I use an external midi controller with lots of knobs and faders for this as the MPC is also an USB host and midi learn works like a charm. Major caveat being that I got a Key 37 which is always in the same place and you tend to move around with your Live 2. 
I honestly think the best way to get past this is to write in full phrases. Even if youāre making music that relies on 4- or 8-bar loops, your music is likely arranged in in 16- or 32- bar chunks. The MPC makes that sort of thing extremely easy.
Hereās how I do it: Set the length to 16 bars, figure out how to fill those 16 bars. If Iām working at a high BPM (like 160+), I use 32 and work in half-time for at least one instrument. Duplicate the pattern, cut things out of the first one so thereās a natural build. That first one is now the intro, the second one is now the A part. Repeat for other parts as needed.
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Most modern music is comprised of patterns repeating at different rates/frequencies.
For example, in techno the bass drum is a one beat pattern repeating over and over. The bass line/rumble might be a two beat loop. The perc loop might be 3 beats long. The synth line might be 8 beats long (2 bars, assuming weāre in 4/4). Some sounds/lines/FX might appear only every 8 or 16 bars.
Back to your issue, on the MPC you have two great features to develop ideas and get out of the loop.
- Double Sequence length.
- Each track can have different loop length. The default loop length is Sequence length but you could change that on a track basis and have each instrument loop at different times.
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This feature doesnāt feel complete though, as far as I can tell, if if you add automation, it breaks because it will still repeat at the sequence length?
Man, you and @Suspect_Frequency are actually inspiring me more to get shit done than the actual MPC itself. Far be it from me to disappoint you, so Iām gonna keep going.
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Yes! Good! Hopefully we arenāt responsible for too much MPC based suffering and it all clicks soon! Itās interesting though as I say, as the music you shared didnāt seem in any way to have been a struggle to create, which I guess is the whole point and the illusion-I think thatās something I need to remind myself of at times-this stuff is often a struggle, people are really talented, and itās harder than you think!
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I like this. I think I sometime make the mistake of coming up with a 4 bar loop and doubling it etc, but making the starting point 16 bars sounds sensible.
I much say I didnāt know it could do that! I thought the sequence length governed all the track lengths on the MPC (aware of this in the force) - interesting!
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Thanks for naming my next album
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Thank you 
What Iām missing more than anything else, is an instrument within the MPC that gets me going. I didnāt click with the blackbox for real until I got it to work with the Prophet 12, and Logic fell into place once I learned about Spitfireās piano plugs and their blanfor.ms tape synth.
The MPC plugs sound exactly like you expect them to. Which doesnāt do anything for me. I need that tape-like, dust and nostalgia vibe.
Gonna look for samples packs next, I think. Or maybe create a few instruments myself from my own patches, with the multi-sample feature. I hear itās easy enough to get that done.
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User here seem to like the flavor (think thatās it) plugin to dust up stuff. I donāt have an MPC anymore but maybe you can apply it to the built in plugins to hold you over?
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Yep, tried that, both the Pro version and the included one. Itās something, but not quite it.
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Great tip. Subscribedš
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Do you still have these tools?
I would never look at my MPC or Force or BB or SP and think itās everything I would ever need. Especially since getting my MPC.
The MPC begs to use external synths and drums, to mic up a shaker or hand drum, to hook up my guitar or bass and record some lines.
If these tools are available in Logic or you still have a nice synth then integrate those into your music production center.
Did the OG MPC 60 come with 10gb of Loopmaster samples to get started or did they come blank? Asking for a friend.
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If you have the Live you can resample plugins and samples with the multiple outs going through EFX or pedals to dirty them up.
*Not sure if this possible on the one with or without an audio interface.
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Whatās in incredibly off putting about these boxes is how much terrible,cheesy āmusicā is loaded in from the startā¦ā¦it sets you up for failureā¦.and the garish graphics.Seems like a hi tech toy.Butā¦ā¦.just loading up a few hits here and there from the library with a bit off tweaking and taking them out of context I find they can me a good start for something new.Especially when layering them togetherā¦I think the synths could work too by avoiding the glossy presets.And like said,resampling bits and resequencing.I actually donāt think the effects are bad as some make out.Quite raw to the point.The built in filters are pretty good imoā¦.just filter out anything you donāt like )))))
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Received my MPC One+.
Didnāt test the multiple midi in channels bug, as, well, this is so complicated to get into !
At least with the OT, the manual gives you a sense of whatās going on. Who can actually read and understand the MPC manual ? It seems like watching Youtube tutorials is mandatory, and god I hate thatā¦
I find this video from NervousCook$ to be great for an MPC beginner like me - with handy chaptersā¦
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The manual is actually pretty good when looking into how specific menus/pages/functions work, but it doesnāt do a great job of telling you how to get started. If youāre not familiar with how sequences contain tracks and how each track has a drum/keygroup/plugin/midi program, then start there. Also, if youāre on a One, then get yourself an SD card to use for saving basically everything except for plugin and effects presets, create yourself a folder structure for samples/programs/projects, and reassign the browser shortcuts to those folders on your SD card.
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Get the MPC Bible, itās the best way to learn the box in a structured manner. That or TubeDigga videos on YouTube
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Agreed! Itās updated regularly too!
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