The dad jokes in this thread are next level.
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Anyone here that loves Maschine but switched to a live 2?
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I use both. Maschine as a controller, and Live 2 as a standalone device.
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I have both. Not a matter of switching. Just different boxes for me
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I have both and a SP-404. I actually went from MPC to 404 to Maschine+. I seem to produce/get more done on the Maschine+.
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I had to leave my maschine in a different continent, then got a live 2. Miss the maschine, would use both if i had them both here though so while technically I fit your description, the āswitchā wasnāt intentional 
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THE WOES AND FOLLIES OF AN MPC ROOKIE
_SEASON ONE // EPISODE TWO // - _
Sex appeal
It does nothing particularly well. Nor does it do anything bad. The interaction with it feels arcane and modern at the same time. Arcane, because who on earth would want to jump around between menus and windows like this, just to get some beats done? Or even think as a designer, at the time of its inception, that someone would? But modern, because given the sheer amount of features, itās certainly well thought out.
If the answer to everything in one box is a wireframed approach that likely went through user testing until no one was left confused or happy, then this would be its actual shape. Thereās nothing here to love or loathe. Itās professional function with quality output, wrapped in a product that has no sex appeal but ticks all the boxes.
As such, Iām struggling to get anything done beyond the first few beats. Not because I donāt get how to do it. Not because I donāt have ideas. But only because it doesnāt turn me on. Granted, many relationships grow slowly into something more than just a polite appreciation of someoneās character, and itās not just the kit, itās obviously me as well. Likely, more me.
Still, at the opposite end of this experience is when lightning strikes, you got no idea whatās going on but youāre just following it, hands in the air, no seat belts. And the MPC is a buttoned-up shirt, well-ironed, classic design. Which to be fair, is totally appropriate and lovable.
But just not much fun. Yet, anyway.
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Yeah its a bit static.Needs some Elektron fluidity.I can imagine tho if used daily and all the different features of which itās probably got the most were appreciated and utilised it would/could/should be a nearly perfect production machine.Iām looking at an X again atm because the buttons knobs screen will make the experience better.Maybeā¦ā¦
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I loved it, switched to a Live 1 and never looked back.
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Maybe. Maybe it wonāt be for you, maybe it grows on you like an unwanted fungus.
I donāt know what they sold you, but my MPC is a looker. Totally rad looking.
You know I use a hammer (almost) every day at work. I have a high quality hammer, but itās not sexy. It doesnāt inspire me to do great hammering. It hammers when I tell it to, and it hammers well. Far beyond my well honed hammering skills.
Yep, when I bend a nail itās not the hammer. When I make a bad song, itās not my MPC.
Iām very excited to hear what happens next! No rush.
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Quick little tip reminder in case people havenāt noticed / forgot it exists is the midi wifi on the new MPCs. You need to install a PC / Mac driver and thereās a tiny bit of latency (for me at least) so live playing isnāt great but for sending midi from something like Dorico or a DAW to the MPC itās seamless and has suddenly opened up a new world of things for me.
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This is fair, I think. Itās easy to look at various pieces of kit and think well, the MPC could do this. But in practice, itās more rewarding to use the other device. Even sampling, itās often preferable to reach for the 404 or pull in the Digitakt. But none of those alternatives have the sheer breadth of the MPC, the option to drop in just about any effect at any stage in the chain, or to dig into a very comprehensive full MIDI sequencer, or call up an XY pad for live control, or run an audio track alongside a clip program, and so on and so forth. Itās clear to see why itās so popular - itās absurdly generous. But that does mean it has to face the ājack of all tradesā question, as well as find a workable interface to offer all these marvels via a touchscreen and four knobs.
I imagine you might get on a little better with the Force, which makes some interesting inroads into Blackbox territory. As with the MPC, I think one path to success there is to assign it a task and try not to let it creep into other roles
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On the topic of breadth, one thing that Iām also struggling with here, is that I donāt think the onboard stuff sounds all that good. The fx, synths and whatnot, theyāre serviceable, but not more. Including the stuff you can pay for. I got Jura and Flavor Pro, and they just donāt turn me on. Just playing it doesnāt get me going, in the same way just playing the OP-1 did, for example, or a decent plug-in from Spitfire.
For a non-MPC head, Iām struggling to find the gateway into its heart. Say with the blackbox, itās the non-linear workflow combined with sampling and song writing, that makes it quite unique for me. With the OP-1, itās just the raw quality of the output.
Iām looking for the MPC equivalent of āSo thatās why people are into itā.
But Iām not gonna give up easy on this one. Iām just getting started, the way I see it.
