my ideal midi setup: is it possible?

Hey guys, I use my mpc 2kxl in a non-hip hop, non techno environment, so it is neccisary to have it syncd with a few other insturments, especially live. Is there any way that I can select a song on the mpc, and then have, say, a keyboard and a guitar effects unit automaticly switch to their respective settings for that song? If not, does anyone know of another device which can do this sort of thing? Thanks a lot, guys.

PS I'm not bashing hip hop or techno. I just thought that first line sounded kinda harsh. Any friend of the MPC is a friend of me!

i use mine in a non-techno non-hiphop environment.
if your setup includes a keyboard (and keyboardist) and gutiar effects (maybe a guitarist too?) then it would be their job to set the appropriate settings when you switch songs themselves.

you could do with this midi program changes and patch selects, which you can input into a sequence in the step editor. that is, if the guitar effects supports midi and program changes.

how exactly do you want to use the mpc live? do you want it to simply playback beats while you (and/or others) play guitar and keyboard?

Thanks for the help. My band consists of 4 people playing (depending on the song) 2 guitars, bass, 2 keyboards, drums, and a saxophone. And of course the mpc. Some songs the mpc dominates the drums, but for most of our songs it just adds some fills or loops here and there. We have the drummer wear headphones with a metronome to keep the time. It took a while to figure out how to do our live show, but we've gotten pretty good at it. I was just wondering how midi could make this easier, because right now we dont use midi at all.

i would just have people switch the stuff themselves really. let's say for some reason someone midi's something up wrong, or the program change message doesnt get sent, your guitarsist or keyboard would end up playing with the completely wrong effects or patch settings. it just seems like it would be more of a hazzard than a help. i know how easily stuff can get unplugged in the middle of a live set.

what kind of music do you play?

I'm not sure what kind of music you'd call it. Alternative/indie I guess. Next month I'll be putting out our first release on my own record label. Hopefully that goes well. I tried putting program changes in sequences for a guitar effects unit I have, but had no luck. I think its mostly a problem on the effects unit's side. It's a Boss GT-3, if you know anything about it.

You're right, it would be a better idea to have the people switch settings. But I'm concerned with it because there is one song thet calls for a program change in the middle. And it's at kind of a tough spot for a physical change. But anyway, thanks for all your help.

So how are you using your MPC?

The MPC is very good and very reliable at sending program changes for equipment at any time. I would consider even more reliable than people switching it on their own.

There are times where I have the MPC switch programs on as many as 14 peices of equipment (sometimes at once). This is very handy in extending equipment to it's max usefulness. I may have a synth that plays one small part here and there, but while it is not tied up doing that I can send it program changes from the MPC to play different patches. I just switch back at appropiate times. Same goes for effects.

I'm not quite understanding how these program changes work. Can someone explain the steps of how to set this up? Does the note map on the slave device have anything to do with it? Thanks.

Program changes can be implemented slightly different from gear to gear. You will have to check with the manual for the receiving peice to see how exactly it is implemented.

The MPC is capable of sending any program change required. Actually the MPC is capable is sending any midi data. The manual describes how to insert program changes.