I’ve recently acquired an MPC1000 (w/ JJOS) and a Squarp Pyramid in lieu of using my Octatrack for live. I had the OT for 3 years and loved using it to perform live, but I didn’t get along using it to produce tracks from scratch.
Song Transition
My last live set was performed with the RYTM and Volca Sample which in many cases I “DJ mixed” between the two to transition between tracks. Other times I would mute the RYTM tracks, keep the synths going (triggered by Pyramid) and switch RYTM BANKS (in my case songs) for the next track.
However, this meant I wrote about 3 pages of notes and made the experience overly complicated although I did pull it off. Since I was loading synth, pads and non drum things into the RYTM this was necessary to remember what track was what.
MPC1000hopefully some knowledgable users on here
I’m now trying to decide how to utilize the MPC1000 effectively in a live situation. I want to be able to write 8-16 bar sampled synth sequences with drums as well. I want to program in the synth sample chops with pitches/effects on the MPC instead of exporting BPM specific loops.
I realized while trying out "PAD MUTE’ that when exciting that mode, everything becomes unmuted. With TRACK MUTE mode this does not happen but instead when switching sequences, the MPC remembers where you last left the mute states. It does not transfer the mute states over to the next sequence.
Does anyone have suggestions about what they think would be a logical way to go about setting up my next live set?
EG:
-use only non drum sounds in the MPC, only drum sounds in the AR: use another drum machine to fill in transitions?
-use track mute mode only with one sequence only. switch between banks. I noticed the track mode mode is only good from tracks 1-64. Song 1 could be tracks 1-8, Song 2 9-16, Song 3 17-24 etc.
My set would be 1 hour and would also be utilizing two to three synths such as A4, blofeld, x0xb0x, Make noise 0-Coast.
Hi efraser
Nice setup! Plus, MPC is a killer with JJOS.
Pad mute actually kills the track mute mode. That’s why you should reconsider your wishes about using track banks as it. (Simult Sequence function is here to help you creating transitions, the number printed beside the SS “button” is displaying the % velocity on witch the second sequence is playing (maybe not very comprehensive, sorry, it’s late)).
Hope you don’t need to live sampling/trimming because MPC is pretty weak on that side (got the MD UW for this (OT would be greater, i know, but i needed a synth drum engine ) ).
Actually you can use it for live looping.
Chop function is very nice (not destructive) since you have pre sampled, pre chopped and precequenced your track (playing with faders affecting chop number+ end of the sample is, for me a mind blower especially with drum sample)
There’s a loooooooooooooooooooot of tips to give with this OS, i’ll come back later to try further explanations.
Take some time to check the jjos manual.
Sorry for my english, but I hope it helps.
Tobdoly
Thanks Tobdoly. I wouldn’t need ot use the MPC for live sampling/trimming. Just mutes and sequences really…don’t need to get too fancy. Looking forward to hearing more.
I have some experience with playing gigs with the 1k. Never used the pad mutes live tbh. They way it’s been used for now is as a MIDI sequencer mainly, with each song consisting of 1-4 sequences. These are changed with the next seq pad mode to build up the songs. Track mutes are used as well.
They way the track mutes are set is quite important in this kind of “workflow”. As they don’t carry over, but their states are saveable, you just need to mute/unmute a “starting point” for every diff seq to help with the transitions. Then, once every seq’s mute states are perfectly set with the suitable starting points, save all (entire memory) to the AUTOLOAD folder. Now all you gotta do is reboot the machine for a clean slate!
Only thing I haven’t figured out is how to save the global tempo setting? The damn thing always boots up with (S) tempo mode, and it always has to be changed to (M) before playing…
PS the multitibral recording mode is killer on the 1k! You can record 16 tracks in one pass, which afaik is an unique feature to just about any groovebox/sequencer…
i am about to start using my rytm with my mpc1000 as well (jjos1 4.99,i might go for the 2XL os ) ,
post a video if you have the time, it could be very helpful !
completely live, just one bar, 20-40 drum kits, half tempo (64 to achieve 128 bpm) --> essentially a two bar loop where the Erase Bar button combo deletes “both” bars. you can use this setup on several tracks sent to separate outs and mixed externally on a DJ mixer to transition to a different drum kit or just blend different kits together. the great thing: people have a chance to understand what you’re doing, if you care about that.
long sequences with 32-50 bars recorded while jamming, with a lot of variety. press the Loop key to loop a bar (which sounds like two bars because of half speed), if you need variation press the Loop key again to proceed in the time line and again to loop a different position. that Loop key is amazing. sometimes I just want to focus on something else (TR-8, Samplr) and need a beat going.
most of the kits consist of sliced samples. the MPC is so incredibly efficient in slicing things up. it’s faster (and more fun) to sample a drum kit into the MPC than to usb, copy, load files…
Of course, you can also jump to workflow 1) whenever you want.
Hi tsutek,
Did you try to save the system setup in your autoload folder? (should be named MPC1 K_SETUPS.SYS) = Save menu => Save : System
It seems it saves all setup that are not part of pattern bank, sample, sequence, Pad mode and kit.
One thing i think is time saver as hell is to make a template autoload folder (W/ tracks already named, midi setting properly activated, some “basic” kits etc…)
I don’t use pad mute either since I use the pad to track function which allows me to have 1 sample per track (sometimes, i leave more than 1 sample per track for OH CH muting for example).
You can also use the mute group function to simplify some multiple muting.
Hi tsutek,
Did you try to save the system setup in your autoload folder? (should be named MPC1 K_SETUPS.SYS) = Save menu => Save : System
It seems it saves all setup that are not part of pattern bank, sample, sequence, Pad mode and kit.
One thing i think is time saver as hell is to make a template autoload folder (W/ tracks already named, midi setting properly activated, some “basic” kits etc…)[/quote]
Thanks for the tip, will try this! cheers
That would be awesome! Ideally I want to keep it as simple as possible. I am used to muting/unmuting tracks on the AR and switching patterns. I got the MPC1000 to playback longer samples, sample records and the overall ability to edit samples which was somewhat limited on the AR. As a bonus the MPC1000 performed on a triplet or 32nd grid really nicely when you tap in drums. I just need some way to effectively change patterns and mutes.
) ).