AKAI MPD 226 Software Editor Explained

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Check MPD226 price on amazon.com: amzn.to/2oSj2Nn
What are the best drum machines for finger drumming? Here's a comprehensive guide: bit.ly/best_drum_machines
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Access the link below for the full-length, in-depth AKAI MPD226 review and test which goes far beyond what’s covered in this video:
bit.ly/MPD226_FullReview
The AKAI MPD226 is the mid-size pad controller of the AKAI MPD2 series. It comes with a sophisticated software editor which you can download from the website.
In this video I will give you an overview of the MPD226 software editor.
If you want to share your own views of and experience with the AKAI MPD226, please use the KZbin comments section below. Please also use the comments section for any questions regarding this video.
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[@ryanseazon]

Great in-depth review. This has convinced me that this is the right controller for me. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos!

[@esexef]

Nice and short but suitably in-depth review - very good!

[@seansvideo1]

Nice review - really helped me make my decision to purchase one of these.

[@filemakerpro4050]

Wow .... the first video on the MPD226 I’ve seen that’s not just good, but excellent and straightforwardly formal. I don’t know why so many people who use these things are so challenged in so many ways, but it might have to do with those who think they can use these things as a shortcut to song writing, which I agree is a real thing, but if you’ve never had to write a song from scratch solo or with other people without any technology higher than electric guitars, drum kits, and multitracking gear then you’re either missing some soul or I lost some by wasting years of my life writing and playing out about 100 songs from the best bits of live improving onto to actual tape with a couple of like minded musicians. Whatever works, I suppose - cheers to the MPC ! May we never have to collaborate with talented musicians ever again to make mediocre music. (Really, though - excellent video. About to pull the trigger on this or the MPK225 ... which one?)

[@nogoogleplus]

Great vid, thank you!

[@Herfortz]

Thanks my friend. Have a great weekend.

[@XpressPads]

+Herfortz Thanks, mate. You have a great weekend, too!

[@AveMcree]

does it works well with FL Studio? btw great videos dude

[@TommyVarekai]

How smooth are the faders? kinda a big factor for me personally for controlling expression and dynamic for string libraries. thanks!

[@CashFlowBeats]

How can I see my pads change colors when I use my MPD226 in FL STUDIO 12 while an beat is playing?

[@Mamiya]

I'm considering buying this!are there only 4 buttons for keystrokes? I want to map a ableton live's short cut key like "undo", but I want as many as possible.

[@hallermarcel]

Thanks, did not even know these software exists!

[@gugoronc]

what i do if my device dont make sounds? thanks

[@nubbs3249]

i cant find this software editor i just got the mpd226 help

[@trystenelkins9900]

Im having trouble. Ive been trying to downoad the big bang sonivox editors on my mac osx 10.6.8, and the installation page seems to get stuck on the set destination part, which wont allow me to choose anything. Any help would be much appreciated

[@1trey302]

how many tracks does it give you with mpc essentials

[@What_The_Hec_]

I have the program to adjust pad banks/ control banks, but I'm still not able to connect my mpd226 to MPC Essentials. Anyone know how to connect?

[@iitsniix]

Does this work with Logic Mainstage? Thanks

[@cadou_]

Hi! Excellent in-depth review of the software, this helped me get my head around my new 226. I know this is kind of a longshot, due to the age of the video, but I was wondering if anyone here could help out. All functions on the controller are working just fine, I'm having some difficutlies to get it to transport to Reaper, however that's not my main issue. I've changed the Auto Populate option to have all pads colored at once, however no mattter what preset I use, all Pads lost all light, it has a faint red light when pressed, however it is not what I set up for color, and the intensity of the light itself is not great, I don't know if this is more like a Internal Power issue, or if this could be resolved through the editor. Anyway, excellent video, any assistance will be greatly appreciated

[@mariofernandez6008]

Is it possible to function repeating note to 1/64, 1/128...?

[@nopperabo3183]

really really helpful

[@Paul18777]

noit isnt

[@wilkopiano]

Can the play stop rec transport controls be set and saved on the hardware to send cc midi custom value? Instead of mackie control or having to program the preassigned cc value in your daw software? I am using daw software that’s not changeable so have to be able to change hardware send cc value instead

[@keith3069]

Hi what’s gonna happen if I send preset to RAM?

[@mana_beast_beats1114]

Get a package of circular Yard Sale Stickers, get a School Hole Puncher. Take apart the unit, place ONE hole punched yard sale sticker per pad (shiny side of the plastic film), use Tweezers to get it on the film perfectly centered. Put the Pad Backplate Screws in, tighten all the way and THEN, dial back the screw by TWO quarter turns (1/4th of a full turn). Now to put the back plastic cover on, do the same thing. Tighten the screws all the way THEN dial back by TWO quarter turns. This should fix the ghost notes issue (this worked on my MPD218).

