is really a brilliant tutorial, thank you so much. Hoping to see the second hour soon ;)
Thank you! There will be more to come for sure 😃
I dont have the force yet but seeing what tutorials are out there before i buy. In confident after watching this that ill be able to use the force properly. Thanks for the video, excellent work 👍
This is one of the best tutorials I've ever seen. Thanks so much!
That’s really nice feedback to get, thank you! I’m glad you found it useful 🙂
And that’s coming from another of the best teachers on UA-cam!!
I'm sure I'll get a few chuckles with this comment, but I'm not really into the house, boom-blat type music that many would use gear like this for as I'm in my 60's, BUT would something like this work for other types of music such as smooth jazz? I've been playing drums for years so I've got the beat making part down and I'd love to play the saxophone, but for some reason I just can't get my arms, well lips around the whole mouth piece thing, so everything I try sounds like a pregnant whale. Anyway, back to my original question about this working with other styles of music? PS, I don't have a Force, but I really appreciate this tutorial you did as it wasn't rushed. I've watched a few others and it seems they talk about 100 miles and hour, but then again it might be just my aging ears and brain.
There’s no reason why not. The sample packs that ship with the Force will be of limited use as they are mostly made up of quite aggressive-sounding hip hop, but there are loads of places to get jazzy samples. The plug-in instruments can do decent electric pianos, strings, basses etc. I made the basis of the track below on the Force (I did finish it in Ableton, full transparency), it’s not jazz but it shows you can do acoustic / not overtly electronic stuff on the Force:
open.spotify.com/track/3DTMVWkRrwSpZIMjnj2PqS?si=M-LEp8SlSh2ZHNnrSIwMWA
@@MaxipokMusic Last question, are there any sax sounds in the libraries?
@@subiesojourner777 There aren’t any in the factory library, but Force is integrated with Splice, which has everything you could think of. One thing I’ll say though, if you are likely to be using lots of sample-based instruments, there really isn’t anything that comes close to Kontakt for that stuff. So it’s worth looking at Maschine / Native Instruments options before buying anything.
@@MaxipokMusic Thanks, I was able to snag one off eBay from a guy who bought it, never used it and it sat. I think the price was great at $800.00 and free shipping.
I don’t do dance music or hip hop on my MPC zone , which is a similar machine to this , made by the same company , I record my guitar and bass and banjo into it just fine to make the kind of sound I want to hear , the MPC one or the live might be more for you , I’m 52 and I don’t do sequenced music , like improvisation , but I like to make backing tracks and bring in different elements , I make soundtrack movie music type stuff , have a listen to my stuff on the MPC one and see if it’s for you
Mate - Akai should employ *you* to make vids. My Force is arriving today so I've been trying to bone up on it beforehand and I can tell you, yours is the best intro vid by far! The others are either too detailed ("This is the formula for the plastic in the buttons.") or too vague ("Simply switch into Mixolydian, 32nds on the arp and bob's yer uncle!") but yours is _perfect._ THANK YOU!
I went through the same process when I was learning it, that’s why I decided to start making tutorials! Glad I got the balance right, and enjoy your new Force! 🙂🙏
@@MaxipokMusic I'm getting there! It's a beast of a machine - I have an MPC so I'm just trying to get my head around the clips/tracks paradigm shift. :-)
This is probably the single best “how to use an Akai product” video on UA-cam. I hope Akai give you credit and maybe some free gear or something as you’ve been instrumental in me purchasing an Akai Force, and figuring out how to use it.
Hey, thank you that’s really nice feedback. I hope you are enjoying the Force! Have t had a call from Akai yet, I think my channel is a bit small for them to bother with 😀
Your keygroup disclaimer was on point. I think most here will have new machines and for myself the keygroup selection was a fail because there is nothing in the expansions folder You could have showed a work around and pretended you has a new machine as it was mighty peculiar for you not to since this is to help new users and all ...hey but its a great way to sell plugins yeah and so much so i had to see if you sold any yourself lol jk maybe just in jest but yeah I could not seem to get past this keygroup selection even though the drums were easy enough to assign giving me false hope all this was gonna be smooth... Let me ask you this how much do these add-ons cost on the general side of things and can I just create my own once I master this grounded vessel and the tide comes in so I am no longer grounded? ...Wait a minute this thing has wings?? This here ain't no boat!! Cheers
Fantastic tutorial! I just literally bought my Force last night - after MUCH research & watching many vids to be sure it met my needs (after returning the MPC Live II that I realized was not what I needed.) As many here have said, most videos assume SO much prior knowledge, and move way too fast for real beginners. I think this video alone will save me untold frustration as I get started with this machine I am already in love with! P.S. I'm a lifelong keyboard player who is determined to build my own backup band, lol!
Hey, thanks for the comment! I’m really glad you found it useful, to be honest I made the video because I was frustrated with the existing tutorials, so I’m glad it was helpful. I reckon Force is the perfect backup band in a box 🙂
Man…. Best tutorial on Force. Period. So many others gloss over the basics that are show stoppers for people like me with zero exp. I upgraded from an Electribe to the Force and have just been lost for over a year. I would just get frustrated and and not come back to it for weeks.
I can’t believe how many things you explained in this video that made no sense to me and had me stumped until now.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this!!!
Hey! I’m really glad this helped you, Force’s learning curve is a bit steep for sure. I found it difficult at first which is why I made the video, so it’s great to hear it was useful for you. Thanks for watching! 🙂
In it's most basic form, is this an Ableton Push 2 with built in sounds, and those you can add, minus needing a PC, or am I way off?
Yep pretty much, except that the Force is a much better control surface than the Push 2, particularity for performance. There are some limitations, such as a finite amount of CPU and no 3rd party VSTs, but it is brilliant at controlling external gear so pairing it with something like an iPad does away with both, more or less.
Tkank you ! Best Tutorial ever. Great Guy great Channel..subscribed😁👍
Thank you, that’s really nice feedback to see! Glad you found the video useful, and thanks for the sub 🙂🙏
Excellent video for beginners. Explained very clearly. Please consider continuing this series.
Thanks, I’m glad it was useful! There will be more coming so watch this space 🙂
I’m late to the party yet this info is timeless!!! Thankyou so much for taking the time and energy to share this info with us true inspiring and a lifesaver 😂💪🏾🔥♦️
Hi! No problem, I’m happy it was useful. Have fun exploring the Force and thanks for watching!
This is not a simple tutorial; this is a masterpiece ! Thank you very much for this work ! It's great and perfectly usefull even for a non anglophone speaker like me ! -)
I’m glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!
Wow. This is such a good video because it is so logically laid out and explained in detail. I would totally buy a course or support a Patreon to watch videos of how you use and construct songs using the Akai Force.
Thanks, I’m glad you found it useful! I’m actually working on some more structured ‘build a track’ tutorials so watch this space. I’ll post them here and you’ll have the option to download the project files to work along with the video via my Patreon 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic This is a nice offering! UA-cam for everyone in public, and who wants to go deeper has the option to support you, while the others don't miss crucial things. You are the hero of the Force :D
ALV! Hoy me llegó el FORCE que compré, acabo de ver todo este video y siento que aprendí lo necesario para empezar a sacarle jugo. Saludos desde Cholula, México.
Great content. This is the best tutorial for FORCE I've seen!
Great tutorial hey does the force have an app to use with the mac? Or pc? I know it’s a standalone but I also like using the daws
Hi, no it doesn’t have a companion app. It does have an Ableton Live control mode, but that is very limited and not particularly useable in my experience.
@@MaxipokMusic oh wow ok well ima have to wait then because i don’t mind stand-alone but i prefer to look at my monitor when i’m working within a daw thx so much
Best beginner tutorial so far, helped a lot, thank you so much!
Thank you very much for making this tutorial series. Appreciate it a lot.
Just received my akai force, can't wait to follow along with your tutorial!
Thank you very much for sharing!!
I own the Force for almost 2 years, and every time i learn something new when looking to video's.
your video is made very well!!
I'm Dutch, and my English is not perfect, but the way you explain is very clear for me, thanks again for learning new things today!🥰🥰🥰
Hi Roy! I'm really happy you find the videos helpful, and I'm glad the language isn't too much of a problem too. I must look into creating proper subtitles. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, I hope you have a great new year making music on the Force!
