Forum to discuss all matters relating to the MPC1000 and MPC2500 operating systems created by 'JJ' (all versions).
By Dipnotiq Sun Apr 12, 2009 10:46 pm
I'm trying to record a song I've just made. I have all the sequences and everything lined up in song mode in their correct order.

Rather than do what I usually do with like.. dropping drums and then taking them out in the middle of sequences by creating a whole new sequence, I was wondering if there was a way to record your performance live.

What I mean by this is that I want to mute the drum track for a couple seconds at the end of particular bars and then drop the melody for certain sections by hitting the "solo" button. Is there any way to record and play with these functions simultaneously?

Thanks in advance.
By nanoloop Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:38 am
not so live as u put it... convert song to seq, then xport each solo'd track as a wav using song modes track export.

or just record the analogue outputs in realtime.
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By quietizkept Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:41 pm
You could record the digital outputs in real-time, too, this is the way I do all my arrangements. This is in a nutshell the whole reason I wanted an MPC. I think people who arrange live are the minority, though. Rock those track mutes! If I wanted to sequence stuff out, I would have stuck with FL Studio.
Our way, though, comes with a unique set of problems. Like, what if you nail the intro, then screw up the verse? I have yet to find a way to precisely sync a DAW to punch-in like that. I have figured out a workaround though. If you enter the bpm of the project in your DAW, then the tempo grid is pretty accurate. So , you could trim up your good take to the closest 1 beat, then mute that track. Set up your track mutes for the next section of the song, insert a new track in the DAW, and record "from there." Then, you can simply cut and paste the new recording precisely to the end of the old one! This way, you can "construct" 1 good take, if you can't nail it. I just do it over and over though, until I get it right, or else who am I to **** to my rappers about punch-ins?
As for your DAW, if you don't have one, you need one, so go download reaper right now.
By Anamorphosis Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:55 pm
quietizkept wrote:You could record the digital outputs in real-time, too, this is the way I do all my arrangements. This is in a nutshell the whole reason I wanted an MPC. I think people who arrange live are the minority, though. Rock those track mutes! If I wanted to sequence stuff out, I would have stuck with FL Studio.
Our way, though, comes with a unique set of problems. Like, what if you nail the intro, then screw up the verse? I have yet to find a way to precisely sync a DAW to punch-in like that. I have figured out a workaround though. If you enter the bpm of the project in your DAW, then the tempo grid is pretty accurate. So , you could trim up your good take to the closest 1 beat, then mute that track. Set up your track mutes for the next section of the song, insert a new track in the DAW, and record "from there." Then, you can simply cut and paste the new recording precisely to the end of the old one! This way, you can "construct" 1 good take, if you can't nail it. I just do it over and over though, until I get it right, or else who am I to **** to my rappers about punch-ins?
As for your DAW, if you don't have one, you need one, so go download reaper right now.


I use this method also.. by using track mutes and adding some extra percussion or chord/note fills to your sequenced sections (after you record them individually into a daw) you can really spice up a standard beat bed, ive never worked with a rapper or singer before, I make instrumentals so for me my need for keeping things flowing nicely on a track are more important than anyone looking to compliment a dominant singer or rapper. First I string all of my sequences together in song mode, then I sync the tempo of my DAW manually to the intro of my project.. ill start with the intro sequence first if it starts with drums let say ill mute everything else for the whole song and just track out drums (when creating your drum patterns always make sure to create variable copies of the same patterns like by adding some toms or chimes, hats etc..before the drum break. this will keep things grooving nicely when you set up your track mutes while tracking out into your DAW) , then follow it with bass, piano, etc.. i kinda strayed off topic but i hope this helps any of you who are running into difficulty spicing up your tracks most of this is 101 stuff but because most of us that work with the MPC use it primarily for building looped sequences we get caught up in how easy it is to just create two bar pattern, copy and paste tracks for people to bob their heads to. When you create lively tracks that you can variate or remix on the fly by using track mutes it makes your live shows all the more interesting.
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By arebee Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:00 am
trtack mutes ARE recordable in JJOS, so put each sequence into 'record' while in 'track mute' page, and make sure 'use events=ON' and on 'play', the mutes will play out, then i personaly would arrange the seq's live, and dub out your tracks - track by track/or do the whole lot to your DAW.