MPC1000 - Need Help Using for Live Performance...

I'd like to use my MPC1000 for live performances, as a rap artist, rather than using a set CD that the soundman plays.

My idea was that I'd load and assign a complete backing track to each button, have the MPC on stage, and each time we're ready to perform a song, I would touch the button and let the track play. When I tried to load a 4 min song onto the MPC, it said there wasn't enough internal memory.

Any insight from anyone? Is this a feasible idea, or is the MPC1000 simply not designed for that type of use?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Regards,
Pernod Fils

I see MPC's all the time on stage for performances. How are you trying to load it? Did you make the beats and have it sequences yourself or is it a song that you just want to load on the MP?

mate!

dat approach is way NOT KOOL! (as u yankees would say!)

damn, this sounds weird but your better off taking a portable MINI DISC, IPOD, CD PLAYER ETC with remote control and have that so u can flip tru the tracks as you please...

I have done the mini disc player with infared remote on stage many times and it works a charm, mic in my right hand, remote in my left hand!!

But your probably one of them guys thats likes to show off, so take your mpc to the show so I can straight up JACK U!

Thanks for the good advice, however your perceptions of me are not correct and I'm not sure where you're comin from with 1/2 of your message.

-Pernod

bhunt, Thanks for the response.

To answer your question, the beats are already produced and my plan was to load each complete beat, as a .wav file, and assign approx. 10-12 of them to individual pads on the mpc.

Nah yer not going to fit an entire set of __already produced/recorded__ songs into 128megs of ram. A cd has like 800 megs. (ish, i can't remember exactly)

The reason to use it live is if you want to re-sequence your songs live, if you're not doing that you might as well just use a discman, right? Or hide a discman behind your mpc if you need to look cool

Exactly, you've answered my question.

I certainly appreciate the help everyone.

Best Regards,
Pernod.

I think the MPC 1000's main strength is as a performance tool, I mean, it's the P in MPC. I used it for all the beats and sound effects for my band (rock, sorta swoopy shoegazer stuff with breakbeats) and always used it live.
I would just make one sequence a full song. Assign the basic stuff (Kick, snare, hats, shakers/tambo, a few pad type things) to the first bank of tracks, 1-16. Put the MPC in Track Mute mode and hit play... by dropping stuff in and out for full or partial measures you can make a pretty full song out of a single sequence.
Program interesting stuff to vary it on the other pads on the other tracks. Have a bank or two of tracks be assigned to chromatically play a sample or external midi module so you can play some live melodies or leads. Remember that you can drop the MPC in record mode while it's running, so you can start with a simple beat and build your song live.
This is really the only way I use mine, though I'm not playing live anymore. When I want to record, I just improvise in track mute mode. I don't think the MPC's song mode is difficult to use by any means, but I do think it's kind of tedious to use and not as results-friendly as improvisation. Nothing like a well-placed mistake to liven up a track.
"Honor thy mistakes as hidden intentions" -Brian Eno

Ha, I just realized that the P is for Production, not Performance.

Man, good insight. Thanks a lot.

Just to make it very clear , the mpc is a great tool for performance. However, you cannot simply load a 4 minute song into the mpc because there is not enough memory for that.

This is where looping your sequences is needed. I am sure that your track is made of a number of repeating sequences, right? Instead of loading up an entire track, just load up a single loop of each sequence you need and loop them. Your mpc is perfect for this.

From your question it would seem you don't know a great deal about using an mpc. Time to study!

Yea, yea... "time to study". I wish I knew everything you did about MPCs... then, I'd never have to ask a question. Wouldn't that be great.

I certainly appreciate everyone's desire to help people learn more about MPCs.

Thanks!

you can expand your RAM...

Some good tips from pulse_divider.

I'm planning on using the MPC live soon too, it's more interesting for both myself and the audience than playing full tracks from a cd / minidisc!

However, I'd like to play out some songs originally made on the computer. Suppose the best way is to re-build the beat in the MPC using loops, then bring drums sequences in and out with the track mutes as suggested. Also allow a few bars for some live improvisation.

The only problem I'm having is there's a lot of variation and change-ups in some of my mixed-down tracks, which can be difficult to replicate (that is, without re-doing the whole track). It's extremely time-consuming to rebuild the majority from scratch.

Yeah, i think u are thinking along the right lines now.

And basically, yes it can for sure be tricky to get your songs set up for a proper "Live PA" experience that combines flexibility with fidelity to the original track. It's a common issue; personally i have spent untold hours obsessing over the best way to create my live techno music rig .

The mpc is definitely one piece of the puzzle for many peoples live setup quest. But trying to do everything with one hardware box always involves some compromise, unless your box is a laptop (but i hate watching people with laptops on stage so that's out for me)
Unfortunately at this point there is no one hardware box as flexible as eg. Ableton Live, but if you rock your mpc the right way it can come close and you will probably look more engaging.