This video is by far the most clear and nice to watch presentation about the Akai Force that I found on youtube (and I saw a lot :)).
Thanks for your work!!!
I will discover the Force more in details with your other videos but for now I'll keep watching this one few times to really manage the device and learn the workflow.
Really, thanks a lot!
Oh and by the way, the same kind of project about the MPC live 2 would be amazing ;)
There is a lot more of MPC videos available on youtube than Force ones but it is never as clear as this one is... So who know?... If you could do a MPC live 2 version I think you would make a lot of people happy :)
Thanks, I’m glad the video helped you get started! I don’t have an MPC at the moment, but if I get one at some point I’ll make the video 🙂
Thanks for your video ! i am french and now i understand the workflow !!
This is possibly the best Force tutorial for beginners I have seen--and I've had Force since it first came out, so have watched quite a few in recent years. I'm still learning new tricks and tips and your video was a great refresher, even for someone familiar with this awesome machine. BTW, wonder if Akai will do any more updates beyond the very good 3.1?
Thanks Shane, that’s really nice feedback to hear, I appreciate it and I’m glad you found the video useful! I’m not in any of the firmware beta testing groups so don’t know if there is anything coming, but I reckon there will be, even if it’s just a few more plug-in instruments. I’d like to see some mastering-specific effects added too, even just a LUFS meter would be helpful!
Great video. The part about not using the internal drive is maybe one of the most crucial parts you need to know when starting. I've got mine since 2019 and with all the updates this is such an amazing device.
Thank you! Yep, it’s an amazing machine, I really love using it. Thanks very much for watching! 🙂
This is a really well put together tutorial mate. Youve a gift!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
Bravo très bien expliqué magnifique travail. Merci beaucoup. Muito obrigado
Excellent work non patronising and super clear thanks
Great tutorial, your teaching style is excellent and very clear about why do you what you do. Something that is lacking in others tutorials.
Well Done.
Thanks, I’m glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Great tutorial! This is my 2nd time trying the Force, wish i would have run across your tutorial the 1st time ...better late than never!
Thanks, I'm glad you found it helpful! Have fun re-exploring the Force :)
Had a force for a while, but have now returned to it. Lot of things I never knew. Great stuff, subscribed
Thanks David, I’m glad it was useful. Hope you are re-enjoying the Force! 🙂
Great video! Thank you. I like others here have had a Force for awhile now and wasn't quite sure what I had gotten myself in to. With this video I am now significantly farther along in understanding this little beast then I was yesterday and excited to explore more.
Hey! Awesome, I’m really glad you found it helpful. It’s an amazing machine for sure, I hope you enjoy exploring it! 🙂
Great stuff. I know MPC inside out so not expecting too much headache when my Force arrives but this awesome vid does clear up a few questions with regards to functionality and the Force seems to be everything i`ve been looking for and lacking in the MPC platform.
Thank you Sir, a great tutorial video and very informative. Saved me a heap of time wading through the full Force manual.
Just one small point, not everyone may be happy or confident enough to install a SATA disk drive internally so I have found that it's important to use a USB 3 thumb drive or fast SD card if using either of these options especially with disk streaming turned on. Initially I made the mistake of using a USB 2 thumb drive for storage. My projects saved OK but I experienced some problems on playback. USB 2 thumb drives don't seem to be able to read some project data quick enough even if plugged into the Force's USB 3 slots. This may be obvious to some people but I just thought I'd point this out.
Once again, thank you🙂
Aaaaand saved! Now off to sell a bunch of other gear to buy this. Thanks!
Hi, my main volume suddenly stopped working…is it a bug, known issue, is it fixable?
Thanks
Great video. Dont suppose you, or anyone else knows if the Audio over USB/ 32 inputs thing can be done by connecting both the force and a compatible mixer to my PC via USB? Rather than the mixer being plugged straight into the Force? Thanks
Great video demonstration very helpful. Thank you sooooo much ! More power and God bless.
