Been using 1.31 for a while. I love this thing! New prioriti

Been using 1.31 for a while now.

Gotta say its working great for me now, this is why I sold my 4k
It really is a great songwriting sketchpad for me which is what I have always used mpcs for. When I am writing I just want a keyboard and a sequencer that understands thats what the Ren gives me.

From extended use over the last couple of weeks I have gotta say my priorities about what I would like to see developed have really changed.
I have written a load of songs on this in those two weeks and the things that are slowing me down are thus:

1) The MPC needs a channel strip browser exactly like that in Logic where you can save you favourite presets from an instrument or your favourite instrument plus effects all into an easily browsable preset library.
Logic has by far the most ergonomic implementation of this and this is what should be brought into the mpc, it should be browsable from the hardware. Note how easy it is to navigate Logics browser using the arrow keys, this is essential for those of us who like to write AT the keyboard. I never want to move onto the next preset of an instrument with a mouse EVER!!!
I would love to me able to bring up the browser and scroll through my favourite bass sound channel strip settings with instrument and effects just as if I was using a Yamaha Motif. Please make it happen! The data wheel and -/+ buttons where born for this job!

2) Quantise note length. Please please please put this in there electronic music lives and breathes the grid.

3) Address the automation issues. I.e. insert effects, master buss automation etc.

4) Realtime time stretching/pitching - this is such an incredible songwriting tool adding this for working with loops would speed up the workflow to legendary levels. I can already create a song faster on the MPC REN than any other platform I have used. Add this in and I can use my Loop library outside of things like stylus RMX.

Don't see why the first three things would take that long to implement.
The fourth sounds tricky to do without high CPU increase but I remain hopeful.

I am now writing all of my songs on the MPC. Then to Logic to mix and final arrangement.

To Pete and the team, great job just give me a really really good browser now.

Geoff

I totally follow you, and this 1.3.1 is such a great version, I passed trough all my previous beats (1.1 and 1.2 ) and everything works perfectly.

PT.4 will be a bonus 1,2,3 should be fixed quickly.

The beginnings were rough and hasardous, I suppose AKAI and sonivox knows yet where they want and where they can go with the REN. I Wish they do

I'm really liking it too. It's definitely a sketch pad for me too and thats what I want it to be. I've always used a DAW for music production but this is so much faster for me to get some ideas down and get a basic layout for the song. After that I can move it all into a DAW (Cubase, Studio One..been starting to like this one) for all of the final touches/additions. This is really what I wanted it to be and since the 1.3 update I've finally been able to do that 75%. I just need full automation (plus some small things) and I'll be a happy camper with my sketch pad

Komplete 9 arrives today; Novation remote sl49 mkii tomorrow, and I may add the Arturia Spark to the arsenal soon. Lets see how 1.3 handles all of that

foge1 wrote:
Gotta say its working great for me now, this is why I sold my 4k

So in your opinion Geoff, has the Ren arrived at the point where you felt totally confident in selling the MPC4000? I havent had a chance to mess with the software since version 1.0, those were dark days...

Clint wrote:

foge1 wrote:
Gotta say its working great for me now, this is why I sold my 4k

So in your opinion Geoff, has the Ren arrived at the point where you felt totally confident in selling the MPC4000? I havent had a chance to mess with the software since version 1.0, those were dark days...

Yes I there are aspects of the 4k I miss but they are far outstripped but the advantages the Ren gives ME and thats always gonna depend on what u do.

The Ren just makes such a great songwriting sketch pad. I find it much easier than logic.
Less distracting.
Kind of like a motif 4k combination on steroids. The steroids being thingsike komplete etc.

The 4k key map sampling was much better. The realtime quantise better, the two outputs per track better, sample through effects useful.
But these sorts of things don't actual amount to a big deal to me when I have a mpc seq that effortlessly links to my vsti's and that cAn stem my song in one click!!!

I guess that's the point of my post, now I am writing on it and used to it the thing I want most is a ergonomic channel strip browser. As that is the only thing slowing me down.

It really is a great writers sketch pad / sketchbook

Which is exactly what I wanted from it
I love not writing at the computer screen I definetly write better and faster away from it.
G

Roger that Geoff.

Interesting. I hear that a lot lately of the Ren being a great sketch tool. Production studio tool, not so much.

True that!
not what i bought It for Tho' Just as i am wishing for audio tracks for vocals/(bass)guitar,external synth...AND better live performance support, but thats just me...

Ill-Green wrote:Interesting. I hear that a lot lately of the Ren being a great sketch tool. Production studio tool, not so much.

