Akai MPC 1000 vs / and Octatrack

Rusty · 2013-12-29T07:17:10.000Z

Alas, had to give the MPC-1000 I had on loan back yesterday.

Quite a bit to take on board and get used to some stuff, whilst also trying to heavily road test it in a short space of time. Still, was very grateful for the opportunity to do so.

I’ve actually reconfigured some gear, and some plans, whilst I had the MPC and came up with a scenario/solution that is mind melting… it’s basically impossible to explain, but is amazingly flexible and most importantly fun.

It involves both an Octatrack and a MPC-1000, playing to each of their individual strengths, whilst bypassing thier weaknesses.

Only problem now is there is an MPC sized hole in the setup, so I am definitely in the market to buy one… if you have a MPC-1000 collecting dust that you want to shift, and you’re local to me, PM me

""jonah"":

@rusty you want track mutes, i think?

Yes / No / Maybe?

Basically what Anigbrowlsays rings true regarding the differences in structure between the RM1x/RS7000 and the Octatrack/MPC; and this is where my major issue is/was due to the differences in structure / sequences / architechture… can’t wrap my head around the organisation / perceived limitations of the MPC; though I’ll be the first to admit that the issue lies with me / my preceptions as opposed to the gear.

If Unicorn303 can rock a live set with an MPC, and used to use/demo the RM1x… thats good enough for me.

Regardless, I had a lot of jamming out with the “Next Sequence” and “Track Mute” functionality, and am confident I can find a way to work with them that suits me.

""ehm"":

if one already owns an Octatrack… what’s wrong with a MPC 500?

I was thinking it would be a great live performance addition. I know it only has 12 pads. and that it only has one pair of outs… but is there something else missing that the Octatrack can’t take care of?

Personally I discounted the MPC-500 from the equasion because the benefits it brings (i.e. size factor) are massivly outweighed by the cost (1x Midi, 12 pads, Stereo I/O only etc) in comparison to the MPC-1000. Additionally, the financial saving is minimal.

Really I just can’t see any justification to get the MPC-500 over the MPC-1000; so why bother?

""Anigbrowl"":

Rusty, I think your issue with the OT and possibly the MPC vs the Yamaha gear is the sequence structure. What you can do with the RS7k but not with the other gear is take the kick from one pattern, mix it with the hi-hat of another and the bassline of a third, and boom, new pattern. Different length phrases? No problem, you get polyrhythms. On the other gear, You can’t play phrases from different patterns at once, you have only one pattern playing at any given moment and if you want to mix elements from different patterns you need to copy and paste them ahead of time into a new one. In this respect they’re much closer tot he Roland model of grid sequencing. I’m not aware of anything besides the Yamaha gear that lets you mix and match individual phrases from different patterns.

Exactly right, and why I love the RS7000. I find it is so powerful as a midi sequencer; and extremely flexibleto maipulate songs and song sections on the fly.

If it wasn’t for the size, I wouldn’t even bother looking for alternatives.

Geneoart · 2013-12-29T18:24:45.000Z

Thats good to know. Just in case I get an itch to get the RS7000 again.

jonah · 2013-12-30T16:35:20.000Z

if you have an iPad Yamaha’s Mobile Music Sequencer is on sale until the 6th. Just bought it so i can’t say much, but it seems to follow similar setup as their hardware. Appears to be a useful MIDI thing. We’ll see how much a lack of tactile interface hurts.

Sequencing track mutes on the MPC 1k with the OT is too much fun and it seems like kind of an exploded/modular take on what yamaha sequencers do. (which is has it’s pluses and minuses)

to be honest, it kind of feels like that’s what the OTs sequencer was designed to do, because for doing long form sequencing i find the OT’s sequencer is kind of a hassle. On the per pattern or micro level it’s great to jam on the OT’s patterns, mute /resize/arp/parameter lock tracks, record all that into an MPC track, repeat, and then jam on the MPC track mutes either by hand or by MIDI to give structure.

