basic newbie issue - guys help me w/this.....

ok - here is the drill

im trying my hand at recording sequences and all ok?

so here is what im doing - i sampled a bassline - set it to 85 bpm's - then i go to record a sequence - set it to 85 bpm - created a beat on track 1 - and then i added my bassline over it on track 2

everything is fine as long as i keep the sequence at 85 - when i speed it up however the beat is still fine but the sample is being cut and is still playing at the same tempo ( 85 bpm ).....i thought the bpm change would adjust the bassline as well - but its not.

what am i doing wrong?

Killer,

I'm assuming that your beats are single hits programmed into a loop, whereas your bass sample is a sampled loop?

That would explain the problem you are having as when you increase the tempo the individaual beats will follow, but the whole thing doesn't last as long, so the bass loop is cut. If you slow the tempo, the bass sample will not fill the whole duration either so you will end up with no bass at the end of the loop.

2 options:

1. Use single bass hits and programme the bassline yourself

or

2. Time stretch the bass loop to fit the new BPM. If you have a 2000XL you can do this in the machine (although it it very slow) so you would probably be better off doing on a PC/MAC. I don't do a lot of this, but Timestreching is probably in the XL manual, and there have been lots of threads about this previously. Sorry I can't point you somewhere specific.

ok - that seems easy enough

i thought it would adjust the entire sequence regardless......

i guess i can just change the bpm and then make the beat again

and yeah - u'r right - beats are single hits and the bass is a sampled loop

so does that mean when someone makes beats this way there is little flexibility in adjusting the tempo to see how it sounds at different speeds? i should know definite beforehand what tempo i want everything at?

i wasnt sure on the 85bpm - i looped a bassline i liked and just knew i wanted it a little faster so i changed the bpm to 85 - then i was going to put a beat under it while it was relatively slow - sequence it - and then sort of try it out at different speeds to see which one i like the most.....

Geoffshoulders is right......

in assuming that i should really kno where i want the tempo before i record to sequence if im mixing loops in there?

would it have made a difference if the drum track was a loop also?

You are quite right about a drum loop - if it was a straight loop, not single hits, and you increased the tempo you would cut the end off the loop.

I should have said earlier, but you could always 'tune' or 'pitch' the sample up so the whole thing is shorter. The problem with this being that it changes the tuning and pitch as well, so if you do that to a vocal, you end up with chipmonks.

If you did it to your bassline, you could get it to loop OK at higher or lower BPMs, but it would sound different.

Check out 'Shift' + 6 (program) and hit PARAMS. Tune in the top right corner and you will see what I mean. Increase the Tune figure and it will last for a shorter duration but sound higher pitched. Decrease the figure and it will last longer but sound lower.

Timestretching will get aroud this by allowing you to retain Pitch/Tuning but change duration, or vice versa.

Hope this helps,

GeoffShoulders

If both the drums and bassline are loops, then they would sync (however, they wouldn't sync to anything else, and they wouldn't loop correctly).

So the solution is, as previously pointed out, to either remake the bassline with single-hit samples, or to timestretch the bassline using your MPC (if you have an XL) or with a computer.

If you make everything with single-hit samples, then you can change the tempo freely, without worrying about timestretching, so that's the route I would go.

Or if you like the sample that much, you can try to chop it into single notes using ZONE. and play it in by hand. If you loop the zones (the end of the bassnotes that is) you can play them back at any speed. It's nearly impossible with most basslines (to me), but it should work with drumloops and such.
I admit this doesn't help you much right now, in this case timestreching would be a better option. But i thought i'd drop it just so you know it's possible.

thanks guys - i get it i think

i am adjusting to making beats on the mpc - this is all new to me so i have to figure out a method

i dont mind adjusting the pitch of the sample - i like the sound and the bass is deep enough that i could adjust the pitch and it would still be bass heavy

i think what i'll do though is just change the bass loop to a bpm im more comfortable with and then make my beat again......

im not used to knowing exactly what i want before i make the beat tho - so this is a big change. i used to loop up some drum break & track it on my 4 track and then just go thru my records - find a bassline i liked match time & track it - look some more - find some horns that sounded good - go thru some more - find another cool sound - etc etc....

but it seems like with the mpc i should know beforehand what i want to use and where i want the bpms........this is going to take some getting used to

You can go into Program> Parameters> and turn the tuning up a bit while the sequence is playing. Solo the bassline so you can hear if it's looping correctly.

you would also be suprised at how you can change the tempo of your basline without time stretch or pitch-if you use the "zone" in trim mode. Slice the baseline into 4-8 parts: then adjust the zones so that single hits are not getting cut off, and that they end just before the next hit. I usually leave like 2 or 3 hits in one slice-that way i retain the original sample, but can lengthen the time a little bit. be sure to not "create program" when you slice. Then go into program mode and manually enter each slice to a pad.

This especially works good if the bassline fits, but is just slightly shorter than your measure, and goes off time at the end(groove of sample vs groove of your track)- you can add silence gaps to fix the tempo. It also helps for variations in your basslines

Peace