NAMM 2020: Akai Force Workflows

Some really cool ways to create and perform using the standalone Akai Force from Nick Trikakis. Previously Force has been seen as some kind of hardware Live device, but this is really not the case. Nick shows us a few cool ways to create beats and musical performances using the hardware.
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[@dedaluz100]

Congratulations to this guy, he really has talent in promoting a product

[@nicktrikakis]

Alessio M. Thank you!

[@milesmacquarrie5851]

That was incredible. Akai, please pay this gentleman to do a whole series of tutorial videos.

[@nicktrikakis]

Miles Macquarrie that’s my plans! :)

[@electroforez]

@@nicktrikakis You are joking or is this a serious thing ? It would be so great to have tutorials from a passionate person like you !

[@BlakeHeart]

Yes, I’ll pay you!

[@donaldpriola1807]

I agree. That demo was incredible.

[@johndawad]

@@nicktrikakis Great demo Nick! I watched a couple of your demo vids on this product, and I think you would do great at teaching this intrument.

[@9000knobs]

Nick made me buy the force. His attitude is what AKAI needs.

[@synkuk]

Same here

[@nicktrikakis]

Hello! First of all, Nick, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share these ideas and workflows with your community, I'm so grateful. Additionally thank you to everyone who watched and shared their thoughts. I admit I had serious doubts this message would sit well, after all not a lot of people perform like I do, but then I saw that FORCE was nominated for a TEC for "Best Musical Instrument Hardware" and nearly cried. The award went to the MOOG One which absolute deserved it

[@sonicstate]

You're welcome. Was a great demo, really interesting to see alternative ways to create with it.

[@Gatodelix]

Excellently done my man! Gabe from NI here! ♥️ 🔥

[@kevinbirge2130]

Love this instrument. Still scratching the surface. Best musical purchase I’ve ever made.

[@BigFknRobots]

Holy shit, that is the best finger drumming I have ever seen!

[@robtronik]

there is no better advertisement than showing the potential of this machine than this video so far. Incredible stuff.

[@designhappens8444]

AKAI found their Cenk....

[@Talibooboo]

Their Cenk Their Alex Jones Their Mark Cuban Their Jeremy Clarkson Their Anne Coulter

[@designhappens8444]

@@Talibooboo Hahaha...yeah, ok, I was just refering to his gear-handling ability... But thanks for the comment, I learned about some characters I never knew their existence....(not that I would have missed something of course)...chears

[@krakapoww]

@@Talibooboo lmao

[@mrclaytron]

Definitely an awesome product. Also, I really love the passion this guy has. Great demo, with some really creative use of Forces features.

[@nicktrikakis]

Mr Claytron thank you! I hope to discover more this year as the memes evolve

[@patrickfrancis7547]

You were part of the reason I took mine out of the closet. Thanks for having a great new perspective on creating on this very underrated and now at 999 very affordable INSTRUMENT.

[@Wendel_Kos]

Great vid Nick + Sonic State! I Use the Force for live gigs, launching simple clips i produce in my DAW. This vid shows me there is so much more potential.

[@metalooping6995]

Wooow excellent quick example with leads.... I love force! 2020 will definitely be a good year for force!

[@tsgodman4409]

I just wish I could get hair like that again, nice demo old chum!

[@wesselvanrensburg8]

Stunning demo!

[@mycologik5961]

Thank you so much for this video! Amazing work!! 🙏

[@Artek604]

This video probably sold me on Force :) Thanks!!!

[@kenzgbr]

I bought the Force recently -primarily on the back of the 3.04 update. I’m an out and out Ableton guy and I was one of many who saw this as a rather expensive APC40/ Push2 alternative. 4 weeks in and I have to say I have HARDLY USED the Ableton integration. Don’t get me wrong, it’s excellent. You can control most of the key stuff in Ableton directly from the Force . But the Force is just a brilliant, intuitive standalone performance instrument. Buy it for that purpose and I promise you won’t be disappointed. No affiliation with Akai etc etc. Brilliant demo of what this beast is capable of, bravo.

[@robisapixel]

Finally getting used to the workflow on the Force. I have to say being a high level user of Maschine and Fairly experienced with Ableton Push, the Force is with you. The thing is really incredible. The price alone get's you more than literally anything out there. Hype and 3 other real good sounding synths. It is real easy to load up a future bass kit and duplicate pads modify them to make huge sounding tracks. The FX are top notch too. Literally made a dope track in my kitchen drinking my coffee before work. Was gonna get a Maschine+, now I can't think of a reason too. It has a learning curve for sure, one of the hardest I might even say but worth the patience and effort. And the PADS feel amazing.

[@jasonlongo9316]

Nick sold me on the force. Bought it immediately

[@chriserikbarnes]

All the announced updates look great. I can’t wait to use the arrangement feature. Thanks for the long hours everyone is putting into this. I know it’s a ton a work to build a new product.

[@MrBinsique]

Hello Christophe. Some people say to me that the Force is not a sequencer. Is it right. I am looking for a standalone machine to make my compositions with audio and midi track like in a DAW. When I am looking to the BETA version video from Mike, I understand that It will be like a DAW? Is it? Thanks

[@chriserikbarnes]

MrBinsique right now, you can’t arrange tracks along a horizontal row like you can in a DAW. I use it as my main midi controller. Even with a couple limitations, I’m still happy with my purchase. I have owned it since February 2019. I wish Akai would build some companion products e.g. an audio interface so I can have more than two audio inputs and interface for an external monitor like Elektron’s Overbridge.

[@MrBinsique]

@@chriserikbarnes Hello and thank you very much for this answer. Would it be better if I turned to an Akai MPC X then? Thanks again and have a nice day!

[@chriserikbarnes]

MrBinsique that is a difficult choice. If you are buying today, then the MPC X might be better suited to your goals. Akai (InMusic) is behind their previously announced target, but given the current situation that isn’t all that surprising. Once the next update drops, then the difference in capability will be negligible.

[@MrBinsique]

@@chriserikbarnes Hello, I am not buying today. I leave me time to reflection...

[@chris5375]

Endless Possibilities , great Piece of kit 👍🏻

[@SabcatPrinting]

Whooa quite an awesome demo.

[@lbrown7164]

Nick is a freaking genius, Akai / in music was a fool to let him go

[@djceejaay]

Man, this beat making right churr is 🔥🔥🔥💯

[@iantanner7579]

Quality demo, - personally, more interesting than the MPC

[@patrickfrancis7547]

A lot you could do with a bigger screen and More pads no doubt more interesting and More musical period.

[@inthefade]

It is an interesting product. I got one about two months ago and I love it, but it is missing some features and UI design is a little wonky. It feels like Akai's red-headed step child in a lot of ways. People have been waiting for the 3.0.5 update for almost a year now. But if you learn it's limitations and how to work within them, it is a pure joy to write music with it.

[@robertlee1176]

Jesus - this guy was born to demonstrate this product

[@billydalessandro]

That is exactly what people need to see, as these features were really not apparent upon first introduction months ago. Very cool!

[@MauricesMusic24]

Thanks Nick for showing your skills. This video put the nail in the coffin on my decision to invest in the AKai Force. I love and agree. This is an instrument

[@gregserenade6653]

This is amazing and revolutionary in the realm of electronic music.

[@nicktrikakis]

Greg Serenade so pleased to read your Comment :)

[@matthewg4882]

So excited for the drum synth

[@user82938]

I feel bad for everyone ragging on Nick in the comments. At least he cares about it. Thanks, Nick.

[@toono21]

which nick you actually mean? coz one of them seems to be a bit desperate..

[@user82938]

Akai Nick. I’ve seen him in the Force user groups. He’s genuinely excited, which is actually a good thing.

[@toono21]

@@user82938 yeah but like good for who exactly eh?

[@user82938]

For those of us who own the Force. I’d rather have someone like Nick on the team than someone who isn’t excited about the product.

[@toono21]

​@@user82938 may the 1st may force b with u.. anyways who else to have on the team than the guy whod give his life to promote te forcee?? if he hasnt already.. aint saying per se its a bad product but but but but it looks like a bad version od the push(sorry to repeat this again.) and the seller guy isnt right either, you can get a second hand push for lets say for 150 dollars and ableton suite for 400.. im too old t use all this but this product is not such a bargain as they say it is.. im happy to be proved to be wrong.. peace..

[@dgebossa]

Great video

[@holotropik]

I will admit that when I first saw this it looked awesome. Then I was not so sure. This video did help me understand it better.