I'm barely starting with the Force and tried following your step by step... but when I started trying to input beats or notes on the step sequencer, I noticed I can use all of the pads except the 3rd and 4rth "lines"... Whatever the instrument they just don't seemed to work. Even after a factory reset... I'm a little worried. Could it be a hardware issue ?
terrible tutorial.... thanks for the attempt, put it on 2x speed because this dude talks slower than anyone I've ever heard.
Thanks you.A few directions you give did not work out the way you descibed them..but I got around a different way.For example...When I perused the drum kit choices...turning the larger right hand dial gave me a soundbite example.But when I went to the synth choices I did not hear these soundbites...I had to load each one.What happened? How can I get these soundbites to play like the drum options?
How hard is it/ how much more would it cost for companies to always just add 2 analogue oscillators?? Even if digital affects are the only way to tweak there sound....
Had a force for a while but still learned some tricks from this vid thanks. Have a question though, is there any way to reduce the auto sampler time to less than 1 second ? It’s way to long for creating drum kit samples/programs 😕
Thankyou, massive help, you have also covered the little things that others miss out like how to actually edit/move notes in the clip editor, im sure I would of worked it out but I'm from a mind set of Dont push / touch buttons unless you know what they do, Again thankyou!
The best intro video on the Force that I have seen. (And I’ve watched a BUNCH of videos trying to pin down the basics.) Keep up the good work mate!
Thanks Thomas, that’s really good to hear. I’m glad you found it useful, and there are lots more Force videos on the way! 🙂
Amazing video mate. Had my force for a few months and as a (committed) newcomer to making electronic music I've found the Force quite complicated to get my head around. Most help videos out there require quite a bit of assumed prior knowledge which I don't have. This is the type of long form step-by-step help new users need.
Hi Sean, I’m really glad you found it useful. I was in the same boat to be honest, I started learning a couple of years ago and found there were gaps in the zero-prior-knowledge space, so I’m really happy to hear this has helped! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, I appreciate it 🙂
I agree 1000%
Fantastic. I was about to give up and sell the machine cause I never got started! Many thanks! 👍🙏
When the Akai Force came out I went straight to a music shop in order to test it and became quickly disappointed: On one hand because I missed some functions (but the recent firmware update changed everything). On the other hand I didn’t get the workflow as quickly as I thought to be able of. The more I see tutorials like this, the more I adore this beast. I‘m going to grab one next week.
Great tutorial! Sharp and straight to the point. Thank you so much! Like and notification buttons are on!
Thanks for subscribing, I appreciate it! Yeah the recent firmware updates have really lifted it to another level, I really love the Force now. Have fun when you get yours next week! 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic Thank you 🙂 I‘m looking forward to see more tutorials from you ✌️
I appreciate this video so much. Thank you.
Thanks so much!!!! Was VERY helpful!!!
Literally the first thing you showed took me forever to figure out, I was holding delete and clicking on the channel on the touchscreen. :)
Thank you so much for this video 🙏 my first question : how we can have some expansion in our machine ? (12:16 of your video) ! Thanks 😊
Basically getting out of working in the box then climbing right back in 🤔
I don't even own a Force (had the MC707 for a brief time, but did struggle with it) and your video is great! Especially since its very up-to-date. Might buy one as an addition to my DJ gear (Denon Prime), since it features Ableton Link! Maybe I can get a bit into hybrid stuff :D
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I had the 707 for a while, really loved the sound of it but the sequencer was very clunky I thought. It would be fun to use it as a sound module with the Force. Thanks for watching! 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic Exactly my thoughts! The ZenCore Synth is powerful, but the whole unit was rather cumbersome to control and understand. Even basic things like Arp (hidden) or Undo (missing), while the big screen of the Akai is especially helpful when you forgot specific shortcuts - you can still access most things via Menu or Touch. Also the split function (have clips in the GUI but notes/drums on the pads) is incredibly powerful. I got my Force now and I love it. Thanks again for your great video. You really covered all essential basics within 1hr, kudos for that!
Not really the best workflow , you started of simple and you got lost on tips and tricks and thus you lost your flow of doing a simple start for getting started. One Gramm of doingness is
More . valuable than a ton of theory . I can imagine a lot of buyers are frustrated as I read in the comments. Great machine but the fun factor is not present .to complicated.
Quality video. Thanks, really useful!
