Great Video and breakdown! I know it's primarily for beat makers but any chance those of us coming from multi-genre workstation production (motif/fantom) we can get a sound demo of the acoustic sounds included to see if it can operate in that domain, i.e. acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, brass, woodwind beyond mellotron, solo strings, general saw, square, and sine synths, a clean demo of pianos and eps that focuses on dynamics and raw sound without customized effects just so we can get a since of the quality of sound if we're making other genres for instance.
Awesome love it! 🙂 Fun fact Akai used to be a stereo sound system plays 45's & 33 vinyl records with 4 speakers way before Dobly Surround and DTS Surround thank you!
It’s not just Andy it’s the keyboard I’m just an aspiring bedroom producer, but since I’ve had the MPC key 61 my son walked in my room the other day and thought I had found a new Kaminsky track. It was just me something I made in like 20 minutes. this is absolutely the best piece of gear to come out in my lifetime as far as being able to accomplish what you hear in your head faster than you’ve ever imagined!
I still remember selling my Akai MPC 60 back in the day and regretting it years later. To see where Akai has come in that time and with the introduction of this product is truly exciting. I've always felt that what made the Akai MPC's special was there sense of tactile experience and allowing you to be separated from a computer system for writing and producing. 👊❤
I’m very intrigued! Love consolidating a interface, looper, midi editor, automation, effects, mixer, drum pads, and intuitive sampling, all in one device. It really looks like it has full production ideas in mind. It looks so fun!
I have a Live 2 and still I bought this & last night as I was playing around with it for the 1st time I cannot convey how amazing this new MPC is 🔥🔥🔥 Great job Akai
@@boingboinglad2140 Usually I don't feel the trolls but hey since I have a free minute.. I like the workflow of the Key & will travel with the Live 2 since it has a built in speaker & can be powered by the internal battery.
@@EulogyfortheAngels you would be very surprised lol but you can ask that question to some of these fake youtubers who owns more than 3 akai standalone products just to end up making the worst beat you ever heard.
@@smokey5100 how exactly am trolling again? i was asking a legit question..lol i doubt youre in a position where youre constantly traveling and always have to take your mpc live 2 everywhere. And no akai didnt do a "great job" i bought this keyboard and returned it back the next day. This keyboard is just a gimmick just to sell new plugins that i can easily just use with a midi keyboard and a macbook pro. Last good modern akai product is the mpc one and mpc ren.
I bought it 18 months ago and they have just released version 3 software. It is without doubt one of the BEST pieces of music technology I have ever bought.
Is it just me? Are you Andy make this look so easy. Even for produces who don’t play the piano and he can sell this keyboard to a person that’s allergic to peanuts.. Andy you are absolutely a genius, my brother. I’ve watched so many videos with you introducing this amazing Akai 61 key. I was talking to my mentor over the phone a few days ago and I was showing him how easy it is to operate. We might I add I just receive mine personal Akai MPC 61 key and I have to say he was impressed with me. You guys are doing an awesome job. Keep up the fantastic work. Producer Donte909
Hey Andy, was wondering if you could do a video of the keyboard focusing on how it'll work during live gigs, like splits, layers, seamless transitions of sounds and performance etc.
Great video as always, however key points for people out there: 1 - The MPC 61 has NO Kensington Lock to keep it safe. 2 - It can only record 5 minute audio files, which is restrictive depending on the genre of music you sing. And 3 - The work flow is still the same as the MPC X , which is mind boggling over complicated.
This is truly incredible, the only thing that is holding me back as a keyboard player that records music in sequence is that this keyboard is only 61 keys, i have a 76 and an 88 key synthesizer. I went to go see it in person at guitar center and thought it looked nice, it felt like a downgrade due to its small size. I would love to see a 76 Key MPC, i would them buy one for sure.
This could have been the true workstation killer but sadly its not.we are in 2022 and you telling me we still have sounds cutting off. I have two Mpc.I am a keyboard player and would love to take this live but when you need sounds on the fly without cutting off that's a deal breaker for a lot of us musicians.You need to fix this before I can even consider buying this for live use.The sounds are great but you half bake it when it comes to us live players.You need a live performance mode to browse and don't cut off.i love this innovation but you need to fix this if you need to compete with the big kings korg Yamaha e.c.t
Another awesome review! also just wanted to say Jack you absolutely killed it at the Andy Timmons gig we saw you guys on Saturday night pure awesomeness
Yeaaaah, this is NOT a workstation Killer. Having tested this out, i already noticed tons of flaws that shouldn't exist in this. 1. Zero Seamless Transition 2. Learning Curve On The Interface 3. Keybed Is A bit Sticky. 4. EPs are very generic sounding right out. 5. MOST of the internal sounds LOAD pretty long before you can USE the sound (Huge Turn Off For Me). It really runs like a VST inside a Hardware body. 6. If you try to use use the sounds to fast when loading it will FREEZE on you and malfunction with a very loud sound like a VST will do sometimes. This is great for Live performances for SURE as far as Key Pads & Building tracks! Probably one of the BEST ever put out. But owning several workstations from Korg, Yamaha & Roland (those for ME are still better in terms of workflow & overall quality.) So dont fall for the hype, test this out for yourself before just buying it and being disappointed from the cons thats not addressed here. See if its for YOU and YOUR workflow. Its great in what its great at, but again doesn't have the particular elements i would expect a workstation to have. Still a great piece of hardware tho, congrats to Akai!
