MPC 60 FAQ / MPC 60 BIBLE / Please Contribute

When you first get your 60, one of the first things you should do if you want to use the pads to control another sampler or sound unit is reassign your pads to be in chromatic order.

The MPC pads are layed out to General midi drum format, they are not in chromatic order, so going from pad to pad will not get you semitones but an out of order hard to predict mess. Once you do this then you will be able to control external sound modules with the pads just like 16 levels but yo will have 64 (with the 3.10 upgrade of course) This is also useful when you want an external sampler to be able to have a sample stretch across pads (all or some) with GM layout interfacing with your sampler will be confusing, and if you are using GM layout for anything you are an indecisive wuss.

If you hit the midi button and 1 you can reassign the pads to be chromatic, but make sure you do it for Program and Master, and you may need to reassign your old PGMs to pads again since the drums are associated with a midi number, so when you move the number to a new pad, the drum sound moves too.

Start in bank A pad 1 (lower left corner) at midi note 35, then work your way across left to right, then up, when you finish one bank go to the next one and start in the lower left again. Once you do this it should stick. If your internal battery is dead then the MPC won't remember what you did and you should save a PAR file to disk with this layout. You should save a blank program after doing this and put it on your cxomputer for use with the MPC editor, as it sticks with the default layout of the MPC and any programs you load into your chromatic machine will be in a different order, so Load the chromatic program into the editor before you start laying out your samples.

when you use an external sampler you can also create a default MPC assignment program with all 64 pads ( in your hard drive or on a floppy ) , each pad equals one midi note number /one keygroup .you load it everytime you use the mpc to sequence , et voila !

Thanks Pieuvre, Do you mean on the sampler you are using or on the MPC? Cuz the method above makes that the default for the MPC.

you're right ! you create the default program on the rack sampler ( my english is confusing sorry ) .
By the way , a little basic thing , turn monitor off if you sample from the same mixer as the one your mpc is plugged into . i just sampled few drum hits and my sound was really hissy and it took me 10 minutes to figure out ( i sampled since 98 and never managed to remember that , even with the screaming noise from the 2000 when you forget it )

Ok people, I'm going to post a tip that maybe alot of you already know how to do. If so, please forgive me & move on to a more interesting post.

for the rest of y'all that ARE interested here's one i've used before (In about 1998...). It's fantastic...

Examples of use...
1) J-Live on 'Them that's not'

2) De La Soul on 'Rock Kocane Flow'

Ok...pls forgive the way in which it'll be written as i've done it in the simplest way. I felt if i lead you in a step by step, program by numbers fashion, you'd get a real sense of how to do it!!!

For the purpose of the Example i made, i used a Track tempo of 120BPM, A 16 Bar Loop or Sequence, oh...& i'm using an MPC 60 (MK I of course...but there's no prejudice here...merely BIAS) on OS 3.10.
As you'll know...the screens'll look exactly like a 3000.

OK, LETS GO:

1)Load a fresh sequence or load up a sequence of one of your beats..(use one that's at least 16 bars for the purpose of this example)

2) Hit (or rather, 'Press') the 'TEMPO/SYNC' button (The buttn for letter 'f')

3) Press the <TempoChanges> Softkey2 button. this will take you into a page labelled "Mid Sequence Tempo changes".

There are various fields on this page...4 of them are Editable.

3a) Make sure the '1st' Field 'Tempo changes' is set to :ON

Before you go any further, mentally note that the very FIRST Tempo Change will actually NOT be a change at all...because this is the ORIGINAL or TRUE tempo of your Track.

4) Go to the 'Location For Inserted Change' Field...
Set this to 005.01.00 (Leave %Change as 100% for the 1st Change)

Press <Insert New> Softkey 1. This will cause the 'Change No.' field to change to '2' where the FIRST Change (No.1) was the ORIGINAL/TRUE Tempo.


5) Skip down 2 places to the '%Change' Field & Set this percentage to 83.33% (Or whatever value 'YOU' want it to be to match the TEMPO to its right side).

83.33% of 120BPM is 100BPM


6) Go to the 'Location For Inserted Change' Field...
Set this to 007.01.00

7) Press <Insert New> Softkey 1.

8 ) Skip down 2 places to the '%Change' Field & Set this percentage to
75% (Or whatever value 'YOU' want it to be to match the TEMPO to its right side).

75.00% of 120BPM is 90BPM

(Y'all still with me? Good) Nearly there.

9) Go to the 'Location For Inserted Change' Field...
Set this to 009.01.00

10) Skip down 2 places to the '%Change' Field & Set this percentage to
58.30% (Or whatever value 'YOU' want it to be to match the TEMPO to its right side).

58.30% of 120 BPM = 70BPM


11) Press <Insert New> Softkey 1. This will cause the 'Change No.' field to change to '4'

12) Go to the 'Location For Inserted Change' Field...
Set this to 011.01.00

13) Skip down 2 places to the '%Change' Field & Set this percentage to
54.20% Now says 65BPM

14) Press <Insert New> Softkey 1. This will cause the 'Change No.' field to change to '5'

15) Go to the 'Location For Inserted Change' Field...
Set this to 013.01.00

16) Skip down 2 places to the '%Change' Field & Set this percentage to
50.00% Now says 60BPM

17) Press <Insert New> Softkey 1. This will cause the 'Change No.' field to change to '6'

(Note: This will play out 50BPM from Bar 13 to the end of the 16th bar).

