Help me understand my Akai Pro midi keyboard and drum pads + software?
November 11, 2021 9:33 PM Subscribe
So I have an Akai pro midi keyboard/drum pads. I plan to run it through Garage Band. It came with some software called MPC beats. Within that there is something called iLok that also somehow factors in. I am lost. Help?
It seems like the MPC would be where I make or program beats for this thing? Does that sound correct? If so, how do I do that? And is it also correct that I need to purchase packs of beats from here to import into Garage Band, and that’s how this works? There is also something that pops up with my interface for the Alai Pro called iLok which it says I need to purchase in order to make this all work. Can anyone help me? I’m a musician, not a tech person, and I am so lost. I got this thing because I was told it was simple to use. Thank you!
It seems like the MPC would be where I make or program beats for this thing? Does that sound correct? If so, how do I do that? And is it also correct that I need to purchase packs of beats from here to import into Garage Band, and that’s how this works? There is also something that pops up with my interface for the Alai Pro called iLok which it says I need to purchase in order to make this all work. Can anyone help me? I’m a musician, not a tech person, and I am so lost. I got this thing because I was told it was simple to use. Thank you!
Response by poster: I bought it new. Gotta see if I still have the box. Where would I find the model #? I know it’s an MPK mini. Does that help at all? And - if I don’t use beats from MPC Abeats, where will I get my beats from while using Garage Band?
posted by jitterbug perfume at 10:38 PM on November 11, 2021
posted by jitterbug perfume at 10:38 PM on November 11, 2021
Model Number would be on a metallic label on the bottom of the keyboard usually with voltage instructions and such.
posted by kschang at 12:37 AM on November 12, 2021
posted by kschang at 12:37 AM on November 12, 2021
I believe Ilok is a license manager software so that you can unlock the license of the software that came with your keyboard, it's what Avid uses as well to check if you're the owner of the software you're using.
posted by SageLeVoid at 2:44 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by SageLeVoid at 2:44 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've been making electronic music for over 30 years and I still have literally no idea what, exactly, "beats" are. For some people, they seem just to be a pattern programmed into a drum machine, and for others, it's the entire song, minus the vocals. I'm assuming you want to use your keyboard to create some of both. You don't need any of the software that came with your keyboard to do that. You can just plug it into your computer and use it to control GarageBand. GarageBand comes with tons of instruments and drum kits that you can play from the either the keyboard or the drum pad, as well as various loops (rhythmic and otherwise) that you can sequence and layer. I use Logic, not GarageBand, but since they're pretty much the same program, I assume that like with Logic, you'll need to download a lot of the additional content, like loops and sound sets, as they're not all going to be installed (they're free, but Apple isn't going to put them on everyone's computer. wasting hard drive space, if the user isn't interested in them, so you'll most likely need to download them from within GarageBand).
The MPC software is based on the workflow of the MPC series of drum machines and samplers that first appeared in the 90s. It lets you do a lot of things much easier than you can do just in GarageBand, like editing samples and assigning them to specific drum pads on the keyboard.
As far as where your "beats" will come from: if you're just looking for drum patterns, I would guess that the MPC software comes with an assortment of stuff, and you also have access to everything in GarageBand. But those tools are mainly intended for creating, so you're going to be limited to a smattering of things in different style and in different tempos, that may not match what you're trying to do. If you just want to find pre-made stuff to use as backing tracks, there are tons of sample libraries available (usually in .wav format) that you can load into GarageBand. Those wouldn't require the MPC software, although you could load them into it and chop them up and whatnot.
To use iLok, you'll need to set up an account on the iLok website and then it will authorize whatever plugins and software from that package requires it. But if you're not using any of that software, you don't need to use it.
posted by jonathanhughes at 5:31 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
The MPC software is based on the workflow of the MPC series of drum machines and samplers that first appeared in the 90s. It lets you do a lot of things much easier than you can do just in GarageBand, like editing samples and assigning them to specific drum pads on the keyboard.
As far as where your "beats" will come from: if you're just looking for drum patterns, I would guess that the MPC software comes with an assortment of stuff, and you also have access to everything in GarageBand. But those tools are mainly intended for creating, so you're going to be limited to a smattering of things in different style and in different tempos, that may not match what you're trying to do. If you just want to find pre-made stuff to use as backing tracks, there are tons of sample libraries available (usually in .wav format) that you can load into GarageBand. Those wouldn't require the MPC software, although you could load them into it and chop them up and whatnot.
To use iLok, you'll need to set up an account on the iLok website and then it will authorize whatever plugins and software from that package requires it. But if you're not using any of that software, you don't need to use it.
posted by jonathanhughes at 5:31 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
So to be clear, your Akai MPK doesn't make any sounds. It's just a MIDI controller, meaning that it creates MIDI messages which other things that receive and interpret. You press a key on the keyboard and that creates a midi "note on" message, which ableton, or a hardware synth, etc, can receive and use to create a sound.
