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By GTinOZ Sat Apr 10, 2021 2:04 am
Apologies - complete starter question. I can't work out the correlation between the pads on my MPK mini 3 and the virtual pads within the MPC software GUI, or how to change them. For example, currently RED 5 = A05, RED 6 = C15, RED 7 = A03 and RED 8 = A12, and so on.

Perhaps naively I hoped to set it up so that they directly corresponded for both red and green banks (eg RED 1 = A01, RED 2 = A02, through to RED 8 = A08; and GREEN 1 = A09 through to GREEN 8 = A16).

I tried to do this using the MPK editor, but it made no difference.

Sadly I don't know whether my mistake is conceptual (that's not how things are designed to work) or operational (you're doing it the wrong way).

[In the big picture I was hoping to write a song for my wife's coming birthday, create a simple 'backing track' using keyboards, bass, percussion and some string sweetening using the MPK mini and the MPC software plus some judiciously chosen samples. I have a good understanding of music and of multi-track analog recording techniques, and perhaps naively thought I could leverage that using the MPK and the MPC software - a long way of saying that, despite assiduously reading the supplied manual, I'm bound to be back here with more questions too simple to be included in the manual. Or, if there's somebody who lives in Sydney Australia who is willing to help me (for a fee) set up my system so I can focus on composing/laying up tracks...]
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By MPC-Tutor Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:03 am
I don't have an MPK but from your post I assume that the pads (red 1 to 8 ) are pre-mapped chromatically, to notes C1 to G#1.

The problem is that MPC DRUM programs still use some crazy modified GM mapping (carried over from legacy MPC days), where pad A1=C#1, A2=C1, A3=F#1, A4=A#4 and so on.

With your program open in the MPC Software, go to Edit > Program > Note Mapping and you'll see the current pad-to-note mapping.

You can definitely remap your MPK to match this layout. Again I don't have one but it seems that it's designed to do just this and I believe you can store and recall different mappings quickly - you can use the Note Mapping page in the MPC to get a reference the current MPC mapping that you need to configure. I seem to remember that the MPK might use a different octave to reference notes, so experiment with the octave. For example, pad A01 in a normal MPC DRUM program is C#1, so you should try mapping the MPK Red 1 to either C#2 or C#1

Alternatively, re-map the MPC program itself. In the Note Mapping screen you can hit 'Chromatic C1' to immediately change the mapping used for this particular program. You can then just re-save the kit with its new MIDI mapping

But this method requires you remapping all your DRUM kits as 99% of MPC kits out there will use the crazy default mapping. (However, all mine at mpc-samples.com are all chromatically pre-mapped for you!).

Also remember to select the MPK preset mapping in the 'MIDI Learn' section of the MPC Software. This doesn't remap pads or keys, but should map dials and buttons etc for better control of the software.
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By Atmelcool Wed May 12, 2021 9:59 pm
I also have this problem, I think this is a raw version of the MPC Beats software, as some demo songs are mapped fine and the new empty song does not match the keyboard pads by default. Try changing the program in the device itself (there are presets for different DAWs)