MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
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By nachtaktiv Mon Aug 14, 2017 11:53 am
hey there!

after a few weeks of working with it, i have a couple of questions regarding MPC live:

1. why do the call it «live»? maybe for finger drumming it’s perfect, but you can’t do two things at once, for example applying filter or reverb and un/mute a track. you always have to go back to menu and look for the right parameter. maybe you could do it «blind» with the q-knobs but thats too risky in a live situation. the solution would be to receive midi-cc’s from an external controller, but that doesn’t work (yet).

2. does the looper not work in midi clock slave mode?

3. is the midi clock really that unstable in master mode? my other gear jumps somewhere between .7 to .4

4. why are the started clip programs stopping when i change the track? i have to trigger them via sequencer and mute them in track/pad mute mode.

5. why are audio tracks treated so separately, not really convenient… for example in track mute mode

6. why is the time division of the mute mode not saved with the project?

7. why are my loops (not the factory ones) faded in clip launch mode? fade is off…

8. in standalone mode, you can’t change the time stretch algorithm? sounds very bad for my ears, transients are destroyed (clip launch mode).

9. in clip mode, is there a way to disable time stretch/pitch shift? like the old school samplers, slower = lower pitch, faster = higher pitch. like that there would be no quality loss

10. is it not possible to render an audio track, everywhere it is possible but not there…

11. is it not possible to set a free running LFO? in my case it is always triggered by the sequencer step

12. is it not possible to invert/move the curve of the tremolo? so you could do a «fake sidechain compression».

13. why is the pad perform mode not working anymore when you leave the pad perform menu?

14. why is the automation curve not visible and editable?

15. what about freely assignable LFOs and parameter locks?

16. what is so special about the «magic MPC sequencer», is this still true today? i only see not much more than a piano roll and velocity

17. and how the hell can i open a project on the computer that i made on the MPC???? in the video the simply tap the plugin icon and the project opens in the plugin/app. but i can’t even find my projects in the browser, it only shows the hard drive of my computer…


in my case it is not even perhaps suitable for a live situation, you can’t do two things at once, you have to go back to the main menu all the time and it’s not a logical and convenient workflow (for me). a little bit disapointing, when i see what the machine was capable to do. this could be the octatrack killer, but with the current firmware it is far away from that.

sorry for ranting ;)


cheers
User avatar
By TheUnfuckwithable Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:56 pm
Let me answer questions 1 to 17: Because the guys at Nukai are douchebags who recruted the wackest beta testers of all time in hopes that they make their ikoniq piles of crap even more unprofessional. Oh and because Nukai gives a damn about their customers.

Alternative answer: Because the Live is a piece of junk.

:Sigh:

:vomit:

:fku:

:mrgreen:
By sleepytm Mon Aug 14, 2017 1:51 pm
i'll try to answer some..
1. you can bind some parameters to q-link knobs
3. kind of. but i have same stuff with other gear. if you need stable clock, use another device, like erm midiclock.
4. try to record them in sequence with overdub, they'll stay.
9. sure, just turn off your warping, and pad quantizing.
11. no free running lfo, yep :/
17. use sdcard or usb stick. save your project to usb, then open it in software. works for me
By Cockdiesel Mon Aug 14, 2017 2:11 pm
I've been using the live as the master clock for a bunch of units, never seen more than a. 1 drift on anything. Other sampler keyboards effects boxes, etc
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By MPC-Tutor Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:13 pm
nachtaktiv wrote:8. in standalone mode, you can’t change the time stretch algorithm? sounds very bad for my ears, transients are destroyed (clip launch mode).

Akai use a 3rd party timestretch algorithm, I don't think the company makes a Linux port, hence not supported in the standalone.
10. is it not possible to render an audio track, everywhere it is possible but not there…

Where are you trying to render the audio track - explain this problem in more detail

13. why is the pad perform mode not working anymore when you leave the pad perform menu?

It just doesn't, never has worked. I agree, this is poor implementation, it's as if the guy who develops the MPC Software never actually uses his MPC to make music.
14. why is the automation curve not visible and editable?

It is in the computer software, but Akai have not explained why it isn't there in standalone.
:popcorn:
16. what is so special about the «magic MPC sequencer», is this still true today? i only see not much more than a piano roll and velocity

I never really agreed that the MPC sequencer was 'magical'. But it was pretty rock solid and had a great workflow. I really don't think the workflow on these new machines is anywhere as quick as it was on the older machines though - as you have realised, there's some infuriating decisions being made.

17. and how the hell can i open a project on the computer that i made on the MPC???? in the video the simply tap the plugin icon and the project opens in the plugin/app. but i can’t even find my projects in the browser, it only shows the hard drive of my computer…

Internal drive isn't accessible so save your projects to an attached drive instead. It sucks as the default 'save' location always defaults to the [internal] drive. I think they are concerned that access to the internal drive also means access to the OS files and they don't want people messing those up. Hopefully they can come up with a software solution, perhaps an app or tool in the MPC Software that allows limited access to the drive when connected via USB.
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By starmanwarz Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:16 pm
kaydigi wrote:When's the next update?


I don't think anyone knows. Next update is supposed to be a "beefy" one according to Pete.
By chino Wed Aug 16, 2017 2:18 am
MPC-Tutor wrote: it's as if the guy who develops the MPC Software never actually uses his MPC to make music.


:worthy: :nod: This statement should be used as a disclaimer prior to MPC 2.0 software use!!!
By Manglepup Sun Aug 20, 2017 7:43 am
A Akai product manager wrote the following regarding the next update on a muff wiggler (forum) thread:

there were some minor fixes in 2.0.3 re: midi timing, but not enough. We're releasing an update soon (IE within a week or two) which is a much more comprehensive fix. It will be 2.0.5