Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
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By feline1 Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:52 pm
Well, so now that Akai have finally released English language release notes for OS 1.70 (still no sign of them on http://www.akaipro.com/int though, mind you!)
we can actually see what all is in there.....

.....the PDF was written by "K Fujii" apparently,
and I have to say his translation is noticeably better than some of the farcical Engrlish gibberlish that we saw in OS Addenda between 1.40 and 1.60....

but nonetheless, there's still some bits where I haven't a blithering notion what they're on about.
(How can I USE new features if I dunno what they ARE, duh?!?! What's the point of all that development and gnashing of teeth if the documentation is so lacking that you dunno what's been done?!?)

ANYWAYS:

This new "SAMPLE MODE" thing - "restrictions in setting the region and trim positions of samples have been relaxed"

wots all that abaht, eh? What restrictions? What did they used to be? What have they been changed to now? Ahine? AHACK!? /sighs/
Do they mean that bug where sometimes you couldn't scroll to the start or end of a sample to set the start/end point cos it overlapped with a region or sthg (never really did understand what was going on there? - but in anycase, then that would be a bugfix, not a new feature, right?)




For the second new feature in sample mode,
there's no mention of using the SHIFT key to latch the new Q5 / Q6 ACTIVE start/end point?
But I already read about that in a leak on here?
Where did the leak come from? Why isn't the info that was in the leak put in the official release notes? Ahine?




The MISC mode new 'feature'
("Sequence change with pgm change", which can either be "NEXT" or "SUDDEN" )
What does this do, exactly?
Does it mean (I guess it must do) that if the MPC4000 receives a Program Change message, you can either make it change immediately, or wait until the next sequence begins before changing?
(Question: if so, then what happens if you send a Pgm Change when the sequencer is STOPPED? but you had that parameter set to "NEXT"?
WOuld the Program Change not take effect until you pressed PLAY START or PLAY? )

(BTW, surely that "Pgm Change Receive Channel" parameter in MISC mode is new too? Or am I imagining things?)




Great to see the new non-volatile MIDI device names and MIDI filter - I know I requested these changes, and I doubt I was the only one!




Lastly - the new "PAD MOVE" thing is SEQ and STEP edit mode -
forgive me, but I am a bit clueless as to what this is all about.

Is it brand new? Or what was available before? How do you access it?
(We're not talking cut and paste or copy and paste here, no? But "moving" - shifting in time - the position of a group of notes in a sequence? all the notes with the same Pad No. ? Or Note No.? or what? )
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By AWW_NAWW Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:49 pm
well its kinda likey our dyck you didnt know it full potintal until you stated playing with its features....... the same with the mpc go play with it
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By BeatHeadz Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:12 pm
hahahahah
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By feline1 Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:17 pm
aw quit clip-cloppin' across maw bridge. troll-boye!

By glide Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:31 pm
Lastly - the new "PAD MOVE" thing is SEQ and STEP edit mode -
forgive me, but I am a bit clueless as to what this is all about.


this is very nice... just hit the pad you want the selected note/pad to change to

well its kinda likey our dyck you didnt know it full potintal until you stated playing with its features....... the same with the mpc go play with it


comon there feline don't be a female about it, that shits funny!!!
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By feline1 Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:41 pm
hey I don't play a load w@nk with my MPC4000 :lol:

By glide Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:44 pm
that's the spirit :D
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By feline1 Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:55 pm
hur,
your title is senior *MEMBER*,
hur hur hur... :lol:

By molecule Fri Jan 14, 2005 9:15 pm
pad move: switches pad A15 to trigger C14 for instance? dont know just guessin
By renegadebliss Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:24 pm
feline1 wrote:The MISC mode new 'feature'
("Sequence change with pgm change", which can either be "NEXT" or "SUDDEN" )
What does this do, exactly?
Does it mean (I guess it must do) that if the MPC4000 receives a Program Change message, you can either make it change immediately, or wait until the next sequence begins before changing?
(Question: if so, then what happens if you send a Pgm Change when the sequencer is STOPPED? but you had that parameter set to "NEXT"?
WOuld the Program Change not take effect until you pressed PLAY START or PLAY? )

(BTW, surely that "Pgm Change Receive Channel" parameter in MISC mode is new too? Or am I imagining things?)





Hi,

I can give some comments on this particular update as it was something that I had requested.


FIrst off, the "Sequence Change with Program Change" is a feature that's been with
the MPC longer then I've owned one. It's something that is brought over from
the MPC 2000XL series, and was probably available for the MPC 4000 from it's start, as
it is covered in Reference Manual.

What the "Sequence Change wtih Program Change" parameter does, is allows one to remotely
change the Sequence on the MPC that is playing. You do this remote changes of the
sequence with Program Change messages.

When you set this to on, the sequence number represents the Program Change number
needed to switch to that. So if I wanted to play sequence 1, I would send Program
Change 1 to the MPC. I wanted to play Sequence 3, I would send Program Change 3.

As per Akai, the current specs for this are: (pre OS 1.7)


This is the current spec of the MPC4000.
* Program Changes to select sequences are only received in the MAIN page.
* If the MPC4000 is stopped, the sequence change is immediate
* If the MPC4000 is playing a sequence, the Program Change selects the Next Sequence

So in my particular live set up, it was another musician playing a MPC 2000xl that was controlling which sequences we were playing. He would send a Program Change to my
MPC that would switch my sequence.


