another workaround for MIDI export to DAW ?

hi,

i like to make my sequences (intro , verse, chorus etc ) within the mpcx but if i want to make variations, transitions and all thoses types of stuff, i think an association with a daw is usefull.
if i make a drum program track or a keygroup track, is there a way to export the MIDI informations ?
because my workaround actually is to type my beat then change the track in MIDI track to be able to print the midi infos in a DAW midi track. after that i configure the daw track to midi out in the mpc. not very flexible.

idk973 wrote:....if i make a drum program track or a keygroup track, is there a way to export the MIDI informations ?

Download the pdf manual, search for “midi export”.

These MPC do not export MIDI. You have to do the following.

1. Export it as a pattern files aka .mpcpattern
2. Open PATTERN file in MPC Software on your desktop or laptop.
3. From the MPC Software you can export as a .mid file.

that's what i thought....thanks

Lampdog wrote:

idk973 wrote:....if i make a drum program track or a keygroup track, is there a way to export the MIDI informations ?

Download the pdf manual, search for “midi export”.

No offence, but quit biting my "RTFM-Style" Lamp!!

NearTao wrote:

It's a Dev issues. Why the MPC X, ONE, LIVE, doesn't export MIDI files is beyond me.

Yeah, MPC should be able to export MIDI files in standalone mode, because standalone is great for throwing together ideas, but if you want to arrange a whole song and work on transitions between sequences, that’s much easier in a DAW. The best way would be for you to be able to export a MIDI sequence to the internal hard disk, and this disk should be accessible by your PC and MAC, even when in standalone mode. So then in your DAW you could drag and drop the MIDI file into your DAW.

To touch on your earlier point, the MPC is very flexible when it comes to arranging. Just not as visually friendly as a daw would be to primarily daw users. If you really get into the edit options you can really do some incredible things. In addition to liberal usage of convert sequences to song and then back to a sequence, arranging and variations are a breeze. That is, if you utilize all the tools at your disposal.

You have 127 sequences to play with and you can duplicate and glue and snip and copy to your hearts content. Have the mindset that a sequence is just a scratch pad for your ideas so you wont be constrained by the 1,2,3 sequence mindset.

Make a sequence duplicate x times make variations. Use next sequence mode to play around with your variations (Playing with track lengths is a amazingly quick way to create variations). Another way to play around with your sequence is using the locators. Or bounce your sequences to samples and play with it in a drum program.

Find an arrangement you like? Start cutting, snipping, copying and pasting from your sequences and then glue them together with song mode. Then do it ten more times or 30 more times if you like.

It seems inflexible because it is so many moving parts, but the execution of functions in the MPC happen near instantly. Doing these things are just a matter of knowing you can do them. Fortunately doing them is not a laborious process. Do it 20 times and and it'll be second nature.

And as always you have the magical undo button which is unlimited, so there is never a reason to be afraid of experimentation. You can undo and redo practically everything instantly.

SuperKonquer wrote:To touch on your earlier point, the MPC is very flexible when it comes to arranging..........

I think the MPC is cool for throwing a quick arrangement together, but when you get really into the nitty gritty of arranging, i'm not sure i could get it done on the MPC alone.

Here's an example:

You have two 8 bar sequences. In the 8th bar of sequence one, you want to program a drum roll, and you need to hear how it transitions into the next sequence. So ideally you need to loop around from the last bar if the first sequence and the first bar of the second sequence. I'm not sure if this is possible and anyway, you can't record or edit anything when in song mode.

Another example is programing something that straddles across from one sequence to the next. Again, i don't think it's possible. MPC has this very blocky way of arranging with no thought given to the possibility that you might want to have something happening across those sequence boundaries. Sure there are workarounds like merging the two sequences into one, but then your sequences just get longer and longer until the whole song is just one long sequence!

Perhaps there are some other ways to do this, i'm pretty new to MPC, so if so, i'd be happy to hear about it!

I really think the way MPC arranges is so antiquated and pre-DAW, sure it has a little charm, but it's so limited it handicaps an otherwise great bit of gear. JMHO.

Not exactly an answer to your problem, because that seems to be how it works. But you can actually put say, a crash hit, on the very last little segment of Seq1, and it will carry over into the next sequence. Its goofy, but it does work. Say I had an 8 bar sequence. You change the length to 9, add a crash on start of bar 9, nudge that midi note ever so slightly into the ending of bar 8, then return the sequence to 8 bar length.

You use song mode to glue 2 sequences together in 1 sequence and then you can make your transitions however you like. This is exactly what I'm saying about not getting stuck in that 1 block 2 block mindset. Don't just use song mode as a playback tool.

As far as long sequences- If you want your sequences spread out for whatever reason there is no reason your sequences have to start on 1. You can have a 1 sequence with your Main body and transition. Then next sequence starts on bar 2 3 or 4.

Having a lonq sequence shouldn't be a problem anyway. If you want to just work on specific parts of the sequence, set the start and loop points. It isn't as if all this data will be in your way. Need to be able to focus on different areas? Set and use locators. Or Duplicate it a few times, set different loop points, tweak, glue it together.

You have an vast amount of options in the way you can structure. You have 127 sequences to use as a scratchpad and you can try 50 different arrangements of your song and still have room to play with variations and transitions.

Use the Song mode as creative tool and the misnomer about the difficulty of doing transitions vanish. Is it a bit clunky compared to the daw? So it seems so the first few times you do it.

But if you make it a part of your arsenal then its eazzzy peazzy. It, in actuality, can be much faster then arranging in a daw because it happens as fast as you can move your fingers. Its just a matter of breaking that dependence on drag and dropping, and losing the fear of doing something wrong because you cant see the sprockets turning. If you mess up, use the undo, try again. Trust me, if you do it regularly it will allow you to use your MPC at a whole new level.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:

SuperKonquer wrote:To touch on your earlier point, the MPC is very flexible when it comes to arranging..........

Here's an example:

You have two 8 bar sequences. In the 8th bar of sequence one, you want to program a drum roll, and you need to hear how it transitions into the next sequence. So ideally you need to loop around from the last bar if the first sequence and the first bar of the second sequence. I'm not sure if this is possible and anyway, you can't record or edit anything when in song mode.
JMHO.

To laser focus in on this.

Arrange Seq 1 then Seq 2 in song mode. Convert Song to sequence. Do your drum rum roll in the new combined sequence. This is one of the easier tasks to do.

You will still have your old Seq 1 and Seq 2 to continue composing with in addition to your new combined sequence with the drum roll transition.

From here you should duplicate the combined sequence, and then set loop points to only play from where the original seq 2 data started and you work from this duplicate of combined Seq 1 to make the transitions into your next sequence.

SuperKonquer wrote: To laser focus in on this.

Arrange Seq 1 then Seq 2 in song mode. Convert Song to sequence. Do your drum rum roll in the new combined sequence. This is one of the easier tasks to do.

You will still have your old Seq 1 and Seq 2 to continue composing with in addition to your new combined sequence with the drum roll transition.

From here you should duplicate the combined sequence, and then set loop points to only play from where the original seq 2 data started and you work from this duplicate of combined Seq 1 to make the transitions into your next sequence.

Awesome advice! Thanks