Mpc2000xl and roland xp-30 help

I just got both so new with both.  But when I am recording to the sequencer in midi, how do I make it so that I play one sound, and record it to one track, then play a different patch to another sound?  It makes all the sounds i played on my keyboard all sounds from the same patch.  I wanna play a bassline with say, nylon guitar....record my playing, then on a different track play cello.  I been reading the books about midi channels and stuff, but I need help in learning how to keep only one sound transmitted out of like channel 1, and play and record a different one channel 2, but still have that one sound on channel 1.  Thanks[/color]

i am looking for this info too

is the XP-30 Multi-timbral?

DeckMusicJD$ wrote:is the XP-30 Multi-timbral?

i think it is ....but i needed the midi info....i don't have roland gear but i still need the question answered.....thankz in advance

sup.

i'm in the same boat, frustrated something horrible.
when you unlock it, please share with a brotha!

cheers.

ok, this is basic midi 101, but i'll tell ya anyways because it sucks not knowing what the hell is going on. in your mpc on the main screen, it says drum:and displays the program you are using. you can toggle that to say midi 1A, which means you are sending info out to channel 1 from midi port a. so match your sound in the module to the channel you are sequencing with. chnnel 1 on mpc, channel 1 on module, channel 2 on mpc, channel 2 on module, etc... just make sure you are switching tracks when you sequence with the mpc and and changing the channels. it defaults on every track to come up and look for an mpc drum program, so you have to change each track as you go along. if you arent changing channels, that is probably why you are getting all the sounds at once. hope that answers your questions and gets you programming some tight ish.

If your XP-30 is anything like my XP-60, you have to set it up in "Performance" mode. You are allowed 16 "patches" (called "parts" that make up a "Performance" -- trust me it took me days to figure out this bizzare Roland stuff. But we non-Roland pros need each other to sort it out.

The previous post about changing the MIDI on the MPC to get the different MIDI sounds out of your keyboard is correct, but you have to map your XP-30's 16 MIDI channels first in order to get it to talk correctly to the MPC. You cannot play a patch into the MPC and then change the MIDI channel on the MPC and change the patch on the XP-30 and think you are changing anything. The MPC is not reading XP-30 MIDI channels, it is just reading whatever current patch you have set.

This drove me mad, but I sat down with the manual and did the math: 16 MIDI channel Performance Parts on the XP-30 and 16 (1A) MIDI channels on the MPC, hmm, they must be related. I was right.

So, what I do on my XP-60, is have a Performance called "Default" (how original, right?) and on MIDI channel 1 (Part 1) I have a bass guitar patch, on MIDI channel 2 (Part 2) I have a Piano, etc. MIDI Channel 10 (Part 10) is always a drum kit on Roland products for legacy reasons. I save this Performance and it loads everytime I fire up my XP-60.

For each patch (part) you set to each MIDI Channel in the Performance section, hit the MIDI menu button (labeled in the screen) and make sure you have it set to LOCAL OFF, and TX ON and RX on, and make sure the channel you are on, is the channel you have it set to. They make it so you can have it all screwed up, keep it straight. What I mean to say is that Performance Part 3 could be MIDI Channel 16 -- maddening! So match all those up correctly.

I've also found that you have to select the MIDI section on the MPC, hit OPEN WINDOW and set "Soft Thru" to OFF, or you'll get MIDI note loops. Bad, bad, bad.

When you get this all setup correctly, cables connected, etc. when you set your MPC to record on MIDI:1A-Device01 (also know that you can name "Device01" to "XP-30" very cool!) set your XP-30 to the corresponding "Performance" -- in this case, MIDI Channel 1, or the first performance patch.

It is incredibly hard to describe technical information, it would take me 15 seconds to show you. So I took some pics. I happen to have the MPC selected to the 2nd MIDI channel while the XP-60 is on the 1st MIDI channel, but you get the idea:






I might make some mini-movies and Flash-based tutorials on this stuff if I get motivated... and people make enough noise. Why should we all suffer when only a few of us can and share that knowledge?

Oh, and I'm not making this up, listen to a demo of a few patches playing at the same time, with some drums+guitar:

30 second demo

Shawn