Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By Clegg Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:04 pm
I downloaded some midi sequences off the net and loaded them onto the MPC. Some of the midi files have labeled drums, others dont (drum1, drum2 etc) and it makes assigning the midi drums to the right MPC pads a long and tedious task.

Is there a standard that's generally used on where drum sounds should be placed on the MPC, so that when MIDI files with preloaded drum sequences are loaded, chances are the MPC is properly setup for it?
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By MPC-Tutor Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:31 pm
Most MIDI files will use a GM layout for the drums, which is a standard layout used for drums in synths and keyboards. so MIDI note 36 (pad A2) is a bass drum, note 37 (pad A1) is a side stick, and so on

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So you just need to set up your drum programs accordingly - you can change the MIDI note assigned to a pad very easily in an XL so you can lay out your drums in a finger drumming friendly manner.

You tend to find that most MPC users don't set up their programs like this though, because a typical MPC sample program will contain many other types of sounds, chops, fx etc (which are not covered by the GM standard), and they'll also be programming their drums themselves rather than using MIDI files, so more often than not they'll just assign their drums in an arbitrary manner. But ultimately it's up to you to arrange things the way you prefer - you can neither rearrange the MIDI notes on your kits, or of course use transpose to change the events in the imported sequences to match existing kits.