[@AnonymousMortalBorbo]

Thanks!

[@azc29103]

what can you do different on the MPD226 in comparison to the MPD218, and which would you say is better !!!

[@XpressPads]

+Arran Chander There isn't much that the MPD226 can do better than the MPD218. A few controls more, slightly different preset management. I like the MPD218 more because it offers more for the money and the CC knobs are enough. I don't need the faders and an LCD display. Maybe the pad sensitivity settings is another argrument for the MPD226, but as I have seen from other reviews and user complaints, the pad sensitivity is buggy... I prefer the MPD218 anyway. Cheers.

[@markbrueton1883]

Hi I just got this as a used unit from amazon I've tried to register it but I can't. Can you tell me how to load sounds on it 2 days now it's been doing my head in ..do I need the mpd essentials just to load a sound .. any help is very much appreciated.. thank you so much After much bullshit works perfect with FL STUDIO !!!

[@alexlawson6327]

i just got it December 19th 2015 but there's no tutorials

[@Urlauber]

Hi Andreas, Andreas hier :) Ich habe eine Frage zu dem Geraet. Ich moechte es in einem Live setting als drum machine verwenden, moechte aber nicht immer einen Laptop mitschleppen. Kann man auf dem Geraet drum banks speichern und die dann in live settings aufrufen ohne staendig einen Laptop verbunden zu haben? Vielen Dank :)

[@Brodie00Boardslide]

Where can i download this software editor? i can only get mpc essentials? cant find it anywhere

[@XpressPads]

You'll find it on the AKAI product site. There are some sub menus. One says downloads or documents or something like that. Cheers.

[@elijahg2009]

I see the FL20 mixer in the background... any advice on how to link the Play/Stop/Rec buttons on MPD226 to these functions in FL?

[@toku30]

Use internal mode. My controller just sync's straight to fl12 you may need to enable it in FL settings

[@shotsi673]

I just bought an MPD226 and it comes with an Ableton Live template and no real instructions on how or what this means compared to a full Live template. Is there a difference? I know you can make & save your own templates but being a new user it would be great if the instructions were kept up to date. Are there any Ableton Live templates out there?

[@jacquelinej1475]

Bo Reidler did you ever figure it out? I am in the some place. I got one but don't know how to start. If you can respond I would really appreciate it. Thank you :)

[@darkskinwhite]

hey man hopefully you figured it out lol you think you could help me out? i just got one myself and idc about ableton but i want to know how to access the software in this video that he uses to change all the pads at once and also how to use the stop play and record buttons on the mpd. mine dont do anything? i installed mpc essentails and have no idea how to use that either but thats fine, i use FL anyway. any help would be really appreciated, thanks man

[@ermmzmusic]

Was wondering if you guys figured it out?lol trying to learn better tips and tricks for producing or just playing a live set thank you in advance

[@djmortebeats]

I had an error with my mpd, some pads triggered themselves, i fixed it changing the threshold, without the software, just on the akai. In case someone gets the same error.

[@ForlaniMota]

Hey, how did you fix the threshold, is it a setting on the device? Thanks!

[@djmortebeats]

@@ForlaniMota yup in the menu options in the mpd, look for the threshold options

[@ProdOchoaSoLit]

can you put your own sounds in the buttons

[@XpressPads]

Yes, via the software you use with it. It's a generic midi controller without onboard sounds.

[@alexlawson6327]

hey do this work with mixcraft7

[@XpressPads]

+Alex Lawson Sorry, mate. Can't tell you because I don't use mixcraft.

[@thebigjuggalobowski]

I can't find this software on the website.... Does it still exist? My pad came with MPC Essentials, but not this.?

[@XpressPads]

You'll find the software on a sub-page of the MPD218 product page.

[@maniawolfpack1545]

what is the name of the software? I bought it but i don't know wich software is that! :O

[@XpressPads]

+Nelson Simãozinho That's the Editor Software that you can download from the MPD218 product website.

[@toku30]

@@XpressPads I cant find it today

[@ianwright7393]

I would get an akai mpd218 tomorrow if you could explain to me how to assign the same sound to two pads on the device. This is at the heart of the Expresspads setup and yet after watching hours of your videos i still don't know how to do it. The ssd 5.5 free software allows you to reassign any drum sound to any ONE key only on a midi keyboard, so i don;t see a way of assigning the same sound to multiple pads from within SSD 5.5. Do i have to start editing midi note values every time I decide to change kits within the drum software? Why are you avoiding this issue in your videos?

[@XpressPads]

Please check the free pdf layouts and mapping presets for different hardware on the XpressPads website. Hope this explains it. www.xpresspads.com/finger-drumming-presets-and-layouts/hardware-presets/

[@ianwright7393]

@@XpressPads I've tried clicking on the hardware presets but it won't open, just keeps asking me whether i want to open or save an .exe file. If I click open it just gives me the same prompt, if I click save keeps sendindg the .exe file to my downloads folder?

