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

Is it possible that your SD card corrupted somehow? Have you tried with another card? Does your computer read the card OK?

Do it. Is the only place akai take care about their reputationā€¦ even better than their own forum. Strange but it is what it is

Yes iā€™ve tried a different SD card & my computer can read both of them.

Are you resetting your MPC after each update?Thatā€™s a standard procedureā€¦

I didnā€™t know that. Iā€™ve never seen it mentioned & the MPC doesnā€™t prompt you to do that after an update.

But Iā€™ve just reset it, & still no change.

Someone on Gearslutz has the same issue. They canā€™t access any ext drives.

Yes i know that but anytime thereā€™s an issue after an update every time AKAI support prompts you to do a resetā€¦Thatā€™s why i do it anyway after each update to save me from frustrationā€¦
Anyway your issue seems it needs AKAI support to chime inā€¦

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For the MPC Live users here:
Iā€™m thinking of getting one, as a one stop unit for making complete tracks. Hereā€™s what I want it to do really well, for me to consider it:

Record longer takes from my synths, and by longer I mean minutes and minutes. The eight audio track limit is no problem, as long as those eight tracks can be of substantial length.

Be able to sequence these synth sections by midi, to get them right. Then record that midi sequence as audio. Case in point - playing my Yamaha Reface for say, three minutes, into the MPC Live midi sequencer? Then, hone and adjust that sequence to get it just right, and then record that section from the Reface audio outputs into the Live.

Create drum beats like it was a Tempest. Meaning - jam, record, rehears, record again, sequencer running all the time (so much fun on the Tempest).

I got no MPC experience, unless some of its workflow DNA is in the Tempest sequencer. I love the recording workflow of the Tempest.

Whatā€™s the flow like, once you get into it? I had a Deluge. Even when I knew how to work it, it was still awkward. I have a Tempest. Nothing awkward about it at all. Fingers just fly. So thatā€™s where Iā€™m at.

Thanks for sharing any and all advise you have on this.

At the minute, the audio tracks all have to be loaded in memory. No disk streaming. Best I can manage, is 3 stereo stems for a 7-ish minute track.

Weā€™re hoping for disk streaming, but no sign of it yet.

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Ok, thx. Went ahead and got one. Iā€™m all new to the MPC workflow, but so far, it makes sense. A bit refreshing, actually. Been in 64-step land so long, I forgot thereā€™s a world outside.

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2GB of RAM, tho. Does feel plenty for a lad whoā€™s managed on a Model:Samples for some time now.

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Iā€™m only working with an MPC500 right now but the MPC way is an almost perfect complement to the Elektron way.

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If itā€™s any encouragement, both myself and Yorgos are long-time Tempest users, now working in part on the MPC Liveā€¦

I personally have found it to be a very intuitive box with a well-designed interface and workflow. Yorgos and I have been online colleagues for many years now, since the early days of the Tempestā€™s development, and he certainly spoke highly of the MPC Live when he first got his, and recommended it to me several times in the many gear-related conversations weā€™ve had since.

To put it in perspective, as of a month ago, I was not at all familiar with the MPC workflow, yet I still managed to prep it for tour in a matter of weeks, and successfully perform with it live. So, yaā€¦ I dare say Iā€™m an MPC guy now. Iā€™m even considering purchasing an MPC X for the studio.

Cheers!

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Thanks for saying @JohntheSavage

Iā€™m originally from a classical background and tend to think about music in a more linear sort of way, even if itā€™s just a beat on repeat. A three minute long piece is still a completely linear progress, no matter its content and the randomisations going on in there. For that purpose, the MPC seems to think more like Iā€™m used to.

But Iā€™m still detoxing. Iā€™ve been in step sequencing country for years and learned to appreciate what that brings to the table, so weā€™ll see. I like it so far.

Great work on the Tempest with Roger Linn, by the way. Your successful negotiation with Linn and the results that came out of it, made me keep the Tempest. For this, I thank you.

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Youā€™re very welcome! As Iā€™ve said in the past, I did it as much for myself as for the community, but it does make me happy to know that the results of those efforts still resonate with Tempest users in a positive way. And Roger and I remain friends to this day, so it proved to be good experience in the long run, well worth the hassle and frustration. That said, I do wish there was enough overhead left in the Tempest, and the willingness on DSIā€™s behalf, to implement one last round of bug fixes; but sadly, that will never happen.

I actually bought the MPC Live because Iā€™m sick of negotiating with the Tempestā€™s rather unpredictable voice stealing algorithm, which still needs a lot of work. I perform and record beats, live onstage, and the Tempest has made a mockery of too many otherwise flawless performances; so, I decided to go with a box that offers more polyphony and more reliable playback. The idea being to use the MPC for finger-drumming and live sequencing, and the Tempest for prefab beats and fodder for the MPC. Itā€™s early days, but thus far, Iā€™m getting the results I was hoping for.

Much like yourself, I am also a trained musician first (a guitarist), so I approach every instrument, electronic or otherwise, with the expectation that I can perform on it in real-time, in the context of a linear arrangement. Itā€™s amazing how few instruments fit the bill when you apply that one seemingly simple prerequisite. Hence why I fought so hard for the Tempest to come to fruition - I needed it (grin)!

Cheers!

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Yes, makes total sense. Iā€™m excited to see what Roger Linn brings with the new drum machine heā€™s mentioned, once itā€™s unveiled. It did feel like he was polite and professional enough in his communication to understand that Dave Smith just didnā€™t want to push development further now, for various reasons, but that the Tempest was in some ways an opportunity lost to make something already amazing, become even grander.

The MPC is making more and more sense to my linear brain. From time to time, over the years, Iā€™ve sometimes been both frustrated but also fascinated by the limitations of step sequencing in situations when I just want to sit down and record a 32-bar sequence in one take. But that has forced me to find new ways, of course.

But now, to just sit down, play and record a take thatā€™s as long as I want it to, without tricking the sequencer with conditionals or different time signatures - to just play it and then itā€™s done - is very refreshing.

But weā€™re honeymooning still. Time and patience will tell where this ends up.

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Iā€™ve found that people who like to play their sequences in, as opposed to programming them in, tend to like MPCs more :nyan:

I also prefer playing, most of the time. I wish I had more chops though :blush:

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Second this. Just putting the seq on 128 bars and zoning out with some nice slices :relieved:

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The loop mentality is so engrained in me I even forgot I can do things linearlyā€¦
How would you do that, record a whole long take for an instrument, then repeat for all other?

Reading these last few posts gives me MPC Live envy.

Iā€™m making LP sampled hiphop triphop type stuff and a long time MPC1000 user, then ableton live, then both (MPC master/Abes slave). Then I discovered the OP-1, then the DT and Iā€™ve been going back and forth between both since.

Whatā€™s important is that I want a one stop machine. As far as I understand the production ability of the MPC Live is spot on.

Now, how about in a live context? Can I easily pre-organise sequences/patterns (beats) as a set and go from one beat to the other easily, while trackmuting, etc and transitioning smoothly?

Whenever I google/youtube MPC Live I never find beat sets, or someone doing what I describe above. The most stuff I find is finger tapping (these pads seem amazingly sensitive, nothing like my 1K), or arranging/producing.

Surely with a name such as ā€œMPC Liveā€ :slight_smile:

Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks