MPC Thread : MPC Live - MPC X - MPC One (Part 1)

The Lounge Other Gear
#4220

Have been testing out my new MPC Live for a few days now and I really want to like it. it definitely ticks a lot of boxes as far as midi sequencing goes compared to the OT, but I feel that something is wrong with this unit, hope somebody can chime in…

-Midi sync: does not feel as tight as the OT when sequencing external gear. MPC drums don’t line up as nicely with my sequenced Prophet 6 as when using the OT. I used the same drum samples (Goldbaby 808 Tape) to compare, no swing or effects applied. I also recorded the midi output from the MPC into Ableton Live and I see quite a lot of midi jitter from the MPC around the grid. Anyone else noticing the same? Or is the MPC just more “loose” than the OT?

-Sample attack: The sharpest attack setting for a drum sample is much softer than with the OT or Ableton, very noticeable on kicks, resulting in a less punchy sound. Is this normal behavior? Haven’t found a way to compensate this although I’ve read that older MPC’s used to “eat” the attack of samples, so you would need to leave some room ahead of the sample to fix that?

-Mute issue: During playback, when unmuting samples in a program, especially ones with sharp attacks like kicks, the sound is “muffled” at first. Like the first kick will be very soft, then gradually reaches the expected sound on the third kick (albeit with a softer overall final attack than the OT). Additionally, muting a kick with a long decay (808-ish) results in a clicking sound. Can’t be normal…same sample on OT, no click.

-Overall sound quality: Because of the above attack and mute issues obviously I’m not feeling the sound of the MPC right now. But I hope it’s just my unit or even user error. The quality of the onboard effects is also average at best I find, but I guess that could be improved with an update.

Would be very interested to hear if anybody has the same concerns. I never questioned the timing nor the sound of the OT when I got it, everything was just right. So I really hope that I’ve received a bad unit and that a replacement is the solution, because there’s clearly a lot of potential here and a lot to like.

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#4221

Same concerns on the exact same points + i take a lot of time to learn and be ready with elektron workflow that i find now it’s hard to deal with a lot of different workflow. + i do not think at first it will be so time consuming to make a keygroup instruments (i mean natural with expressivity) i analyse some of the internal factory and i can’t deal with that nor in standalone nor in software. it’s way more fast and efficient in NI Kontakt to make program (i can convert on the computer but at the end if i do a lot on the computer, it’s better to keep it in the loop so no need of the MPC Live then).

So i will keep things more simple. Drums design on Analog RYTM. Instruments Design ITB. Creating tracks on Macbook Pro + Analog RYTM and then preparing Live on AR + OT + TORAIZ (because the general master outs sounds too nice and warm at my hears to not going that way) > through Behringer X18 then Analog HEAT

1 Like
#4222

I tried using it as a multi track recorder when I first got it and I liked it with one reservation. When recording a part into an audio track, it stops recording at about 200 beats. I haven’t tried other sampling mechanisms on the live to compare because that was long enough.
Editing on the live is great. Would be nice if there was a snap to the grid feature but nbd.
Effects and motion record are good.
Sound quality overall good.
Most important, the result was good.

2 Likes
#4223
#4224

release notes for a new beta:

nothing seems related to stand alone mode

1 Like
#4225

Yeah, I think this is just for the software version you install on a computer. Nothing for the hardware yet.

#4226

So you also experience this weird attack issue? I can’t conceive that’s how they designed it to work, it completely changes the sample, and you can’t do anything about it as the attack is already set to 0 by default.
Surely there must be something wrong with the unit if nobody else has noticed this. On the other hand I haven’t had any crashes or drive issues, lucky with that…
Anyway I agree with your workflow, keep it simple. I also realize I miss more hands-on controls on the Live, buttons, pots, trigs whatever. The bigger screen is really great as visual feedback, but tapping around the screen feels clunky.

1 Like
#4227

Well…it is more official now…

Just received a call from the store regarding the MPC X (Tonecontrol here in NL, end of January pre-order placed).

They stated that they received info from Akai…and wanted to tell me that it will arrive halfway of August. (…and if i would like to keep or cancel my order)

Blehhh

well…still keeping the order

1 Like
#4228

How can people create their kits without succumbing to the urge of actually starting working on a track?
This is a serious question, everytime I try to sit down and just work on building kits for later use, I start a track.
Also, any layering tips?