[@ianwright7393]

@@XpressPads What am I supposed to do with this.,mpd218 file. Am I supposed to open it in a specific program, because it asks me what program to open it, and the ext .mpd218 doesn't give me any clue? Also there are no instructions on the page. It doesn't appear to be a pdf, or it would have a pdf extension.

[@XpressPads]

Hi Ian, the presets for the MPD218 aren't .exe files, but .mpd218 ... just to reconfirm, here's the direct link to the presets on my website: www.xpresspads.com/finger-drumming-presets-and-layouts/hardware-presets/hardware-presets-for-akai-mpd218/ Try right-clicking and "save as" on your computer. Once done, those files need to be loaded into the MPD218 Editor software, which you will find as a free download on the AKAI MPD218 product page on www.akaipro.com. The user manual will teach you how to load presets if my video about the MPD218 Editor isn't enough help on that topic.

[@MisterLosam]

Does it work goodly in fl studio?

[@XpressPads]

+itsMajorazz [PS3] Yes, it works well with FL-Studio

[@MisterLosam]

+XpressPads Finger Drumming thank you

[@darkskinwhite]

@@MisterLosam hey man hopefully you figured it out lol you think you could help me out? i just got one myself and idc about ableton but i want to know how to access the software in this video that he uses to change all the pads at once and also how to use the stop play and record buttons on the mpd. mine dont do anything? i installed mpc essentails and have no idea how to use that either but thats fine, i use FL anyway. any help would be really appreciated, thanks man

[@UnderDeceptionMetal]

i can't send my preset to the hardware. it tells me to verify my midi inout settings but no matter what way i set it up it still won't work

[@XpressPads]

+Marcelo Montore Do you have your DAW or any other software running at the same time? This could block the midi connection between the device and the editor software.

[@UnderDeceptionMetal]

+XpressPads Finger Drumming no daw running. i'm just plugged in via the usb though, do i need to use the any of the midi ports?

[@XpressPads]

Marcelo Montore hm... I didn't ever have to change something. The editor always recognized the device and connected. But changing the midi ports might help.

[@UnderDeceptionMetal]

yeah nothing seems to be working. I just contacted akai customer service to see if they may have any insight

[@XpressPads]

Marcelo Montore Good luck, mate.

[@cyberdel]

Can this pad be used in a live band, without being dependable of a computer?

[@XpressPads]

if you use a midi sound module instead of a computer... basically yes. However, it's meant to be used with a computer

[@cyberdel]

XpressPads Finger Drumming that sounds interesting. Like f.ex hooking it up to a rack mounted vintage midi module

[@crazycuts6891]

​@@XpressPads , does the MPD 226 work with only 24 tracks on Ableton? Or can it be used with infinite tracks? And if so, how can it be set to be used infinitely?

[@daveedgrumski3842]

@@crazycuts6891 well it can go to like 96

[@maicyang466]

how do you get it to even play sounds out of i cant get any sounds not even with my sonar cakewalk program?

[@XpressPads]

+rapper mc Have you checked the MIDI connections in your DAW. When activated, the midi notes should be triggered

[@nathanruiz8398]

Do you have to pay for the software too?

[@XpressPads]

No it's free.

[@theofficialhakeem1]

Is it supposed to look like this in logic?

[@jamous3226]

So can you use this in logic and play samples on logic with this ?

[@reclused]

Have you noticed that you can't change the sensitivity of the pads? The Threshold setting does absolutely nothing whatsoever. On the software or the hardware.

[@XpressPads]

+BurnrateUK Yes, another user made a "paper test", dropping a piece of crupled-up paper on the pads with differen threshold settings. No matter with threshold setting... the result is always the same. I have forwarded this issue to AKAI as well but don't know if it's being worked on there. Anyway thanks for the heads-up.

[@Maksitto]

Hi , i can’t find default presets for 226 . I’ve bought 226 . And the first preset was changed.

[@Maksitto]

I found!

[@10akee]

This unit has terrible pad bounce. Needs a serious firmware update to add debounce to the pad triggering.

[@SunlightOfTheSpirit]

The threshold of the pads still hasn't ben fixed and Akai have closed the online discussion now. If you try and open a new discussion Akai delete your post. This is shocking behaviour as they have closed the discussion and have not even attempted to fix the pad sensitivity setting so they are selling these MPD units knowing fine well they are defective. Absolutely shocking company and customer service. I hope they get blowing out the water by the competition as they truly suck the big one.

[@XpressPads]

+Menex That's indeed shocking and not ok.

[@alexlawson6327]

i just got it December 19th 2015 but there's no tutorials