Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By mackoftrack Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:35 am
Ok. Let me first say that I am relatively new to the hardware world. I've been using Reason and Fruity Loops for 8 years, and I got an MPC2000 classic a few months ago. I have the basics down...

Here's where I'm stuck. How do I map a sample to my MIDI keyboard, so I can play it in realtime and record the sequence on the MPC? The n/v slider is cool, but I just can't seem to get accurate notes on the fly (e.g. bass, synths, etc.) i'm cool using the pads for drums, but I would like to play some sounds more musically and in different pitches. i can trigger samples without a problem, but I can't seem to get them mapped according to pitch. do I use the "16 Levels" function? i still can't seem to get it right.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Oh, and if you'd like to check out some of my tracks (software-based, but I'm trying to convert!), visit my site http://www.DamnFunkyProductions.com

peace.
-->mack of track
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By pt3r Thu Apr 19, 2007 7:58 am
Make as much copies of your sample as you need pitches , now in the params screen of your samples you can now adjust the pitch of the sample +10 / -10 per half not up or down. Now you make a program with all the pitched samples assigned to the different notes of the program.

By mackoftrack Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:37 pm
ok. seems tedious, but that sounds like it should work. i'll give it a shot. thanks homie!

peace.
--->mack of track

By mackoftrack Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:51 pm
does anyone else have suggestions?

By kraster Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:18 am
mackoftrack wrote:does anyone else have suggestions?


you don't have to use multiple copies of a sample if you just want to have one sample chromatically spread across the pads. Just assign the same sample across the pads and use the tune setting in the program parameters to alter the pitch on each pad.

If your using the controller you might want to start with a chromatic pad layout. The MPC's Pad to Midi note number is not assigned chromatically. Go to www.mpc2000xl.com and look for the pad layout section and it'll show you how the default assignments are laid out.

With the above as a guideline create a patch where the note numbers and notes are assigned sequentially/chromatically. e.g. Pad1 =Note 36, Pad 2=Note 37, Pad 3=note 38 etc. etc. Assign the same sample to each pad and tune accordingly in the program parameter window. E.g. Pad1 Tun=0, Pad2 Tun=10, Pad3= 20 etc. etc. (Each tuning increment/decrement of 10 = 1 semitone.)

Bear in mind that starting on pad 1 on pad bank 3 as your 0 tuning point is a good idea as you can pitch downwards for banks 1 and 2 and pitch upwards for banks 3 and 4. This means you can have a four octave program.

This is now your template for a chromatic program. This means you only have to do this once. Anytime you want to change the sound but keep the chromatic pad settings just rename your new sample with the same name as the sample used in the template patch. Load it in to the MPC and hit replace when the load screen requests it. once the new sample is loaded you can rename it and save your new program (be careful not to overwrite the template program).

One thing to keep in mind if you decide to use this method is that you may need to alter the pitch of the new sample in the sample parameter screen so your new program will be in the same key as the template.

By bluempc4k Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:20 am
kraster wrote:
mackoftrack wrote:does anyone else have suggestions?


you don't have to use multiple copies of a sample if you just want to have one sample chromatically spread across the pads. Just assign the same sample across the pads and use the tune setting in the program parameters to alter the pitch on each pad.



if you go down this route, make sure you make a long sample. as far as a remember my old mpc2k didn't do any stretching... so the more you pitch the sample up, the shorter the duration. it's kind of like pitching up a track on your turntable. like wise, when you tune your sample down, the duration increases.