Anyone tried the modded firmware? Seems to add quite a bit.
Yes you can make tempo changes. I asked about tempo changes on the the Discord & hereās what I got:
"Yes, absolute and relativeā¦
But beware sometimes the change might be off by 1-2 BPMā¦ Due to sometimes Force skipping/disregarding some messagesā¦
For absolute changes you send tempo by creating a clip on midi track and setting itās program and bank change messagesā¦
For Relative, you can assign any shortcut or midi cc or note to TEMPO commands as in referenceā¦
NOTE_122 = TEMPOāx10
NOTE_123 = TEMPO++x10
NOTE_124 = TEMPOāx5
NOTE_125 = TEMPO++x5
NOTE_126 = TEMPOāx1
NOTE_127 = TEMPO++x1
For example. in default config,. the above will change tempo relative from its current value. by 10, 5 and 1 respectivelyā¦
For Exact tempo value, you would program than in clip info window or via automation event with bank change and program change: Desired Tempo = bank Change LSB Value x 100 + Program Change Value (1-127). Tempo Can be between 20-999."
Anyway, hereās a link to for more info on the the Mod & the os file to download:https://github.com/MockbaTheBorg/MockbaMod
These 2 dude got videos on the mod:
https://www.youtube.com/@dreamstaticsounds
https://www.youtube.com/@iWithinMe
Hereās an invite to the Discord:https://discord.gg/m6Vme6rG
I tried the hacked firwmares - theyāre all too buggy and crap, IMHO. I uninstalled after playing with it on my MPC. You can tell that theyāre being hacked and ādesigned by committeeā instead of an actual lead product manager and someone with vision/direction. Some of the features are cool, but I just found it too buggy to be usable. Went back to the official releases.
I know for a fact that Akai are hard at working making a new Force firmware. Whether we see some of the long requested features appear or not remains to be seen, but Iāll stick to the official releases and throw my lot in with them. It does what I need it to do.
Looks like you accomplished that. Congrats! My comments didnāt involve politics - just social commentary. Looks like the things I said hurt some peopleās feelings. Lol
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my feelings got hurt one time, I had traded my digitakt for an mc-707 and even though I got another digitakt the next day and this was years ago I still havenāt quite recovered yetā¦ sob, sob, sniffle
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LMAO! Yeah, thatāll definitely do it.
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It didnāt hurt mines, but I grow-up watching movies on the this late night show called āUSA Up All Nightā & they would stuff like āThe Toxic Avengerā - Anyway, did you try the Force Mockba Mod & if so, which OS or how long ago because they seem to be constantly updating it?
Itās been 2-3 months since I last tried it (I canāt remember which one). Honestly, I donāt have the patience to go through the steps and try it again - it really didnāt bring anything to the table that I really need right now. And Iām more interested to see where Akai actually takes it.
Ok one comment you said you had on the MPC, Iām asking did you have it on the Force?
How does that OS mod react when recording audio through tempo changes? Assuming it can record audio through tempo changes
I never used it, but I did provide the Discord link which has the people that made it & theyāre fast with answering questions. So I would ask them. If you find out please report back cuz me & others would like to know.
Iāve tried the hacks on both Force and MPC. Pass.
OK, Iāll try it it out when Iām done moving all my MPC2500 beats to the Force.
Is it too critical to not to have tempo changes inside one project? Is there workaround that Force users use? Is it related to arranger mode limitations? I think if you have loop based sequencer like MPC - it is easier to have tempo changes inside the project as you have independent sequences. but when it comes to arrangerā¦how it is possible to have a recording like that? Why clips in session mode canāt have different tempo then?
do it like ableton
I donāt think so.
Force lack of tempo changes is what it is - complain / replace / bend the gear to your will
One, specifically, is making use of another sequencer with pattern-per-tempo and clocking Force off it.
What limitations are you talking about?
The arranger is just one big clip. As such, anything you can do in āsceneā view you can do in the arrange.
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The lack of internal tempo changes means that you canāt quickly switch between different project with different tempos are have 1 song have different changes for a more dynamic competition. Keep in mind the Force can have up to 999 Launch Scenes & each scene is like 1 sequence on the MPC with 128 tracks but we canāt really take advantage of all with out this feature & the lack of program changes for the internal plugins. That would make up for the 8 plugin limitation because with PC we would be able have a beat with lets say use scenes 1-16 with 8 plugins for that, then have a new beat on scenes 17-whatever but switch to a new set of plugins. All this can still be done with an external synth but thatās the point this is supposed to be a Groovebox but itās designed to limit it when using it by itself. So itās needs a team of supporting devices which itās the coach.
1 workaround is using an external clock/sequencer, now you need to add another machine to your setup for a basic feature that a Groovebox should able to do itself & the fact that thereās a hack OS that has it makes it more frustrating. I wish Akai were more open about why it canāt done or if it could be done & some sort of timeline to when it could be added.
I think the lack of these & more features the Force has like the lack of a tilted screen is the features they need to save for the mk2. Akia is a business & need to think at least 2 devices ahead of time. So that canāt make with everything than we would buy the new & āimprovedā unit. Force users are waiting for the mk2 & MPC users are waiting for OS3ā¦ In the meantime, Iāll just be making poetic-noise as usual.
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It is critical to many, including me, and the main reason Iāve never seriously used my Force.
I sometimes have different tempos in tracks in different sections. I always have different tempo tracks in a live set (or a group of tracks). So itās just been a frustrating non-starter for me where that issue will always be exposed.
The workaround of āclock it to something elseā is a fail too IMOā¦ I might as well use Ableton if I need something elseā¦ the point of the Force for me was to be standalone and not need something to clock it with.
Itās a shame, because it had so much potential.
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So scenes in the same project canāt have different tempo? I donāt have Force I have MPC One and I want to buy Force and I need to understand the issue.
Thanks for explanation. So clips or scenes cannot have different tempo within one project? Iāve never actually used different tempos in the same song and probably this is the thing that I need to check as I have MPC. But I want to buy Force and need to know if this lack will make me sadā¦
If you donāt use different tempos in the same project & you only work on 1 beat per project (keep in mind 1 project can have multiple beats/songs), then thereās nothing to worry about.
When you need different tempos changes if using the Force alone:
-If youāre doing a Force live set & other beats have different tempos & you want to seamlessly switch between them.
-You need tc for different parts of the same song.
Workaround for tc when using the Force alone:
Make samples out of different songs or parts of the same song, at different tempos, just make sure Warp is off on the new samples. You can then stitch it all together in an audio track & resample or convert to a single file. This could be more simple if the Force had the sample combine/append feature from JJOS sample edit options. Sample A + sample B becomes AB or BA if you want. Simple, quick & easy, but not on the Force.
If you have an external sequencer like the MPC or the Pyramid, you can use that to handle tempo changes for the Force or test out the hack Force OS.
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