The MPC beats software seems to be the "rest" of what an MPC would usually have, i.e. an MPK + MPC beats is pretty similar to what an MPC by itself would be. You can trigger sounds, control them, you can sequence sounds, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if it could function as a VST meaning you could load MPC beats in garage band as an "instrument", but idk for sure.
You can of course skip MPC beats and connect the MPK to garage band and just configure it such that "pressing this button on the MPK triggers this sample/synth/whatever in garage band". You could use garage band as your sequencer also. If you *like* the workflow of an MPC and want to keep that, then MPC beats might be a good option, but also there are other pieces of software that would probably work, like Native Instruments "Battery" comes to mind although I don't know that much about it.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:16 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
The MPC beats software seems to be the "rest" of what an MPC would usually have, i.e. an MPK + MPC beats is pretty similar to what an MPC by itself would be. You can trigger sounds, control them, you can sequence sounds, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if it could function as a VST meaning you could load MPC beats in garage band as an "instrument", but idk for sure.
You can of course skip MPC beats and connect the MPK to garage band and just configure it such that "pressing this button on the MPK triggers this sample/synth/whatever in garage band". You could use garage band as your sequencer also. If you *like* the workflow of an MPC and want to keep that, then MPC beats might be a good option, but also there are other pieces of software that would probably work, like Native Instruments "Battery" comes to mind although I don't know that much about it.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:16 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Battery is a completely different type of software. it's just a drum sample player. It doesn't do sequencing, and isn't really intended for dealing with loops, and it has very limited editing functions. Its great at what it does, but what it does is not a replacement for GarageBand of MPC Beats.
posted by jonathanhughes at 10:13 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jonathanhughes at 10:13 AM on November 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Found my model #: MPKMINI3
And I’m aware midi doesn’t make sound on its own. Thanks!
posted by jitterbug perfume at 4:42 PM on November 12, 2021
And I’m aware midi doesn’t make sound on its own. Thanks!
posted by jitterbug perfume at 4:42 PM on November 12, 2021
Sure, Battery won't do sequencing but garage band will. You can "play" battery with your MPK or you can sequence it with garageband. There's probably other stuff MPC beats can do that you can't with battery, idk.
I still kind of don't understand what OP wants to accomplish, so it's a little hard to give advice on how to do it.
FWIW I have an Akai MPD which is basically just a grid of 16 pads and a bunch of knobs and faders (so kind of like the MPK minus the keys) and I just use it to "play" drum racks, synths or samples in ableton, and use ableton to sequence drums and loops if I want to.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:44 PM on November 12, 2021
I still kind of don't understand what OP wants to accomplish, so it's a little hard to give advice on how to do it.
FWIW I have an Akai MPD which is basically just a grid of 16 pads and a bunch of knobs and faders (so kind of like the MPK minus the keys) and I just use it to "play" drum racks, synths or samples in ableton, and use ableton to sequence drums and loops if I want to.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:44 PM on November 12, 2021
Thanks for posting your model number! I had a look at the product page and manual, and it looks like, as RustyBrooks said, MPC Beats is an alternative to GarageBand. So if you install and activate MPC Beats, you can play into a synth or drum rack with the MPC Mini, record it, and overlay vocals/other recorded audio. It looks like the selling point is that it implements, as software, the features of the more expensive, standalone Akai MPC hardware (which doesn't require a computer to play). So, it does a lot of the same things GarageBand does, just in a different UI with slightly different features.
So, it looks like you use either MPC Beats or Garageband but not both simultaneously.
Of course, you could always mix part of a track in MPC Beats, export it as stems or as a single file, and then import that into GarageBand, but I don't know enough about the workflow you want or MPC Beats to know if that's a good idea...
posted by Alterscape at 7:42 AM on November 13, 2021
So, it looks like you use either MPC Beats or Garageband but not both simultaneously.
Of course, you could always mix part of a track in MPC Beats, export it as stems or as a single file, and then import that into GarageBand, but I don't know enough about the workflow you want or MPC Beats to know if that's a good idea...
posted by Alterscape at 7:42 AM on November 13, 2021
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iLok is a software licensing tool. Did you buy this new, or used? If new, there's probably a card in the box with a license key/serial number you'll need to enter to "activate" the software. If you bought used, it's possible you can talk to Akai support and get another activation, but I'm not sure, I've never worked with them.
Do you have the paper manual? If not, definitely go to Akai's website and download the manual. They tend to be pretty good about explaining how all of this fits together.
You should be able to set up the keyboard and drum pads so you can play direct into Garage Band, without going through MPC Beats. The manual should explain this in fairly gory detail. There's also a ton of youtube videos that go over this kind of thing, so maybe start there?
posted by Alterscape at 10:05 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]