Literally just bought a fantom 06, and saw this! I'm not a keyboard player at all, but bought it to integrate in the studio, this might be what I'll be purchasing here soon
Nice interface on the Fantom but you can buy an older Roland and get pretty much the same sounds. They recycle stuff way too much for my liking. When I demoed the new Fantom I wasn't sure if I was listening to something new or my 15 year old Juno.
@@davdroneflights9207 do you read reviews from users? It’s literally the biggest complaint rover the last 15 years. Even Roland have publicly acknowledged it because it was such a loud cry from users. I’m not making anything up, it’s all there in black-and-white all over user reviews. You can also check forums and get the same answer from people on there, even on Roland’s forms.
@@davdroneflights9207 I think you may be a Roland Fan and in denial, Roland has been recycling sounds for many years. Not only has Roland had to defend its position on the matter, Mike Martin, a former sound programmer for Roland (Yamaha and Casio as well), has said that Roland rehashes the same samples on many of their keyboards, much more so than other companies like Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Nord. This is not rocket science nor a big secret, its a known fact.
Akai has nailed the workflow in this! 10:08 - When Jack disappeared here, I thought he'd got up to go and dance! lol (Realised later it must have been a re-shoot) 💙
jack & andy, enjoyable demo but youi haven't convinced me, I heard some awesome samples and 4 bar loops, but not the full production tracks that you promised! anybody can make 4 bar loops on any number of workstations & grooveboxes. the only difference here is that andy chose some fresh samples, well, at least for this style of music. fire up a kronos and you can compose and produce an entire orchestral arrangement. that's the power of a proper workstation.
hey woody, i think it's more geared towards rap/trap, house, soul, pop or edm production. that's what the mpc is known for and heard on hundreds of songs for more than 30 years. think of it as a mpc with integrated sounds and a keyboard attached. this thing will be absolute capable of making full blown productions, just as the old mpcs. however, i do think it's not well suited for film music or even live keyboard action with a band imo. everybodys needs are different, of course there will also be areas, where a fantom or a kronos make much more sense.
@@jeanbeezy the sequencer on its own, at the very least, is geared towards any musical style that is often structured in loops, this includes rock and country easily, as examples, just need the sounds for them, but forcing the user to have to sample the missing sounds will put some folks off
Fantastic instrument! How I wish they would make a 73 key version with nice e-piano style keys. The keyboard is the weakest part of the Key 61, the keys are shorter than full length.
My questions are- - Is there an effective preview mode for each patch that lets you hear the sound while it's loading in the background? - Will it install third party VSTs etc? - How seamless is the transition from taking a track that you're working on in this device, over to the MPC software? -Will it load songs and programs that were created in the MPC X? How about other MPCs? - How easy is it to bounce a track down, instrument by instrument, for importing into a DAW for mixing and recording?
I can answer a few of these. Preview mode while loading, no; Unknow about VST's (but this would be huge and my biggest selling point if it could), Seamless transition I found to be a bit clunky but I think its something that could be improved in an OS update. The others I don't know, sorry.
I like the keyboard but not the converters, and Andy is very powerful and talented, also i love the work flow, and its a very powerful cool looking Workstation i just bought one.
Every musician or small studio should have an MPC Key 61 in the room as the absolute first go-to board for taking an idea you thought about in your head and putting those thoughts down on a machine before you forget them. You can literally do it in seconds and the GUI makes it so because its so straightforward. Yes, youll probably end up recording the final versions with a Montage or Pa5X or Fantom or something with its better sound engines, but the Key 61 is the shortest path to never letting a great idea get lost. Its literally like the yellow notepad of your musical creation. And at its price point there is really nothing that compares to it. Roland, Yamaha, Korg all need to take page from Akai and develop much better GUI and workflows to make their high-end workstations and arrangers this easy to use. Multi-track sequencing should NOT need a PhD to use. You want to create music, not learn software. Akai makes it all intuitive like an Apple product.
I literally just ordered this a second ago from sweetwater just before clicking this vid, this sob rocks hard and confirms a great decision was made. Wife will kill me later but man this will inspire me big time to keep pushing while learning to play and will very well make me learn to drop keys down. I have the MPK mini and a crap M-Audio... the m-audio 61 will go straight to the trash after this new one is paid off
Just got mine 2 weeks ago and played a beat for my wife and before I knew it she was dancing to it. Surprised she didn’t get at me for getting it but she also realized that I take care of the home front before I by my gear.
