Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By Bjorn Thu Oct 22, 2020 3:34 pm
Bass lines on the mpc 500. I have an MPK and Im playing basslines through Ableton that work great but Im struggling to incorporate it and record it with my mpc 500. Ive tried sampling a single bass sound from Ableton but it doesn't sound as good playing it out on the pads. Any advice would be appreciated Cheers
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By Menco Thu Oct 22, 2020 4:12 pm
1. Sample yourself playing the bassline in Ableton over your beat.
2. Multisample a few basspatches into your MPC500 and play them with your MPK hooked up to the MPC500.
3. Practice some more with playing your basslines with the pads.
By Bjorn Thu Oct 22, 2020 4:44 pm
Menco wrote:1. Sample yourself playing the bassline in Ableton over your beat.
2. Multisample a few basspatches into your MPC500 and play them with your MPK hooked up to the MPC500.
3. Practice some more with playing your basslines with the pads.


Thanks for the reply. How do I hook the MPK up with MPC500?
By Bjorn Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:47 pm
Bjorn wrote:
Menco wrote:1. Sample yourself playing the bassline in Ableton over your beat.
2. Multisample a few basspatches into your MPC500 and play them with your MPK hooked up to the MPC500.
3. Practice some more with playing your basslines with the pads.


I've tried sampling myself playing the bassline - why is the sample so much quieter on the pads than the original sound/in trim mode? Also piecing it together this way seems a bit over complicated and tricky with the timing. Looking for a more straight forward solution although I'm sure its a case of user error
By Bjorn Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:31 pm
As you can tell Im not at all technical, simply put the bassline sounds great played directly through Ableton on the MPK alongside the MPC 500 beat, but when I sample it in to the MPC it sounds rubbish.
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By bees80 Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:30 pm
You could also sync your mpc with ableton (ableton as master) and then just play the notes in ableton. You'd need a USB Midi interface for this.

Or, get a fun, cheap little hadware synth. Novation basstation, Microkorg, Behringer MS-1 for example.
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By Menco Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:19 am
Bjorn wrote:I've tried sampling myself playing the bassline - why is the sample so much quieter on the pads than the original sound/in trim mode? Also piecing it together this way seems a bit over complicated and tricky with the timing. Looking for a more straight forward solution although I'm sure its a case of user error


Make sure you play the samples with the 'Full Level' button engaged. Make sure you chopped the sample properly and it doesn't have to be that complicated. You can use a 4 or 8 bar loop sample, trigger that on the 1. Again, your sample must be properly trimmed, so when the sample is triggered on the 1, the bass also starts playing directly on the 1. You do can chop it up in shorter phrases. If you decide to do that I'd recommend you to chop it up in 1 bar chops. If you have let's say a 4 bar bassline you want to chop and add make, sure you trim it very precisely. A way to check this is to see if it loops seamlessly. Then divide the length of the sample by 4. Let's say your sample is 24000 samples long, then you chop it up in 4 chops of 6000 samples long. Trigger each chop on the start of each bar.
By Bjorn Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:29 pm
bees80 wrote:You could also sync your mpc with ableton (ableton as master) and then just play the notes in ableton. You'd need a USB Midi interface for this.

Or, get a fun, cheap little hadware synth. Novation basstation, Microkorg, Behringer MS-1 for example.


Getting a hardware synth sounds like a great idea. I have a midi interface but if I sync the MPC with Ableton would the MPC not only serve as a controller for Ableton? How would I record the notes I play?
By Bjorn Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:30 pm
Menco wrote:
Bjorn wrote:I've tried sampling myself playing the bassline - why is the sample so much quieter on the pads than the original sound/in trim mode? Also piecing it together this way seems a bit over complicated and tricky with the timing. Looking for a more straight forward solution although I'm sure its a case of user error


Make sure you play the samples with the 'Full Level' button engaged. Make sure you chopped the sample properly and it doesn't have to be that complicated. You can use a 4 or 8 bar loop sample, trigger that on the 1. Again, your sample must be properly trimmed, so when the sample is triggered on the 1, the bass also starts playing directly on the 1. You do can chop it up in shorter phrases. If you decide to do that I'd recommend you to chop it up in 1 bar chops. If you have let's say a 4 bar bassline you want to chop and add make, sure you trim it very precisely. A way to check this is to see if it loops seamlessly. Then divide the length of the sample by 4. Let's say your sample is 24000 samples long, then you chop it up in 4 chops of 6000 samples long. Trigger each chop on the start of each bar.


Ok thanks
By Bjorn Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:31 pm
NearTao wrote:can you post an example of 'rubbish'... there's plenty of technical, hardware, user, etc... issues that could lead to this.


Ok will give it a go
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By bees80 Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:59 am
Bjorn wrote:
bees80 wrote:You could also sync your mpc with ableton (ableton as master) and then just play the notes in ableton. You'd need a USB Midi interface for this.

Or, get a fun, cheap little hadware synth. Novation basstation, Microkorg, Behringer MS-1 for example.


Getting a hardware synth sounds like a great idea. I have a midi interface but if I sync the MPC with Ableton would the MPC not only serve as a controller for Ableton? How would I record the notes I play?


If you only sync it via midi, it would mean they both have the same BPM and start playing at the same time. So when you hit play on the MP, ableton starts playing and also the notes you played or programmed. But note: You can't use the pads to play notes in ableton. I've tried that and it's simply impossible.. So you'd have to record the notes in via a midi or usb keyboard or just simply click the notes in.

But, a little hardware synth is much more fun, and hands-on. Perhaps have a look on ebay.