Thanks for making this Great Video Tutorial.
Thanks. I receive my Force tomorrow. This will help a lot!
I can't believe with all that there's no sequencer interface.
24 mins in when I choose option 1 and 4 different sounds come out but when I entered them across they worked.
Damn I was in the market for my very first MPC and was set on the Live 2 until I watched this. Now I’m torn between the 2. This seems way more powerful and streamlined than the Live 2.
I’ve owned both and much prefer the Force. I find the clips / scenes workflow makes it easier to create full songs, and it’s better for performance too. And having the arranger mode is really powerful, I think Force is more flexible to be honest…
@@MaxipokMusic yeah that’s what I noticed watching a few of your videos. I come from a FL Studio and Studio One background so full song structure is key. Keep the dope content coming fam. Subbed!
@@v3zMedia Will do, I’ve been working on some new videos this weekend! Thanks for the sub, I appreciate it 🙂🙏
Of all things I watched to try to learn how to use the Force, this video has single handedly been the best. Thank you so much for this tutorial.
That’s great, I’m really glad the video helped you! Thanks for leaving a comment, I appreciate it. And have fun with the Force 🙂🎹
Thanks so much for your hard work on this video my friend, it was very helpful!
No problem Alex, I’m really glad it was useful! 🙂
Not got one and probably never will have one but it's good to know I can learn the work flow
Merci beaucoup pour toutes ces vidéos qui sont très bien expliquées et très instructives. Merci d’avoir pris le temps c’est très utile
If you buy a force used - do you have to make a licence transfer?
Awesome lesson. I will now buy one😂😂 Keep then coming.
Great video...easy to follow.
I've just bought the Force...it's pretty overwhelming at first...but thanks to your video and others .... I am slowly getting there...
Thanks again....you are doing a great job...!!!
ONE LOVE one mother earth.. 🌍
No problem, I’m happy it was helpful. Enjoy making music on your Force! 🙂
Should you always normalize a sample you're about to chop up even if you got it from a sample pack? Is it worth normalizing every sample used in my project, even the ones I didn't chop?
I don’t think there’s a ‘right’ way. I only normalise samples if they are too quiet, if they already have a decent level I don’t bother!
that`s really very useful. thank you for this tutorial! now i know what to do with my new toy)
8 days with the Force. Have been using many tips from this video. It's a great machine. I sometimes get lag when scrolling through synth presets while playing the track. Would an ssd solve this?
Not sure to be honest, I have an HDD in mine. I’ve noticed the lag when scrolling through presets but wouldn’t know if an ssd would help. Might be worth asking in one of the Facebook groups…
Very good and clear tutorial. I have a force coming tomorrow and so glad I came across this. Gonna start playing with trance packs and hopefully a microphone 🎤 for silly noise samples....THE WIFE..Subscribed to your channel as I will definitely will get stuck 🙂 Keep up the great work
Thanks for the sub, have fun when your Force arrives!
Ok, so that's the tutorial I was waiting for. Many months my force was looking at me and I just couldn't pass the threshold of "I need to understand everything". So I didn't do anything at all with it.
I've seen your video and in an hour I made a very simple but finished prototype for a bigger project. Thank you !
Hey, that’s awesome! I’m really glad it helped you get going. Have fun with your further explorations 🙂
Thank you @@MaxipokMusic !
Right now, I am at my first stop: Do you know if it is possible to record crossfader assignation changes to the arranger ?
I clicked every automation Write button I found but no way I could save those crossfader changes (you know, going From A to B and muting some tracks)
@@starflek I’ve used the crossfader to record track mute automation and it worked fine, not tried it using the a/b group method. As far as I know that should be possible, I’ll have a go and see if I can get it working at the weekend…
@@MaxipokMusic OMG, that would be so cool fo you !
@@MaxipokMusic I found a way using macros and learnt a lot of things during this process.
So that's what I have done thanks to your awesome little tutorial: ua-cam.com/video/GpoagfbycXg/v-deo.html
Cheers :)
Great video! Just got my force and love it! Came from an MPC, so already know some of the semi advanced features stuff, but was lost on the basic navigation items that are totally different than MPC 🤣 thanks for such an in depth tutorial!
