Akai and Native Instruments are like the Nintendo and Sega of music production. These longtime rivals offer many similar products, but some musicians are drawn to Akai's MPC workflow while others opt for NI's Maschine platform. Soon, people may not have to choose. These two icons of space work together. The MPC platform will soon be the home of Native Instruments' sound packs.
This means that if you are currently using an MPC Live II or a Key 61, or any other number of standalone music production machines by Akai, you'll be able to capture legitimate Native Instruments sounds for your tracks. This is a really big deal. The MPC workflow is iconic and many genres of music wouldn't be the same without it. At the same time, NI is known for its top-notch instruments and sound.
“This collaboration bridges two iconic brands to provide creators with a fully integrated ecosystem,” said Matt Dircks, CEO of Native Instruments. “By combining legendary Akai hardware with our extensive sound libraries and tools, we're pushing the boundaries of music creation.”
We spoke with legendary instrument designer Roger Linn, who originally invented the MPC platform in 1988, about this partnership. He is no longer with Akai in an official capacity but said putting NI instruments in Akai products “will definitely benefit both companies.” He also said the move perfectly positions MPC devices “to become the next standard musical instrument like the guitar or the piano.”
Linn, who also invented modern digital music-making concepts like swing and quantization, heaped praise on the newer MPC devices, as the platform has come a long way since the MPC60 in 1988. He said the products like the Live II are “still warm and fuzzy for people familiar with the MPC, while transitioning to a DAW (digital audio workstation).” Native Instruments integration promises to make these products warmer and fuzzier.
The only caveat? MPC devices can only access Play Series instruments and official Expansions, which are genre-specific sound packs. You won't be able to scale up, for example, the entire Massive X synthesizer or Kontakt. All told, there are five instruments that will be available in mid-February, along with five Expansions. All of this is “expertly tailored for the MPC platform.” More releases are likely to follow, assuming positive user feedback.
We asked Native Instruments CPO Simon Cross if there are plans for compatibility in the other direction. Will the Native Instruments Maschine+ standalone groovebox be able to pick up Akai plugins and sound packs? There are no current plans, which is a bummer. It's quite understandable because only the company has it a standalone devicebut still.
Finally, the partnership extends to MPK controllers. Akai's line of MIDI controllers will soon be integrated with Native Instruments' Native Kontrol Standard (NKS). This means that Akai controllers will be able to “control all NKS-compatible plugins”. The integration allows for pre-mapped controls and “intuitive navigation” directly from MPK devices. The software update drops at the end of February.
It expands the controller's compatibility with over 1,800 new instruments and plugins. The NKS standard is also coming to third-party controllers in the near future from companies like M-Audio, Novation and Korg, among others.
To celebrate the growing partnership, all current owners of the MPK Series will receive a free copy of Komplete 15 Select. This is a curated bundle of Native Instruments instruments and effects. Again, this is free for all MPK Series owners, and not just new buyers.
As for Linn, his company is currently producing ultra-expressive MIDI controller LinnStrument. The device tracks finger movements in five ways, to bring acoustic-like expression to digital instruments. He also (relatively) recently designed one of my all-time favorite drum machines, the Stormwith MIDI and synthesizer luminary Dave Smith, who passed away in 2022.
