Copy Bars

My bad if this is as inane a question as it sounds like to me...


I've owned an MPC 2000xl for 5 years or so... always worked great for me, and I knew it pretty well (self-taught, so there are always things I still learn to this day... Im not the most naturally musically gifted person alive, as you'll soon see by my question).


Well, it ended up breaking down a bit, and instead of hassling with akai for 6 months or buying a used one, I decided to try out the 2500. I liked the cd-burning possibilities as well as the usb (among other things).


I copped the 2500 last night... stayed up until 3 setting it up with my computer/pre-amp/mixer/etc. Finally got around to playing around with it for about 20 minutes late night...and was getting somewhat into the sequencing aspects. However, one thing didnt jump out at me, and its so simple that I know Im missing something obvious - on the 2000xl, I would tend to lay down my initial snare and HH loop over the mandatory starting point of 2 bars... then go into edit... bars... then copy to either 4 or 8, depending on how complex a loop I wanted.. then move along to 16..and 8 bar choruses, what have you...


However, last night, when I had made my initial 2 bar starting loop... then went to copy bars to make it a 4 bar loop, I couldnt find the function key to do so... I could always just end up going into the song function and having 2 (or 4 or 2 bar sequences playing over and over, but that doesnt seem to be necessary. I think Im just missing something fundamental with the machine (i.e., the fact that you have to "Mode" and hit the drum pads to change the function in the 2500, as opposed to "Mode" and the little buttons on the 2000xl.



Anyway, any help would be appreciated. I literally have just started with this machine...but I know the mpc layout pretty well.. just wanted to clear this retarded stumbling block right away.


Thanks,



ronJ

It should be in mode + seq edit (pad 13)

Then press F2 to get to the bars section

Or you could go to song mode, add the number of repetitions you want and then convert that to a sequence

I knew it was a retarded question.


I got a feeling all of the little things that Im so used to with the 2000xl are going to be there in the 2500, just arranged in different ways. I just gotta sit down and find the ways.



Thanks,



ronJ

I've never used an XL but from what i can gather it's quite a different layout.

Don't you have to use the shift key more in the XL too?

Actually, the layout is quite similar... you just have to know what you're looking for... (i.e., the "T.C" function key isnt a function key on the XL, its part of the main page layout... etc).



Another stupid question... the XL has no hard drive per se (once you turn it off...you lose all sounds, sequence data, etc). With the 2500, this isnt the case.


So, I turn it off... hoping to wipe it clean... turn it back on, and that annoying iLL_HiP_HoP sequence and program is loaded... how do I clear the entire memory of everything so I can just get down and dirty with my own shit...


Also... I have the CD-R drive installed... so, I assume I can burn entire sequences as .wav's and play them in standard cd players... However, can you load sounds via the CD drive as well? I've been having to use the inputs to load sounds from my computer, when I'd like to just utilize a number of home made sample disks I have...



ronJ

Haven't got the cd drive myself yet but you can sample direct from the cd, it'll be in the manual somwhere. I'm guessing you just press mode + pad 5 then just scroll thru the input source

As for the autoload

Mode + Load (Pad 2)

Highlight load from, hot window and scroll through where you want to autoload. I set mine to hard disk so that the hard disk fires up straight away.

Or just select off

On the subject of dumb questions...


I couldnt find the individual decay and filter paramaters in the "mode" "program" function...


In the 2000xl, once you went into the particular sound...and hit paramaters... it would give you an option to change it from mono to poly...change the frequency/filtering... add decay....etc...


And these arent even the effects that came from the FX board that you had to order.. I assumed that these were standard for all MPC's... now, id love to get reverb and all that (not even sure if there is an FX board built into the 2500), but I absolutely need the decay and filtering parameters...


any clue?


(on a side note..im sure ill go home tonite...play with this for a few hours and learn it all eventually myself.. but if I could get the answer here and not waste time, it'd be helpful...and appreciated...)



Thanks



ronJ

I additionally created an "Empty" folder with just the empty memory after turning on (without Autoload) saved into a project with Save Entire Memory.

Saves turning off and on the MPC each time you want to clear the memory, which is much better for the harddisk, not having to spin down and up again every time!


As for individual filter settings, highlight "Lvl" in Program Mode and hit the Window button.


Stilo.

that's just for the amp envelope thoguh, the filter envelope is under the filter page in program mode (f2?)

I haven't even messed with these yet, need to understand them better

Spirez wrote:that's just for the amp envelope thoguh, the filter envelope is under the filter page in program mode (f2?)

Oh yes...my fault. Highlight Filter Type or Settings and hit Window.

Unless I'm retarded, thatg seems to only effect the attack... not the decay...


I found Decay as a setting in the 16 Levels button... but, is there any way to apply decay to an individual sound without having to use up all the 16 pads at any given time... I like to play all my sounds real time, and its tough to do that when you have to go through and select the proper decay for each sound and apply it to the whole 16 pad spectrum every time...



Am I missing something?


Also... every time I wanted to save All programs and Sounds... after I had made a new folder and titled it "whatever"... if I added sounds or changed the program settings...and wanted to just re-save into that same folder... it gave me two options... one was save to a new folder: NO... then had the name of the folkder I originally had named below it... and another had save to a new folder: Yes, and no name of a folder (obviously).


I just want to make sure that when I choose the former save APS option, Im saving all the new settings into that same folder and not losing anything...


Thanks



ronJ

Ajax wrote:Unless I'm retarded, thatg seems to only effect the attack... not the decay...

With the amp envelope you can set Attack and Decay. On the filter envelope you can only set "Time" and "Amount", which kinda determines how fast the set filter parameters will be reached, starting from the dry sound. So yes, that's in fact only the attack, now that I think about it with the only difference that you can set the "direction" of the attack...

Ajax wrote:I just want to make sure that when I choose the former save APS option, Im saving all the new settings into that same folder and not losing anything...

Well...if you choose not to create a new folder, I guess it will overwrite the file in the original folder. It should ask you before overwriting anything also. Unless I didn't understand your problem correctly...



Stilo.

Weird.


One, when I hit the Level function key in the Program Mode, it didnt give me the option to decay. I guess I'll have to look at it more closely.


And, I also dont think that when I was saving the APS, it gave me the option to overwrite the previous file. It said "There is already a folder with that name"... and then that was it.


Hmm. I gotta spend some time with this thing....




ronJ

Ajax wrote:One, when I hit the Level function key in the Program Mode, it didnt give me the option to decay. I guess I'll have to look at it more closely.

You have to hit the Window button for that.

No, i mean... I did hit the window button...but since it wasn't lit up, it didnt do anything..




ronJ