I’m gonna have to go track by track from now on like I used to do on the MPC 1000. I’m not a finger drummer anyway so no big deal.
This is an excellent tip and exactly what I did, but thanks for posting this as I forgot to do so myself!
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Not trying to reignite or beat a dead horse here but I think the initial comment today was more about Akai allowing users to brick their MPCs instantly without warning by deleting the included content.
That to me is crazy. They really should put a lock on the content if has to stay. Had I not asked a while back, I would have been opening a ticket myself.
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I too find it crazy that I have to have demos on my main page. In order for the machine to function properly I must be offered a ‘future trap’ demo upon booting up my MPC or not else face losing control of the device. But whatever. I’m nearly over it.
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I’m over it, I just think for their support desk sake they’d add a fail safe of some sort.
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You can have the mpc load up a blank main page by default. I can’t remember where in the setting but i haven’t seen the demos on load since i bought the mpc near the start of the year
How about creating a song in song mode, turn that into a new pattern then explode tracks and export?
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Some of this stuff is why people still use and love the OG machines. Clean and simple with no filler like that. Can’t do as much on them of course, but there are always trade offs.
For now, the One is doing it for me. Especially since they keep updating it. I am real curious if the next update will let us change the colors. It would be sick AF if they gave us a retro option with the Japanese maid again. I like the basic screens honestly. They never really bothered me, and actually are more inspiring. Probably why I like Elektron stuff.
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As far as I’m aware (and I’m happy to be corrected) there are only two startup pages - the full one (standard) and the template one with the demos and recent projects. Please if anyone knows of another startup screen do tell. 
Do you mean turn that song into a new sequence? I tried that and for some reason even after exploding the drums I still got a one-track drum render… Tried it a couple of times with the same result. No idea why! Just gonna have to keep fiddling with it until I get the results I desire. The ALS export is really pretty great other than these issues, still so much quicker than tracking everything bit by bit into Ableton Live like I used to do with my MPC 1000.
I’ve been intending to create/set up some templates for my MPC for a while now and not got around to it.
Even though I know I usually go through the same routine of loading programs, laying out tracks, etc, I’ve still not committed to making templates.
So, who’s got templates that they use all the time and rate?
Any advice on pros and cons of templates? Or things to avoid?
I even made a note to my Google notes to do it…
My template would only include 2 different reverbs and 2 different delays on send channels as the rest varies per track.
But, if you are organised and keep 1 sound per track, then you could have your starting template with 64 kick/64 snares/64 cowbells and so forth. That should make a great start.
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Yes, that’s a good idea… I always use a Hall/Plate and a Spring Rev… those and a clean delay plus a coloured one would make a good start.
I’m thinking it’d be cool to have my Novation Launch Control XL ready to roll too.
I have a template but it’s nothing special. Just some pre-named tracks and programs to make things easier to start off, a decent drum kit that I got from the Digitakt.
I could probably spend more time to make things better, like standardizing on how the Sends are used etc but I’m not sure if that level of rigidity actually speeds me up. I mostly care about skipping the boring parts like naming tracks. 
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I’m using the MPC software with MPC Studio 2 on an M1 MacBook Air.
For some reason it isn’t generating any MIDI data either internally, for example so that I can auto sample one of Logic’s instruments and neither will it generate any MIDI to send to external hardware using the Studio 2’s break out cable.
I’ve tested it with MIDI Monitor, setting MIDI Monitor to act as a destination and choosing MIDI Monitor as the destination in the MPC preferences. But no MIDI data coming through at all.
I’ve tried it as standalone software and hosted in Logic and no MIDI generated at all. Logic is sending MIDI data to MIDI Monitor fine.
When I go into the MIDI preferences, the MIDI breakout IN and OUT don’t even show up.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Is there a setting I’ve missed?
Could someone test this for me in their MPC software and see if they have the same issue or can replicate it?
Thanks
This is what I do. Drums on tracks 1-10, then bass, vocals, stabs, chords. So I think my template is 13-15 tracks.
What I don’t recommend is loading all the sounds up in each drum slot. It just makes the load time super annoying. Its better to make programs out of those collections and label them so you can quickly go in and grab and load when the project starts. I keep my programs typically to 16-32 pads and label them like 909 style kicks, 808 style hats. dirty open hats…etc.
So really my template is just prelabeling the tracks themselves more than anything.
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I was thinking of organising myself pretty much the same way as the one you described, but loading multiple programs of specific drums parts has never annoyed you due to the ram/loading time it may involve ? The threshold before overloading the ram seems pretty high but I’m kinda curious about it.
So, do you use one track per one drum? As opposed to the kit approach?
I must say, even though I’ve used it for some time, I’m still kind of trying to find my flow with the MPC. With everything on offer, I’d even say the Octatrack is simpler to learn. [puts on flame retardant hat]
No because I keep my PGMs small like I was saying. Typically 16 one shots. And also the key part is I organize my samples by drum sound. So most of the time all I am doing is saying “I need a kick” and I dont even load up a program, I just scroll through some kicks and load the ones I think will work.
so a lot of my programs may have 4-5 samples in there at most (example hi hats or percussion).
I guess the point is that more importantly than having programs to load is to organize your samples by drum just like your tracks are done. Its super fast to scroll through and grab the sounds that way.
also for the program a better way may be to just make programs out of your go to all time favorite kicks. For me, it typically just makes sense to have really good sample organization and a few small programs I can preload if I need something fast.
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Yes, I have always done that with the MPC. It makes more sense to me that way. Makes track muting way easier, which is a key part of my workflow.
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I made a template with 128 kicks, 128 snares, 128 hi-hats, 128 basses and 128 synth stabs, all from my favourite techno sample packs. It’s a massive project but great fun. I made it to demo the power of templates and the MPC in general to a mate.
My main template is my four Pulsar-23 channels plus my Virus. Super simple.
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