Akai Force: The Ultimate Studio Device?

I show the making of a melodic dubstep track on the Akai Force and examine the user experience for full song production.
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[@GabeMillerMusic]

9:54 By "heard this melody", I mean I heard it in my head when I first heard the vocal. Also, the hair is temporary, I just thought it would be fun.

[@pdmidipd_patch7476]

I'm sure when you'll mess with macros enough , you'll understand the power of the Force ! PS. The hair look very nice , I like the tone :)

[@konstantinoskarentzos9967]

I own an MC 707 and AKAI Force. AKAI Force is a beast and I think that AKAI must continue the support for this machine and also bring us an updated version and this also applies for MC 707. MC 707 has such a wonderful workflow. Its like the developers thought deeply how to create all button combinations. MC 707 is a joy to work with, but its a little bit underpowered especially when it comes to samples.

[@synkuk]

This is EXACTLY what I do .. have everything hooked into it through a mixer and Midi box, works well with external and internal instruments.. tend to record into the mixer.

[@bigbadjojo4863]

i need to see someone use a midi foot controller with the force for guitar looping

[@BabyMoney216]

Channel is 🔥🔥🔥! Great work man....

[@vonantesberg]

First video I’ve watched in a while. What did you do to your hair? 😬

[@psider3239]

You are awesome mate! I have a major exam ahead of me and I just can’t focus on making music even if I have the time. Big ups from me and good luck on your exam!

[@Headsnack]

Thank you for the Time Stretch tip! So much more accurate!

[@avrilcadabra]

Nice one, almost made me feel like firing mine up but then I'd have to buy Jura.

[@Ast3rixMusic]

Cool to see other people just making music. There’s always this negative cloud floating around this device. It’s actually pretty good now after plentiful updates. I keep looking for new ways to make sounds with external gear and using it as my starting point. It’s not bad if you dedicate the time into getting to know it.

[@ikarugamoo]

Agreed - however seek out Maxipok Music & Tubedigga for more great Force content. Folk seem to hate a lot on Akai... on forums and YT comments, whereas there are many thousands getting on, using them, loving them and just using them to create.

[@jas_bataille]

There is a negative clout floating around every single damn thing those days.

[@Justin-td4bb]

I've heard more positive things about the force than any other comparable device. But maybe I'm missing something.

[@Ast3rixMusic]

@@Justin-td4bb Product had a bad start it was missing most of the things it does well today when released. Over the past 4-5 years now Akai has been dedicated to making it better than it was even originally advertised. Living up to the workstation in a box has been a hard road. They have been very good at correcting mistakes and making it what it is today. I can't wait to see where they take it in the future. The plugin additions were a surprise and they just keep getting better with every release.

[@TheLexikitty]

Love the hair 💕

[@dafonk7091]

I had octatrack, digitakt, mpc live, the force is the best for looping and programming rythm on the fly.

[@berry5959]

Hey Gabe, thx for the cool video! I am thinking about getting the force to get better routines in songwriting. i play guitar and want to record vocals as well. Do you think an Ipad M2 with a launch controller could be a similar experience? Eg. with logic pro for ipad? Or do you think the force as standalone is better to stay focused, structured and get into the flow after work? Thx

[@Rpalacios29623]

Bro your mind is uniquely sick and gifted. You are a GOAT

[@GoldPunks]

Agreed on fabric and jura! I scored the pack of fabric, piano, mellotron etc free, then immediately bought jura! Today, I am about to install my new air delay. Keep these videos coming!!

[@shetric]

Nice...a whole dubstep track in standalone!! (of course you had to prepare via DAW, but still...)

[@iqnill]

If you save clips from the Arranger using the Elastique mode, then the real time warp works much better. A silly workaround, not worth doing for many clips, but one, sometimes...

[@Noise-Conductor]

I'm gonna try that out. Thanks

[@ToyKeeper]

Great work as usual. Which firmware version are you using, with that effect recall bug?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Thanks! I'm on firmware 3.2.6

[@Distortic]

Love mine, and like with everything you have to work around its limitations. One thing you touch on is the baked in synths are quite weak. You can nail sweet spots and some of the effects in board are just miles above the attached effects to the plugins

[@DanielIvan707]

The Force is a beast!

[@TechTronix01]

definately go along with broken mind. It's what makes the tunes good lol

[@calebkortuem]

I figured this would be a good place to ask. What I love about the Novation Circuit is the ability to quickly build up custom chords using the step sequencer. Hold a step, push all the notes that you want there. Easy to input/change/experiment. Can the Force do this?

[@Distortic]

Yes, the sequencer has various modes, but the poly step sequencer is closest to what you ate used to

[@zenithjcoke]

What is the site you mention for the vocals? Seems like a great and fun approach to start with the vocals first and build around it.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

My bad, I forgot to link it. The site is Voclio: www.voclio.com

[@telumatramenti7250]

17:50 How astute LOL. That's why I generally don't use AKAI products for playing or recording live. Perhaps save something like MIDIMix. Although now that I think of it, even my old APC40 has ALSO suffered from odd glitches.

[@vergellim7361]

What synth you want to pair with?

[@WotanSkyFather]

I just bought a second one not too long ago. Wonder if Akai will ever do a Force 2?

[@matheuscamara84]

just hope they fix the version 1 first. enormous amounts of bugs and a veeeeery bad warp

[@ToyKeeper]

@@matheuscamara84The real-time warp is limited by hardware speed, but there's a good non-realtime one as noted quite prominently in the video.

