MPC1000 Workflow Strategies

There have been a lot of questions about the "workflow" you use when working with the MPC1000: what do you save, to where, when, and how? Here's my opinion on this:

I think it boils down to a choice: to use "Save All Memory", or not.
The deciding factor is: is every Program you create unique, or do you re-use Programs on different projects?
Examples:
- if you're sampling from vinyl, then those samples are (probably) for that Project only.
- if you're using "kits" like those from mpc-samples.com, or the Akai/Hollow Sun "Kits Of The Week", then you want to keep them separate and not mix them up with other stuff, so you can reuse them without loading unnecessary samples.

I'm developing a "hybrid" approach to all this:
- While I'm working on a Project, I load up the Programs I need, then use Save All Memory. I can fine-tune the Programs at any time, knowing my changes will get saved reliably and loaded quickly. I can even use the Autoload feature for extra convenience.
- After a project is complete, (or even halfway through), I go in and extract the Programs I want to reuse later: with the project loaded, save just the Program to a new folder (with its samples), then back that up to the PC.
- Then, when it comes to the next project, you can load up just the Programs you need individually, then start the cycle again by saving All Memory.
- What I'm trying to avoid is: having multiple copies of the same Programs and/or Samples lying around. Not only is it confusing, you're also wasting space storing duplicate samples.
- But I don't mind the duplication when I use Save All Memory while working, as long as I remember where the "live" Programs and Samples are: saved separately, or mixed up in a Project.

We assume that people know how to find, samples, load them, assemble them into programs - that's gotta be done, but if you ever want to reuse Programs, it helps to stick to a consistent method when making them. Examples:
- the GM Drum mappings are not ideal, but I try to use them anyway, so I always know the bassdrum is on A02, snares on A05-A06, hats on the right, etc. Some of the Kits Of The Week don't follow this: you can always change this, just find something you like and stick to it.
- I'm also working with remapped MIDI for melodic samples, either totally chromatic ( from A01=35 to D16=98 ), or in Octaves (C-C, 1 per page) - which makes it easier to bang out tunes on the MPC1000 without a keyboard.

Hey! Did I say you could leave? I don't care if the bell rung - the bell don't dismiss you, I dismiss you! OK? Dismissed!

Hey stereoroid, do you have AIm or Yahoo IM? I'm gettin my 1k in about 2weeks and I'ma need to holla at you in a real way!

Reakshon wrote:Hey stereoroid, do you have AIm or Yahoo IM? I'm gettin my 1k in about 2weeks and I'ma need to holla at you in a real way!

'fraid not, I'm on a corporate LAN, firewalls & all that jazz. I have to look at this stuff in between real work, etc. I get notified if anyone sends me a PM, look at it when I can, that's the best I can offer...

good enough for me

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks these things through Before I even start making tunes, the first thing I do is figure out how I'm going to use the instrument and how it's going to fit in with the rest of my gear. Tell me what you think of this approach...

Setup:
First, I started with building up a nice collection of drum/instrument hits by converting all the hits from my ESI-4000 hip-hop sample cd to wav files and saving them in different folders (i.e. kicks, snares, hats, etc...) I don't bother using the MPC for multi-samples because I have my ESI-4000 to handle that. Next, I copied all the files onto the CF card in the MPC. I also saved an empty project to clear the MPC's memory quickly and start with a clean slate.

