is hardware killing software?
Akai Force
The Akai Force is the role model for hardware that tackles DAWs head-on – this is the closest thing to a DAW in a box…
Akai’s Force is many things in one: a sequencer, a sampler and a software instrument host. What’s most relevant for us today is that it includes a fully-fledged arrangement view, where compositions can be created, edited, mixed, then exported as Ableton Live projects, or as ready-to-share stereo files.
The package includes the Force itself, a mains power supply, three 3.5mm MIDI adaptors, and a USB cable. It’s somewhat chunky, weighing 3.87kg, and measuring 350 x 389 x 72.5mm, but maybe that’s an acceptable trade-off given the expansive control surface that’s available as a result – the top panel includes the 6.9” multitouch display, many buttons, a large data dial, a crossfader, eight touch sensitive assignable knobs, each with its own little display, and 64 illuminated, velocity, and pressure sensitive pads. Because of the sheer number of options, you’ll often find that there’s more than one way to perform any given task.
The front edge of the Force is home to an SD card slot, 1/4” headphones jack with volume knob, and a cue-level knob. The rear panel hosts four CV/ gate outputs, MIDI in/out/ thru, 4 1/4” audio outputs, two XLR/jack input audio jacks, with switches for line/ instrument and phantom power, as well as a Gain knob for each of the two inputs. Two USB-A connectors have been provided for external storage, or connecting MIDI controllers, aB connector for the computer, an ethernet port, and a power switch.
Underneath, there’s a bay for you to add a hard drive, which is more or less essential if you want to keep your entire sample library within reach at all times – we’d recommend an SSD drive, because they’ll be more resistant to vibrations that can often occur during loud performances – prices on these are ridiculously low right now. We installed a 240GB one on our example model.
“What’s relevant here is that it has a fully-fledged arrangement view”
The Force comes preloaded with demo projects, which will help you to get to grips with the workflow – they’re all in dance music styles, which tells you how Akai view the market for this. Press the Matrix button to trigger clips containing loops or one-shot samples by tapping the display, or use the launch button to allow triggering them from the physical pads. Tapping any of the vertical row of pads at the right will launch a scene –a horizontal row of clips. Press the Note button, and the pads function as a grid-based MIDI keyboard, so if the selected track hosts a drum kit or a software instrument, you can play those sounds in real time. Keep pressing to cycle note layouts, based around different scales and chords, a basic ‘piano’ type layout, or press Launch/Note together for our favourite, a split mode where the top four rows handle launch functions, while the lower four rows can be used to play notes at the same time. If any of this is giving you deja vu, it’s because using the Force is very Ableton-like at times. There are big differences, but anybody who’s used Ableton Live with Push before will quickly grasp the basic concepts of the Force.