What gear do I need?

Hello all,

This is my first visit to the forum and I am new to the world of MPC. Actually, I don't even have one yet...I am thinking of buying an MPC1000.

I am an experienced guitar/bass, analog synth and piano player with 15+ years playing and preforming, I also do a bit of basic programming/producing on my Mac using Garageband. This is mostly so I can have drum tracks to record real instruments with when I am demo-ing at home.

I find using Garageband for this purpose to be okay, but it is pretty tedious and sounds weak. So, I thought an MPC1000 would be a nice choice. This machine looks very intuitive, sounds great and has an awesome interface [as if you all didn't know this]

Okay, here is my question. If I buy an MPC1000 what other gear do I need to use it. Keep in mind I have never used digital instruments before so I really have no idea. Besides my real instruments I have a Powerbook G4 and thats it.

Also, does the MPC1000 come with sounds already on it? Or does the user provide all their own raw sounds?

anything helps,

David

assuming you have monitors or speakers already, you would definatly need a way to get the sound from the mp to the computer, so an audio interface or pro/semipro sound card should be on your list. when purchasing a card, i would definatly look for something with a built in midi interface as well. i have a presonus firebox which has the standard 1/4" inputs, but it also has midi i/o and spdif i/o. the midi is very useful since i can sync my daw to mpc.

also, i would check into getting extra ram for the mp, and the hd adapter and hd. the adapter is only like $15 and i got a 60 gig hd from bestbuy for around $50.

on top of that, cables to go from the mp to the audio interface.

one more note about the interface, try to get something with plenty of outs. i just recently started 4 tracking my beats from the mp to daw and it is a huuuuuuuuuuuge time saver.

good luck

thank you very much for the detailed answer!

A moog filter pedal
a JOMOX M-Resonator
a Electrix filter queen
Akai MF 42 (if you can find it)
A frostwave
A Filter bug

Any of these ...there are others...feed to send return on a mixer or run MPC direct to this into your recorder, preamp, DAW and you'll notice a huge difference in the fatness of your kicks and crispiness of our snares...and oh god the clarity of your baselines...trust me I read and studied for 2 years from the time I decided to start making beats to when I finally bought some equipment...you dont need alot you just need a few basic things....and you'll notice how good the MPC can sound damn near by itself...master your stuff and then expand to maybe some keys or a sound module (DAW or hardware) peace n have fun!

The MPC is a sampler, so you have to get the sounds yourself. If you want a machine with built in sounds, you should get a drum machine.

This is not a problem though, as you can buy CDs or download sounds from the net (I guess this is what you will do as you only need it as your drummer) or record the sounds yourself from whatever source you may prefer (records, CDs, DVDs etc.)

It's very easy to add your own sounds (bought or self created) to the MPC.

As for what you should add to the MPC, I have no idea. Its so many possibilities that maybe you should get to know your MPC a bit before you buy something. As long as you can connect it and your other gear to some sort of speakers I think you should be fine untill you've learned how to use the MPC. You can do that if you have a mixer or sound card with enough input channels.

After that you can buy different filters, compressors, midicards etc. to take your MPC to the next level.

Will you in the beginning just use your MPC to prgram drums, or are you going to start connecting it via MIDI to your analog synths etc. right away?

if your not big into sampling get a korg electribe an interface and a daw

This is not advice...This is the path I've chosen in the past...

I was buying records for 6 years or so and had a basic two turntables and a mixer setup.

Then I first got an xl. After a while I thought I knew the machine. On one hand this was true since I knew the features and possibilities of this machine. But since I wasn't making beats for a long time I didn't have a clue how to make it sound proper (layering etc etc).

After a while I wanted to compliment my xl with something that would allow me to add some stuff of my own apart from samples (a rompler or a synth or something). So I started checking out the second hand market and came up with a great deal for an mpc60, an eps and a siel mono. So I bought that. I'm one of those guys that snipes the used gear market for good deals and buy it when I know I can use it and that it will compliment my setup.

At that point I used the 60 mainly for drums, the xl for mains and making the beat and the siel for basslines.

After a while I wanted to get something (synth/rompler) that would allow me to use some orchestral stuff like strings, some keys, some percussion sounds etc etc so I got a great deal on a jv 2080. This machine has been really good to me so far, especially for percussion sounds and basslines.

Up until this point I had always invested in creative gear, and not really sound improvement gear like an audio interface or monitors. So I got myself a good deal on a firepod. This improved my sound greatly.

Last week I finally bought an S950 to compliment my mpc60. I wanted THAT sound and a filter and the ability to sample 12 bit at 48kHz.

The most important thing is knowing what you want to achieve.

Since you're an experienced keyboard/guitar/bass player you're in an excellent position if you ask me. The mpc will be a great tool to lay down drums and percussion. You can build your whole track in that machine as well of course. But I don't know how you see yourself working: building tracks in the mpc or software or best of both worlds.

In my humble opinion I reckon you could go the following route if you get a 1000:
- get a decent audio interface for your G4 (presonus, motu, ... )
- get a keyboard (rompler, synth, midi controller + vst's or rack module)
- get a load of sample material
- get some monitors
- get some decent multitrack software with some decent plugins

and you'll have a very decent home studio with lots of possibilities. You don't need to get everything and certainly not all at the same time but that's a matter of personal preference. You can lay down drums with the mpc, basslines with your bass guitar(s), keys and other stuff with your (midi) keyboard, guitars with your guitar, ... Wether you create your beat in the mpc or software is up to you.

I don't know how much you're thinking of spending and what you want for that money at this point. Like I stated, up until a certain point, I rather invested in some creative gear so I'd have more sounds to work with rather than on the production side of things. Grass is always greener etc etc...

It's all a matter of preference, need, goals and budget. Some people will probably disagree with me but for me it works perfectly for what I want to do. After all, it's the person behind the gear rather than the gear itself.

But if you want to record properly on short term, a decent audio interface is a must.

I hope this post makes sense and helps.

agree with all advice after mine...get the basics so you can at least record. MPC, AI, DAW or multi-track if no computer. That will become limited in time. You will need some things to enhance your sound and bring out the sonics...again don;t go out and buy a ton f shit that'll sit n rot. 1 pc ata time kicko....get to making beats n expand later

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