Hope you enjoyed our second video on the Akai MPC Key 61! Let us know in the comments what kind of videos you would like to see with the MPC Key! ❤️

It’s not just Andy it’s the keyboard I’m just an aspiring bedroom producer, but since I’ve had the MPC key 61 my son walked in my room the other day and thought I had found a new Kaminsky track. It was just me something I made in like 20 minutes. this is absolutely the best piece of gear to come out in my lifetime as far as being able to accomplish what you hear in your head faster than you’ve ever imagined!

Finally the MPC I've been waiting for....1990 -2022

I've said it before but I'll say it again, Andy is a freaking genius! I could watch his MPC videos all day.

He absolutely KILLED THIS DEMO!!!! WOW he is a beast and really did an Amazing Job!!!! Andy is THAT DUDE!!

If Akai releases this in GOLD, then game over.

It's rare to hear a demo this good and inspiring. Hats off to Akai for a great idea and Andy for a very convincing demo

I still remember selling my Akai MPC 60 back in the day and regretting it years later. To see where Akai has come in that time and with the introduction of this product is truly exciting. I've always felt that what made the Akai MPC's special was there sense of tactile experience and allowing you to be separated from a computer system for writing and producing. 👊❤

I get mine in 3 weeks.. MAAAAAN I CANNOT WAIT!!

Andy Mac=Automatic stop & watch! This guy and Akai are a winning duo all day! Ordering mine this week!

Man, this is beastly! What an awesome machine - I can feel my debit card twitching 😂

I’m very intrigued! Love consolidating a interface, looper, midi editor, automation, effects, mixer, drum pads, and intuitive sampling, all in one device. It really looks like it has full production ideas in mind. It looks so fun!

I have a Live 2 and still I bought this & last night as I was playing around with it for the 1st time I cannot convey how amazing this new MPC is 🔥🔥🔥 Great job Akai

This is truly incredible, the only thing that is holding me back as a keyboard player that records music in sequence is that this keyboard is only 61 keys, i have a 76 and an 88 key synthesizer. I went to go see it in person at guitar center and thought it looked nice, it felt like a downgrade due to its small size. I would love to see a 76 Key MPC, i would them buy one for sure.

Great video as always, however key points for people out there: 1 - The MPC 61 has NO Kensington Lock to keep it safe. 2 - It can only record 5 minute audio files, which is restrictive depending on the genre of music you sing. And 3 - The work flow is still the same as the MPC X , which is mind boggling over complicated.

This is one of the best overviews and demos I’ve seen from Akai and Andy C 🔥💪🏽🎹

Is it just me? Are you Andy make this look so easy. Even for produces who don’t play the piano and he can sell this keyboard to a person that’s allergic to peanuts.. Andy you are absolutely a genius, my brother. I’ve watched so many videos with you introducing this amazing Akai 61 key. I was talking to my mentor over the phone a few days ago and I was showing him how easy it is to operate. We might I add I just receive mine personal Akai MPC 61 key and I have to say he was impressed with me. You guys are doing an awesome job. Keep up the fantastic work. Producer Donte909

This could have been the true workstation killer but sadly its not.we are in 2022 and you telling me we still have sounds cutting off. I have two Mpc.I am a keyboard player and would love to take this live but when you need sounds on the fly without cutting off that's a deal breaker for a lot of us musicians.You need to fix this before I can even consider buying this for live use.The sounds are great but you half bake it when it comes to us live players.You need a live performance mode to browse and don't cut off.i love this innovation but you need to fix this if you need to compete with the big kings korg Yamaha e.c.t

Watching both of these videos made my decision easier. It's Akai all day for me.

Hey Andy, was wondering if you could do a video of the keyboard focusing on how it'll work during live gigs, like splits, layers, seamless transitions of sounds and performance etc.

Another awesome review! also just wanted to say Jack you absolutely killed it at the Andy Timmons gig we saw you guys on Saturday night pure awesomeness

Thanks for this. Always wondered why workstations did not cater to the new producers. This is a first step. A very good one.

Akai has nailed the workflow in this! 10:08 - When Jack disappeared here, I thought he'd got up to go and dance! lol (Realised later it must have been a re-shoot) 💙

Literally just bought a fantom 06, and saw this! I'm not a keyboard player at all, but bought it to integrate in the studio, this might be what I'll be purchasing here soon

U clowned on that outro out of nowhere 😂 Great vid!

Every musician or small studio should have an MPC Key 61 in the room as the absolute first go-to board for taking an idea you thought about in your head and putting those thoughts down on a machine before you forget them. You can literally do it in seconds and the GUI makes it so because its so straightforward. Yes, youll probably end up recording the final versions with a Montage or Pa5X or Fantom or something with its better sound engines, but the Key 61 is the shortest path to never letting a great idea get lost. Its literally like the yellow notepad of your musical creation. And at its price point there is really nothing that compares to it. Roland, Yamaha, Korg all need to take page from Akai and develop much better GUI and workflows to make their high-end workstations and arrangers this easy to use. Multi-track sequencing should NOT need a PhD to use. You want to create music, not learn software. Akai makes it all intuitive like an Apple product.

