Edit midi notes later on

Hey guys,

I have never used a DAW as Sound Module with my MPC. I was wondering though, when you record (let's say a piano chord from Logic) into your MPC, will it be recorded as an AUDIO file or as a MIDI file? If it's an AUDIO file, that means you basically have to record it in one take without mistakes. With a MIDI file though, you could play around with the notes. If MIDI is the case, I'm wondering if you can edit the MIDI notes in the MPC? Just like a piano roll in Logic...I really don't have a clue how this goes in the MPC world could someone clear this up? Much appreciated

sytrusze wrote:I have never used a DAW as Sound Module with my MPC.

if you are using your daw strictly as a sound module, then by definition the mpc is not handling any sound.

depending on how you save / work, you can end up with two copies of midi data - one in the mpc and another in daw, if you record it as the mpc plays.

sytrusze wrote:I was wondering though, when you record (let's say a piano chord from Logic) into your MPC, will it be recorded as an AUDIO file or as a MIDI file?

this is not using your daw as a sound module... if you are talking about SAMPLING then yes, you have to save the sample in your mpc as audio. if you are actually using your daw as a sound module, then you really might not need to sample logic.

but you are talking about two different things and im not sure which you are actually doing.

what MPC are you using. Editing MIDI can be done on MPC though. depends what you find easier. I suggest you have midi clock synced if you want to record MIDI live into MPC otherwise jst save MIDI file and load it into MPC

tapedeck wrote:

sytrusze wrote:I have never used a DAW as Sound Module with my MPC.

if you are using your daw strictly as a sound module, then by definition the mpc is not handling any sound.

depending on how you save / work, you can end up with two copies of midi data - one in the mpc and another in daw, if you record it as the mpc plays.

sytrusze wrote:I was wondering though, when you record (let's say a piano chord from Logic) into your MPC, will it be recorded as an AUDIO file or as a MIDI file?

this is not using your daw as a sound module... if you are talking about SAMPLING then yes, you have to save the sample in your mpc as audio. if you are actually using your daw as a sound module, then you really might not need to sample logic.

but you are talking about two different things and im not sure which you are actually doing.

Yeah, I'm a bit confused too.

Audio files are like recording your performance on tape, and MIDI is like a bunch of blocks that you can rearrange and stuff. A good way to turn a audio file into a MIDI file is to chop it all up into seperate samples and pads and record the sequence into a DAW via MIDI.

We're gonna need more info on what you want to do.

Sorry for the confusion guys, cuz i think i even just confused my self

What i want to do is, use a piano sound from logic so i can play and save a melody on top of a drum loop that i created on my MPC. I think i misunderstood the therm 'sound module' but i think i get it right now (correct me if i'am wrong). So basically you have 2 choices:

1. Record sounds from Logic directly into the MPC (The sounds will be saved in the MPC as an audio file) or you can create a melody in Logic and export it as midi and open it in the MPC, right?

2. You can sync the MPC with Logic. So if i would have a drum loop created on my MPC and i would press play in Logic the drum loop would start to play and i could create a melody WITHIN logic just like i would do normally in Logic, right? (Which is actually pretty neat!)

ps. I'am using the 5K a.t.m. with the standard AKAI OS

sytrusze wrote:1. Record sounds from Logic directly into the MPC (The sounds will be saved in the MPC as an audio file) or you can create a melody in Logic and export it as midi and open it in the MPC, right?

you went too far on that one ... the first part, yes, you can SAMPLE (aka record but lets be accurate) SOUNDS from logic into the mpc, then trigger those samples back via the mpc. at that point all sound will come from the mpc.
however if you 'export a melody' in logic, you are likely just exporting the midi note data. all that means, is yer mpc will get these blank notes, and not have any idea what sound to play them back with. at that point, you can either use it to trigger a sample in the mpc, or an external module (even logic being used as a sound module).

bear in mind that 'sound module' means simply that, you play the NOTES from another source (the mpc / keyboard) but the SOUND comes from the module...in this case logic.

another option is to do like what you describe in #2, where you relegate the mpc to drums and logic for melody. you create all your sequences for melody in logic then simply 'sync' it with your mpc so they play back in time, and you record your mpc drums into logic as an audio track.

tapedeck wrote:

sytrusze wrote:bear in mind that 'sound module' means simply that, you play the NOTES from another source (the mpc / keyboard) but the SOUND comes from the module...in this case logic.

I hear you captain! Simple but crystal clear explanation

Step #2 that i mentioned earlier is definitely my ideal way to go, but i got 2 more questions though.

tapedeck wrote:

sytrusze wrote:and you record your mpc drums into logic as an audio track.

[/quote]

1. Is this step necessary? I mean, if i would play logic i would also hear the drums play in sync but if i would bounce it to an MP3 the drums won't be included in the bounced MP3 i assume, or would they? neither if i would bounce the song off my MPC, it would only bounce my drums, am i right?

So i could either copy the bounced drums and paste them into logic with my melody (which would be a more time consuming alternative of course) or i could just track my drums immediately out into an Audio track within Logic (which would be much better and faster alternative, but i would have to buy myself a mixer to connect the MPC outputs so it can track out to Logic, right?) :p

2. At the end of your song, you will always wind up with 2 files you have to save, your logic project and your MPC song, right?

ps. sorry for my (deeply detailed) questions, but i'm really trying to finally understand this part it might open a whole new world for me

yes the way you have described it is correct....you can either record the drums in at the same time (ideal) or bounce from mpc and drag in later.

Cool, thanks for the confirmation ... my questions have been answered!