[@matheuscamara84]

@@ToyKeeper yes but their software is bad so it manages resources in a not so much optimized way. And they market it saying that it is " MOST POWERFUL STANDALONE music production system for studio production and live performance", and its not true. so I expect just less bugs and at least a re-pitch style warp in the further firmware updates, because even a MacBook white w/ 2gb ram from 2010 can run re-pitch algo in Ableton in more than 8 Chanels.

[@ToyKeeper]

@@matheuscamara84It's running on a low-end embedded computer from 2014. I think it's doing pretty well.

[@pelvinsjamz]

Amazing 😎👍🔥

[@dankeplace]

The biggest draw back for me is, as I only ever intended to use this as a sequencer is: You cannot play the longest sequence till end before it changes to next selected track. This is such a powerful device, let down by some simple features that ever other, much cheaper sequencer has.

[@remyvegamedia]

No odd time signatures or signature changes 👎🏼 Bummer. If it had that and a handful of other simple things, I wouldn't have gotten rid of mine.

[@pdmidipd_patch7476]

Maybe check the "legato" clip mode

[@dankeplace]

@@pdmidipd_patch7476 I checked out a vid and it didn't explain what I need, so do you have anything I can read up on?

[@magdalubawska9662]

Akai Force or MPC?

[@DanielIvan707]

Force

[@unclemick-synths]

Great video 👍. It's a pity Akai haven't fixed the Force. As it stands I wouldn't buy one because Akai don't seem to be behind it any more as a product. That's a pity because I've been jamming with my MPC One with a Korg nanoKontrol and Roli Lightpad Block (gives 16 extra pads for triggering stuff) but that's not an ideal solution.

[@RobotSnake]

@@MisterM950just got an update

[@quinapio]

i dont understar why you dont like the 707, specially when you like so much the 101 and the akai force! the 707 is the perfect convination and also you got the mixer interface, this is really the magic with the 707, you produce the track (like you do in akai force or mpc) but then you bring it to life with the knobs, faders, MFX, scatter, beat repeat, and arp. Belive me dude, i think you still didnt unlock the full potencial of the 707

[@krazywabbit]

if we are having fun, not giving others grief for how they have fun, fly your broken brain flag proudly!

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Totally! I just want to be clear about the experience that a prospective user can expect. While I dig it, it's not for everyone

[@manuelgonzales6483]

🎉

[@synkuk]

cheeky question, been watching you for a while and wanted to ask .. what prompted the interesting hair and 'Tim Pool' hat ? ;)

[@figbash2]

Who was the vocalist?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Enlia! youtube.com/@Enliamusic?si=yB39Ig53oK8Kzp3L

[@matheuscamara84]

yes its great in the studio. not so great for longer live performances tough since akai warp sucks and it has a loooooot of bugs....

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I lean towards it being better for studio than for live, but I do still want to see if I can get a live set out of it that I'm happy with once I find the time

[@matheuscamara84]

@@GabeMillerMusic I did it for almost 2y. I'm from Brazil, and since Akai machines are very expensive here i bought mine for cheep price while touring in Europe w/ my electronic band (Teto Preto). used it since day one on stage and it was and still is an f. awesome instrument! I loved how quick I've learned this thing and was able to use it for synth lines and also to sequence drums so fast that even my tr8 got jealous. since my mb pro was very old I trusted the force to be the brain of all my setups for my solo live sets and also for all of the musical stuff I was involved in (I'm also a "gig musician" so I often happen to play "electronics" for other artists as well.) some time later I just realize I was losing so much time on trying to make things work on the force and also w/ some crashes during live performances I realize that it just is not worth to put all your hopes in a machine that has so many bugs and workarounds to do simple tasks.. but the main point to me to getting a new MacBook for touring is that if for some reason it breaks or I lose my internal drive I can easily buy a new machine and open my projects. With the force it's the opposite: it's sooo damn expensive and hard to find in my country :(. Don't get me wrong, I'm still using it live, im just not using it to be the brain of the setup. I leave longer samples and things that need to be warped in Ableton while having sequenced elements, effects for live instruments and some force native vst's instruments loaded in.. also the force controls Ableton's session view very well via ethernet so I'm kind of loving both worlds now :). It's great to not need to rely on just 1 machine and also it's great to have the convenience of a brand new laptop dedicated to live shows. Anyway, Sory for the long text, love your videos

[@The_artist_called_The_Engineer]

As usual I love the video. More production videos please. Yes I probably agree with the broken brain thing. However I view Engineering as a medical condition not a profession and yes I am an engineer 😀 And a question, I’m in the process of remixing my first song and this is the mix I’ve got so far. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYXSlXifl9-ke8Usi=NBOef33WAo5VRlfw It’s mostly mc101 with a bass guitar track and a guitar solo. My question is this what genre would you class it as? I have no idea except that it’s definitely leaning towards electronic dance…

[@fredrikw1447]

I love the force but still i lust for the push 3 what is wrong with me?😢

[@Jason75913]

GAS

[@johndough4338]

​@@Jason75913...lol...😂

[@gammakeraulophon]

Wow.. just WOW!!! You are generating such amazing 'new' forms of mundane derivative crap! How do you do it?

[@joep-jams]

Fine... a click bait title. I'll click on it!

[@Snozcumber]

Low t