What I found when doing this, is that


* If I was in any other page other then Main, the sequence changes would not be recieved.
If I was in "Track Mute" page and muting tracks live, then I wouldn't get the Sequence change
and my partner would be on one song and I would be on the other. So we made a request
that this be recieved in other pages. It was indicated back to me that , Allowing Program Changes to select Sequences in other pages than MAIN could cause the unexpected complications. It might be possible to allow program changes to be received in Track Mute and Next Sequence screens, as a Next Sequence field is available in those pages.

* That when a sequence change request was recieved properly (I was in MAIN mode), that
it would wait until the end playing the current sequence before switching sequences. Now this
is fine if I was using 2,4,8 bar sequences, but if I was using a longer sequence like 64 bars, 128 bars or more, then it would be quite some time before my MPC switched to the current song/sequence. So I requested that in the UI, where one typically select "Change Sequence
with Program Change" was before only Off and On, now I requested that they make
it "Off", "Next" or "Sudden", so that one could control the behaviour of this feauture.
As my partners MPC 2000XL when it sent the Program Change was already on the new
song, so if this was set to "Sudden" it would do an automatic switch for us.

Can't wait to try this out.

The japanese translation of the release notes does a better job of explaining:
"(2) Sequence change with pgm change: NEXT and SUDDEN pursuit adding were done in field. * When at the time "of NEXT" selection receiving PROGRAM change from the external sequencer, when it arrives to end of the sequence, is received the PROGRAM change No. which The said this it changes to the sequence which is done. * When receiving PROGRAM change at the time "of SUDDEN" selection, instantaneously PROGRAM change No. It changes to the sequence which corresponds."

So, with the new Multi change speed, along with this addition has definitely excited me.
I've verified the Multi Change speed for myself, next step is to check out this feature
request. Now for reference, my example is only with my partners and I live setup.
With a MPC 2000XL and MCP 4000. But this Feature can be a nice addition for those
using other sequencers. For example, if one was using Live or Cubase, then
you can insert Program Change's into your Cubase/Live sequence, to have it change the sequence that is playing on the MPC. So you can have all 128 sequences on the MPC
setup and at your disposal to be triggered by your external sequencer.



>(BTW, surely that "Pgm Change Receive Channel" parameter in MISC mode is new too? Or >am I imagining things?)

As for this, yes it is new. According to the Japanese translation:
") Pgm change receive channel: Field was added. * The MIDI channel which receives the PROGRAM change signal ALL or 1 From 16 selection"



Cheers,

Dave
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By feline1 Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:47 pm
Oh, I *see*!!!!!!

Well, firstly, congratulations at getting one of your feature requests implemented!!

I've never used my MPC4000 like this live,
but if I was doing things your way, I can see that it is a very
necessary OS update!

The "Pgm Change Receive Channel" parameter makes much more sense now in the light of what you've explained - it looked wierd to me because I thought it was referring to changing *programs* on the MPC4000 -
but no, it's referring to using *program change messages* to change *sequences* -
I can see why you'd want that to maybe be on a specific channel, so it didn't interfere with changing actual programs!
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By Rob Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:42 am
Below are the notes that came with the 1.7 beta OS (v1.60j) I received from Sean. It explains the SHIFT key. I guess it's save to show them now, since the OS has been officially released. It's close to the official notes, nothing very exciting about it. I assume all of this still applies to the official v1.70, since I haven't installed it yet.



The new features and improvements in this version are as follows:

* Sample edit with Q-links (Start: Q5 / End: Q6)
- In the TRIM/LOOP page, Q5/Q6 control either the Trim or Loop points
depending on the position of the cursor. In REGION page, Q5/Q6 control the current region's points.
- Press the ACTIVE key for Q5 or Q6 to enable sample editing with Q5 or Q6.
If you press and hold the ACTIVE key, press and hold the SHIFT key, release the ACTIVE key and then release the SHIFT key, you can latch the ATCIVE key.
Q5/Q6 sliders are used to offset the current edit points (therefore, it is a
good idea to start with the slider at mid-position), and the resolution
depends on the Zoom factor (SHIFT+ BLOCK CURSORS).

* Improvements and new features for Move function (Sequence editing), such as:
- MOVE Pad option added to DRUM tracks, allowing to reassign pad events to other pads.
(note: MOVE function is still a work in progress, and needs a couple changes before release)

* Create Default Multi / Program after Clear Memory
When loading a Folder with CLEAR, the default Multi and Program are created if the folder doesn't contain any Multi or an Program.
Also, if the "Default Items" option is ON in GLOBAL, the default Multi and
Program are also created when using CLEAR MEMORY (DELETE ALL) in
GLOBAL/MEMORY.

* Sequence change with MIDI Program Change
New options in MISC page for MIDI Program Changes to change sequences (OFF, SUDDEN, NEXT) with MIDI receive Channel selection.
Also, Program Changes can now be received to change sequences in any page except SONG.

* Save MIDI filter to Flash
New STORE softkey in MIDI / FILTER page

* Save MIDI Device List to Flash
New STORE softkey in Device List window
(Device List is still saved and loaded with individual sequences)

* Timing Correct window access improvement
Instead of pressing the Timing Correct key for 3 seconds, as introduced in
V1.60, the TC window can now be accessed by pressing the WINDOW key while holding down the Timing Correct key.

* Warning window changes
Improves the consistency of CANCEL/OK keys usage

* Play Start option
New option in MISC page to select PLAY START key operation: plays from
sequence start (same as V1.60) or from loop start (same as before V1.60).
(SHIFT+PLAY START operation is the opposite)

* More Locate/ key assign options (same as MPC3000)

* Also, in this version, MULTI change speed should be improved.
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