[@samprock]

Great video! Perfect confirmation that nothing good is happening and they only Force you think its good. No regrets I got rid of Force soon enough (well 9 months was a long struggle, dreaming, bug reporting, waiting on promises .... and not making a single full song) :)

[@gregserenade6653]

Kudos Akai Pro!!

[@berobujanovi4331]

Looks great

[@DJWOLFLIVE]

This is one of the reasons that I regret selling my force. Now I have anew one coming in this week and I’m amped!

[@MOOTANT1]

He's correct when he said its the most misunderstood product on the market. My gut feeling is Akai hasn't quite managed to get the message out there about what exactly it is and how you could/would use it. For people just starting off this is what you really should consider carefully over the use of a laptop and software. You will be much more connected to your music with this and you will have almost zero distractions during the music-making process. I want to get one my self at some point and make live off the cuff tunes. I hope Akai keeps working with this concept.

[@DopamineOverload]

Nice points, but I'd feel more connected to my music via a 23" display in my studio that I don't have to crane my neck at all to see. That, a Launchpad Pro, Ableton (even Live Lite), and a mini-key keyboard can do a lot, for a lot less money. Also, touchscreens are annoying, especially in a live context, when heat and sweat make the screen not work. I like Akai's enthusiasm, but I don't know... the software (whether built-in to their hardware or the MPC software standalone or a plugin) is buggy, and there is literally entirely too much touching/menu-diving, etc, just to access some basic core functionality. However, major performance points awarded for his round-robin hip-hop thing near the beginning. Very nice.

[@notsure1135]

Depends on the genre you are doing. I like to split my kicks and bass into 3 frequencies and have the notes not placed on top of each other to ensure the most punch and clarity, does this do that easily? I have gone from software to hardware and back again, I prefer a laptop for bass and drums, due to being able to lock the phase in serum. I use hardware here and there for other sounds and effects.

[@DeeJay003]

Standalone it has the same ram as a cheap tablet. It is simply not enough to power a Daw.

[@watercolourmark]

So your don't have an Akai Force, have you used one? And yet you are telling everyone, including someone that has used a computer setup with a fast solid workflow for 20 years, how this is going to improve them!? If I get any more connected with my music I will become the music. It is fashionable to talk of laptop free hardware setups, and that is all it is fashion. We invented computers for a reason, total domination. The Akai Force is nice, but it is just hardware with CPU and OS, no different to a computer setup with controllers, other than the limited functionality. You need to grow the fuk up.

[@notsure1135]

@@watercolourmark the last 4 words. You need to.

[@matthewg4882]

Wow this guy is a great salesman. I got a live second hand recently, now i want the force lol

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

at least akai is trying. I love it.

[@toono21]

trying to poorly replicate push maybe

[@Enucentro]

Coccothraustes Coccothraustes you didn’t seem to understand what this machine does if you’re comparing it to push

[@toono21]

@@Enucentro explain it then coz i cant see shit in the video

[@elowine]

@@toono21 "Standalone"

[@EnochLight]

@Akai (or Nick): will the "Arranger" mode also come to the MPC Live, One, and X?

[@lomang5992]

How do you split drums and synths like that though? i been tryin to figure out for a while...

[@yayayaokoksure]

This dude is is actually good.

[@mondobestia]

This dude is actually God

[@KayPfromthaD]

Amazing

[@rcmusic35]

Nice video The Nicks :-)))

[@D-One]

The idea of pushing pad techniques is really cool,

[@nicktrikakis]

D-One please give it a shot and let me know how you do or if you need any tips :)

[@Funky1ism]

Akai is making it so hard for me what to get...the Force, Mpc One or Mpc Live....the struggle is real...

[@samprock]

Xactly! I almost fall into the trap that One can be better. At least has knob lower on the device, so might not get me into "carpal tunnel syndrome" like Force :) ... but no, thanks. Just One more product with new/same issues to be misunderstood

[@samprock]

@Divinital One or used Force for $580? ... though it the price of Push 2 I am so happy with, which is really possibility unlimited. Get ready for serious love/hate relationships :)

[@samprock]

​@Divinital Gotcha! DP is one of my top too. I was afraid One IS toward hip-hop beats artist. Lacking of the flow making house, ambient, electronic song I think can be a struggle. Even after fck-up wasting time on Force (that supposedly for Akai unstuck from hip-hip), I was thinking - One is smaller and can do limited and standalone inspiration capture. Then grabbed MPC always on my iPad and remembered why never really play - lack of flow. But i like One from the family the most, I can be a dream machine for beats maker.

