Working with Upbeats

Hello everyone,

Sequences on the MPC do not support upbeats - at least that's how I understand it.

To explain "Upbeat": The very common practice of having the melody start before the beat and lead there. Like in "Twist and shout" by the Beatles or the chorus of "Happy" by Pharell Williams.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(music)#Downbeat_and_upbeat

I use upbeats a lot and I'm still not sure how to handle them efficiently with the AKAI MPC Live II. Currently, I copy two sequences (between which the upbeat appers), just to add the missing notes "on top". And it's not only for the melody: The more instruments contribute to the upbeat (chords, drums etc.), the more difficult it becomes.

Is that really it? How do you deal with upbeats?

Thanks for your ideas,
Andreas

i handle it by sequencing my MPC externally from a Deluge and triggering all my drum program samples/plugins on the Deluge arranger grid. then i can compose linearly however i want/need the vocals to start anywhere on the beat

@chrisroland makes a good point about sequencing externally - that could definitely make it easier to handle upbeats. One approach you could try on the MPC itself is to sequence the upbeat parts on a separate track from the main parts, then trigger them together. It's a bit more steps but might work. Or you could manually quantize notes off the grid as needed. Hopefully AKAI will add better upbeat support directly in a future firmware update!

You could layer up the whole song in one sequence, double the sequence length until its as long as you need for the full track, and then record track mutes to build the arrangement in one sequence. This way you can bring in all your melodies exactly when you want, so you can bring them in a bit early to get that lead in that you want. This is the best way I’ve found to get less rigid arrangements. You can also merge sequences together by putting them in the song mode and then converting the song mode playlist to one sequence or just double the sequence length if you really just need more room to jam. There’s lots of options.

Also don’t forget, you can insert bars in the sequence pencil menu I believe. Could always insert an extra bar or two at the beginning of your sequence to record that upbeat lead in if you prefer it that way

Maybe the last bar needs fewer notes so it will loop ok

Thanks a lot for your ideas!

After trying it one way or another, I'm definitely taking the “one big sequence” approach. Everything else means too much "math" and snipping to me while I'm playing.

The way sequences are implemented in MPC, where all parts of a song are handled as if cut with a cake knife, is not entirely up to date. I remember Steinberg Twenty-Four on ATARI ST being able to move notes before the first bar of a part. That was in 1986 (and must be in the attic somewhere now

The MPC definitely lacks a "track start offset". Which didn't stop me from buying an MPC Key 61 yesterday (at a ridiculous price - I guess a new model is on the horizon) for playing in my band, as I love almost every other aspect of this instrument.

@Lampdog,
I understand your point. Of course it's possible.
What stops me from working this way is that it involves many compromises. Much of the song structure is turned inside out, looping gets more complicated, the end of the previous sequence often needs to be cut, difficult to record a long MIDI track over sequence boundaries etc.