At first I feel like why I am here but later after the first 2 minutes I loved it! Actually I was looking for a Fantom-0 but I think this is what I need!
I have the MPC KEY 61 and I LUV it!!!! So much fun... also have Studio One Pro, FL Studio, Maschine and they all have different workflows.. MPC Key 61 is a joy to use and the learning curve is easy..
I am pulling the trigger after so long, having separate keyboard, drum machine and sampler now all in one and the drum kits actually sound legitimately awesome 👌 2024 I can put away my junods again xr20 roland sp404a and gain back some floor space in my modest studio space!
It might get to the point though when the ARM quad core based OS Isn’t enough to reliably run everything. I’m new to MPC workflow (enjoying it), but that thought had crossed my mind already.
This! I mean, yeah, ok, for certain styles of music where it‘s mostly about samples the MPC is certainly powerful enough. But some software synths or big orchestral libraries can even challenge desktop CPUs. So I guess it really depends on the kind of style of music.
This looks cool! As a horn player, I wish the EWI line could receive these level of sounds & customization. It’s a niche product I’m sure for them but man I’d love to be able to edit sounds deeper & add my own samples!
16:45 "Where do we raise the bar next?" - Regarding built-in soundware, AKAI has nailed the "sound module" aesthetic with the Fabric series, and done some good vintage keyboards. I hope they go in the direction of a truly modular synthesizer architecture like Kurzweil's VAST - or at the very least a dedicated physical modeling engine, which is present on the Alesis Fusion and Korg Kronos/Nautilus but absent from most other workstations.
Still use my old Fantom X8, which has a excellent and intuitive 16 track sequencer driving a series of synths (Nord; Waldorf; Odyssey; Novation; Arturia etc) to create all my tracks/albums without any issue. This is a nice bit of kit, but nowhere near a workstation killer and I'd rather still invest in the latest Fantom (despite the price! 😕😭).
Sequencer in new Fantom is carp, pattern based rubbish. Your X sequencer is miles ahead plus audio tracks .....a better option might be MC707 as a sound module - same sounds. MC101 has the dounds but doesn't accept program change midi messages which is incredibly poor from Roland....707 does.
The only problem I would have using it live ...is the load and save times....if you could load while still playing this would be very cool for live situations
They have a "Performances" mode that lets you load up 8 individual tracks with different instruments, that way you have no change over time between sounds.
This has been an argument since the 80s when these samplers had barely enough ram for one song. In reality you should be able to get you’re entire show in one performance. Sadly they didn’t allow enough sequences for that with 20 songs but just 100 sequences
At 20:40 if you’re not impressed by this beat creation by Andy and not convinced that this keyboard is awesome enough then I don’t know what to say other than get at what fits in for you but for others this is a game changer!
Awesome product! I think those with gripes are missing the point of this. It's a workstation/synthesizer. I'm sure it has a built in mixer like all MPC's, and you control it via the qlinks so no need for faders if this is the case. If not, it's standalone so it's a logical assumption that hardware users have a mixer that they can connect to it.
The only thing that can kill this, is a license model like Roland has. If I buy a hardware synth I dont want a software license model. The MPC Live has been fantastic with all the updates included.
Yup. I think it's really cool, but I work on a 27 inch 4k monitor, and a hell of a lot more horsepower. BUT it's not always about the power - this keyboard is perfect for some end users.
@@budgetguitarist yeah for me it's about the power, but i kno mpc X, mpc live producers who would always have a midi keyboard on hand, this just makes life more easier for them now plus imagine if akai released a smaller version 😂
@@norjects7495 There are literally countless videos of professional producers using MPC products. That said, I agree that this seems like a thrown together piece of kit that’s a combination of things you would usually see set up separately. An “All in one” product of any kind is difficult to pull off.
@@ziggy149 record producers use musical instruments and audio gear to make their own original content. this kit is for clip arrangers who use pre-made audio.
@@ziggy149 you think sound design is narrow? that's a huge part of music production today buddy. and if you don't learn it, you're stuck using samples. if you want to take this music thing serious you'll see the value is producing your own original content.
Great presentation 👏, looking forward to the Akai force 6 keyboard 😀 👍. They will take time to work out the kinks. Category for sounds, saving presets, clip,scene launcher. Sounds great though
This new Akai MPC Key 61 is really amazing, great, there are no limitations in the creation, recording, editing, production,... you don't need anything else, neither computers, nor external instruments, just this wonderful keyboard!
You can create a whole song in one sequence if you want. I regularly create sequences with a total of more than 100 bars in length. Alternatively you can create separate sequences for each part and then join them in song mode later. MPC workflow involves a learning curve though and understanding their definitions of projects, sequences and tracks.
Great first run Akai. Welcome to the party. Fantom is still better overall but this REALLY helped the category with some good competition. Korg is in trouble. Yamaha is OK. Fantom is the leader in the category.