You can check the accuracy of your changes by using the <Previous> & <Next> function keys...<Softkey1> & <Softkey2>.(Or just use your ears by Playing the sequence.

There...Y'all did it....

The example above is purely for explanatory purposes....mess around with it & see what you come up with.

Hope it helps

Happy Programming!

H*

Options button, you can have insert/delete, or cut/paste, but there is no copy!!!

It's easy, just go to the event you want while in cut/paste, cut the event you want to copy, paste it back right where you got it from, then move to wherever and hit paste again, the same event stays in the buffer and you can paste it again and again. Great thinking on this design.

elmacaco wrote:Options button, you can have insert/delete, or cut/paste, but there is no copy!!!

It's easy, just go to the event you want while in cut/paste, cut the event you want to copy, paste it back right where you got it from, then move to wherever and hit paste again, the same event stays in the buffer and you can paste it again and again. Great thinking on this design.

Fantastic!!!!

Keep em coming boys!!!

Different tip, but Forat has the manual download as a word document, you you can copy and paste from it into the forum!! Yes!!!!!!

Roger Linn has it as a PDF, so you can't copy the text at all, unless you got adobe.

For quality sampling : mixer out > passive direct box > rec in . i didn't check the differences between 2000 xl and 60 specs regarding inputs ( probably input ADC impedances , on the 2000xl i don't have enough gain with that ) but i can't sample without the box anymore on the 60 !!

if you wanna know what the mpc 60 SCSI board looks like:

The Expanded Memory Board is on the left of the SCSI Board in the first picture Erkl posted, with 6 chips in a row.

Old Post I found while digging for something else. Might help out a few cats.

High pitched whine
I heard that the whine coming from My MPC is from the inverter from the website http://www.backlights.co.uk


I got the new inverter today, I opened her up and replaced it, cutting wires
and ****, then I switch on the MPC....

No Backlight! ****! I double check my work, it's good.

I check out the original inverter, it has some kind of metal housing I shake
it and I hear something rattling inside, I desolder the metal case and take
it off, there is a small transformer (like a bobbin with copper wire wrapped
on it) with a coil of flat metal in a ring around it (think a piece of tape
or ribbon in a roll). This is probably to shield it from high frequency
interferenance. This had a piece of old tape on it to stabilize it to the
transformerthat had dried up and it was loose and rattling. I took a piece
of electrical tape and fastened it to the transformer again. I resoldered
the original one in and the whine was cut down a good amount, but not
perfect.. I really have to put my ear near it and have all be quiet to hear
it.

I'm waiting to hear back from the guy at the websote where I got the inverter. He's a great guy, and I bet it just got damaged in transit or something.

just thought that might help the technically inclined on the forum.

Mouser part number 688-SKHHAM

6.0X6.0X5.0MM 160GF ALPS TACTILE S.

I found that the radio shack bulb desoldering iron is great for buttons.

I used to use solder wick, but now I prefer this. Remember you need to tin the tip of the iron before use (melt some solder on the tip once it gets hot enough, like oil in a pan),

Also for some tough solder joints, add a bit of fresh solder to the joint, the flux will help the old solder melt quicker.

You are squeezing the bulb before putting the iron on the joint and spraying the sucked up solder into a trash bin or something right?

The iron with the bulb on it is only 9.99 can't go wrong.

Found it in the archives, posted by donnachacostello


donnachacostello
Member


Joined: 19 Jun 2004
Posts: 6
Location: Dublin, Ireland MPC60 Screen/Button Death
Hi all.

This might be of interest if your 60 suddenly dies some time.

My friend's MPC60 gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. It froze and when he switched it back on, the screen filled up black and then cleared. No buttons worked/lit up etc.

We assumed the worst.

Anyway, I got around to opening it up today to check a few things.

With the unit switched on and with my friend watching the display, I checked all ribbon connectors.

Then it happened... I pushed one of them and hey presto... 60 jumps back into life.

The connector in question was the 5 pin one connected to the main transformer, above where the power cable enters the unit. It was making poor connection with the terminals but when you pulled it back towards you, the unit was alive.

The problem: Enough power was getting to the unit to give the screen a burst but not enough to complete startup. Once the connector was making good contact, power flowed, the unit lived.

The solution: I used a pliers to GENTLY bend the contacts towards the front of the unit so that the cable connector plug had a really snug fit into it's socket.

hey presto!

I figured that perhaps from heat over the years, the plastic on the socket part had expanded slightly and no longer held the connector tight.

So, if your 60 ever dies, at least there is one thing you can check!

Cheers!

MPC 60 Battery Replacement.

I ordered a battery replacement for the 60, a dead battery makes the 60 forget your settings on power down, like midi channel names and mid note number assignments.

I got it from VST, they replace it with a battery holder and battery so in the future I will not need the soldering iron to do it. And thank goodness, since the battery is under the main cpu board ( the one the scsi board is in front of, on the actual board with the OS chips). Why!?! Such a dumb place to put the battery, I have replaced many batteries in other gear and this was the hardest one. I had to completely remove the board with the footswitch jacks and smpte board, and man I was sweating bullets the whole job. Luckily my fears were unfounded and everything worked properly once installed. Removing the original battery is hard too, if exposed to too mich heat it can explode. I carefully clipped the metal pins that come f the original then desoldered them. Rather difficult and the replacement wasn't an exact fit, so I used a piece of wire to connect one of the holder terminals to the point on the board it needed to be on.

But yo, I wouldn't recommend this operation to the faint of heart!