[@samprock]

@Divinital Don't get me wrong, beatmaking is a great style. I doing it sometimes and have engraved into many tracks. Just did not want to get more into it, stay electronic and play what Daft Punk did in their Homework album (! cool right?!?). But that's what MPC turn me into, so as Native Maschines And if you think Akai gave MPC software with Force free - no f. way! They charged $200 for the tool. And the only tool you can make a pack for Force is MPC software. You pay $1,5K and they ask for more, how cool is that LOL But there is plenty of controllers and even standalones for every style and everyone. Akai just tend to make it look like that's the only one. I made better tracks (on my scale) and felt more inspired with OP-Z at the same year. And there is Isla, Novation, Roland .... whoever. And for the past decade iPhone and/or iPad never let me down being a standalone and a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is always in your pocket :)

[@samprock]

@Divinital Don't listen me, all the music tools (just like music itself) is a personal thing, you may find it best for you, while they don't make to love it back with 1/3 down price to $999 :D

[@EBMZEQUENZER]

Impressive demo and hair :-)

[@jabbarindabenz]

That was dope

[@sonnyhancock]

Solid demo

[@RobertDoosh]

impressive as hell

[@roninhood1027]

Nice this is the sort of guy you want working on your team!

[@DJMikeron]

Unreal man WOW

[@cds8137]

I'm demoing the force next week.... because of this guy. Respect.

[@colindavis2113]

Dude that first bit he finger drummed was sick!!

[@logos2345]

Does anybody know the maximum sample length? To use this as a Hybrid Dj/Live machine

[@LaurentDiscShowMan]

muy bien very good animo con todas las cosas vayamos con alegrias..

[@tybaker8092]

Damn!That’s how you sell a drum maschime lol. We need to stop asking what a unit does, and ask what can you do with it!

[@nicktrikakis]

Ty Baker yes!! Ask away and I’ll do my best to discover easter eggs

[@steletext]

Consider my mind boggled

[@tomyoung7339]

I’ve had this for little over a week now and i must say it’s the most responsive and quick loading piece of kit i’ve owned, and i’ve previously owned a lot of different brands in the past from elektron to Roland, drum machines and groove boxes. It’s built like a tank too and at £899 it’s great value for what you get.

[@ogasi1798]

wow they dropped the arse out of it then, tbf 890 seems a very fair price - the initial 1500 tag was ridiculous for the amount of missing features

[@Lemon8]

Amazing demo

[@straightedge_eli2062]

what software comes with the FORCE? Is the full version of Ableton included?

[@thomasmattphoto]

How is this done that drums/samples were asssigned to all 64 pads ? To me it looks like Force allows me to only fill 16 pads at bottom left quarter. Any tutorials ? Thanks !

[@KonisAdonis]

Why so much hating on the Force here? I own it since 2 months now and despite its flaws and needs-for-updating, this device has upgraded my creativity and workflow like no other device ever did. @Nick Trikakis: please continue your enthusiasm and commitment to the Force and ignore the haters(they just don 't embrace change)!!

[@MrBinsique]

HELP ME, I don't know what to thinking between MPC X, Force or COMPUTER? Is it possible to record only in the arranger mode? Like in a classic DAW? Without using the computer. And is it possible to finalise a song in standalone mode, without the computer?! Thank you.

[@l8sk8r86]

Sold! One question though- Can you switch note repeat division quickly and easily, or assign separate note repeat divisions to individual pads?

[@dco1019]

So is it easy to build these 8 x 8 kits yourself. from watching videos ive seen all the drumkits are default 4x4

[@ClectaSkiMusic]

Would love for this guy to teach me a thing or two about drumming.. awesome stuff

[@stuson15]

An incredible demo, thanks so much Nick (and my 14 year old daughter also loves it) I look forward to future updates.

[@nicktrikakis]

Stuart Day this makes me smile! So happy you shared with the younger generation. They get to grow up with this :)

[@stuson15]

@@nicktrikakis thanks so much for the reply. Yes definitely, trying to pass my music onto my kids and the tech they get to grow up with is amazing far in advance of the Akai S950 I started with. Cheers.

[@jparppimenta1020]

thank you

[@X-101]

OK i didn't care about the force till i saw this, this is the way forward for live electronic music

[@bluename4]

a propos "electronic performance", does it support PureaData finally?

[@TheInfinite444]

I want to make world music like dead can dance with this product would it be possible still?

[@Tin233]

Great video but as this is sold as a stand-alone production device when will it actually have that full capability?

[@kisho2679]

Does it offer live stems separation nowadays for audio recorded samples in the Akai Force?

[@Mayimbe_]

Akai needs to bring this guy back!

[@bigdap100]

Dilla would have levitated if he had this thing! R.I.P. to the Father of Neo Soul J. Dilla.

[@djpioneer937]

He’s not the father of Neosoul

[@gazfunk]

Is that arranger like a song mode? I haven’t heard an explanation of it yet?

[@Pupenhausen]

It's supposed to be. The way he quickly glosses over it without demoing it means it's still ages away from release.

[@M0RGENDUGG]

11:44

[@boimesa8190]

Dean o Yup freaking A holes at AKAI

[@studioviper3016]

@@Pupenhausen he said it's coming in Q1

[@nicktrikakis]

Check the force users group on Facebook for videos :)

[@sjcongo]

Cool 👍

[@danktle]

You have indeed LISTENED to those Facebook posts, but be more of a worker bee. That's what these guys want to see. I dig your style a bit more because you LISTEN. There's a lot in that. I want to see the drum synth, the arranger mode, and some other requests made. There is also some errors in the program. But good work Nick! And you work the fingers and trap beats nicely!

[@TimH123]

Agree. Great products, but the software does crash more than is acceptable.

[@johnvdb5015]

Oh, man that was a crazy demo!

[@Gusrikh1]

Very interesting..

[@kisho2679]

how does its fader compete with that of the Octatrack meanwhile?

[@pointsurrender]

Mind = blown. Now I know why the Force exists.

[@elvinlewis4233]

Nick, I now dub thee, Force Wizard! 💥💯

[@mjashonorebelion3386]

Does the Force have song Mode or Software coming?

[@stevewoywitka3258]

The best drum machine made in this generation

[@MrDequese]

I need to learn this. Very cool. Give us tutorials.

[@mattnorman4007]

My god this guy just needs to produce music. Insane

[@pinkfreund2290]

We AKAI Force Users would love to see MacOS Software for sequencing, maybe integrate HDMI into the next unit =D Great video! Very excited about the AKAI Force Update! Is there a release date for the new OS release?

[@inthefade]

At 7:30 it seems like he has an arp on the right side of the program and another arp on the other side of the program for drums? I don't know how to set up a drum program to do that. Very cool. This machine is under-appreciated.

[@go-away-5555]

I wish the beat repeat could be applied only to specific pads like Nick asks (cracks open manual to check if I'm wrong, this thing is deep)

[@FatalFriction]

the note repeat thing is awesome

[@Ub3rMario]

Yup and you can do it with many other devices, so it's a little odd to me he used this as a selling point. Feels more like a technique demo rather than a hardware demo.

[@nicktrikakis]

Ub3rMario this was just a workflow demo. I mentioned it being used to create rhythms before but not on a scale like this. More of a tip than a selling point :).

[@reazallykhan8614]

I have the full Maschine mk3,jam and Komplete Kontrol s25 combo....but my fav instrument is my force

[@patrickfrancis7547]

Nick thanks again this is great stuff too. Two Things. Lets get a full tutorial on building this set up you are showing and how to set it up The manuals never do the justice of these new instruments. And get your daughter jamming on another video would be classic !

[@petresde]

i think this is genious

[@lookingforplaces]

interesting video

[@mjashonorebelion3386]

Any Tutorials yet?

[@CybreSmee]

I have no idea what a Force does, but I want one.

[@xchalibur77]

Best way to demonstrate anything it's to do it. Less talk, more work.

[@TeleporterM11]

I want that Arranger mode in my next update...ASAP Akai. I am tired of waiting.

[@hjhkjhre454554]

It's not possible, Ableton wisely steer clear with Push

[@ChazSeamus28]

@@hjhkjhre454554 wish you were wrong dude, but i totally agree