I would never use the synth/instrument sounds on this. Full size pads & 8 outs with 61 keys is all i need. So i'll just move with an MPC-X & my ASR-10 for now. An X Version of this with those features & I'd be all in. Still i understand why some heads might find everything they need with this. I just have different priorities i still make moves on my MPC-3000 & ASR-10 but an updated workstation that combines the features i use/need would be dope. MPC X 61 Key Sample Keyboard Workstation...sold!
indeed....it IS a workstation KILLER!!! I own the akai force...and it has be a religious experience. Ive been yelling for 3 years that force is a keyboard workstation on steroids!!! Thennnnnn...akai heard me and added the keys lol BRAVO AKAI....BRAVOOOOOO
Can you please do a video on OPx4, I purchased but am kinda lost...Signal Flow? What is the Shaper knob do? Is Op1 the only carrier and Op2,3,and 4 the modulators? what is the Matrix for?
awesome demo I need to get my hands on the studio module or this keyboard....btw I hope that vocal sample is not Lalah Hathaway....if so be prepared to cut the check LOL....seriously though great presentation and yes the work flow is so quick it kills off all the workstations I've worked with...Yamaha, Korg, Roland and especially Kurzweil!
It’s amazing, but slow to navigate between sounds as they load. Need more memory/faster SSD to make it seem less. Even if it costs more. Can you recommend a small mixer audio interface to increase the number of inputs?
Yes indeed a huge problem and consistent complaint. It also impacts smooth live transition as well. Right now its good as a home production unit but fails as a live option.
Hope you enjoyed our second video on the Akai MPC Key 61! Let us know in the comments what kind of videos you would like to see with the MPC Key! ❤️
Great Video and breakdown! I know it's primarily for beat makers but any chance those of us coming from multi-genre workstation production (motif/fantom) we can get a sound demo of the acoustic sounds included to see if it can operate in that domain, i.e. acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, brass, woodwind beyond mellotron, solo strings, general saw, square, and sine synths, a clean demo of pianos and eps that focuses on dynamics and raw sound without customized effects just so we can get a since of the quality of sound if we're making other genres for instance.
Think I need to sell the Nautilus I just purchased and get this. It seems so much easier to use.
Awesome love it! 🙂 Fun fact Akai used to be a stereo sound system plays 45's & 33 vinyl records with 4 speakers way before Dobly Surround and DTS Surround thank you!
@@MattyCrayon just add this to your Korg Nautilus it would be a deadly combination! Thank you!
@@armend316 good idea 👍
It’s not just Andy it’s the keyboard I’m just an aspiring bedroom producer, but since I’ve had the MPC key 61 my son walked in my room the other day and thought I had found a new Kaminsky track. It was just me something I made in like 20 minutes. this is absolutely the best piece of gear to come out in my lifetime as far as being able to accomplish what you hear in your head faster than you’ve ever imagined!
Fantom £3100. MPC 61
£1300.
@@dxutube absolutely played um all had um all love Roland sounds! We’ll not all but most.
Facts
Awesome machine!
Actually it was the asr 10 ... witness it's reincarnation!
Finally the MPC I've been waiting for....1990 -2022
I've said it before but I'll say it again, Andy is a freaking genius! I could watch his MPC videos all day.
Thank u bro for the kind words
He's my hero :)
I agree 100
He is very talented 👏 ❤️
It's rare to hear a demo this good and inspiring. Hats off to Akai for a great idea and Andy for a very convincing demo
He absolutely KILLED THIS DEMO!!!! WOW he is a beast and really did an Amazing Job!!!! Andy is THAT DUDE!!
If Akai releases this in GOLD, then game over.
I still remember selling my Akai MPC 60 back in the day and regretting it years later. To see where Akai has come in that time and with the introduction of this product is truly exciting. I've always felt that what made the Akai MPC's special was there sense of tactile experience and allowing you to be separated from a computer system for writing and producing. 👊❤
I regret selling my MPC Live to get an Akai Force.
@@johnnyparker2128i understand I had the force and I hated it.
Andy Mac=Automatic stop & watch! This guy and Akai are a winning duo all day! Ordering mine this week!
I’m very intrigued! Love consolidating a interface, looper, midi editor, automation, effects, mixer, drum pads, and intuitive sampling, all in one device. It really looks like it has full production ideas in mind. It looks so fun!
I have a Live 2 and still I bought this & last night as I was playing around with it for the 1st time I cannot convey how amazing this new MPC is 🔥🔥🔥 Great job Akai
why would you buy both lmao smh
@@boingboinglad2140 Usually I don't feel the trolls but hey since I have a free minute.. I like the workflow of the Key & will travel with the Live 2 since it has a built in speaker & can be powered by the internal battery.
@@boingboinglad2140 who in their right mind would connect both for more power/potential?
@@EulogyfortheAngels you would be very surprised lol but you can ask that question to some of these fake youtubers who owns more than 3 akai standalone products just to end up making the worst beat you ever heard.
