Rhythm, bass, synthesis, piano and sequencing.
GERÇEK DORMAN LIVE · WEEKLY SETS
EP.003 / 23 AUG 2026 / 34:26
Akai
Habitat
My first live set inside an Akai-centred habitat: one connected performance environment where rhythm, bass, synthesis, mixing and effects can all be redirected in the moment.
THE CENTRAL IDEA
One habitat.
Every role remains playable.
The aim was not to collect more devices. It was to make several musical roles feel like parts of one instrument, so the set could move without breaking the connection between impulse and sound.
- MPC Live IIIDrum machine, bass machine, internal synths, piano voices and the central sequencer.
- APC64Ableton Live control, structural overview and direct performance of a Native Instruments FORM preset.
- MIDImixChannel balance and effects kept under continuous physical control.
- Reaktor BlocksThree percussive channels adding unstable detail, metallic friction and movement below the main system.
- The habitatPrepared material becomes a field of possibilities rather than a fixed arrangement.
INSIDE EP.003
Three Akai surfaces.
One connected system.
Ableton structure and playable FORM control.
Live mixing and continuous effect gestures.
Percussive undercurrent and industrial friction.
The shared routing and performance environment.
EXPLORE THE HABITAT
Different functions.
One physical language.
Select a module to see how sound generation, structure, mixing and transformation remain connected throughout the performance.
MPC Live III is the musical engine of this episode. Its drum and bass programs carry the foundation, while internal synths and piano voices provide harmonic material. Patterns, sounds and playable presets were prepared specifically for the set, then recombined and reshaped during the performance.
SELECTED MODULE
Akai MPC Live III
MPC Live III is the musical engine of this episode. Its drum and bass programs carry the foundation, while internal synths and piano voices provide harmonic material. Patterns, sounds and playable presets were prepared specifically for the set, then recombined and reshaped during the performance.
A darker system that refuses perfect order.
Building this performance required two parallel preparations: composing a live architecture inside MPC Live III and designing the sounds and instrument presets that could survive being changed in real time.
MPC Live III made that preparation unusually fluid. Its sequencing workflow allowed drums, bass and synth parts to grow as connected behaviours rather than isolated clips. During the performance it became several instruments at once: the rhythmic foundation, a bass machine, a source of internal synthesis and, through its piano voices, the most organic part of the system.
The rest of the Akai habitat extends that centre. APC64 carries Ableton Live control and gives the FORM voice a playable surface. MIDImix keeps levels and effects physically available. Beneath them, three Reaktor Blocks channels introduce a more percussive instability — detail that can scrape against the grid instead of always reinforcing it.
“A habitat is not a perfectly ordered machine. It is a place where different behaviours learn how to live together.”
That is also the musical character of this episode. It is darker and deliberately less tidy. Industrial textures and recurring arpeggios carry traces of 90s synthesizer music, while the MPC piano sounds open a warmer, more human counter-space. The set does not resolve those opposites; it lets them share the same environment.
At 128 BPM, the performance moves through a D-centred minor field with hypnotic progressive motion, minimal deep-tech restraint and moments of harder electronic pressure. What holds it together is not a fixed song order, but the ability to redirect energy while every major role remains within reach.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Where did the habitat feel most alive?
Tell me in the YouTube comments: the MPC rhythm and bass engine, the industrial undercurrent, the 90s synth shadow or the organic piano space.