Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By richard Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:01 pm
I'm amazed that even with a mature OS there still isn't a way to start recording as soon as the play button is hit so you don't have to twatt about lining up the sample - this would be great for recording live solos/vox etc... just this one feature would make the 4k useful as quasi-harddisk recorder...

Richard

By misterv Sun Sep 26, 2004 2:53 pm
yeah I wondered the same thing

this feature should be implemented in the next Os update, this would be a really simple feature to prgram, but a very useful one that a lot of us need !
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By Rob Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:13 pm
richard wrote:I'm amazed that even with a mature OS there still isn't a way to start recording as soon as the play button is hit so you don't have to twatt about lining up the sample - this would be great for recording live solos/vox etc... just this one feature would make the 4k useful as quasi-harddisk recorder... Richard


You mean you want to trigger sample record mode the moment you start a sequence playing?

In that case you can use the relatively new MIDI trigger feature in sample record mode. I think it's in v1.51. This allows you to start recording when a given MIDI note event is received from a given MIDI channel. All you need to do is dedicate a track in your sequence and insert that note in the beginning of the track (or anywhere else, if you need that). Then enter Record mode, and hit Play. That should do it.

Note, this is all from the manual. No real 4k here yet, so I could be terribly wrong. I remember a report from a guy who tried it, though, and he was happy with it.

By richard Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:44 pm
mmm, fiddly but could be a workaround

I'll ceratinly try that Rob

Richard
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By Rob Sun Sep 26, 2004 4:14 pm
It's not what you wanted, because you also have to insert an event in the track to trigger the just recorded sample. BUT... you could use the phrase lib to prep a number of MIDI note events, including the one to trigger the sampler record mode.

I used to work this way with my Yammie hw sequencer and Emu sampler. It's not really a HD recorder, but it works, and you get the sampler engine (filters, pitch, envs) as a nice bonus.

By richard Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:42 pm
it doesn't work not internallyanyway: i can't get a sequence note to trigger audio record. I guess if I send a note to an external synth and then back in, but that's a major PITA if I'm already using that synth for something else

hmmm

Richard
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By Rob Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:49 pm
That's a serious problem, because I too would really need that feature (I'm about to buy a 4K).

Did you try to link the track used to trigger the sampler using the internal MIDI port A or B outputs? There are two ways to connect a track with the sampler: using a part, or using a virtual MIDI cable. If you use the latter, and send the correct MIDI note over the correct channel, I don't think the sampler can see the difference between the sequencer track and an external synth. They both use the same connection!

Please try and let me know! My world is falling apart here! ;)

By richard Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:14 pm
In practice I can't get it to work, except the way I said. Also taking a midi lead out of a midi out and feeding it to one of the midi ins will do it, in that case the midi in must be set to sampler rather than sequence to avoid midi feedback... but I'm no MPC4k don, anyone know of a better WAY??

I hope u are reading this Sean because this could be so much slicker!! And pretty easy to implement I guess, just add an option to route record audio to a trigger from the seq play and play start buttons! Then recordings would already start in the perfect place they were played... of course a HD playback that didn't demand a midi track note would be even slicker.... :) especially now the competition is out there :)

Richard
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By Rob Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:41 pm
Hmmm, weird. Did you read the section in the V1.51 addendum, page 8? I just did, and it very much suggests what I expected: you have to set the Out1 field of the track that should trigger the sampler to INT-A or INT-B, and use the corresponding MIDI channel value, depending on what you specified in the Record mode page.

Anyway, I sent Shaun an email. I need to get this sorted before I buy the 4K.

By richard Mon Sep 27, 2004 11:26 pm
thanks Rob, I'll try again tommorow when my head is clearer

richard

By Altopiano Tue Sep 28, 2004 12:40 am
Rob wrote:Hmmm, weird. Did you read the section in the V1.51 addendum, page 8? I just did, and it very much suggests what I expected: you have to set the Out1 field of the track that should trigger the sampler to INT-A or INT-B, and use the corresponding MIDI channel value, depending on what you specified in the Record mode page.

Anyway, I sent Shaun an email. I need to get this sorted before I buy the 4K.


this is correct

its great to record long samples, forexample i used it to record vocals like this ... just send a midi note to int A (or B ch 1-16) at the beginning of a song and recording starts - if you place the sample than at the beginning of your song the vocal sample plays back exactly where it should ... but imo this feature should be improved so that it can be applied realtime for jammin .... as far as i found out you have to stop the sequencer after recording and reassign the recorded sample ...
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By Rob Tue Sep 28, 2004 4:31 am
Ahhhhh, so it works!! 8)
Thanks Alto, that's a great relief.

I agree it's not perfect, but the MIDI trigger feature is the only way to get the 4K to sample audio in sync with the song, meaning that when you insert that MIDI note later on to trigger the recorded sample, you exactly know where to put it in the track, because you told the machine exactly where it should start sampling (mostly in the beginning of the track).

My RS7000 (also a sampler/sequecer) goes a little farther: it supports a record mode where you start recording a track, and nothing happens until audio starts coming in. The RS actually remembers *where* in the track that was, and after the sampling is stopped it automagically inserts a MIDI note on that track at that remembered position to trigger the new sample. So even if you start playing somewhere in the middle of the track, the RS will insert that note at exactly that spot in the track. Saves a lot of wave memory!

Something like this would be great for the 4K.

By Sean W Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:34 am
You can set a specific MIDI Channel for triggering recording. (INT-A/B 1-16)
You can either pre-program a MIDI note on a track assigned to this channel, or record the MIDI note at the same time as sampling (Timing Correct needs to be OFF in that case, so that the position on the note is not quantized).
If you then use the same note to trigger the playback of that Sample in a Program, it will play in sync (lined-up) with the sequence, exactly where it
was recorded.
It does require a little planning before recording to make the process easier during recording/playback, but once you have a made template, it can be re-used for the next time.
It works very well, but we agree that it could be improved to be more
user-friendly.

Sean

By richard Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:10 pm
I've had another look at this and found it works perfectly as long as the track isn't muted :)

I shouldn't try to explore these things late at night!

Richard
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By Blue Haze Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:21 am
Sean posts revisited I miss that guy. Have at it. BH nugget for the bible. :D