@@smokey5100 how exactly am trolling again? i was asking a legit question..lol i doubt youre in a position where youre constantly traveling and always have to take your mpc live 2 everywhere. And no akai didnt do a "great job" i bought this keyboard and returned it back the next day. This keyboard is just a gimmick just to sell new plugins that i can easily just use with a midi keyboard and a macbook pro. Last good modern akai product is the mpc one and mpc ren.
This is one of the best overviews and demos I’ve seen from Akai and Andy C 🔥💪🏽🎹
Man, this is beastly! What an awesome machine - I can feel my debit card twitching 😂
"TWITCHING?" Mine is already slapping me in the face yelling "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING????!!!!"🤣🤣
I bought one before reaching the conclusion of the video
I'm next on the way toGC
I bought it 18 months ago and they have just released version 3 software. It is without doubt one of the BEST pieces of music technology I have ever bought.
Is it just me? Are you Andy make this look so easy. Even for produces who don’t play the piano and he can sell this keyboard to a person that’s allergic to peanuts.. Andy you are absolutely a genius, my brother. I’ve watched so many videos with you introducing this amazing Akai 61 key. I was talking to my mentor over the phone a few days ago and I was showing him how easy it is to operate. We might I add I just receive mine personal Akai MPC 61 key and I have to say he was impressed with me. You guys are doing an awesome job. Keep up the fantastic work.
Producer Donte909
Watching both of these videos made my decision easier. It's Akai all day for me.
Hey Andy, was wondering if you could do a video of the keyboard focusing on how it'll work during live gigs, like splits, layers, seamless transitions of sounds and performance etc.
Great video as always, however key points for people out there: 1 - The MPC 61 has NO Kensington Lock to keep it safe. 2 - It can only record 5 minute audio files, which is restrictive depending on the genre of music you sing. And 3 - The work flow is still the same as the MPC X , which is mind boggling over complicated.
I get mine in 3 weeks.. MAAAAAN I CANNOT WAIT!!
This is truly incredible, the only thing that is holding me back as a keyboard player that records music in sequence is that this keyboard is only 61 keys, i have a 76 and an 88 key synthesizer. I went to go see it in person at guitar center and thought it looked nice, it felt like a downgrade due to its small size. I would love to see a 76 Key MPC, i would them buy one for sure.
This could have been the true workstation killer but sadly its not.we are in 2022 and you telling me we still have sounds cutting off. I have two Mpc.I am a keyboard player and would love to take this live but when you need sounds on the fly without cutting off that's a deal breaker for a lot of us musicians.You need to fix this before I can even consider buying this for live use.The sounds are great but you half bake it when it comes to us live players.You need a live performance mode to browse and don't cut off.i love this innovation but you need to fix this if you need to compete with the big kings korg Yamaha e.c.t
Another awesome review! also just wanted to say Jack you absolutely killed it at the Andy Timmons gig we saw you guys on Saturday night pure awesomeness
Thanks for this. Always wondered why workstations did not cater to the new producers. This is a first step. A very good one.
Yeaaaah, this is NOT a workstation Killer. Having tested this out, i already noticed tons of flaws that shouldn't exist in this. 1. Zero Seamless Transition 2. Learning Curve On The Interface 3. Keybed Is A bit Sticky. 4. EPs are very generic sounding right out. 5. MOST of the internal sounds LOAD pretty long before you can USE the sound (Huge Turn Off For Me). It really runs like a VST inside a Hardware body. 6. If you try to use use the sounds to fast when loading it will FREEZE on you and malfunction with a very loud sound like a VST will do sometimes.
This is great for Live performances for SURE as far as Key Pads & Building tracks! Probably one of the BEST ever put out. But owning several workstations from Korg, Yamaha & Roland (those for ME are still better in terms of workflow & overall quality.)
So dont fall for the hype, test this out for yourself before just buying it and being disappointed from the cons thats not addressed here. See if its for YOU and YOUR workflow.
Its great in what its great at, but again doesn't have the particular elements i would expect a workstation to have.
Still a great piece of hardware tho, congrats to Akai!
You are on the POINT!
Literally just bought a fantom 06, and saw this! I'm not a keyboard player at all, but bought it to integrate in the studio, this might be what I'll be purchasing here soon
You can hear the sounds immediately on your fantom though . Not so on this (loading time )
Nice interface on the Fantom but you can buy an older Roland and get pretty much the same sounds. They recycle stuff way too much for my liking. When I demoed the new Fantom I wasn't sure if I was listening to something new or my 15 year old Juno.
@@jakesanchez3970Not true. But it seems to be what Roland haters always say. It’s like a royalty free stock saying.
@@davdroneflights9207 do you read reviews from users? It’s literally the biggest complaint rover the last 15 years. Even Roland have publicly acknowledged it because it was such a loud cry from users. I’m not making anything up, it’s all there in black-and-white all over user reviews. You can also check forums and get the same answer from people on there, even on Roland’s forms.
