MPC Thread : MPC Live - MPC X - MPC One (Part 2)

I recently got a midi fighter spectra and wow I like the buttons so much better than pads. Now I’m thinking if I want an mpc-esq workflow I might just use serato sample with the midi fighter. Feels a little blasphemous though lol.

I think as a standalone tool SP404 workflow is amazing and contained, and almost perfectly limited. But it is tough to setup for a proper mix. I.e. if you could rapidly solo as well as mute then you could easily track out to a DAW. For example all low end could be on bank A, all percussion on bank B, all melodic on bank C, and so on. Then record just bank A to your DAW for a mix, and so on. But muting every pad is a pain, and crazy there is no dedicated mute or solo buttons, and no solo option. These are basic things I would expect.

Also when it comes to midi sequencing, the MPC clearly wins. I’m prob going to switch my SP404 to MPC. I now have an S2400 and really the SP/MPC is just intended to be a supporting to tool to generate midi, particularly melodic parts, and apply FX to samples.

What I do love about the SP404 is the last 40 second audio capture at any time. Best feature in any new sampler.

a short question. does the mpc have log/exp envelope curves?

Can the MPC link two plugin tracks so I can do bi-timbral stacked sounds or fake 8 voices say for the Odyssey plugin?

… and that effectively eliminates the possibility of doing a live jam and mixing the tracks individually afterwards, since a live jam is only one take. The MPC clearly wins in any form of live jam scenario if you intend to produce the resulting jam in a DAW afterwards.

If anyone is interested in what the MPC X looks like from the inside, I’ve posted a few pictures of the parts/pcb boards here:

it sounds almost better open than it did closed…:scream:

my experience with 2.11.7 on an MPC One is that plugins still suffer from the MIDI note overlap bug, so simply layering multiple plugins, or doubling up on the same plugin, across multiple tracks will require some creative key range mapping and transposing to get them playing in unison without choking each other off with overlapping note values

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Yes, or you even stack different plug-ins

Like so?



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Yes🙂…this is what I wished elektron would do for years.

Would be nice if you could adjust the curve form even more. But this is great. Are they really short and percussive sounding?

I’m the wrong person to reply that, I usually use only the attack on samples

The envelopes can sound snappy for sure. But the resolution on parameters isn’t extremely high

Got to say I am loving this machine after finally giving it a proper go.
A lot of things are very intuitive!

I’ve made it through the first 8 chapters of MPC Bible, and have made a few satisfying sequences of my own after following the techniques in each chapter.

Keen to tackle sampling and creating song structures next.

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Not being able to midi map stuff drove me nuts, gonna look into this. Is this github being discussed anywhere in more detail?

Holy crap, thanks for posting that ssh hack. Since i got my mpclive i’ve been wanting to control the looper with my morningstar midi footpedal and it looks like its working!

long live the mpc mod gods

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You’re welcome.

Hopefully AKAI allows that configuration without having to resort to SSH one day.

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Just saw this video and didn’t know that the MPC One can be such a beast for live performances https://youtu.be/L2emtVDEtrw

Can anyone imagine/guess whats going on there from the workflow side on the MPC. Definitely more than just mute/unmute tracks.

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Well, most of it is indeed just muting and unmuting tracks or clips.

He’s using the Note Repeat function a lot, to create those precussion fills.

The MPC is likely sequencing the Neutron.

Other than that, he’s using at least one plugin effect on the Master channel, and possibly one other at the Program level.

Nothing too fancy really.

Just scratching the surface of what the MPC can do, I reckon.

Cheers!

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Thank you! Does anyone know tutorials focused on such live performances? Youtube feels more full of tutorial videos about how to produce songs with the MPC One/Live/X than about how to live perform with them.

Thx.

Can the MPC’s record perfect loops in 2023 as MIDI slave? The looper stopped recording on its own at least some time ago…

Thanks!