Akai Force (as live PA alternative to Ableton)
Akai Force (as live PA alternative to Ableton)
Heyo, I have some questions for anyone who has an akai MPC One or akai Force.
I've been thinking for a while about whether or not I want to try and remove my computer from my live setup. I'm concerned because I've recently had some audio stuttering on stage, and while it hasn't been anything which brought the set to a halt, it's still not something you want to happen in the middle of a performance.
I'm not sure I have a sufficiently robust reason to invest in an expensive piece of gear which I may not use to its full potential. Ableton currently serves as the main "brain" of my setup, sending midi data, launching stems, and hosting send effects. I have a drum machine and a couple synths hooked up to the computer through an audio interface, and 2 midi controllers allowing me to manipulate everything. Overall, it's a very comfortable setup that is easy to expand. My desire to change isn't because I'm dissatisfied with how it functions, but because I'm concerned about technical issues.
So now to the actual questions. It looks like the Akai Force could replace Ableton if I wanted it to. However, there's some stuff that I had trouble finding concrete information about online. My use case isn't well covered by generic reviews or general instructions in the manual.
1. How many audio clips can be loaded and ready-to-go at once? My live template is very big. It's only 8 channels, but there are something like 200-300 scenes (audio clips varying in length from a couple bars to several minutes).
2. I know you can create effect racks in the force, but how does the flexibility compare to ableton? As an example, I have a highpass filter rack I like to use on a few channels which is set up to turn up the wet on saturation, reverb, and delay only after the hp filter passes a certain threshold. Going the other direction, the entire rack turns off once the midi value reaches 1 (to prevent any signal coloration from the filter). That's just an example. I have several racks of similar complexity sitting on send channels.
3. How flexible is it to control with an external midi controller be? For instance, could I assign one knob on a launch control xl to the feedback level of a delay, and another knob to the dry/wet on that same delay?
4. Given what these machines can do, am I daft for wanting to get one exclusively for live performance? I have basically no interest in going "DAWless" in the studio.
My questions boil down to: when it comes to live performance, is the akai force or MPC One commensurate with Ableton?
Perspectives on any of these questions or just the devices in general are welcome!
I've been thinking for a while about whether or not I want to try and remove my computer from my live setup. I'm concerned because I've recently had some audio stuttering on stage, and while it hasn't been anything which brought the set to a halt, it's still not something you want to happen in the middle of a performance.
I'm not sure I have a sufficiently robust reason to invest in an expensive piece of gear which I may not use to its full potential. Ableton currently serves as the main "brain" of my setup, sending midi data, launching stems, and hosting send effects. I have a drum machine and a couple synths hooked up to the computer through an audio interface, and 2 midi controllers allowing me to manipulate everything. Overall, it's a very comfortable setup that is easy to expand. My desire to change isn't because I'm dissatisfied with how it functions, but because I'm concerned about technical issues.
So now to the actual questions. It looks like the Akai Force could replace Ableton if I wanted it to. However, there's some stuff that I had trouble finding concrete information about online. My use case isn't well covered by generic reviews or general instructions in the manual.
1. How many audio clips can be loaded and ready-to-go at once? My live template is very big. It's only 8 channels, but there are something like 200-300 scenes (audio clips varying in length from a couple bars to several minutes).
2. I know you can create effect racks in the force, but how does the flexibility compare to ableton? As an example, I have a highpass filter rack I like to use on a few channels which is set up to turn up the wet on saturation, reverb, and delay only after the hp filter passes a certain threshold. Going the other direction, the entire rack turns off once the midi value reaches 1 (to prevent any signal coloration from the filter). That's just an example. I have several racks of similar complexity sitting on send channels.
3. How flexible is it to control with an external midi controller be? For instance, could I assign one knob on a launch control xl to the feedback level of a delay, and another knob to the dry/wet on that same delay?
4. Given what these machines can do, am I daft for wanting to get one exclusively for live performance? I have basically no interest in going "DAWless" in the studio.
My questions boil down to: when it comes to live performance, is the akai force or MPC One commensurate with Ableton?
Perspectives on any of these questions or just the devices in general are welcome!