New to the forum, Have a question about using LOOP function

Hey there people,

I just recently joined been using the mpc 2000 classic for about a year or two, before that the 2kxl. I've experimented a lot in the time. My stacks of floppies have heavy chopped sampling to strictly loops and breaks to ambient 20+ samples soundscapes. In all this time I haven't explored the use of one function. So, I had question for all the beat junkies in attendance, What is your method and desired outcome when using the loop function on the 2000 classic. It's something I have never used and would like some direction.

Also, I'll be posting some tracks soon for review and criticism (positive I hope)

Anyways thanks in advance.

Thank you very much, I've been meaning to join for quite some time. I'm hoping that people here are down to collab on some beat tapes and stuff, shooting for a vinyl release at the end of summer so I figured this was a good step to take.

Lampdog wrote:Welcome to the boards!

+1

Moved to the 2000 forum. Your chances of getting some helpful answers should increase.

Thanks Clint, I appreciate the help. I'm going to see if there are any roland s550 users here. I have been having issues with getting the full use out of that sampler with the mpc. We shall see I guess.

This page explains LOOPING in easy to understand language, it applies to any sampler with the LOOP function. Sadly this does not include my MPC60 or MPC3000. Roger Linn didn't believe it was necessary to loop drums.

http://troywoodfield.tripod.com/looptech.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_ar ... sics1.html

Maybe someone will chime in about looping on the MPC2000...

the loop function is neat to create new melodic instruments.
i find it works most interestingly when you keep the attack of the sample the same, then put the loop somewhere in the tail of the sample.

it takes a lot of practice, luck, and fiddling sometimes to find good loop points, but if you try to match the ingoing and outgoing waves (always put loop points where the waveform crosses zero, and make sure the end of the loop wave is going the same direction as the beginning of the loop wave), and find sustained sections, you can get some really cool tones which you can then play more.

i have done some cool vocal patches (sampling a voice holding a note, then extended with loop so it is infinite), built synth patches (sampling very short cycles of waveforms from synths and looping + editing with filter), made some glitchy patches looping shit that should not be looped, and others.

it helps make it more like a synth if you use maybe the 16-levels for pitch, because that way you can edit the params on just one pad, but have it apply to different notes. otherwise you have to edit the params per each note / pad.
another way is to edit the root note params, then generate an autochromatic program from that.

i will say this, i almost never ever ever use the loop function for rhythmic / phrase loops - the sequencer is much better at that and keeps everything in time.


i should also note that while capable, building samples like this in an mpc is probably the most crippled part of the machine. many other samplers are designed to do this well, while the mpc just has the basic functionality tacked on as value-added.

Good points tapedeck!

I have a tip about looping on the 2K in specific, (AFAIK this does NOT apply to the XL). If you've been working with the 2k for while, you have probably run into this "Div Error @ 3000:00F4" where the machine freeze up, and you lose all unsaved work, its a total pain in the ass. The short answer is "Div error @ 3000:00F4" can NEVER happen with looped samples! So for this reason I just make all my samples into loops by adding a short bit of silence on the end, and put a loop length of 100 somewhere inside that silent area. This also seems to fix the problem if your chops are coming back with missing tails.

Just being curious; what made you switch from the XL to the classic?

@Tapedeck
Thanks for all of the advice, fortunately, I have a roland s550 to work with loop points on. Processes are not as intuitive on the s550, but the sound and in depth editing really make it worth it.

@Harmoncj
Believe it or not I have never run I to that error. My machine runs smooth as hell. I've never even heard of that error. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

@pt3r
For me, I require forced organization to be fully productive. I found that with a cf card on the xl, I was all out of wack. No organization when I have 2 gb of space. Floppies work solo well for my work flow. Also I rarely sample over a floppies worth of material, the roland s550 broke that habit really fast.
Another factor, believe it or not, is the weight, angle, and general aesthetic of the classic. Something about it inspires me in a way that the xl never did.

Hey Tapedeck, you want to send some tapes in the mail back and forth? I'm all about putting music out there. I don't record to a computer though so tape exchange is the way to go.

Also, Tapedeck, with the vocal sample loops you've done, just from what you said it reminded me of the way Dilla looped the vocals on "One for Ghost". Similar?

to me that Dilla Track sound like a normal chop in the middle of the word "theeeeeeere". No Loop required cause it sound like its long enough in the original (although I don't know the original ).

A loop can also be used on drums. Shaker, tabourine samples or a quarter or 8th of a drumbreak can give you (If used correct) an interesting groove. "mostly the voice" from Gang Starr comes to my mind. IDK if Premier used the loopfunction or "looped" the kicks in the middle of the beat "manually".

peace