for those who chop breaks...

so, i have a question, and no this is not another thread of "how do you chop breaks:"...more or less, just wanting some ideas from those who have been working w/ an mpc on how to sequence a chopped break...let me explain...i have used computer programs for so long...i am use to chopping a break, puting it into reason, and drawing midi notes and "rearrange" the break to my liking...i have just recently made the switch over to an mpc2000...i do know how to chop a break w/ the zone edit and all that...but i'm having a hard time sequencing the break...take for instance the rock steady break...it has little ghost notes and shuffles...when i tap out the break the way i would like it played, there seems to be tiny spaces between the hits...not do to the way it is chopped, but the way it is being played...so my question is this...for those of you that do chop breaks and rearrange them the way you want them played...are you using step sequencing or tappin it out? as for the shuffles, do you chop each individual hit of the shuffle, or the full shuffle part itself? just would like to see how others are doing this, not only to make it alittle easier on myself, but also hoping to get some new ideas as well...thanks once again...i love the forum, and everyone seems very helpful...peace

I prefer to use step input. I set the step quantize to the same density to the number of zones in the chop to avoid gaps. If it's a 1 bar break and I chop it into 8 then I'll set the quantize to 1/8, then just bosh away 'til I get something I like.

I also reckon it's best not to alter the start/end points of the zones to much when chopping (unless there's some nasty pops in there). That way the break still seems to flow even if it's arranged completely differently.

One little effect I like to do is to replace some of the ghost, or littler sounds with a short burst of the repeat button on 1/32. Probably sounds outta place on Hip Hop but it can sometimes give a nice little electronic edge to an otherwise organic or natural sounding break.

It depends on what I chop up. Sometimes I chop it into individual pieces and sometimes I like to just replay the break but it depends on the beat or what I have in mind or what sounds best.

the best way to get smooth sounding re-arranging of a break is chopping it in 8th notes.

8th notes are 2 even chops to every beat. so if you have a 2 bar loop it would be 16 chops.

hopefully the drummer wasnt too loose wen he played and you can get good results by adjustin the chops to start on the drum sounds. then you can play them back however you want and it still sounds like a freeflowing beat.

a user here has a youtube vid where he uses this technique that im talkin about. that should help u find out how to do it more than me explainin it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQkbxb0JVg

good question.. and good answers too..
this reminds me alot of the first time I ever heard and saw break beats in the form of rex files..
and how in awe I was at the thought of being able to re play and trigger sounds in the loop.

its really no different on the mpc.. and cakefonz nailed it regarding trying to match your chops with your quantize.

if you have certain chopped lopps you find you cant exactly accomplish that with based on an idea you have conflicting with the tempo or quantization, you could also try adding a little reverb or delay so that the tails of the chops don't stop as abruptly. that or even time stretch them a tad up or down to meet your needs at the time.

I usualy chop it with fruity, put it on a fllopy and when I'm gonna "organize" the progrm I don´t put them like all in the same place as other chops( son when changing progrm it looks like a rmx) I put them in order, and then start from the last pad to the first and the ghost one I either remove from the rec using step edit and then substitute with another, or aply some efct in real time till I get the beat flowing.

when I just do it on my computer, I get my fruity seqence from 4 bars to 9 , so I can have like 4 bars repeated and then get som diferent "ending of the loop" in that last bar, and spread the samples randomly, then change what I dont like (not in real time, that would be fckn difficult only usin my mouse), and go to the mixer to get the efcts going on.

imo....either speed up the tempo and\or pitch down the chops,spend the time to trim and adjust decays so there on point

dope man, thanks so much for the responses...got alot more than what i was expecting...i was chopping every single hit in the break, and then trying to pound out my beat in 1/16th...now i know better...and the vid did help alot...

fung45, gotta say man, respect, every post you dawn some knowledge bro...thanks again to everyone, this gives me some things to work with...

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