I'm hugely impressed with this. Great demos too.

jack & andy, enjoyable demo but youi haven't convinced me, I heard some awesome samples and 4 bar loops, but not the full production tracks that you promised! anybody can make 4 bar loops on any number of workstations & grooveboxes. the only difference here is that andy chose some fresh samples, well, at least for this style of music. fire up a kronos and you can compose and produce an entire orchestral arrangement. that's the power of a proper workstation.

got mine, partly off the back of these two videos/Andy Mac's playing. This is one special device.

He killed it with this beat 🔥

My questions are- - Is there an effective preview mode for each patch that lets you hear the sound while it's loading in the background? - Will it install third party VSTs etc? - How seamless is the transition from taking a track that you're working on in this device, over to the MPC software? -Will it load songs and programs that were created in the MPC X? How about other MPCs? - How easy is it to bounce a track down, instrument by instrument, for importing into a DAW for mixing and recording?

Andy killin it on them drum pads!

Fantastic instrument! How I wish they would make a 73 key version with nice e-piano style keys. The keyboard is the weakest part of the Key 61, the keys are shorter than full length.

Andy Mac is THE MAN to show off this amazing piece of technology. Love it love it love it

I literally just ordered this a second ago from sweetwater just before clicking this vid, this sob rocks hard and confirms a great decision was made. Wife will kill me later but man this will inspire me big time to keep pushing while learning to play and will very well make me learn to drop keys down. I have the MPK mini and a crap M-Audio... the m-audio 61 will go straight to the trash after this new one is paid off

16:45 "Where do we raise the bar next?" - Regarding built-in soundware, AKAI has nailed the "sound module" aesthetic with the Fabric series, and done some good vintage keyboards. I hope they go in the direction of a truly modular synthesizer architecture like Kurzweil's VAST - or at the very least a dedicated physical modeling engine, which is present on the Alesis Fusion and Korg Kronos/Nautilus but absent from most other workstations.

Yeaaaah, this is NOT a workstation Killer. Having tested this out, i already noticed tons of flaws that shouldn't exist in this. 1. Zero Seamless Transition 2. Learning Curve On The Interface 3. Keybed Is A bit Sticky. 4. EPs are very generic sounding right out. 5. MOST of the internal sounds LOAD pretty long before you can USE the sound (Huge Turn Off For Me). It really runs like a VST inside a Hardware body. 6. If you try to use use the sounds to fast when loading it will FREEZE on you and malfunction with a very loud sound like a VST will do sometimes. This is great for Live performances for SURE as far as Key Pads & Building tracks! Probably one of the BEST ever put out. But owning several workstations from Korg, Yamaha & Roland (those for ME are still better in terms of workflow & overall quality.) So dont fall for the hype, test this out for yourself before just buying it and being disappointed from the cons thats not addressed here. See if its for YOU and YOUR workflow. Its great in what its great at, but again doesn't have the particular elements i would expect a workstation to have. Still a great piece of hardware tho, congrats to Akai!

Holy shit i own a live 2 and i didnt even know you could automate the fabric plug ins. Thats crazy. Akai is looking to take over with the mpc key 61.

All I can say is thank you for this. Pick up 7/1 from guitar center.

sounds so much richer, fuller than the cheesy fantom 🎉

Please please please make a 73 or 76 key version with even more RAM and orchestral sounds!

This looks cool! As a horn player, I wish the EWI line could receive these level of sounds & customization. It’s a niche product I’m sure for them but man I’d love to be able to edit sounds deeper & add my own samples!

Loved The Very End Part... He GAT DOWN On It And Polished it OFF, I Was Cracking Up.😂😂..GREAT JOB You Guys.

If Akai brings out a rack-mount sampler, no keys, no pads, no sequencer, just a superb sound library, I’m in 😀👍

The only problem I would have using it live ...is the load and save times....if you could load while still playing this would be very cool for live situations

It might get to the point though when the ARM quad core based OS Isn’t enough to reliably run everything. I’m new to MPC workflow (enjoying it), but that thought had crossed my mind already.

The only thing that can kill this, is a license model like Roland has. If I buy a hardware synth I dont want a software license model. The MPC Live has been fantastic with all the updates included.

I like the keyboard but not the converters, and Andy is very powerful and talented, also i love the work flow, and its a very powerful cool looking Workstation i just bought one.

Excellent song!!

a huge killer workstation/synth.

I have the MPC KEY 61 and I LUV it!!!! So much fun... also have Studio One Pro, FL Studio, Maschine and they all have different workflows.. MPC Key 61 is a joy to use and the learning curve is easy..

At first I feel like why I am here but later after the first 2 minutes I loved it! Actually I was looking for a Fantom-0 but I think this is what I need!

At 20:40 if you’re not impressed by this beat creation by Andy and not convinced that this keyboard is awesome enough then I don’t know what to say other than get at what fits in for you but for others this is a game changer!

Great demo! I can't see it for my music at least not using it as a DAW but the rest of it I could use.