@@davdroneflights9207 I think you may be a Roland Fan and in denial, Roland has been recycling sounds for many years. Not only has Roland had to defend its position on the matter, Mike Martin, a former sound programmer for Roland (Yamaha and Casio as well), has said that Roland rehashes the same samples on many of their keyboards, much more so than other companies like Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil and Nord. This is not rocket science nor a big secret, its a known fact.
Akai has nailed the workflow in this! 10:08 - When Jack disappeared here, I thought he'd got up to go and dance! lol (Realised later it must have been a re-shoot) 💙
I've had my Key 61 since the first deliveries and I know I haven't even scratched the surface of what all it can do!!!
I'm hugely impressed with this. Great demos too.
jack & andy, enjoyable demo but youi haven't convinced me, I heard some awesome samples and 4 bar loops, but not the full production tracks that you promised! anybody can make 4 bar loops on any number of workstations & grooveboxes. the only difference here is that andy chose some fresh samples, well, at least for this style of music. fire up a kronos and you can compose and produce an entire orchestral arrangement. that's the power of a proper workstation.
hey woody, i think it's more geared towards rap/trap, house, soul, pop or edm production. that's what the mpc is known for and heard on hundreds of songs for more than 30 years. think of it as a mpc with integrated sounds and a keyboard attached. this thing will be absolute capable of making full blown productions, just as the old mpcs. however, i do think it's not well suited for film music or even live keyboard action with a band imo. everybodys needs are different, of course there will also be areas, where a fantom or a kronos make much more sense.
@@jeanbeezy the sequencer on its own, at the very least, is geared towards any musical style that is often structured in loops, this includes rock and country easily, as examples, just need the sounds for them, but forcing the user to have to sample the missing sounds will put some folks off
Fantastic instrument! How I wish they would make a 73 key version with nice e-piano style keys. The keyboard is the weakest part of the Key 61, the keys are shorter than full length.
Yes I can not get passed the short keys
Andy Mac is THE MAN to show off this amazing piece of technology. Love it love it love it
Andy killin it on them drum pads!
got mine, partly off the back of these two videos/Andy Mac's playing. This is one special device.
My questions are-
- Is there an effective preview mode for each patch that lets you hear the sound while it's loading in the background?
- Will it install third party VSTs etc?
- How seamless is the transition from taking a track that you're working on in this device, over to the MPC software?
-Will it load songs and programs that were created in the MPC X? How about other MPCs?
- How easy is it to bounce a track down, instrument by instrument, for importing into a DAW for mixing and recording?
I can answer a few of these. Preview mode while loading, no; Unknow about VST's (but this would be huge and my biggest selling point if it could), Seamless transition I found to be a bit clunky but I think its something that could be improved in an OS update. The others I don't know, sorry.
@@jakesanchez3970 Thanks Jake, I ended up picking one up and I absolutely love it! 🔥
He killed it with this beat 🔥
I like the keyboard but not the converters, and Andy is very powerful and talented, also i love the work flow, and its a very powerful cool looking Workstation i just bought one.
Every musician or small studio should have an MPC Key 61 in the room as the absolute first go-to board for taking an idea you thought about in your head and putting those thoughts down on a machine before you forget them. You can literally do it in seconds and the GUI makes it so because its so straightforward. Yes, youll probably end up recording the final versions with a Montage or Pa5X or Fantom or something with its better sound engines, but the Key 61 is the shortest path to never letting a great idea get lost. Its literally like the yellow notepad of your musical creation. And at its price point there is really nothing that compares to it. Roland, Yamaha, Korg all need to take page from Akai and develop much better GUI and workflows to make their high-end workstations and arrangers this easy to use. Multi-track sequencing should NOT need a PhD to use. You want to create music, not learn software. Akai makes it all intuitive like an Apple product.
I literally just ordered this a second ago from sweetwater just before clicking this vid, this sob rocks hard and confirms a great decision was made. Wife will kill me later but man this will inspire me big time to keep pushing while learning to play and will very well make me learn to drop keys down. I have the MPK mini and a crap M-Audio... the m-audio 61 will go straight to the trash after this new one is paid off
Just got mine 2 weeks ago and played a beat for my wife and before I knew it she was dancing to it. Surprised she didn’t get at me for getting it but she also realized that I take care of the home front before I by my gear.
"my wife will kill me" how about you take your balls out of your wife's handbag for once in your life?
All I can say is thank you for this. Pick up 7/1 from guitar center.
Holy shit i own a live 2 and i didnt even know you could automate the fabric plug ins. Thats crazy. Akai is looking to take over with the mpc key 61.
At first I feel like why I am here but later after the first 2 minutes I loved it!
Actually I was looking for a Fantom-0 but I think this is what I need!
Great demo! I can't see it for my music at least not using it as a DAW but the rest of it I could use.
