Question about finding out the bpm of a sample in the MPC

Hi Folks!

I own a MPC 2500 for a couple of month now , having no Problems so far but for one thing...

Let's say for example I have a drum-loop which is 4 bars long , I go into the trim mode and then to Timestretch...when I let the MPC calculate the tempo , it tells me that the loop is on 134.9 (of whatever)....thatis not correct though , the loop plays back smoothly over 4 bars when I put the tempo on like 90 bpm after trying out for 2-3 minutes and adjusting the tempo by hearing how it fits when recording....

anybody have an explanation for this? Happens on all sample I use....

sure is a strange thing , hope y'all can help me out here

peace

Does nobody have the slightest clue why this ain't working properly???

versatile wrote:Does nobody have the slightest clue why this ain't working properly???

Because it has never worked and Akai has no plans of fixing it.
It basically detects the wrong info when looking at your sample.
Akai originally said it was based on your sample having to be a specific length but that later proved to be wrong becasue it would still miscalculate your sample length.
JJ fixed it by adding the old MPC function of being able to tell it how long your sample is.

Thanks!

I've been thinking about getting the JJ os , and now I think that I'm convinced...not that I really need the feature of calculating the bpm , but it makes things a little easier...

aight , thanks again for your info ,I appreciate it!

You can always go back to the Akai OS, but the thing is the free JJ is so outdated you have to install the v5 version to see what it can really do.
If you install v5 you will be able to see all it does but won't be able to save.
Once you think you like it just do the $30 and keep it moving.
No real reason to pay for a 1k/2500 and use the Akai OS, it just lacks too much.

True thing , the 30 bucks more wont hurt when paying a lot more for the MPC

Before I open up a new topic I have a totally different questin though , maybe you are able to help me out here too...

I sampled a piano loop yesterday , and when hearing it in trim-mode it sounded like on vinyl , nice and full warm sound....after chopping it with the auto chop function into 16 chops , the sound of the piano was really thin and cold....I think the piano was playing a chord and after chopping it sounded like it didnt anymore , knaaw I mean?

anyways , I therefor did the whole thing again , this time I once chopped the right channel and then the left channel and layered both sounds , but that gave me a flanger effect sometimes , the sound was like on vinyl again though....so does the MPC 2500 only chop right/or left channel depending on which I have chosen in trim mode or what is going on?
I never had that problem with my 2kXL before :/

I really would love somebody to answer on this one

peace

I believe the chop shop only works in mono...

Unless you have JJ

aight , I defenitely need that JJ os

thanks Dr. Zoidberg!

versatile wrote:aight , I defenitely need that JJ os

thanks Dr. Zoidberg!

Believe me fixing chop shop is the least of what you will get from the JJ OS.
When you see all the stuff you gain for your $30 you'll forget all about the Akai OS.

I am not sure if this helps but in the owners manual on page 77 (PDF) it talks about detect tempo. It says match the loop to be edited to one bar in 4/4 timing. I am not sure if that means it can only do one bar and not anything longer. You may want to take your 4 bar loop and break it down into 4 - 1bar loops. I work with 1 bar loops or less because the timestretch works much better.

stolonius wrote:I am not sure if this helps but in the owners manual on page 77 (PDF) it talks about detect tempo. It says match the loop to be edited to one bar in 4/4 timing. I am not sure if that means it can only do one bar and not anything longer. You may want to take your 4 bar loop and break it down into 4 - 1bar loops. I work with 1 bar loops or less because the timestretch works much better.

Those of us who purchased the 2500 when it first came out and used all the pre-JJ Akai OS will tell you it doesn't work.
Akai f*cked it up because it's still looking at peaks instead of time.
You can take a drum loop and it can generally detect it to some degree, but it doesn't work with typical sampled material.
Again the problem was they should have left the 2000xl bars/beat function in, JJ put it back.