In about half an hour I had two templates set up. After grumbling about it for a while, I realised that one of the upsides of the unit is therefore its edibility, given it’ll send MIDI cc out of most of the buttons you can get to work in your DAW and start to define mappings that suit your own workflow. There’s not even a Rec Arm set of buttons so you’ll have to map them yourselves. Most of the time I found myself laying down a rudimentary rhythm and then recording it to a MIDI clip for editing later.Īfter a long time of playing with the controller, it’s fair to say that I’m struggling to see the point of the faders as there appears to be no way to move what the focus is in Live beyond the first 8 tracks. This is a bit painful to be honest, and I’m not sure I’d be spending much time doing it from the controller. Once your steps have been recorded you can use the Global Dial and LCD screen to work your way through fine tuning the velocity for each step and note. In each case the controller provides quantization to its output. Getting notes into the onboard step sequencer is a simple task of either clicking the row of 16 buttons beneath the faders (you can switch to enable access to the second set of 16 steps with the 17-32 labelled button), or alternatively you can play your rhythm directly from the pads. The additional button is dedicated to Sequence Recording whereby you can define up to 32 steps and record what’s triggered on each step. You get a set of transport controls which (when the appropriate Control Surface is selected in Ableton Live’s preferences) handle the standard, stop play and record. Sadly my kids seem to be stumped when the power cable is pulled out of the Xbox so this was a solo mission. He always had my brother and I to figure out the hard stuff.
#Akai mpd 24 ableton manual#
I use my Dad’s principle which was to not read the manual unless it was actually necessary.
FUNCTIONALITYĪs you’ll see Mark’s photos showing off the layout of the controller already it’ll be best to focus on what each area does. I prefer this approach over something like the pads on the LIVID base which let the LED shine through the surface, albeit unevenly. The MPC pads are legendary and they make their appearance here in their latest form, black printed with clear sides that let the LEDs show which bank you’re in control of. It’s not built like a tank, but then tanks are heavy, and when you’ve got a complex set up to travel with, sometimes light is best. The overall feel isn’t one of a high quality boutique controller but one that’ll see you through a few years on the road without giving you much reason to worry. Lay the MPD232 side by side with the APC40 MKII and much is recognisable, from the red plastic base to the recessed faders and clicky LED lit buttons.
#Akai mpd 24 ableton download#
I’m assuming the premise is for the beginner starting out, maybe without a DAW (use the Ableton Live Lite provided) and a lack of samples (use the Big Bang Universal Drums), with the intent that with around twenty minutes of download time you can quickly begin mimicking AraabMUZIK twisting together the beats to drive the whole crowd wild. It is after all how they market the controller with large flashes proclaiming what’s provided on 4 of the 6 sides of the box.
#Akai mpd 24 ableton pro#
Now normally I’d just move on past the included software but I felt for this review that it was right to take AKAI Pro up on their offer and download the lot. In each box came the obligatory USB MIDI Cable for hooking up to my Macbook, a MIDI breakout cable for hooking up to modular gear, a 13 page user guide, a copy of Ableton Live Lite and in common with recent AKAI Pro controllers I’ve owned a set of download codes for product from AKAI Pro’s partners.
This plan was based on the idea that I wanted to give them a fair shout, after all when retail prices are compared they aren’t in the same league as Ableton’s flagship! WHAT′S IN THE BOX So as to reach an objective point of view, for I put the Push 2 back in its box for a while and tried to exist solely with the MPDs. Understandably my head was turned and the next month or so saw me hardly touch the MPDs. Fast forward two days later, and an unannounced notification of shipping landed in my inbox for Ableton’s Push 2. When AKAI Pro first asked who wanted to review their new MPD MIDI controllers, I put my hands up for them quite excitedly.
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