MPC 500 controlling a NES via chip maestro?

Hello,

I'm new to these forums... I'm a french speaking 31 years old man from belgium (aaah that's why your english is soo bad ) and I had been an amateur dj for 5 years or so. I'd like to change a little bit and begin to do chip music...
So I bought an old NES, a chip maestro to send midi notes to the NES sound chip ( something like the midines of wayfar) with a midi in connection and I'd like to buy a midi controller (because I can't play the keyboard).

I thought to myself that the mpc 500 would do the trick, that it could be connected via midi to the chip maestro and control my nes to play some 8bit sound, record them, etc etc, !!!!!without the use of a computer!!!!

Could I do that? What should I do to control and record sounds from my nes?
Is the MPC 500 the one I should buy? Wouldn't it be better if I bought the MPD32?

I don't want to use any vsti or computers, just me, my nes, my chip maestro ( my mixer, kaoss pad 3 eventually) and the mpc500, doing sweet sounds in public.


Is it possible? I found a video of a guy connecting the mpc1000 to a nes via midines sooo maybe it's possible after all... HELP ME, I'm lost :'(

Thanks a lot

Elbeberto

howdy
yes.

your english is fine - better than some native speakers anyway.

i use my mpc2kxl with midines - which i believe is very similar to chip maestro. i will talk about this in terms of midines, since that is what i use. i'm sure you can translate the concepts to chip maestro.

all you need to do is send midi data to the nes. on midines, there are five midi channels, 1 and 2 are square, 3 is triangle, 4 is noise, 5 is samples.
so i can set up 5 tracks in the mpc, one for each sound. i set each track to midi and then channels 1-5.

then i just use the sequencer in the mpc to sequence the nes.

it will be the exact same concept on a 500/chip maestro as it is on xl/midines. as far as i know, the sequencer in the 500 is fine - there are many models of mpc, but the thing that changes most (besides physical design) is the sampling engine. the sequencer, the best part of the mpc, stays relatively the same across all models.

so any model will do.

now if you use an mpd, you will still have to have a sequencer - usually a computer, though a hardware sequencer would still work, just be alot of extra work. mpcs are, to me, the best hardware sequencers ever made. i would just find any cheap mpc and see what you can do.

then, to record your music, you simply run the nes audio output into your computer audio input. you can use the single rca jack on the side for the simplest, or...you can wire the sound chip directly to jacks to get semi-independent control of sounds? check this out: http://www.chrismcovell.com/nesstereo.html

it is really fun - you will love it.

i just watched a video about chip maestro - and it seems to work very differently than midines.

still, the 500, or any mpc, should be a fine sequencer for it.

the 500 has an awesome sequencer, you should be fine with that!
although i will say this, the 1000 has a grid edit(at least when you update the os to jjos) and it is awesome. i tend to use the grid edit a lot, as the 500 was a bit too un-visual for me; but it still worked fine. and its is definetly capable of creating music on, i did actually get used to no grid edit on it, but i just like the 1k with a bigger screen better personally.

you might have to ask yourself if you would like grid edit as a more visual way to input notes, or if you are fine with just using the words and numbers of the 500. good luck!

Hello,

First of all, thank you very much for your help and kind words!
Second, I'd like to know if I still need a computer to make some beats out of the chip maestro via the mpc 500? Can I do electro /techno tracks via the mpc or is it more for the hip hop style?

I've got a kaoss pad 3, isn't it a little bit redundant with the mpc?

Someone is selling is mpc 500 for 200 euros ( +/-260 bucks) is it ok? Is it too much?

I'm a little low on dough, should I sell the kp3 to buy the mpc or keep both of them? Do you think I could get an mpc 1000 for the same price ( 260 bucks) on the net?

I'm very new to the music business besides the fact that I had fun playing with my turntables, is it difficult to apprehend the mpc, to get up and running?

Thanks a lot

Elbeberto

no you dont need a computer.
no the kaos pad is completely different.
no one can tell you what is 'too much' - its up to you what you want and what you can find.
so also, nobody can tell you what you 'could' find.

i think if you got the 500, and kept the kp3, you'd be fine.

Just wanted to share this, in case anyone is considering getting the Chip Maestro and has any doubts. I use it via Ableton Live, it's super easy:

1. Set up your NES (power cable, RCA Cable to TRS or whatever for audio, etc)
2. Put in the Chip Maestro. Plug it into a USB to MIDI interface (they're really cheap), and connect the USB end to your computer.
3. Load up a software like Ableton Live. *BE SURE TO TURN OFF MIDI SYNC* on the MIDI Interface (Settings / MIDI / *Turn off 'Sync' and 'Remote' for the interface)
4. Create a MIDI Track in Ableton. Send MIDI OUT to the USB to MIDI interface.
5. Select the MIDI Channel. CH1 for Polyphony. CH2 for Triangle, CH3 for Square, CH4 for Pulse, CH5 for Noise.

That's it! And you can do different channels at once, simultaneously. Works great, and it's a hell of an experience.

I don't know a thing about taking apart an NES or about making my own cartridge, but I'm able to make sequences with the damned 20 dollar NES. I have it sitting next to my Moog and other synthesizers. Love it!


Check it out
This was all done with an NES, using Chip Maestro:

https://soundcloud.com/auxone/aux-nes01

And that was just a practice run. Can't wait to make more!
-aux