Excellent song!!
I have the MPC KEY 61 and I LUV it!!!! So much fun... also have Studio One Pro, FL Studio, Maschine and they all have different workflows..
MPC Key 61 is a joy to use and the learning curve is easy..
I am pulling the trigger after so long, having separate keyboard, drum machine and sampler now all in one and the drum kits actually sound legitimately awesome 👌 2024 I can put away my junods again xr20 roland sp404a and gain back some floor space in my modest studio space!
Please please please make a 73 or 76 key version with even more RAM and orchestral sounds!
U clowned on that outro out of nowhere 😂 Great vid!
It might get to the point though when the ARM quad core based OS Isn’t enough to reliably run everything. I’m new to MPC workflow (enjoying it), but that thought had crossed my mind already.
This! I mean, yeah, ok, for certain styles of music where it‘s mostly about samples the MPC is certainly powerful enough. But some software synths or big orchestral libraries can even challenge desktop CPUs. So I guess it really depends on the kind of style of music.
The processors are more than capable of running Akai's own OS.
Try to browse the sounds.. you're already there.
@@dankeplace except it can't even do that smoothly.
@@davidfaustino4476 Because it cannot browse something smoothly, you think this is a processor issue?
LOL
After i saw this video with andy my first thought was that this is the best all in one device of all time. He i just a genius😊👍
This looks cool! As a horn player, I wish the EWI line could receive these level of sounds & customization. It’s a niche product I’m sure for them but man I’d love to be able to edit sounds deeper & add my own samples!
get a MPC LIVE 2 and plug your EWI in midi or even bluetooth midi. Battery power and speakers, create anywhere.
a huge killer workstation/synth.
16:45 "Where do we raise the bar next?" - Regarding built-in soundware, AKAI has nailed the "sound module" aesthetic with the Fabric series, and done some good vintage keyboards. I hope they go in the direction of a truly modular synthesizer architecture like Kurzweil's VAST - or at the very least a dedicated physical modeling engine, which is present on the Alesis Fusion and Korg Kronos/Nautilus but absent from most other workstations.
I will have one of these at every home and studio 🎙️ I have. One will definitely be right on the side of my Bed. 👨🏽💻🤷🏽♂️❤️🌎⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏆👑
Excellent demo
Still use my old Fantom X8, which has a excellent and intuitive 16 track sequencer driving a series of synths (Nord; Waldorf; Odyssey; Novation; Arturia etc) to create all my tracks/albums without any issue. This is a nice bit of kit, but nowhere near a workstation killer and I'd rather still invest in the latest Fantom (despite the price! 😕😭).
Sequencer in new Fantom is carp, pattern based rubbish. Your X sequencer is miles ahead plus audio tracks .....a better option might be MC707 as a sound module - same sounds. MC101 has the dounds but doesn't accept program change midi messages which is incredibly poor from Roland....707 does.
Loved The Very End Part... He GAT DOWN On It And Polished it OFF, I Was Cracking Up.😂😂..GREAT JOB You Guys.
What a duo! I am impressed but how easy it is to compose on this keyboard without a need of a computer.
Awesome.
If Akai brings out a rack-mount sampler, no keys, no pads, no sequencer, just a superb sound library, I’m in 😀👍
a sound library?...that's what the sampler is for
@@norjects7495 I have my own controllers, I don’t use the pads, and I’ll never stop using a daw for sequencing. I just want a hardware sampler.
This is a game changer
brilliant machine, looks like dreams come true.. and that’s coming from fantom 0, mc707 and rc505 mk2 Roland sheep🤗
sounds so much richer, fuller than the cheesy fantom 🎉
The only problem I would have using it live ...is the load and save times....if you could load while still playing this would be very cool for live situations
They have a "Performances" mode that lets you load up 8 individual tracks with different instruments, that way you have no change over time between sounds.
This has been an argument since the 80s when these samplers had barely enough ram for one song. In reality you should be able to get you’re entire show in one performance. Sadly they didn’t allow enough sequences for that with 20 songs but just 100 sequences
Lovin the stank face when Andy gets the groooove really cookin🥳
This seems like a very cool Keyboard!
T'is is the synth,nex week comes out a new synth, this is the synth ,next month, t'is is the synth.All commercial.
At 20:40 if you’re not impressed by this beat creation by Andy and not convinced that this keyboard is awesome enough then I don’t know what to say other than get at what fits in for you but for others this is a game changer!
Just got a job to save up for this and some other stuff to get a crazy set up
Jack’s in love……and so am I…………..not with this keyboard but with Jack…..well ok this keyboard as well 🥰. It’s indescribably good ♥️
One feature i would love this to have is speaker under the keys like the micro korg! That would make it prefect!
Awesome product! I think those with gripes are missing the point of this. It's a workstation/synthesizer. I'm sure it has a built in mixer like all MPC's, and you control it via the qlinks so no need for faders if this is the case. If not, it's standalone so it's a logical assumption that hardware users have a mixer that they can connect to it.
