Akai APC40 Hacking Guide
Last week, we asked if the Akai APC40, the new, relatively inexpensive MIDI controller for Ableton Live, was going to make the monome irrelevent.
It’s clear that the Akai APC40 is stealing some of the monome’s mojo, because the APC40 is cheap and offers a great array of controls. At $400, the APC40 is cheap enough to become the new hot platform for music hacking.
As a result, videos, like the one above, are starting to appear on YouTube. The video demonstrates Akai APC40 customization and adding additional functionality with Bome’s MIDI Translator Pro.
This is just scratching the surface, though. CDM’s Peter Kirn has put together a nice SuperGuide to hacking the APC40. It looks at monome emulation, manual MIDI mapping, MIDI lights and more.
This is a must-read for APC40 owners, or if you’re considering the purchase of an APC40.
If you’ve got other ideas or resources for APC40 hacking, leave a link in the comments!
Related Posts
- Advanced Akai APC40 Controller Programming With Ableton Live
- Akai APC40 + Monomulator + Ableton Live 8
- Did The Monome Just Become Irrelevant?
- Cakewalk V-Studio 100 Review
- NAMM 2009: Akai APC40 Demo
Tags: Akai, Akai APC40, Borne, demo video, hacking, MIDI, MIDI Controllers




i dont see 400$ or the superior european price something ” inexpensive ”
if someone is short of cash better get a brc2000 and use mackie emulation mode and a padkontrol with monome emulation, barely 200$ if you go second hand
This is now at the top of my want list!
That was pretty cool. I liked how he mapped velocity settings into the drum pads.