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Iād agree with this, though just like with love and relationships, it changes over time as youāre suggesting too. I find the sex appeal to be higher today. Iām admiring the professional rigidity of the backside I/O compared to the flimsy Elektron Digi boxes. It looks professional. The pads are sturdy and nice to play on, with aftertouch. The speaker grill looks sexy and the fact that the speakers sound good makes me appreciate it a lot. Iād probably love the MPC twice as much if I had the Retro Edition though. 
I see your point (and might even suggest that the step sequencer is objectively bad). However, this statement isnāt a reason to stop the journey so I look forward to your third episode. Keep exploring, thereās a lot to unpack about the MPC and more importantly your workflow with it. I find that mine changes continuosly (for the better) and Iām getting more and more efficient with it.
Iād definitely agree that the MPC would benefit from some more elements of āhappy accidentsā similar to the Elektron workflow. I miss ctrl+all more anything else. Particularly, the ability to transform a song from one part to the next. It can be done on the MPC with automation programmed into each sequence (bringing it closer to patterns on the Elektron), but itās not as quick and seamless. However, you learn to deal with the quirks and over time Iāve found myself never having to resort to crazy stunts like that List Editor anymore because I know how to work the MPC.
Things I enjoy about the MPC:
- Unplugging completely for ten minutes to continue building out a song sketch with zero cables. Just the MPC on my lap with its speaker blasting out my embryo.
- Taking a 4 or 8-bar loop and duplicating it to explore some variations. I tend to make several copies and alter chord progressions, drums, melodies etc and then I jump back and forth to explore which combinations I like. Eventually a song progression starts to emerge in my head and Iām off to the next phase of creation.
- Assigning the q-link knobs to parameters across different tracks. Change the mode to Project (hold down the Q Link button to bring up the menu) and press Learn to assign things on the fly. For example, my first page knobs are linked to the filter cutoffs for the bass, pad, arp and lead synth. This already gives me plenty of opportunity to explore and keep things interesting while still working on a single 8-bar loop. The Syntakt canāt do this.
- Duplicating an 8-bar loop to a new sequence and 2X-ing it a few times to get something like 64 bars of music. Then hit Over Dub, Arm Automation and hit Play Start and jam freely with pad mutes and q-link twists. Itās just a crude jam to explore where the song might go, but itās so simple and has the amazing benefit that all of those in-the-moment jam twists are stored on that sequence. I might call that sequence āEmbryo01ā and I export that to my friend for feedback and new ideas. Rinse and repeat. If a particular section of a longer embryo is a keeper, I just copy the sequence and trim it and build a new song structure around it (the MPC remembers your song structure so this is typically a quick tweak to bring the new sequences into it).
- Duplicating a drum pad: hold the Copy button, press the pad you want to copy, then the target pad, then release the Copy button. Done. Now morph the copy into something completely different. This is sort of like p-locks.
- Resampling a synth. Just select the relevant track for the synth, Solo it if you want, hit Sampler (double click the Mix button on the Live 2), set input to Internal L/R, Arm Rec and play the pads, or play the sequence. Now assign that to a Drum Program, add some crazy effects, maybe a Granulator. Flatten the pad in the end to save some resources, or keep things open ended. Then stick that new sample into the song embryo. You can build up entire songs using nothing but the built-in synths as sample material.
- Picking a bass sound and immediately dropping an AIR Channel Strip insert effect to immediately dial in both EQ and compressor from the get go, saving you from struggling with consequential mixing issues down the line (like too loud or harsh hi hats) due to not getting the bass right in the initial phase. What other grooveboxes can do this?
- Enabling the arpeggiator (Note Repeat) to quickly generate melodic ideas with a nice-sounding synth preset, with polyphony. Combine it with the Chords for even more inspiration.
- Picking just about any Jura preset and immediately falling in love with how good it sounds. I know, this is more me than the MPC, but I just find that synth to be endlessly rewarding.
- Recording the final jam of a full song structure out in the open, with zero cables, and getting every intricate detail of the jam recorded onto a sequence - and still retaining the ability to tweak things after the fact and even changing entire sound presets or samples if I want to, without invalidating the recorded jam that ends up on our Youtube channel.
- Building up muscle memory and hitting things like Menu+pad4 to enter Program Edit, or Shift+Step Seq to toggle automation on/off, or holding Erase and a pad while a sequence is playing to selectively erase notes on the fly, or even holding Erase and touching a q link to erase automation. You can actually even erase annoying track/pad mutes at the start of a sequence this way: from the Mute page, hold down Erase and the pad corresponding to the track/pad you want to fix and press Play Start. Now the mute is gone and you can set it to the way you want it.
- Using my ears and building up the drums on the fly, one pad at a time, while a loop is playing. Over Dub is king and so quick to toggle to add that missing percussion sound that makes your hands go up in the air.