After i saw this video with andy my first thought was that this is the best all in one device of all time. He i just a genius😊👍

Excellent demo

Lovin the stank face when Andy gets the groooove really cookin🥳

I am pulling the trigger after so long, having separate keyboard, drum machine and sampler now all in one and the drum kits actually sound legitimately awesome 👌 2024 I can put away my junods again xr20 roland sp404a and gain back some floor space in my modest studio space!

T'is is the synth,nex week comes out a new synth, this is the synth ,next month, t'is is the synth.All commercial.

Still use my old Fantom X8, which has a excellent and intuitive 16 track sequencer driving a series of synths (Nord; Waldorf; Odyssey; Novation; Arturia etc) to create all my tracks/albums without any issue. This is a nice bit of kit, but nowhere near a workstation killer and I'd rather still invest in the latest Fantom (despite the price! 😕😭).

This is a game changer

Awesome product! I think those with gripes are missing the point of this. It's a workstation/synthesizer. I'm sure it has a built in mixer like all MPC's, and you control it via the qlinks so no need for faders if this is the case. If not, it's standalone so it's a logical assumption that hardware users have a mixer that they can connect to it.

This wouldn't kill a computer coz those are way more powerful & have more storage, what it is, is sensable workstation for the Dawless folks

What a duo! I am impressed but how easy it is to compose on this keyboard without a need of a computer.

Just got a job to save up for this and some other stuff to get a crazy set up

Awesome.

This seems like a very cool Keyboard!

Andy fully booked several years ahead for functions 🍷

I will have one of these at every home and studio 🎙️ I have. One will definitely be right on the side of my Bed. 👨🏽‍💻🤷🏽‍♂️❤️🌎⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏆👑

brilliant machine, looks like dreams come true.. and that’s coming from fantom 0, mc707 and rc505 mk2 Roland sheep🤗

Genuine Hype. just staring at mine now in total disbelief at what happened when i touched it 😂

Wow..That first track has nice 80s vibe 😄

I’m snatching one fasho

Jack’s in love……and so am I…………..not with this keyboard but with Jack…..well ok this keyboard as well 🥰. It’s indescribably good ♥️

Great presentation 👏, looking forward to the Akai force 6 keyboard 😀 👍. They will take time to work out the kinks. Category for sounds, saving presets, clip,scene launcher. Sounds great though

This new Akai MPC Key 61 is really amazing, great, there are no limitations in the creation, recording, editing, production,... you don't need anything else, neither computers, nor external instruments, just this wonderful keyboard!

indeed....it IS a workstation KILLER!!! I own the akai force...and it has be a religious experience. Ive been yelling for 3 years that force is a keyboard workstation on steroids!!! Thennnnnn...akai heard me and added the keys lol BRAVO AKAI....BRAVOOOOOO

Your continuity editor is an interdimensional being. 🤣

I would never use the synth/instrument sounds on this. Full size pads & 8 outs with 61 keys is all i need. So i'll just move with an MPC-X & my ASR-10 for now. An X Version of this with those features & I'd be all in. Still i understand why some heads might find everything they need with this. I just have different priorities i still make moves on my MPC-3000 & ASR-10 but an updated workstation that combines the features i use/need would be dope. MPC X 61 Key Sample Keyboard Workstation...sold!

Great first run Akai. Welcome to the party. Fantom is still better overall but this REALLY helped the category with some good competition. Korg is in trouble. Yamaha is OK. Fantom is the leader in the category.

This is sick! Great tool for the advanced producer.

Anyone used this live? I am a little scared about the slow patch loading times in a live context

all nice, but still missing tempo change/ BPM automation.

One feature i would love this to have is speaker under the keys like the micro korg! That would make it prefect!

How do you go beyond a short loop? How to string together into a song: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro

Andy that dude! Just traded my X for the 61! No brainer

This is a Demo! Nice. The German AKAI Guys are so boring. Thanks! Greetings from Germany

I can now see a day when you will see a hybrid of the MPC Key and Kronos/Montage/Fantom.

Andy is RAW!

It’s amazing, but slow to navigate between sounds as they load. Need more memory/faster SSD to make it seem less. Even if it costs more. Can you recommend a small mixer audio interface to increase the number of inputs?

If it could run VSTs or another non-proprietary plugin type, it would be insane

Can you please do a video on OPx4, I purchased but am kinda lost...Signal Flow? What is the Shaper knob do? Is Op1 the only carrier and Op2,3,and 4 the modulators? what is the Matrix for?

SIIIIICK!!!!!! YEP....ONE WORD.... IGOTTAGITMEONEUHDEEZ!!!!!😆😆😆

Its tell sell at its best !!

Just amazing what this device can do 😮

Very good presentation! I know I’m gonna get one, I’m just trying to time myself!

awesome demo I need to get my hands on the studio module or this keyboard....btw I hope that vocal sample is not Lalah Hathaway....if so be prepared to cut the check LOL....seriously though great presentation and yes the work flow is so quick it kills off all the workstations I've worked with...Yamaha, Korg, Roland and especially Kurzweil!

Damn andy went in 💯

This is awesome and powerful, i need to get one of these

I’d be wary of calling this the “ultimate” yet. Sound loading is waaaay too slow for pit players, MD, musical theater, etc.