Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
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By strength Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:03 am
peyote wrote:
strength wrote:i had a 2000 classic that was able to do it so i ssumesd that the xl was capable of it as well


hmm that seems odd that the 2000 could do something the 2000XL can't...

anyone have a 2000 in front of them to check?


i vouch for it. it was one of the reasons that it was hard for me to completely switch over to a newer machine
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By peyote Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:56 am
strength wrote:
peyote wrote:
strength wrote:i had a 2000 classic that was able to do it so i ssumesd that the xl was capable of it as well


hmm that seems odd that the 2000 could do something the 2000XL can't...

anyone have a 2000 in front of them to check?


i vouch for it. it was one of the reasons that it was hard for me to completely switch over to a newer machine


wild. anyway i checked out the 500 today and i dig it, it is gonna be great for what i need it for, which is to play sequences that a drummer, bass, and guitar will play along with. the mpc500 will also control a waldorf microQ (which is great for multi-timbral stuff since it has many voices) and i will also play a couple parts on the microQ, which the MPC will decide which one through its midi routing.

i just got one from ebay for $520 shipped with and extra 1 gig card. i was gonna hold out for cheaper but the card did it for me...
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By SimonInAustralia Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:18 am
peyote wrote:anyway i checked out the 500 today and i dig it, it is gonna be great for what i need it for, which is to play sequences that a drummer, bass, and guitar will play along with. the mpc500 will also control a waldorf microQ (which is great for multi-timbral stuff since it has many voices) and i will also play a couple parts on the microQ, which the MPC will decide which one through its midi routing.
Only problem with that scenario might be if you want the drummer to play to a click track from the MPC, that is seperate to the stereo output that is going to the FOH mixer.

Sometimes you might want the drummer to keep a beat going behind something playing on the MPC without a beat, or to come in and start a beat that will sync up his playing when the MPC starts playing something rhythmic.

As it has no extra outputs, you would have to send a MIDI note from the MPC to create a click from an external box (the MicroQ or something else with free individual outputs) to feed the drummers headphones, if you want to go that way.
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By peyote Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:40 am
SimonInAustralia wrote:
peyote wrote:anyway i checked out the 500 today and i dig it, it is gonna be great for what i need it for, which is to play sequences that a drummer, bass, and guitar will play along with. the mpc500 will also control a waldorf microQ (which is great for multi-timbral stuff since it has many voices) and i will also play a couple parts on the microQ, which the MPC will decide which one through its midi routing.
Only problem with that scenario might be if you want the drummer to play to a click track from the MPC, that is seperate to the stereo output that is going to the FOH mixer.

Sometimes you might want the drummer to keep a beat going behind something playing on the MPC without a beat, or to come in and start a beat that will sync up his playing when the MPC starts playing something rhythmic.

As it has no extra outputs, you would have to send a MIDI note from the MPC to create a click from an external box (the MicroQ or something else with free individual outputs) to feed the drummers headphones, if you want to go that way.


thanks for the tips. i've thought of this. i've actually done a bunch of playing with live bands and sequences, and for this project, the MPC and microQ, and an ms2000R for vocoding, will all be fed into a mixer, which will feed 2 powered speakers and the FOH. 1 powered speaker will face the drummer and will have a send for him on the board. the other will face forward and be behind the other members so we can here it on stage and it projects into the crowd. I play with a simlar setup with a 6 person rock band and it works pretty well.

this way instead of playing to just a click, the drummer rocks out along to the sequences, to the groove, really interacting with the whole sound instead of being stuck with in-ears or headphones. the midi rig is kinda like a member of the band. and it'll pretty much always be playing, but if not, yeah i'll send a click to him. the MPC500 has stereo outs, so i can have his mix on one side if I need to, since most club PAs are mono.

i'm trying to keep it as simple and small as possible. that's why i have the 500, the microQ, and the ms2000. could be smaller and more compact (laptop??) but i think this'll be for the best. i'm sick of laptops on stage and having to mess with the mouse and problems and sh1t

anyway any more thoughts or suggestions or tips will be appreciated. all other times i've worked with sequences have either been a laptop or simple prerecorded tracks, never a live hardware sequencer