MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai
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By UBANKRECORDS Thu May 22, 2008 1:54 am
I found a really great 5-10 sec sample from an old song from The Prunes. I went an trimmed it an everything but there's a clicking sound at the end of the loop too.

Also, is there a way I can record the sample in another way other than main. I set the bars at 8 but the sample wants to loop more. 9 bars is too high, 8 is too low and they don't have a 8 1/2... ahhh the frustration! ha Thanks a ton guys!!!
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By UBANKRECORDS Thu May 22, 2008 3:08 am
Let me give ya a little more info. How do I make a loop play continously while recording??
I've been reading the manual but can't find anything about recording a loop without setting bars an what not. If you have no idea what I'm talking about I'm sorry.. I'll give Akai a shout if nothing else. Thanks

Nate
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By Askia Shaheed Thu May 22, 2008 4:43 am
I simply find the tempo of the loop and set the tempo of the sequence to match it. The tempo detect function in the SAMPLE EDITING menu isn't that great but will get you close. If you have an 8 bar sample, set the sequence to loop at 8 bars and record the sample at 1.01.000. Next, keep playing with the tempo field of the sequence until you have a perfect sounding loop. Once you have the right tempo, simply copy and paste this loop every 8 bars.
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By UBANKRECORDS Thu May 22, 2008 8:22 pm
Askia Shaheed wrote:I simply find the tempo of the loop and set the tempo of the sequence to match it. The tempo detect function in the SAMPLE EDITING menu isn't that great but will get you close. If you have an 8 bar sample, set the sequence to loop at 8 bars and record the sample at 1.01.000. Next, keep playing with the tempo field of the sequence until you have a perfect sounding loop. Once you have the right tempo, simply copy and paste this loop every 8 bars.


Ya that's my problem. When I change the tempo in the sequence field it doesn't effect my sample/loop. Even if I put the tempo on 50bpm it still plays the same as it did at 120bpm...
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By Askia Shaheed Thu May 22, 2008 11:32 pm
UBANKRECORDS wrote:
Askia Shaheed wrote:I simply find the tempo of the loop and set the tempo of the sequence to match it. The tempo detect function in the SAMPLE EDITING menu isn't that great but will get you close. If you have an 8 bar sample, set the sequence to loop at 8 bars and record the sample at 1.01.000. Next, keep playing with the tempo field of the sequence until you have a perfect sounding loop. Once you have the right tempo, simply copy and paste this loop every 8 bars.


Ya that's my problem. When I change the tempo in the sequence field it doesn't effect my sample/loop. Even if I put the tempo on 50bpm it still plays the same as it did at 120bpm...


That is the way the MPC 5000 currently operates. Changing the sequence tempo will not change the tempo of the sample. You need to adjust the tempo of the sequence so it matches the sample. You can only change the tempo of the sample by using timestretch in the sample editing menu.
By renegadebliss Fri May 23, 2008 4:31 pm
UBANKRECORDS wrote:
Askia Shaheed wrote:I simply find the tempo of the loop and set the tempo of the sequence to match it. The tempo detect function in the SAMPLE EDITING menu isn't that great but will get you close. If you have an 8 bar sample, set the sequence to loop at 8 bars and record the sample at 1.01.000. Next, keep playing with the tempo field of the sequence until you have a perfect sounding loop. Once you have the right tempo, simply copy and paste this loop every 8 bars.


Ya that's my problem. When I change the tempo in the sequence field it doesn't effect my sample/loop. Even if I put the tempo on 50bpm it still plays the same as it did at 120bpm...


As Zuckwheat indicated you have patched phrase (pg 97of Ref Guide) and Chop Shop (pg 97 of Ref Guide) to achieve this.

NONE of the MPC series has ever had Real Time Timestretching. Earlier MPC had just the Slice, then they added the Slice and Sequence
feature. With the 5000 they've removed the Slice and Sequence option and made it so that you either have Slice (Chop Shop) and you'll have to sequence the slices yourself or you can do a "Patched Phrase", which really just does a slice and sequence underneath the hood. It's not really a Real TimeTimestretch.

You won't be able to go from 120BPM orginal sample and have it play at 50BPM and be smooth... your going to get gaps... but if you're
turning the BPM 10-20% you'll get better results. If not, you can try the offline process that Jahrome indicated.. i mean Askia


I don't personally have a 5000, but I doubt the manual is lying about the 5000 having Patch Phrases..

Cheers,
Dave
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By Askia Shaheed Fri May 23, 2008 10:35 pm
renegadebliss wrote:
UBANKRECORDS wrote:
Askia Shaheed wrote:I simply find the tempo of the loop and set the tempo of the sequence to match it. The tempo detect function in the SAMPLE EDITING menu isn't that great but will get you close. If you have an 8 bar sample, set the sequence to loop at 8 bars and record the sample at 1.01.000. Next, keep playing with the tempo field of the sequence until you have a perfect sounding loop. Once you have the right tempo, simply copy and paste this loop every 8 bars.


Ya that's my problem. When I change the tempo in the sequence field it doesn't effect my sample/loop. Even if I put the tempo on 50bpm it still plays the same as it did at 120bpm...


As Zuckwheat indicated you have patched phrase (pg 97of Ref Guide) and Chop Shop (pg 97 of Ref Guide) to achieve this.

NONE of the MPC series has ever had Real Time Timestretching. Earlier MPC had just the Slice, then they added the Slice and Sequence
feature. With the 5000 they've removed the Slice and Sequence option and made it so that you either have Slice (Chop Shop) and you'll have to sequence the slices yourself or you can do a "Patched Phrase", which really just does a slice and sequence underneath the hood. It's not really a Real TimeTimestretch.

