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By SvenM Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:44 pm
Hi all,

New here. I got my MPC Live 2 last week, because I wanted to have a daw-less setup.

While I'm loving it for coming up with ideas and making short loops, turning them into full songs is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated.

Usually in my songs, I rarely repeat something exactly. So let's say in verse 2 I'll have the same thing but I'll half-time the drums at first, then go back to regular time and drop some melody (or whatever).

This leads to me having to make numerous copies of the same thing. But then if I want to add another layer or tweak some melody, I have to start making changes to all these different sequences. Is there a way to link tracks so their midi data is synced across sequences? Or at least a way to make sure the tracks in all sequences are the same, so I don't have to manually set them up the same way?

Another gripe I have is with muting stuff. I usually have some audio tracks (mostly bass guitar). The "track mute" page is useful when working with only midi/plugin tracks, but useless when you have some audio tracks going on as well. So if I want to hear what it a certain section would sound like without a certain audio track, it seems like too many button presses.

Also, when I'm editing effects for a track, I often want to hear it solo. The screen doesn't show any buttons to solo the track while I'm in the effects page (or an individual effect) - is there some shortcut for this?

Most YouTube tutorials I've found about making full tracks with an MPC just bounce their tracks and finish the song in a DAW. It's a little annoying, I wouldn't mind doing some finishing touches in a DAW, but I'd at least like to get most of the song structure done on the MPC without too much annoyances.

I'm starting to think that I would have been happier with a Force due to the issues I'm facing. Could someone comment on the workflow for full songs on the Force? I might get one at some point if it makes the workflow smoother.
I've also run into the plugin limit a few times (I like layering things). So maybe I could combine a Force and my MPC somehow for more plugin tracks?

Thanks!
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By v00d00ppl Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:51 am
Hi Sven welcome to the forums. Do you prefer to write drums with one midi track or many?

If one midi track is boring to you then you can copy the same drum program over to many midi tracks and write the drum events that way and it doesn’t feel repetitious.

The other feature I take advantage of is song mode. I will intentionally write my verses in 8 bar form to allow the drums the breathe and then 1 bar bridge events.
By misterflibble Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:46 am
You're describing a lot of gripes I had with the sequence-based workflow. I finally gave up on it and got a Force, which has MIDI Clips and an Arranger. I'm much happier. I still have my MPC Live but mostly use it for making up ideas when I'm out and about. When I'm at home, I'm using my Force. If you're still under your return window you might want to give the Force a try. It's got everything the MPC has, except for Sequences, and MIDI Clips and Arrangers and Macros, which MPC currently lacks.