Project:
First, I load the empty project. Then I load all the samples in the kicks folder, audition them in the program screen, assign the winner to a pad, and purge all unused samples. I repeat this for all the other samples I'm going to use for the new project. It's like a drum kit construction set! The only downside is that it takes awhile to purge the unused samples. I wish there was a way to audition samples straight from the CF card without loading them into memory. Now, I'm not sure if I didn't save the new program with samples if the MPC is smart enough to load the original samples from their appropriate folders. I'll have to test that out

saving and loading I save as a project plus autoload so what I was working on last night pops up after I get off work the next day - I file it away when I'm done on the computer hard drive

Workflow starts with me sampling old and new techno, house, Hip-Hop and bad 80's and 90's music into the MPC

save the whole lot on my CF and load up into some kind of editing program - chop them up

then I load different parts up into the MPC or some kind of software sampler

and the rest is a mystery - I usually black out and wake up with a song I either love or hate

This is a GREAT thread and of extreme usefulness to newcomers. The manual gives you all the facts but it doesn't piece together the puzzle.
Please keep the ideas and methods coming.

since i know i'm almost always gonna be laying down drums regardless of everything else, i have a whole bunch of my drum programs in the autoload folder. i just turn on the 1000 and i've already got a bunch of kits to mix and match drum sounds with if i want. took me awhile before i realized how much time i wasted loading up the same drum progams to experiment and use for my beats. i wish i figured this out earlier.

like steroid had mentioned before, i also keep all my drum programs mapped out similar to the way the preset sounds came. the most important thing to me is that i keep all the same drums mapped to the same pads for every program (kick is A02, snare is A06...). then when i am doing a beat i can switch the programs on a drum track and have the sequence play correctly while switching through the different drum kits.

when i chop up samples and make programs for instruments and stuff, i tend to have a bunch of different sounds that cant fint into only one song. so i end up reusing the same programs.

that mixed with loading all the drums at the beginning keeps me from saving entire memory cause i know it would be filled with crazy duplicate programs and samples.


ehh...its worked ok so far.

I always start with a clean slate. I have disabled the autoload from flashram so whenever I power up the MPC it's empty of everything.
I usually start by sampling a couple of single notes taken from here and there, mostly classical music, and start experimenting with various tunings and filters and envelopes until I have constructed my own chromatic or diatonic scale.
Then I start working for real. I add more sampled material as I go, pre-mixing what I did on the MPc with Cds and lifting matching parts.
As far as saving I usually save each sequence individually, and each programme individually with its samples within the same folder.
As with loading, I load only the programmes and samples I need to work with any given sequence.
I barely use the same programme in different works, but I may use the same sample in a number of different programmes within the same song.
I usually end up using a very limited number of samples in a songh (less than 20), but with a vast number of edits on them. Typically a song folder (with all samples, programmes and sequences) takes a bit less than 2 Mb disk space.

i usually start by getting a few programs together made out of the pretty large archive of sounds i have on my PC and backed up on CD, from drum machines to rehearsal room recordings to samples off records to field recordings - or i might record some guitar/vocal sounds thru tonnes of FX into soundforge and then chop out the good bits. as i am mainly using the mpc for live stuff and i tend to work in a very much sketchbook kinda way, i frequently re-use my programs in different tunes and so i keep them all into their own folder and save them whenver i do work on them or at the end of a session. all the samples are kept in seperate folders too, usually organised by where they came from/what they sound like (eg: bass_may2003, ambient_tv). every now and then i will have to write down what sample is where on an excel spreadsheet printout template thingy i made up to keep track of what samples/outputs/fx are being used.

i will usually start with a melodic idea before getting the rythmn down, but not always... with the MPC i love getting sounds in and just dropping them an octave or two to get some real slow, low background noises, or adding two or 3 sounds to a pad with 1 main sound and 2 quieter sounds to give some character to the beats - then it all just kinda kicks off! if i am re-creating one of my released tunes then i open up logic and bounce down the individual hits/sounds/riffs, make up a program on the PC and whack em straight into the MPC (nb: i only place the samples with the PC program creator - leave all the settings for doing on the MPC, much easier) - then play around until the funk starts to happen.

when i am done i will 'save all sequences and songs' to the root and save all my programs (without samples) to the programs folder.

before doing a gig i will usually spend an hour before hand getting the sequences set up so i don't get any unexpected surprises when i flick between them - then i will do a soundcheck on the PA and adjust the master EQ so that I get the crispest & fattest sound.