What the hell is going on here?

Yo everybody, NewbFroggyFrog here. I have zero experience with sequencing midi. Can any one tell me anything about what the hell this is:

What is there to ask? video and that 2 Step Garage track is dope tho...

Not enough Gin and Tonic... that's what!

I was about to write the track off... but it's actually really well done!

ShoopFroggyFrog wrote:Yo everybody, NewbFroggyFrog here. I have zero experience with sequencing midi. Can any one tell me anything about what the hell this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa35jTdSbAM

It's kind of like posting a video of somebody driving a Tesla and saying "I have no experience with automobiles". We don't know what you know, or what you want to learn.

To break it down into a few levels
* They are playing loops and some parts live
* All the gear (that is turned on) is in sync... as you surmised it is probably through MIDI
* Some very good sequencing... but hard to tell what devices are playing what jobs
* Effort was put in to make components of the set interactive
* No idea which part is the "brain", but I am going to guess it is Ableton Live doing the heavy lifting

I'm assuming you're posting this in the MPC1000 forum because there's clearly an MPC1000 in the video, but I didn't see him doing anything with it other than tap out a few drum hits from time to time. You could certainly produce a track like this on the MPC, but I'm quite confident that Ableton and maybe the Octatrack are doing most of the heavy lifting here.

All that said... what would you like to know?

When this guy sells his gear, he'll list it as being in a SMOKE FREE environment. I can smell the lung cancer from here.

Near Tao,

That was a superb response. I apologize for being vague. I guess what I really want to know is how you all would suggest I go about learning how to get the 1K to play back drums and also automate an external synth bass and another keyboard. Sorry everyone, I feel so wack.

Near Tao

That was very helpful and informative, thank you again.

Near Tao,

I was feeling the concise orientation.

The best advice I can give is to start small.

It is super easy to get into gear acquisition syndrome (GAS), thinking "that sound" comes from a specific piece of gear, this is mostly marketing. Sure, there are some very boutique pieces of gear that do novel things, but in general, making a specific sound is knowledge, not gear.

All that said, you can do some really awesome things in the MPC 1k, without outboard gear.

A few things I'll suggest you learn, and you can ask questions:
* Sample a drum break... from Youtube, a record, the radio, whatever... don't load it from CF, sample it, then get it to loop properly by adjusting start/end points
* Learn how to chop a loop up... possibly the one you sampled previously... or sample in a funky chord progression, doesn't matter
* Play around with single cycle waveforms, google AKWF and you should find some really good single cycle sample sets, and make a synth sound (JJOS is super easy here with keyboard mode) and make a synth sound you can play.

Get yourself situated with a few of these things, it will help get you a sense of what the MPC 1k (whichever OS you choose) can do.

Good luck!

You're right. I started asking a friend if he had any ableton installs to spare. Then I started looking at prices of old Atari pc's and Amiga pc's. I thought it would be dope to sequence outboard gear with one of these.

But, thank you for the suggestions Near Tao. You have been most helpful. I will do as you have suggested.

My goal is to compose funky 105 to 125 bpm grooves so that I could jam to them on a keyboard live. Basically, like Jeff Lorber, and Shakatak.

I'm willing to bet if you asked around here some folks could probably find a spare Ableton Lite License kicking around if your buddy doesn't have one. They used to give them away in cereal boxes practically. Heck I probably have one stuffed in a box someplace.

I am sure it'd be dope to sequence an old Atari or Amiga PC... but learning how to set it all up is the problem. I used all that stuff back in the day, and personally don't want the headaches of too much old gear in my house. The oldest pieces I have are some old Akai samplers (S950/S1000) that I've been lovingly repairing and keeping maintained. I really like the sound, but there is a lot to be said for software samplers these days, I'll continue to argue that the software does not sound the same as the hardware, but for 99% of the people it doesn't matter because they couldn't tell. Hell, I probably couldn't tell either, I just like the interface and workflow of using buttons and knobs over clicking a mouse. It just totally depends on what experience you want to get out of it really.

To get to jamming... oof... there are a ton of ways to get there, nearly infinite with software. An also insane amount with hardware. I just deleted a ton of thoughts that were really all over the place, and got way too outside the MPC for the time being.

If you want to jam on the MPC, you really just need to learn a few things.
* How to chop... this is honestly the first step, and if you cannot get into this on the MPC, folks here can give a ton of other suggestions
* How to setup programs... if you want to perform live, you'll want to be super consistent here... kicks on the same pad, that sort of things... google finger drumming
* How to record tracks... while it seems super convenient to record everything in the program onto one track... it's generally a bad habit... because of the next step
* How to track mute... if you're organizing in multiple tracks, kick/snare/hats/bass/melody... it is trivial to track mute four or more sections and perform a song
* How to name things... this will save your sanity as well... get good at it... and get fast
* How to sequence... not necessary out of the gate, but will absolutely keep your flow and allow you to perform alongside fuller tracks in a predictable way
* How to save... sounds dumb... but save often... to different folders... you absolutely will record track mutes or other events... and being able to restore instead of having to spend several days figuring out how to erase the events you don't want and keep the ones you do is well worth your sanity

Anyways... you can seriously do tons within the MPC without needing other gear. If you can get the basics down you'll be in a better place to know where you want to add flash and flourish without having to lay down serious cash.

If you want to spend though, consider eBay, Reverb, and the like... there are great second hand markets and some of them will save you serious cash. It'll help you move gear you don't want any more, while also keeping the next gear acquisition moving forward without breaking the bank.

Edit:
A couple of examples of jamming out for #Jamuary with a stupid Pocket Operator 33... and created something that I wouldn't play live... but for something as non complicated as this you can do a lot. The MPC 1k can pull off *way* more.

Near Tao,

I appreciate the advice regarding asking about an extra Ableton Lite license. However, I consider myself to be a '99%-DAW-free-guy'. I only foresee myself using an occasional vst instrument here and there during a performance. Say, an o.g. flute, for instance. Notwithstanding, I will diligently do as you have said in regards to best-practice on the 1K. Thank you very much.

The drum sequencer on the PO 33 isn't half bad. It's timing is looser than how I remember ableton and reason sounding back in 2012.

You can generally simulate looser timings with samplers with sloppy (intentional or not) chopping... add some air in the front of the sample it it will absolutely be off beat. Put different amounts in on each sample, and suddenly that grid won’t be so tight.