Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By decal Wed Jun 04, 2003 8:30 am
Has anyone ever dumped a patch or multi from a synth to the MPC?
Is it possible?
Thanks.

By decal Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:29 am
Okay...
So I just looked back through the archives and found that it can be done :)

Is the procedure as follows:
1) Press Record on the MPC
2) Start the SYS EX dump from the synth
3) Save the SYS EX dump to disk.

A few questions:
1) Do I have to set the MPC to midi synch to the synth?
2) If not will bpm settings affect the recording of the SYS EX dump or will the header received at the start of the dump tell the MPC that this is SYS EX and to treat it as such.
3) Should I save it as a .seq or .all or both.

Anyone think of anything I'm missing???
Thanks in advance.

By mpc3000 Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:23 pm
1) No, as a matter fact, few synths send midi clock so there would be nothing to slave to.

2) BPM not related to sysex recording. There may be instances where you may plackback chunks of sysex too fast for a machine receiving sysex from the MPC since the MPC can send or record much faster than most machines can process it.

3) Save as mid file.

One note about MPC and sysex: Depending on your configuration the MPC may put the sysex in track 17 for input 1 or track 34 for input 2. By default this helps keep sysex data separate from other midi data by separating it to a different track.

I dump patches to the MPC all the time. That way the settigns of the synths are stored with that particular project so I do not have to search for the proper patches on the synths.

I also use the MPC to perform OS updates for synths.

By decal Wed Jun 04, 2003 2:07 pm
Great :)
Thanks for the info.

So if the mpc can play back sysex much faster than some synths can read it, can this sysex playback speed be controlled?

By mpc3000 Thu Jun 05, 2003 3:48 am
For individual patches the rate at which the MPC sends the sysex is not important since this is just one chunk of data sent at once. This type of sysex data usually resides at single event location in the MPC's sequencer. Not a problem.

The problem is when a series of chunks need to be sent from the MPC to the pieces of equipment. These are typically entire synth memory dumps (which usually are just the individual sysex patches sent at specific intervals) or operating system updates for synths. It takes a moment for the receiving peice to digest the incoming sysex before you can send more sysex on top of it. If the data is evenly spread out in the MPC's sequencer then the rate of the chunks is proportional to the tempo.


Note: All data travels at the same rate via midi. The problem lies in the fact that it takes a few milliseconds for a receiving peice to process incoming sysex data.

By decal Wed Jul 09, 2003 8:23 am
Okay...
Back to this old chestnut again.

I've successfully dumped to the mpc.
Now, a few more questions...

1) What type of midi file should I save the dump as (0 or 1) and does it actually matter.

2) This business of the mpc putting the sys ex in tracks 17 or 33. Does this make a difference or is it just for convenience?

3) When loading the dump back to the synth (which has active sensing so I don't have to set it to receive) I assume I just play it back out any midi output?

By mpc3000 Wed Jul 09, 2003 4:31 pm
1) If it's only sysex then does not matter.

2) Does not matter. It was designed so that you can record sysex and note data at nearly the same time to separate tracks.

3) Check the manual for the synth. Some synths have a setting to disable sysex.
By phillythump Wed Jul 09, 2003 9:36 pm
Can I replace the floppy disk on my MPC2000Xl with a zip drive ? If so which one is comptible? Also I need to send sysex with my MPC how can this be done ?

By decal Thu Jul 10, 2003 8:14 am
Thanks for ther help.
Finally got it working last night.
Was having some extra problems because I was dumping from a Waldorf Pulse to the MPC and then trying to dump the Pulse Sys Ex dump back onto a Waldorf Pulse Plus.
You think I'd make it easy for myself :roll: