Drums On the MPC1k

I'm a new MPC user, and before this only used my Yamaha Motif for all my sequencing. I love the MPC's power and creative aspects, but just learned that only the 2500 & 4000 have a grid sequencer. Are there any tips for making perfectly matched & timed beats with the 1k? I know about the T.C.

Thanks

matic777 wrote:I'm a new MPC user, and before this only used my Yamaha Motif for all my sequencing. I love the MPC's power and creative aspects, but just learned that only the 2500 & 4000 have a grid sequencer. Are there any tips for making perfectly matched & timed beats with the 1k? I know about the T.C.

Thanks

i like gridless sequencing better than grid sequencing for drums...most definitely.

tips? turn tc off. however, if you want perfectly timed beats, leave tc on. otherwise, it's really the exact same thing - minus the grid.

tips...memorize tick data - know how many ticks in a beat, how many = eighth note, sixteenth...etc. be able to do all that mathematics, etc.

if you have a more specific question i can probably answer it but meanwhile i'm at a loss for what to tell you.

turn the click (or metronome) on... and practice, practice, practice...

matic777 wrote:I'm a new MPC user, and before this only used my Yamaha Motif for all my sequencing. I love the MPC's power and creative aspects, but just learned that only the 2500 & 4000 have a grid sequencer. Are there any tips for making perfectly matched & timed beats with the 1k? I know about the T.C.

Thanks

Well TC is your answer. If you turn it onto 1/16, then all your notes will be forced into a 16th note 'grid' just as on a grid sequencer. It is easy (and fun) to enter the notes you want by just playing them in live in record mode.

For more indepth edits, you can shift notes around in Step Sequence mode.

I've layed down the drums and then gone to step edit to place them manually, but it just doesnt feel right. Playing around without the T.C. on is fun but when my samples seem triggered perfectly in a 4/4 4 bar adding drums with the pads it seems like the timing is off. I guess this is more my problem than needing the machine to do it. thanks for the reply

m

- is 1/16 the default?

yo just leave TC on and use realtime overdub record mode...

as soon as it records and starts playing back the loop, it has _already_ quantized it to 16th notes at that point. If it sounds wrong, that's either because your samples are trimmed wrong, or because you don't actually want your things strictly quantized.

You don't need to even use 'fix' or go into the step edit menu most of the time if you really just want grid quantization.

know what im sayin?

yea, I'll be trying that when I get off work tonight. Thank you for all the prompt response, these forums are really a wealth of knowledge.

but when my samples seem triggered perfectly in a 4/4 4 bar adding drums with the pads it seems like the timing is off.

sounds like a trimming issue to me. or else a robotic quantization is not strictly what you want.

glad the forums can help you. thanks for coming to the table with a question i hadn't answered before. you'll soon learn to love your machine.

yea, I'm going to check the trimming of the drums I have. I love it beyond words already. the expressiveness compared to the computer I used to use for sampling is amazing. On another note: I asked this in a recent thread, I used BlueBox for a while until i got comfortable using the MPC to assign programs and tweak samples, my question is what is Chromatic?

Thanks

i just saw you answered the other thread Antonym, thank you for your great help. Im getting that its just the same as 16 levels. (which is unbelievable for that Premo type sound)

Any one goin to see the Jukies on the 3rd Of march???

it's not JUST the same, as lampdog will quickly point out unless i do so first. 16 levels won't effect midi notes and will only give you 16 notes of the original sample. true chroming would give you 64. however, 16 levels will work.

i prefer setting the sample to each pad individually. this way i have more control over individual attack, decay, etc depending on note.

Again: great help, my drums are getting tighter by the day, and your correct to a T on that the feel of tapping the drums kills a grid sequencer. Thanks.

then again, sometimes there's nothing like programming on the fly using Roland x0x-style grid sequencing. it's a bit like track mutes on the MPC, dropping sounds in and out just by hitting the buttons/pads that those steps fall on. much better for step sequencing as well. i think a mix of both, in overdub mode especially, is the best solution overall. if the MPC worked a bit more like the Roland R-8 in record mode it'd be a killer. add in better midi CC control and i don't think i could ask for much more out of it.

also, i can't be the only one that noticed that the 1000 says 'music production center' instead of 'midi production center'. i'm guessing this has been brought up?