Rael · 2013-12-30T19:59:53.000Z

Hi concerning the mpc, i t does have a song fontion, where patterns can be linked together (not unlike the OT)
But in the end i found this unnecessary as each pattern can be ridiculously long (256 mesures from memory (dont have it anymore))
I too came from yamaha, but it didnt take me long to convert to mpc thinking, nor too long to convert to elektron thinking
However i did try an old MPC (grey circa 2000) in 2001 and found it impossible to understand coming from the RM1X
In short great machine;complimentary to the OT ’ i sold mine due to lack of funds, and found the MD more appealing for creating your own sounds)
if ever i would re-buy one i think id get a better model rather than the 1000…

@ Unicorn303
I hope you manage to spend a bit of time with the OT before deciding
It can be daunting at first, but once you break through (and accept what it is)
Its fantastic, morec creative than anything else,
and ive gone though a lot of sequencer/samplers - RM1X-SU10-AKai3000-Motif-MPC1000

Noby · 2013-12-30T21:27:16.000Z

I run the MPC 1000 with my Monomachine. They are worlds apart in in terms of ease of use and interface. I use MM for Midi SEQ and the MPC for sampling duties or resampling or long loops, Guitars ECT. If you go the MPC route you really gotta upgrade to the XLCD and the JJOS that comes with it. That was huge improvement for me. Well worth the price and easy to install.
Still you can’t beat the Elektron workflow. Might pick up an Octatrack one day.
MPC is here to stay though.

Honeysmack · 2013-12-30T22:22:32.000Z

""Rae"":

@ Unicorn303
I hope you manage to spend a bit of time with the OT before deciding
It can be daunting at first, but once you break through (and accept what it is)
Its fantastic, morec creative than anything else,
and ive gone though a lot of sequencer/samplers - RM1X-SU10-AKai3000-Motif-MPC1000

I haven’t thrown in the towel as yet. Can see the potential in the OT, hope to overcome my frustrations and understand the OT as I do the MPC etc.

Although I love the MPC, really want the OT to replace it in my live rig one day.

Accent · 2014-02-28T03:48:35.000Z

I’ve come across an MPC 1000 for a stupidly good price, and am probably going to pull the trigger on it tomorrow morning since I need a hardware sampler and it’s still going to be some time until my OT comes off backorder. Plus, I want to channel my inner Dilla :).

Anyone have any videos using both the OT and MPC 1000? I’d like to get some idea of how people are integrating both into their workflow.

Also, any experience with MPC-Stuff? It’s a demo unit and a bit rough looking (needs a new end, slider caps, and I want to replace the pads anyhow) so I’d like to get parts, but I’ve seen some folks mention long wait periods (6+ weeks).

Accent · 2015-05-19T15:37:36.000Z

Reviving this because I’m finally getting an MPC 1000, and I’m curious about how other Octatrack owners have set it up with their OTs. I’m currently thinking OT as master, but am wondering how to get the most out of the MPCs sequencing without overlapping with the Octatrack. Any tips?

Also, I know there was a guy on here who was doing some great OT/MPC 1000 video jams a while back, but I can’t find them. They tended to be on the long side, and some of the time he had another guy jamming with him. Anyone remember these who can link me?

Accent · 2015-05-20T18:30:04.000Z

Anyone? I know there are some other MPC users on here…

okam · 2015-05-21T11:18:04.000Z

My first thought was J Tomes?

http://www.elektronauts.com/t/live-hip-hop-jam-vid/10113/81947

I had a MPC 2500 & OT combo for a while but I never found a means of using the two together that was satisfactory for my workflow. Ultimately I got rid of the MPC.

I’ve ordered a bunch of pads, spares & parts from MPC-Stuff over the years and they’ve always been fine. Never had to wait for anything.

tomes · 2015-05-26T16:43:36.000Z

thanks for posting that @koam !

was just poking my head in the door to see if i could contribute and someone’s a step ahead of me…

the combination is definitely amazing - but i don’t use either for sequencing midi so can’t weigh in on that measure.

in the vid above i only capture audio from the MPC and don’t exploit the sequencing ability of the MPC at all.

there are so many ways to use the two together… it’s an exciting prospect.

i think they cover each others weaknesses really nicely…

i initially bought the octatrack to replace the MPC but i know now that’s not going to happen anytime soon!

MK7 · 2015-05-27T12:24:26.000Z

""jamrod"":

@jonah love that MPC video you posted

anyone here use pads w/ the OT?