No problem, I’m glad it was helpful. Enjoy your new Force and welcome to the family!
Just subbed your channel, im keen to get a Force, to run along side a Boss RC505, Strymon Big sky, strymon delay, and mixer etc for live looping , i was just wondering, does the Force have inbuilt sidechaining?
Yes, it has a plug-in effect called mother ducker which lets you connect two or more channels and set a source > target for sidechaining.
@@MaxipokMusic brilliant thanks mate!
I wish I could give this 3.1 thumbs up. So good that it's the latest Force update! I have an MPC but now I'm getting talked into the Force instead.
Thanks Jeffry, I’m really glad it was useful! I had the MPC Live for a while, really enjoyed it, but I find the Force’s clips and scenes workflow much better for making full tracks rather than just loops. I think it’s easier to perform on too, haven’t looked back since I got it!
great tutorial. Just got my Force Didn't bother to look at the manual just went straight to this. I will work my way through all of your tutorials before I start to work on my own stuff. Thank you Subscribed
Hi, I’m glad it was useful, and thanks for the sub! Hope you are enjoying the Force so far 🙂
I brought a New Force about 1yr ago, updated it then played around with the demo things and got overwhelmed with everything else.
I then packed it all away back in its box and not used it since.
I have been watching videos here on UA-cam over last year trying to build up my knowledge and gain courage to give it another go.
I need to update it to latest version but want to expand the memory 1st.
I'm un decided on weather to get an internal sata or get a SD card.
yet again I'm overwhelmed but this time with what memory upgrade to go with.
what would you recommend I go for?
Also what size memory should I go for?
I found your channel back when I was building up my knowledge and subscribed straight away.
re watched this video yesterday and it motivated/inspired me to actually get the force out the back of cupboard and finally attempt to give it another go. Thanks
sorry for long comment
Hi! I’ve got a 160gb sata in mine, it works fine and I doubt I will ever fill it up. That’s probably the best solution, especially if you are going to be streaming long samples from disk as they are a bit faster. Having said that, an SD card will work absolutely fine, I also keep one in my Force as I find it easier to export files to that and then take it out to transfer the tracks to my PC. Just quicker than going into computer mode etc. If you don’t want to spend a lot on an SSD at first, you can start out with an SD card and if you stick with the Force and decide to upgrade storage, you can just copy the SD card contents across. So there’s no wrong approach really, especially when you are just starting out. As long as you have somewhere to save your projects and samples, you will be good to go. Glad you’ve found the video helpful, and don’t worry, once a few of the key concepts click, Force stops feeling so overwhelming. Just takes a bit of time 🙂
@@MaxipokMusic Thank you so much for replying it's very much appreciated.
Only a 160gb? There was me looking at samsung 1tb sata thinking will it be enough.
Yes I agree a sd card will definitely be good to transfer from force to PC to transfer stuff.
I'm now thinking I should get both,
If I get a sata around 256 It will be way cheaper and with what I'm saving I can get a sdxc card.
Yes I'm definitely going to stick with the Force and get to grips with it.
I originally brought it as was looking at the Ableton push 2 to go with ableton then stumbled on the Force being compatible. After watching UA-cam videos and learning how the Force was a standalone unit I went and brought one.
I'm still overwhelmed with ableton but been learning bits and pieces each time I play around on it.
So should be the same with the Force, more I use it more I should learn. Expecially with great videos like yours.
Thank you yet again 🙂
I’ve been trying to find out how to delete tracks for hours now, Google didn’t have an answer, 3 minutes in you solved my problem and now I also know there are hidden menus and shortcuts. Love my Force, happy I decided to go for it instead of an MPC but I hope they’ll make a Mk2 with the labeling sorted out (and hopefully a tilting screen).
Glad the video was helpful! Yep, I’m the same. Will never understand why Akai didn’t give Force the same screen as the MPC X, would make such a difference!
Incredible tutorial! Made me want a force so I could follow along.
Life saver ! Thanks very much
Hi there. It took about 3 hours to get through my first hour with you it was a fantastic help though and has me started now. This may be too advanced for me right now but I have a question please. On the Maschine mk3 there is the freeze and morph feature is there such a feature in the Force? I’m looking forward to going through your other tutorials as well, I particularly enjoyed the episode about playbox and look forward to being competent enough to deploy those techniques. Thanks so much.
