File Hierarchy / Workflow for recording and live performance

Hi Everybody,

I'm just starting out with an MPC 1000 that I've purchased recently.

I have several things I'd like to accomplish with the MPC... first, I'd like to make beats to lay under guitar and vocals for songs that I've written. Second, I would like to throw in some vocal and guitar samples, assemble them in playable groups, put effects on them and have them available to add in to the beats. Third, I'd like to accomplish this somehow so the beats or sections of the beats can be triggered (or pre-sequenced) for live performance. All of this should be saveable for future use.

I have a large library of .wav drums that I've built some programs with, I think I understand the basics of sampling, etc... that isn't exactly my problem. For the time being I have been recording different tracks in a single sequence, then playing songs by muting and unmuting different tracks where appropriate. Obviously that is a really clumsy way to do it, and not what I'm hoping to continue doing. I have sequenced basic songs using multiple sequences, but I'm confused as to what's supposed to happen when the capacity of 99 sequences is full.

Can someone briefly describe the MPC-specific terms Track, Sequence, Program, Song, and Project in terms of what I'm trying to accomplish or what I should be doing? How can I build the beats in a way they can be easily played back, recorded and saved without using too much space?

First thing to do, you should really read the manual. The terms you asked are explained on page 6 of the manual (page 16 of the PDF). Read it all, then get the Beat Making on the MPC1000 book.

Get to know the MPC. Play it, try out different things. Read the forums, and ask questions that are more specific

mcatsos wrote:Can someone briefly describe the MPC-specific terms Track, Sequence, Program, Song, and Project in terms of what I'm trying to accomplish or what I should be doing? How can I build the beats in a way they can be easily played back, recorded and saved without using too much space?

That is a specific question if a little long-winded.

If nobody steps up in the next few hours, I'll break it down for you when I get home.

The manual does explain sequencing pretty well it must be said...

that would be awesome. i think i've got the hang of sequencing itself, and i've sequenced some basic stuff. its more about understanding how i can get a bunch of songs together without maxing out my storage space right away, and making playback as simple as possible.

No point typing it all out again.

These threads were found by entering 'song+mode' into the search field of the 'Production Techniques' forum.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=110606&hilit=song+mode

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=128555&hilit=song+mode

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=127627&hilit=song+mode

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=123647&hilit=song+mode

There is no right or wrong way to use tracks, sequences and songs so you will find that most people have a similar workflow but often people just find what works for them as you will have to.

A) Some prefer to track out individual sequences and arrange them into a song inside a DAW program.

B) Others prefer to use song mode in the MPC and track out the complete song arrangement at once.

C) Or even a combination of both the above methods, just do what suits your workflow.

This is what I usually do:

1) Start out with one mega-sequence that contains everything on individual tracks in the one sequence.

2) Then I copy this sequence five or six times and mute out parts to create different sections of the song.

3) Once this is done the five or six sequences are linked together in the correct running order using song mode.

4) Finally convert the completed song to a sequence, instead of using multiple sequences from memory we now only have one.

5) Go through the whole sequence making final edits and adjustments, maybe even add further track in a linear recording style.

6) Track out the finished song to a suitable DAW program for mixing and further tweaking.


For live work using sequences is more flexible than using songs and allows for greater manipulation of the music (step 4).

thank you... that is really helpful info. i'm not quite dumb enough to dive in without reading the manual first, but there is a lot it leaves up to the imagination. your process sounds like it saves a lot of storage space and makes playback much easier.

I agree the manual can be a little unclear on the way to exploit certain functions.

Glad to help out mate.

Samples are your sounds and instruments.

Programs are like your band of musicians where the samples are played and organized. One program can be a drum kit for your imaginary drummer, another program with bass or guitar licks for your imaginary strummer and another program with a B3 Hammond kit for your imaginary keyboardist. Really doesn't matter, just pick the sounds.

Sequences is where your programs a.k.a. "band" comes to life and records the music. You can make one huge sequence to make a song or multiple short sequences and put them all together to create a song like Sequence 1 can be the intro, sequence 2 the verse, sequence 3 the chorus, etc.

Tracks is kind of like a mini multitracker. Lets say Sequence 1 has 3 tracks. Track 1 can have your drum playing, Track 2 can be your bass melody and Track 3 your synth melodies. If all of that was on one track then it would sound like a repititous loop, but since its all on seperated tracks you can create changes with Track Mutes by silencing the drums and let the bass play for a few bars and then unmute the drums and let it build up with the synth line. That way you can use less sequences. But thats all up to you how you wanna do. I'm just giving one out a thousand ways to use an MPC.

Good luck.