Layered sounds doesn't sound consistent!

I just tried layering the kick sounds...3 layers to be exact. After programming the beat on the MPC5000 I noticed that the tone of the kick changes randomly after few hits...Sounds like the 3 layered samples aren't playing in sync all the time. Sometimes the hits sound almost like there's a phase or something. Seems to drift in and out. I checked pretty much every setting on this machine to no avail...Does anyone have the same problem? Btw, I'm not putting too much load on the machine...just one 2 bar loop...

all my sounds are layered, ... i've never experienced this problem.

you may have done something that you didn't realize you've done.

when layering sounds, you can set the velocity level in which the sound will begin to play, while setting separate velocity levels for each level in the overall sound.

maybe you did this without realizing it. try it on full level to see if there may be a difference.

also, velocity itself can change the way a sound appears to sound through your monitoring system, much less if you have effects added on top of that.

I had the kick playing at full velocity with no effects. I always do the same thing with my S5000 and never have problems. I can hear the sound alternate even when I just play the pad repetitively at full velocity.

well, i understand what you are saying, but i would have to hear 'your setup' personally to be able to put myself fully in your shoes.

just on a side note though, ... "how does a real bass drum sound if you hit it with the same velocity several times?"

is 'realistic' a disgusting thing? ... or is it lack of total control?

... does that mean the 'organic' sound people like so much on vinyl and in pure analogue synthesizers something that is a bad thing?

the great mic or compressor, like neuman u87, ... or certain monitors, ... even on the highest level can be distinguished from their brethren, ... so they must, 'by definition' color the sound in some way shape or form, ... does that make them bad?

the one thing that i hear everyone agree on the 5000 amidst all the negativity, ... has always been the sound. out of all the mpc's 90% of the people who experience it claims that it definitely sounds the best, could these people be wrong? are they not hearing the slight, dare i say 'humanistic' discrepencies in the played sounds/parts?

who really knows?

i believe that is something that you will have to decide on your own.

There is not much to my setup...It's just the MPC5000 by itself...playing a 3 sample layered kick sound. Normally I like the humanized feel, etc. but in this case it just sounds very wrong...the weird, changed sound keeps popping up every few notes...not in a good way...It's very annoying...

so i experimented a lot trying to recreate the problem.

what i found was that there was only one way for me to get the sound to change on 'full level'.

i don't understand why this seems to work in this way, but if i hit the exact center of the pad, the sound sounds the same, but if i hit like the lower left corner of the pad, 'still on full level' i can get a different sound.

and then i moved up to the upper left corner of the pad and got a slightly different variation.

the corners were not as consistent, but consistent 90% of the time, while the center seemed to always be consistent. i tried this on many layered sounds.

i hope this helps.

Hmm this might not be the problem cause I read all your posts and was thinkin it might be it until I read your corner of the pads post. I was thinking maybe when the kick was playing and a different sound came in like the hi hat or snare or something sometimes causes things to sound funny. Maybe try some different panning if thats the case. Sorry if this didnt help man I was just trying!

I tried the same thing over and over yesterday...and the result is totally random. The weird notes just pop in and out randomly....and it had nothing to do with where I hit the pad. It's basically the 3 layers not hitting at the same time once in a while...and causing it to create a different attack to the sound...Kinda like when you layer kick in a computer sequencer and having the tone vary due to the MIDI time drift. But in this case, this shouldn't be because it has nothing to do with MIDI...but just having 3 samples layered in one pad...but the problem still exists. As I mentioned before, my S5000 sampler has no problems with sample layering at all...

Thats weird bro maybe you should use the warranty and swap it out.

jacey714 wrote:I tried the same thing over and over yesterday...and the result is totally random. The weird notes just pop in and out randomly....and it had nothing to do with where I hit the pad. It's basically the 3 layers not hitting at the same time once in a while...and causing it to create a different attack to the sound...Kinda like when you layer kick in a computer sequencer and having the tone vary due to the MIDI time drift. But in this case, this shouldn't be because it has nothing to do with MIDI...but just having 3 samples layered in one pad...but the problem still exists. As I mentioned before, my S5000 sampler has no problems with sample layering at all...

I don't get that!

jacey714 wrote:I just tried layering the kick sounds...3 layers to be exact. After programming the beat on the MPC5000 I noticed that the tone of the kick changes randomly after few hits...Sounds like the 3 layered samples aren't playing in sync all the time. Sometimes the hits sound almost like there's a phase or something. Seems to drift in and out. I checked pretty much every setting on this machine to no avail...Does anyone have the same problem? Btw, I'm not putting too much load on the machine...just one 2 bar loop...

I have the same problem on my mpc5k. Layering identical sample to a pad. The timeing shifts, which cause the sampls to flange. The depth of the flange is annoying.

are you guys using the exact same sound on top of each other? that's how you create a flange or phase! most people use different sounds!

In my case, I'm using 3 different samples...Having them trigger even slightly off time once in a while creates a completely different sounding kick. Very annoying...

Btw, when I put those same 3 sounds on 3 separate pads and record them in the internal sequencer to play on same time...They're totally on...no flange, no pops, etc...so that's what I resorted to doing...Also, sampled the layered kick from the output and made it into one sample...

I don't think there's anything physically wrong with the machine since I see that Heavie experienced a similar thing...I just wanted to make sure this isn't just a problem with my machine...Maybe it's something that can be fixed with a OS update...

oneday2one wrote:are you guys using the exact same sound on top of each other? that's how you create a flange or phase! most people use different sounds!

Yes, that what I am doing. It's funny my mpc4k does not have this problem. On the mpc4k it's increase the volume and deepen the depth of the sample without flange. Even on my roland mc909 and the mv8000 this doesn't happen. A flange is in effect when two of the same sound is played with one of the sound has a pitch change.

Only way this should happen is if I have two track with the same program and same performance played in a sequence.

Can some of you try layering 3 to 4 kick sounds and try triggering them and also try sequencing them and see if you get the same results? First, try using 3 to 4 different kick samples...Second, try using all identical samples...

Also, the flange or phase effect can happen when one of the 2 identical samples are playing slightly off time...