You won't be able to go from 120BPM orginal sample and have it play at 50BPM and be smooth... your going to get gaps... but if you're
turning the BPM 10-20% you'll get better results. If not, you can try the offline process that Jahrome indicated.. i mean Askia


I don't personally have a 5000, but I doubt the manual is lying about the 5000 having Patch Phrases..

Cheers,
Dave


The slice/sequence function was removed in MPCs that were released years before the MPC 5000.

Since I do own/use an MPC 5000, I can confirm that Patched Phrase is a feature.
By renegadebliss Fri May 23, 2008 11:25 pm
Askia Shaheed wrote:
Since I do own/use an MPC 5000, I can confirm that Patched Phrase is a feature.



Excellent, so the correct answer is for him to turn his sample into a Patched Phrase.


Cheers,
Dave
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By UBANKRECORDS Sat May 24, 2008 2:47 am
renegadebliss wrote:
Askia Shaheed wrote:
Since I do own/use an MPC 5000, I can confirm that Patched Phrase is a feature.



Excellent, so the correct answer is for him to turn his sample into a Patched Phrase.


Cheers,
Dave


Wow, Much Obliged my good friend!!
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By UBANKRECORDS Sat May 24, 2008 3:31 am
Update:
I did the patched phrase on my 5 sec sample and tried recording. It matched tempo but sounded really wierd. It was a hi hat/snare loop I sampled and when I played it after chopping and patch phrasing it would play normal then like stutter then play normal then stutter. Very wierd....? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know where else to ask. I've blown up Akai with no results..... I just have exactly what I wanna do in my head, much creativity but just can't get the shit to loop right.... I'm so thankful for you MPC vets here. You guys are very intelligent and helpful people! Thanks!
By Sovereign Sat May 24, 2008 4:28 pm
Your problem is that you have gotten good advice that was unrelated to your problem.
People are thinking you have a complicated problem when it's just a simple problem.
Your problem lies in understanding setting the tempo of the sequence to match the tempo of your sample.
If you are counting your beats correctly and it is a 8 bar sample all you have to do is tap the pad to trigger the sample and use the tap tempo function to set the tempo of the sequence.
Will probably require a little fine tuning of the tempo based on you being new to this.

The Patch Phrase function does not work on the 2500 or 5k but the off-line TCE can do pretty good, but none of that is related to your problem.
User avatar
By UBANKRECORDS Sat May 24, 2008 7:34 pm
Sovereign wrote:Your problem is that you have gotten good advice that was unrelated to your problem.
People are thinking you have a complicated problem when it's just a simple problem.
Your problem lies in understanding setting the tempo of the sequence to match the tempo of your sample.
If you are counting your beats correctly and it is a 8 bar sample all you have to do is tap the pad to trigger the sample and use the tap tempo function to set the tempo of the sequence.
Will probably require a little fine tuning of the tempo based on you being new to this.

The Patch Phrase function does not work on the 2500 or 5k but the off-line TCE can do pretty good, but none of that is related to your problem.


Thanks so much Soveriegn, I fixed it!!

One more question (if you wanna answer of course). My sample loops perfectly at 249bpm but I want to merge it onto another sequence with a different bpm. How would I go about doing this??
THanks a ton!
By 4dahaterz Sun May 25, 2008 6:58 am
UBANKRECORDS wrote:
Sovereign wrote:Your problem is that you have gotten good advice that was unrelated to your problem.
People are thinking you have a complicated problem when it's just a simple problem.
Your problem lies in understanding setting the tempo of the sequence to match the tempo of your sample.
If you are counting your beats correctly and it is a 8 bar sample all you have to do is tap the pad to trigger the sample and use the tap tempo function to set the tempo of the sequence.
Will probably require a little fine tuning of the tempo based on you being new to this.

The Patch Phrase function does not work on the 2500 or 5k but the off-line TCE can do pretty good, but none of that is related to your problem.


Thanks so much Soveriegn, I fixed it!!

One more question (if you wanna answer of course). My sample loops perfectly at 249bpm but I want to merge it onto another sequence with a different bpm. How would I go about doing this??
THanks a ton!


249bpm... Dang!!!!!!!!!!!!


You might wanna divide everything by 2 and take it to 124.50(249bpm would be 124.50) and cut the bars(if 4 bars take it to 2) in half, which would be better later on in your production especially with effects and plug ins.

Not necessary but beneficial, unless you got a different trick at 249bpm that I need a tip on
User avatar
By Askia Shaheed Sun May 25, 2008 11:09 pm
Sovereign wrote:Your problem is that you have gotten good advice that was unrelated to your problem.
People are thinking you have a complicated problem when it's just a simple problem.
Your problem lies in understanding setting the tempo of the sequence to match the tempo of your sample.
If you are counting your beats correctly and it is a 8 bar sample all you have to do is tap the pad to trigger the sample and use the tap tempo function to set the tempo of the sequence.
Will probably require a little fine tuning of the tempo based on you being new to this.

The Patch Phrase function does not work on the 2500 or 5k but the off-line TCE can do pretty good, but none of that is related to your problem.


Question....what do you mean by the Patched Phrase on the MPC 2500 and 5K doesn't work? While I never use these features, they both appear to work as advertised. Can you be more specific?

As far as UBANKRECORDS question....I believe I provided the answer to the simple problem with my first response. :D