step edit..I have searched!!

I know this must have been asked before but I am after some advice on the step edit function. I have had my MPC2KXL for around 4 months now and I am getting along nicely just making loops and sequences and throwing songs together. Just to point out also that I have read the manual well most bits of it and I do look back when I need to, But I am having trouble using step edit. I dont know if it is just the fact that the lay out with loads of numbers etc is putting me off.

I will try to explain:

when you go into step edit, do you start by entering your say bass drum hit on 01.01.00 then another on 01.02.00 then 01.03.00 and again on 01.04.00 if you wanted to make a house style track?

Then do you just keep going throughout the song in this method? I want to use it because I want to be able to use all functions and get the most out of it. It seems very long winded but I am sure it is worth it.

I am right any help on this one much appreciated, I did search but found nothing helpful.

Thanx in advance

Roundy (UK)

It seems like you already know how to use it. The example you gave is right. You can use the step and bar forward/backward buttons to go through the sequence easier too. In Step Edit you can adjust things like velocity for each time you hit the pad too.

I never use Step Edit like that. I'll use it for mistakes I made or little tweaks and things. Not to program the whole beat though.

spectre wrote:I'll use it for mistakes I made or little tweaks and things. Not to program the whole beat though.

Same here.

If you have your quantize on it is best to enter that 4/4 house kick with the pads, but then go into step edit to remove a kick or two for drop-outs. It is better to use step edit for editing rather than writing from scratch.

Then do you just keep going throughout the song in this method?

Again, you could. You could write a complete 7 minute track in step edit if you wanted but it would be better to use the various copying features.

Right I am starting to get the picture here. So say I was laying down a bass line and I hit a wrong note and had already used my undo I could go into step edit skip through the bars to where the note is and delete it?

That makes more sense to me now, I was under the impression that most people were writing their whole songs in this way.

At the moment I am taking one bar beat loops from records and building on top of them with samples and voices etc. Then when I have made a mistake I have just been erasing the note from a sequence and trying again. Like last night I had a crazy synth line that I made from a vocal sample and I used the undo function but the wrong note was still there I had just let it go because I couldn't remeber how I did it! Step edit is the way forward.

Anyway thanks for your help everyone

Roundy

Roundy wrote:"I was laying down a bass line and I hit a wrong note and had already used my undo I could go into step edit skip through the bars to where the note is and delete it?

That's exactly it. It's useful for other things also. pg 64 xl manual explains all the other useful stuff that can be tweaked in that screen, try "open window" on highlighted stuff in there also.

ya whole beats in step edit is for the birds, i dont even quantize most of the time, just bang the shit out live

the whole point of a mpc is to express the beats and do it by hand if you were gonna step edit the whole thing might as well do it on a computer with a mouse it would be easier

I agree to a certain extent, I was doing some stutter type stuff with the quantize off and it sounded so much better than with the quantize. More expressive as you mentioned, but at the same time the step edit will be very useful to delete wrong notes etc..But not to programme a whole song.

Lampdog I will check back at the manual p64, I find it good to talk about something first, get my head round it and then when I go back to the manual it will make more sense.

Thaks again

Roundy wrote:Lampdog I will check back at the manual p64, I find it good to talk about something first, get my head round it and then when I go back to the manual it will make more sense.
Thaks again

No doubt, hope it works for you and you come up with what you want/need.

spectre wrote:It seems like you already know how to use it. The example you gave is right. You can use the step and bar forward/backward buttons to go through the sequence easier too. In Step Edit you can adjust things like velocity for each time you hit the pad too.

I never use Step Edit like that. I'll use it for mistakes I made or little tweaks and things. Not to program the whole beat though.

all you need is a clap/snare with every kick 1,2,3,4 and some cheesy saw wave synth

the step edit is for serious users...the pads meant that for once people could midi sequence without a keyboard and without having to use a step edit system...far more intuitive to get ideas down but you have to be absolutly bang on with your pad tapping to not need to go into to step edit at least a few times.....

greg

Roundy, (XL now) i would go in to over dub mode - seq running - bang on the new note / or hold the erase key + hit the drum pad ("holding" your sound) on the misstrigered step to erase that note. if you added/ereased to many notes, just hit undo just after you stoped the seq - and you are now back to the place before the "over dub" part. I only use the step edit func for trig/edit/move other "MIDIdata" - not to midi erase/trigger notes... i use my ears more than my eyes tho'...

oh, if usenig step edit.. hold down GO TO and then have a go on the step keys... just to go faster between your all_ready_inserted_notes....

Just to let you know, I have the hang of step edit now, it has alot of uses especially saving time. Instead of recording a 16 bar sequence live I just went into step edit and stuck my one shot loop on the start of every bar ....voila a 16 bar sequence in seconds.

Roundy