Hi, I’m glad you found this useful! Force doesn’t have anything exactly like Maschine’s lock states, but you can sort of do a similar thing. If you create one track and get it sounding as you like, then duplicate it and make a load of processing changes to the second track, you can then map each one to a different side of the crossfader. This means you can instantly (or gradually) swap / morph between then two. It’s a bit like scenes on the Octatrack. Not quite as flexible as lock states, but in the same sort of ballpark.
actually this is first video with any explanation on pads for playing notes Thank you very much but could you go into pads how to change octaves shapes can you play pads like a keyboard but where is Middle c I paid over 1300 +tax for this thing had for 7 month and sitting gathering dust
Press the note button repeatedly to cycle through the different pad modes. The manual will explain what each of them does.
I just don’t understand why you can’t simply arm a track , go into clip view of a clip on said track , press record , press play , and record. It’s mind boggling that you have to launch into overdub first before that can be done.
You can do that, when the sequencer is not running, if you hit record it will start flashing. Then launch the clip you want to record into and it’ll give you a pre-roll and then start right up recording.
Great vid,
shame you didn't use that radio sample in the track though as it was so random, but would fit really well!!
Massively enjoyed the style of vid though, been thinking about buying Force to replace some of my other gear, so currently just researching it to make sure it does what I need it to do.
cheers
Thanks, I’m glad it was helpful!
ABSOLUTEly fantastic work & a favor to all the knuckle heads, like me. Thank you for creating & sharing. Keep on rockin’. 🎛🎚🎧👑🔊🎵💥
Thank you! I’m really glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching and happy new year! 🎧🙂
Great tutorial ! Thks for that as it’s even better than official Akai tutos. Although i’m not totally new to the Force, i learned few tips that will make my process faster. Looking forward next modules. 👍 !
Thanks, I’m glad it was useful! There are a few more advanced subjects covered in the Tutorials playlist, so hopefully you’ll find something of interest in there. Thanks for watching 🙂
Really really thank you so much for this video. Much needed. Well explained.
No problem, I’m glad it was helpful! 🙂
How does the force handle long projects as in 1h+ livesets. Interested in getting one as a standalone device for performing.
How doe the CPU hold up in this scenario?
Good and bad. It has disk streaming, so you can use an unlimited amount of samples / stems. But the built in synths don’t have program change for patches, and you can’t automate tempo changes. So it’s a mixed bag at the moment for long sets.
Really great tutorial, thanks. Just to clarify though, you can only ever play one scene at a time? So no matter what, you're only ever going to be able to use 8 tracks/instruments or samples at the same time? Thanks
Thanks! Nope, if you go over 8 tracks you can tab left and right to view them. You can have 8 audio tracks, 8 plug-in tracks, and theoretically 128 sample tracks playing simultaneously, although you would run into memory and cpu issues before you hit that limit.
Thank you very much for creating this tutorial! Looking forward to the advanced concepts/techniques video if that’s something you’re tackling down the road.
Thanks, I’m glad you found it useful. Planning some more videos at the moment actually, are there any subjects you’d like to see specifically? Cheers! 🙂
I have one last question before I go out and get myself a 2nd hand Force. Are the first force identical to the most recent force, ie: if I update the firmware on a first production run force, is it exactly the same as me going out and buying a brand new one on the latest firmware? Or are there mk2 force units?
They are all exactly the same as far as I know. There’s been no hint of a MK2 yet!
nice tutorial. Bummer there are no regular midi outs. Can you connect a usb-hub to the Force & use USB over midi for external synths?
Hi. Force does have a regular 5 pin midi out, and you can also connect via usb so plenty of external midi options.
This video is phenomenal for new force users. 👏
Thanks Sam, I’m glad you found it useful! 🙂
Just open the box, turn it on for the-first time , very grateful but can’t play all the bass patch some will work other won’t, i did not put any sd card or ssd disk inside still waiting for it to arrive…anyone else
Some of the bass patches are inaudible if you play them in the very lowest octave, so try hitting shift and octave + and see if that helps.