- Dropping an MPC2 plugin into an Ableton Live Set and picking up right where I left off in standalone, with the added flexibility of replacing any effect I didnāt found perfect, plus all the tools I normally use for mixing. This hybrid and seamless workflow is excellent.
- Quickly changing up a pad/sample using the excellent Drum Effects, like a soft clipper, some saturation, or just a quick high-pass filter to clear up the unnecessary mud from a hi hat sample.
- Adding interesting variations using the Randomizer features of the Drum Programs. Subtle variations of panning, envelopes, pitch, filters, etc makes a huge difference to how drums feel and the MPC randomizer features is like having 5-10 extra LFOs for the subtle things.
Iād say youāre not there yet. And, it may also not be for you in the end. But keep exploring.
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As an owner of two, I agree with you, have so in the past and still do. Youāll notice that, while lots has happened since you last owned one, in a way also not much has happened. The workflow is still the same, little quirks and inconsistencies in the UI and UX are still there, the look (colour scheme etc) is still the sameā¦the plugins do add a lot, but they donāt really compete with the top range VSTs out there (also would be a bit much to expect from a standalone MPC to compete with the power of a full blown PC/Mac).
If you havenāt tried the Maschine+ in standalone mode yet, I highly recommend that in terms of workflow, tactile interface, capabilities and quality of onboard sounds. I explicitly say M+ and NOT Mk3/M+ in controller mode, cause running it contained in standalone vs having a computer connected makes a difference in the user experience (same for the MPC standalone vs tethered in my book).
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Well, again, I donāt disagree, and I suspect thatās a function of the breadth, so it comes down to whether you can work with the trade off. The MPC is likely less engaging if you have a wide arsenal of synths, samplers, and effects, and the space to use them all comfortably. In that scenario, youāll have a better reverb, a better mono and poly, a more accessible sequencer, a sampler with more ācharacterā. It doesnāt take much investment to gove yourself better options than those offered by the stock MPC.
But still, you have all that in a box the size of a biscuit tin and all you need is one power lead - thereās a lot of appeal there, and despite many of the FX being lacklustre, they can be made good enough with a little work - not good enough to stand against a boutique pedal in a forensic YouTube examination, but good enough to sit in a mix. I canāt think of any other gear as flexible as the MPC in terms of effects, even if the reason is also part of the problem - it really is a DAW in a box, for better and worse. And itās the same with the synths - the majority will come off worse in an A/B comparison, but if you want a thick pad or a quick bass hit or chord you can sample, they do their job well.
I flip-flop on it regularly - I certainly have other gear I prefer to use, and the MPC /Force arenāt my go-to for any of their functions, with the exception of standalone synced recording. But theyāre too adaptable and flexible to let go, and theyāre a godsend if you just feel like a hassle-free afternoon with an external synth and a few records. And certainly for anyone without a pool of gear on hand, they have to be among the greatest bargains in the history of electronic music.
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I recently got back into it, using it primarily as a drum machine but expanding into drum machine plus MIDI sequencer. Driving my old and familiar Proteus 2000 itās doing great things I plan to use live. Generally, I play stuff in and if I like it, thatās done. If not, I hit undo and play again. Lets me build up quite a few things quickly, especially now Iāve made kits of the various percussion noises Iāve compiled over the years.
I do wish that MIDI programs remembered all the bank select stuff as otherwise it seems a bit pointless having lots of them, but fortunately the Proteus tells you everything you need at the press of a button. I know what you mean about the onboard synths - all ok-ish. Iām tempted by the Minimoog but if itās on a par with the included Odyssey, probably not worth the money. Hopefully the layout will be better thoughā¦
Anyway, I had my first hang yesterday which is rather worrying. And there are some stupid decisions that I struggle with (e.g. when you import a sample and thereās one with the same name - the options presented are overwrite or abort, when the one you want (import with new name) is not offered. I can work with it though, just need to discipline myself into saving regularly. And yes, itās annoying that a save stops playback but Iām used to that nowā¦ just. I guess the designers never used Cubase on an Atari ST so have no idea of the elegance possible.
(etc. etc.)
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Updated mine. Is it meant to show the options for stems even for those of us who havenāt bought that?
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Lovely post; so many good tips.
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I think some of the Air stuff, for example: Delay Pro, Flavor Pro, Drum Synth, Stage Ep, and Jura can easily compete for the top spots of their categories.
Delay Pro is becoming my favourite VST delay.
I do have the NI Komplete bundle, and I like it but itās not something I use all the time. There are some excellent romplers/sounds and stuff, but a lot of the UI feels archaic to me. I hope they get around to updating Kontakt etc
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