Yes. My current setup consists of a MPD32 firing a large palette of sounds from the OT (stopped sequencer, dust cover on it) plus a MPC2500.

elenacortes · 2015-05-28T07:42:48.000Z

Hello,

I’m a midi consumer. That’s why I had a mpc with jjos. Very powerful midi tools. But three major problem :

the volume and weight (mpc 2500)
the poor editing abilities
The little possibility to real time midi action

So I sel it, I thought I would not did that, now I’m waiting for my squarp pyramid, wich must arrive in June.

My advice : better have a mini computer than a MPC. Now this gears are to old. But the best is a good hardware midi sequencer. For the moment two pieces have my preference, the squarp and the social entropy engine.
I have not enough money for a cirklon. …

fmw · 2015-05-28T08:56:11.000Z

jjos 2xl has note grid editing that’s about as good as your average DAW midi clip view. OS 3 (the small screen version of 128XL) has an incomplete graphical note editor but a few nice live performance features.

Also - for simpler loop playback & pads, an MPC500 shouldn’t be written off… handy addition to a monomachine. It’s also really really small & light.

MK7 · 2015-05-28T17:37:12.000Z

""elenacortes"":

major problem :

the volume and weight (mpc 2500)

Isn’t that one a major advantage? This thing feels like good old heavy hardware, not like a toy!

tomes · 2015-05-28T19:41:21.000Z

""MK7"":

[quote=“jamrod”]@jonah love that MPC video you posted

anyone here use pads w/ the OT?

Yes. My current setup consists of a MPD32 firing a large palette of sounds from the OT (stopped sequencer, dust cover on it) plus a MPC2500.[/quote]
not using the sequencer? sounds interesting.
why?

MK7 · 2015-05-28T22:25:08.000Z

""tomes"":

[quote=“MK7”][quote=“jamrod”]@jonah love that MPC video you posted

anyone here use pads w/ the OT?

Yes. My current setup consists of a MPD32 firing a large palette of sounds from the OT (stopped sequencer, dust cover on it) plus a MPC2500.[/quote]
not using the sequencer? sounds interesting.
why?[/quote]
I’m trying to play my gear more like instruments as opposed to placing trigs in a sequencer. Just for my entertainment if you will, had been placing trigs for long enough.

Most of the time, one machine (the MPC now) provides a kick and maybe an offbeat closed hat, and then I drum in whatever I like to be added. Sometimes I also play everything live. The OT has slice chains loaded on all 8 tracks, faders on the MPD32 select slices (–> access to several hundred sounds per kit), some randomness in selecting the sounds is just fine. Then I add internal delay/reverb via other faders and El Capistan fx sends (Cue out) on again other faders. The MPC provides about 40 drum kits.

Hit some green pads on the MPC for dry drums, hit some orange pads on the Mpd32 for basses, vocals, reverberated drums, crashes etc. I can tell you that this setup is a LOT of fun and you sometimes get these moments where you don’t exactly know what you’re fingers are doing but they should most definitely not stop doing whatever it is
(… and if they stop you’re hitting a sudden break like a wall, so you should quickly hit a crash or something…)

elenacortes · 2015-05-28T22:42:29.000Z

@mK7

Hehehe… If old quality is dependent of weight factor, we should use catapult and stone ball to make good kicks !

elenacortes · 2015-05-28T22:53:35.000Z

MPC are just an old computer sample/sequencer with pads, the whole in a tank blindage box.
This is not hate against MPC, i really like to play with it, and some of my prefered songs where made with. But the reality is there. Computer+pads are beter than MPC.

That’s why i sold mine and looked upon new sequencers… I sold my 2500 SE for 650€ and immediatly bought the pyramid for 690.

This kind of sequencers will be 1000x more creative on the fly than MPC wich are already good instant instrument for creation, but limited mode of edition.

fmw · 2015-05-29T00:09:18.000Z

This kind of sequencers will be 1000x more creative on the fly than MPC wich are already good instant instrument for creation, but limited mode of edition. -
uh huh, this is different to my experience of jjOS 2XL. Combined with an Elektron machine - you get two very different sequencers to bounce off each other.
Strengths & weaknesses. For more complex processing I have added an RW Minicommand into the midi chain.