4 Likes
#4229

Small suggestion is to do it the sane way I do with the rytm. Start with a simple beat on the sequencer and build different kits on the track using different programs. On mpc a drum program is the kit and you can freely assign them to any track. That is the way I did it on my 4K.

As far as layering there are four layers per drum pad in a drum program and you should be able to layer a key group program by assigning a sample to the same key span aka key range or assign more than one key group program to the same track using midi like a multi, if it is similar to the 4K. Check the manual to be sure. Or come to think of it bounce to audio and layer the loop sample in the key group program assigned to the same root note and keyspan.

2 Likes
#4230

check this one for layering - http://www.goldbaby.co.nz/dirtandlayers.html

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#4231

I generally shlep my MPC Live into the computer room for kit building purposes. In fact I’ve been thinking about picking up a MPC Touch (they’re cheap!) just for that purpose, just because a few things are easier with the Q-Links and data wheel. (like setting velocity ranges for layers, for example.)

Being in front of the computer generally dissuades me from getting too musical.

But yeah, when I’m somewhere else building kits in standalone mode, tracks happen. Just gotta remember to save the kit before I destroy it with FX and what not.

EDIT: tip for building kits in MPC 2.0 - SHIFT + Drag to pad allows you to drop samples directly into layers.(the pad is split into 4 sections)

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#4232

anyone know how to create your own clips? unless i’m missing something, it seems the manual is annoyingly brief.

#4233

got that one already, it’s one of the essential tools no matter the genre!

#4234

It’s kind of annoying, I usually record a bunch of loops in the looper, save them , then create a new clip program and assign them, but I wish there was a better flow

1 Like
#4235

exchanged my unit for a new one, big ups to soundium.lv for making it fast )
internal drive works as it should, feels good!
also i finally tried it with rytm and a4. i dunno, sync feels sloppy. worse when mpclive in slave mode, but it was expected. when master - well, it’s kinda ok, though i would like for it to be tighter.

1 Like
#4236

Hello everyone,
So I bought the live mainly as a tool to allow me to rework/perform old material in a live setting. I’m about to get into and just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions on how to go about this? The music itself is somewhat nuanced for electronic music, not just 4 bars repeating, etc. That said I’m not too worried about keeping everything in tact the way it was recorded, especially as attempting to do so seems to limit how “live” I can really be with the music.

Thus far I’m considering mainly using next sequence mode and having each song comprised of a few sequences (the sections with “jam” potential would be there own shorter sequences for looping, etc). Also was planning on sequencing a few synth parts live, and probably reprogramming drum parts; really just to have everything broken down as much as possible.

I suppose I’m trying to balance having a live element, ie., not just pushing play, and still do the songs in a somewhat linear way. It does seem that the two are sort of mutually exclusive. Any input into a approach is much appreciated. Thanks!

#4237

I have a mint boxed MPC Live for sale £750 if anyone is interested.

Great unit but the workflow is just not for me. I should have waited for the digitakt as in hindsight i prefer the electron workflow and i like the idea of the digitakt as a simplified drum machine which is all I’m using the MPC Live for right now.

1 Like
#4238

I think your approach sounds good, you just need to experiment with it and see how you get along with it. next seq, pad/track mutes, note repeat and erase is how I usually do live playing on the MPC(s). You can also record to the sequencer while turning down the track volume, and unmute this track later, to bring in bigger “instantaneous” changes later (assuming you have sections where you have time to do this, of course). The beauty of 128 tracks is that you can really spam em, as long as you don’t get confused with the tracks/mutes.

#4239

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4bRL7JMZ4w7TDNPNHBQLTc5VlE?usp=sharing

i made midi sync tests with mpc live and analog four or analog rytm. mpc live is in left channel, a4-rytm right channel. started with 120 bpm, then slow down, then speed up about 150 bpm, and then again return to 120 bpm. hope it will be useful to someone

so if mpc live master, then it’s late for 3 to 7 ms. if it’s slave, it’s drift a lot more, and latency goes to 10 ms, though in a4’s case - mpclive is ahead.

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