Tempo nudge/bend

Hi guys,

I had a MPC2500 in a studio environment a while back but unfortunately, due to a finance shortage(!), I had to sell it.
I've been DJ'ing for a while now and I am thinking about getting an MPC2500 again to use at gigs alongside turntables or CDJs, but before I purchase I have a couple of questions about using an MPC in a DJ environment:-

Is it possible to do a live tempo nudge/bend on a MPC2500 to help get a track/sequence in time with vinyl?
Much in the same way that a DJ would speed up or slow down a record on a turntable, or use the bend buttons on a CDJ.
I only ever used an MPC2500 in a studio environment so never had any use for this feature previously. Hence, I never looked to see if it even exists!!

Also, is it possible to link the tempo to one of the Q-Link sliders to mimic a turntables pitch control?

Many thanks in advance for any advice offered.

you can have the qlink set to tempo. only problem is the spaces between samples will be lengthened/shortened, so it could lead to gaps, since the smaples themselves are not stretched along with the tempo

rarara wrote:you can have the qlink set to tempo. only problem is the spaces between samples will be lengthened/shortened, so it could lead to gaps, since the smaples themselves are not stretched along with the tempo

Thanks rarara,
The tempo change isn't a problem, I mostly use one shot samples to make up my tracks and sequences, then use mutes to adjust on the fly. How precise can the tempo adjustments be using the Qlink? Is it in whole BPM, 10th? 100th?

I'm afraid what you have in mind does not work. You can only assign the Q-Link to a single sample, not to the whole sequence. And then, this sample will not be tempo-bent in realtime either, but only after the next trigger.

The only possibility close to that is adjusting the BPM on the main screen while the sequence is running, but this will of course bring your sequenced samples out of sync (esp. if you use mainly long one-shot samples). And I'm not sure at the moment if the tempo change applies instantly or only after the next loop-around of the sequence.

_Stilo_ wrote:I'm afraid what you have in mind does not work. You can only assign the Q-Link to a single sample, not to the whole sequence. And then, this sample will not be tempo-bent in realtime either, but only after the next trigger.

The only possibility close to that is adjusting the BPM on the main screen while the sequence is running, but this will of course bring your sequenced samples out of sync (esp. if you use mainly long one-shot samples). And I'm not sure at the moment if the tempo change applies instantly or only after the next loop-around of the sequence.

Thanks for the reply stilo.
I would not be using long samples, only one-hit samples(eg. individual drum sounds), so the lack of sample-pitch change isn't important to me. Only the tempo change is important to keep the sequenced material in time with, say a turntable or CDJ.

I thought rarara stated that the tempo could be mapped to the QLink slider, is this incorrect, or have I misinterpreted this?

Also, is there any way to do a tempo-nudge or tempo-bend (up or down) to help with on-the-fly aligning of beats between a turntable and MPC?

booster69 wrote:I thought rarara stated that the tempo could be mapped to the QLink slider, is this incorrect, or have I misinterpreted this?

No, I think that's not possible.

booster69 wrote:Also, is there any way to do a tempo-nudge or tempo-bend (up or down) to help with on-the-fly aligning of beats between a turntable and MPC?

Just as I described...dial in the tempo in the main screen, then back to the old tempo.

What you are trying to do would be fiddly at best with an MPC. I would look at another CDJ or a laptop running Traktor.

you need to get the JJos which will allow tempo to be set to any qlink

rarara wrote:you need to get the JJos which will allow tempo to be set to any qlink

Thanks rarara. I'll head over to the JJ OS part of the forum.

After installing JJOS, hover over the tempo, hit 'Window' and set the q-link (1 to 4) and range (50 to 200%).
Simple as that