Genuine Hype. just staring at mine now in total disbelief at what happened when i touched it 😂
Andy fully booked several years ahead for functions 🍷
The only thing that can kill this, is a license model like Roland has. If I buy a hardware synth I dont want a software license model. The MPC Live has been fantastic with all the updates included.
Wait what?
I can now see a day when you will see a hybrid of the MPC Key and Kronos/Montage/Fantom.
Andy that dude! Just traded my X for the 61! No brainer
This wouldn't kill a computer coz those are way more powerful & have more storage, what it is, is sensable workstation for the Dawless folks
Yup. I think it's really cool, but I work on a 27 inch 4k monitor, and a hell of a lot more horsepower. BUT it's not always about the power - this keyboard is perfect for some end users.
@@budgetguitarist yeah for me it's about the power, but i kno mpc X, mpc live producers who would always have a midi keyboard on hand, this just makes life more easier for them now plus imagine if akai released a smaller version
😂
Just amazing what this device can do 😮
This is a Demo! Nice. The German AKAI Guys are so boring. Thanks! Greetings from Germany
This is sick! Great tool for the advanced producer.
it's for novice beatmakers tho....no record producer would touch this toy
@@norjects7495 There are literally countless videos of professional producers using MPC products. That said, I agree that this seems like a thrown together piece of kit that’s a combination of things you would usually see set up separately. An “All in one” product of any kind is difficult to pull off.
@@ziggy149 record producers use musical instruments and audio gear to make their own original content. this kit is for clip arrangers who use pre-made audio.
@@norjects7495 You’re view is incredibly narrow and limited. Have you listened to ANY hip-hop production?
@@ziggy149 you think sound design is narrow? that's a huge part of music production today buddy. and if you don't learn it, you're stuck using samples. if you want to take this music thing serious you'll see the value is producing your own original content.
Wow..That first track has nice 80s vibe 😄
I’m snatching one fasho
Great presentation 👏, looking forward to the Akai force 6 keyboard 😀 👍. They will take time to work out the kinks. Category for sounds, saving presets, clip,scene launcher. Sounds great though
Agreed, very cool keyboard
Akai force the best
Very good presentation! I know I’m gonna get one, I’m just trying to time myself!
This new Akai MPC Key 61 is really amazing, great, there are no limitations in the creation, recording, editing, production,... you don't need anything else, neither computers, nor external instruments, just this wonderful keyboard!
How do you go beyond a short loop? How to string together into a song: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro
You can create a whole song in one sequence if you want. I regularly create sequences with a total of more than 100 bars in length. Alternatively you can create separate sequences for each part and then join them in song mode later. MPC workflow involves a learning curve though and understanding their definitions of projects, sequences and tracks.
Great first run Akai. Welcome to the party. Fantom is still better overall but this REALLY helped the category with some good competition. Korg is in trouble. Yamaha is OK. Fantom is the leader in the category.
This is awesome and powerful, i need to get one of these
I would never use the synth/instrument sounds on this. Full size pads & 8 outs with 61 keys is all i need. So i'll just move with an MPC-X & my ASR-10 for now. An X Version of this with those features & I'd be all in. Still i understand why some heads might find everything they need with this. I just have different priorities i still make moves on my MPC-3000 & ASR-10 but an updated workstation that combines the features i use/need would be dope. MPC X 61 Key Sample Keyboard Workstation...sold!
indeed....it IS a workstation KILLER!!!
I own the akai force...and it has be a religious experience. Ive been yelling for 3 years that force is a keyboard workstation on steroids!!! Thennnnnn...akai heard me and added the keys lol
BRAVO AKAI....BRAVOOOOOO
all nice, but still missing tempo change/ BPM automation.
Damn andy went in 💯
Can you please do a video on OPx4, I purchased but am kinda lost...Signal Flow? What is the Shaper knob do? Is Op1 the only carrier and Op2,3,and 4 the modulators? what is the Matrix for?
Sounds fantastic; although that’s loop production, not song production. Great for sketching ideas.
awesome demo I need to get my hands on the studio module or this keyboard....btw I hope that vocal sample is not Lalah Hathaway....if so be prepared to cut the check LOL....seriously though great presentation and yes the work flow is so quick it kills off all the workstations I've worked with...Yamaha, Korg, Roland and especially Kurzweil!
I’m sold on it
Andy is RAW!
It’s amazing, but slow to navigate between sounds as they load. Need more memory/faster SSD to make it seem less. Even if it costs more. Can you recommend a small mixer audio interface to increase the number of inputs?
Yamaha MG10xu
Yes indeed a huge problem and consistent complaint. It also impacts smooth live transition as well. Right now its good as a home production unit but fails as a live option.
Anyone used this live? I am a little scared about the slow patch loading times in a live context
At 24:00 I wish you could assign chops to the keys for 61 possibilities..........
U can