I guess I still like all of the fine detail I can do with Cubase or Studio One. So for me it's just really good for recording ideas quickly and getting a layout done. Once I get to that stage a song is as good as done and I can do all the fine detailing in a more mature DAW.

Clint wrote:has the Ren arrived at the point where you felt totally confident in selling the MPC4000?

Allow me to say something here.
Its excellent if you dont need to write a song using more than one sequence.

The way the mixer is tied to sequences has its uses but should be an added feature, not the standard. Think about how the MPC60 and MPC3000 basic midi mixer works - changes could to volume could be made on a per sequence basis - but remember few actually used this - external consoles were used. The Rens mixer implementation is the exact same - a 25+ year old basic midi mixer designed for occasional drum volumes is now to be used for all tracks , channels, their inserted plugins, sends etc. I mean everything - there is not a universal programme to track mixer.

Imagine you have 16 sequences built to vary your song. As you play around with the sequences in real time your feeling the vibe and naturally make changes to volumes, inserted EQs, Sends etc. You make a change on track 5 kik drum, on Seq 4. You adjusted the low end eq, the compression, and various settings on the transient plugin. Those changes wont apply to the very same kik drum across the other 15 sequences. You must go and manually change every one. You cannot copy and paste or duplicate in any other way these changes except to do it manually, changing every single parameter in every sequence. . Even if you could that is still a nutty system.

Just to do that one thing alone would take about an hour, create major frustration and of course totally kill any notions of mixing on a vibe. Now multiply this by hundreds of small changes we make as were mixing a song across multiple sequences - Impossible!

Its fine (but not perfect by any stretch) if you only ever use one sequence and I suspect due to this issue not being mentioned on the forum except for one other person and my self the majority of people using the Ren are sticking with one sequence. I don't expect this will ever be fixed but I thought you should know about this. Its so serious for me I may have to give up on the product which would be a great shame as I do like it very much.

I totally agree with that... There should be at least a copy/paste mixing/plugin settings ability....
also I was thinking how dope would it be, if u had like a complete sample on pad a-1, then press that pad to play the sample and be able to press in others pads, like a-2 a-3 etc etc. And place the chops like that, so the whole sample plays, and every time u press a pad place a chop, while the sample continues, from that point until u press the next pad....and so on and on till the sample ends,and u have a bunch of chops. just for start, u should be able to adjust chops later..they should call it quickchop or something like that..it would be +workflow for sure

First let me say I don't have the ren. I did check one out the other day and while I like the feel, I still don't want to go back to ITB programming for drums. I guess I'm a little confused about the ren. It's supposed to be a full production tool, not a sketch pad. I use a mpd32 and reasons from time to time for that. But spending $1300 for a sketch pad is a lot. Not saying buying a ren is wrong. I believe it has potential if akai listens and implements quickly. But for it to be a sketch pad at this point. Doesn't that say its missing the mark?

dccarson,

I have to say its much more than a sketch pad, but sadly the mixer settings tied to individual sequences forces the user in to using it like sketch pad. I could write and mix entire tracks with the Ren alone, but with a mixer acting like a a first graders attempt a daw design I cant. It almost completely removes the possibility of doing arrangements (Next Seq Via Pads) from the equation thus waters down the capability of the product by half in my eyes. Its not really about structuring arrangements on the fly - anyone who uses multiple sequences in their arrangement and begins to adjust the mix in any way (that includes plugins) will find themselves up to their next in shit. If variation in your song is important I would suggest you need to think carefully. There is no other Daw out there which operates in such a convoluted method. Furthermore there isnt a drum machine, sampler, or any other piece of kit I can think of which does this. Imagine a Tr909 volumes and settings changing/resetting every time you created a new pattern for variation - that is what happens here.

labcoats wrote:There is no other Daw out there which operates in such a convoluted method. Furthermore there isnt a drum machine, sampler, or any other piece of kit I can think of which does this.

Coz wrote:Lets see what you think after a month.

I hate to say I told you so Sir, but I did.

Fingers crossed for a much better mixer implementation in 1.4.

Well after having this baby for a while, I just got frustrated with having to add plugins to each seq. Total workflow killer. I see I have to put everything in the first seq then copy.
If I forget or miss something, I'm up a creek.

The other thing is naming tracks/seq on the hardware as I work. You can't.
You have to name it in the software only. Workflow killer.

There are others. Things that made the MPC3000 king that this could do but, they haven't added yet.
Man, are they giving us baby steps.
Releasing 1 update every 3 months and a half is crazy?

Who do they have/had QAing this stuff?

I see its the future but at the rate their going, something else will take its place.

Marc...