Published
Fri, Sep 28, 2018, 09:50
- The Akai Fire is out now for $199.
Akai has launched a new dedicated controller for FL Studio.
The Akai Fire is the first hardware interface designed specifically for FL Studio and intends to speed up making beats, shaping sounds and building tracks. Four rows of 16 velocity-sensitive pads represent FL Studio's step sequencer, allowing you to quickly program rhythms across multiple tracks by hand. It can also be switched to function as a keyboard for writing melodies and basslines or a drum pad if you want to record beats in realtime. The last mode is for launching MIDI and audio clips, facilitating live performance and restructuring tracks of the fly.
Along with buttons for muting and soloing sounds, there is a browser for searching and loading samples and plug-ins and four rotary encoders for setting volume, pan, EQ and other parameters (the encoders can also be set to control parameters chosen by the user). You can also link up to four units together, creating an eight-by-32 grid matrix. It also comes with FL Studio Fruity Fire Edition, which includes all the tools you need to compose and finish a piece of music.
The release of Fire follows FL Studio 20, which was the first version of the software to run on both Windows and Mac. Akai previously built controllers for Ableton, namely the APC40 and the original version of Push.
Watch an intro video for the Akai Fire.
Akai Fire is available now for $199.