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.
By ArtVark Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:49 am
Hi all,
I have a Vermona drum machine. I would like to map the pads in bank A to the MIDI notes required for the Vermona. So I created an empty MIDI program, edit it and choose 'EDIT PAD MAP'.
Select Pad A5, map that to C1, that works. Map A6 to E1, hmm that's weird, my A5 mapping seems gone. Must be a mistake I made? I manage to restore that.
But every mapping I make there is a good chance others just shift around again. All I do in MIDI NOTE MAP is:
1. Hit the pad I want to change the mapping for
2. Use the rotary encoder to choose the note I want that pad to play
3. Tap Close

I have managed to map 6 pads by trail and error, somehow. But at the 7th pad I give up, stuff just moves around. For example:
A3 - C#2
A4 - D#3
A5 - C1
A6 - E1
A7 - D#1
A11 - C2

The moment I map A12 to F1 and close my mapping is suddenly like this:
A3 - C#2
A4 - D#3
A5 - B0 ???
A6 - D#1 ???
A7 - D1 ???
A11 - C2
A12 - F1

I can then go back in and fix pads A5,A6 and A7 but I don't understand what is going on and why it is just changing my mapping around..
With each additional mapping I add things get harder to fix. It seems the best approach is to start at the top pads and work my way down, after a lot of fiddling I managed to get all 10 notes mapped.
But I would like to know what's going on. Am I misunderstanding something here, or is this some kind of bug?
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By 83dude Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:36 pm
This has been discussed myriad times before and it is a weird internal note handling stemming from „old“ Akai‘s MPC60 from 1989, probably as a kind of „copy protection“ or similar. There are numerous tables on the net, and I remember it being posted in some thread here but I have to admit I can‘t find it myself right now. :hmmm:

Welcome to the forum. :popcorn:
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:56 pm
Not related to the odd default drum program mapping, as MIDI programs are chromatic C-2. I've just tried this in the MPC Software and not seeing those problems at all. I'm not at my MPC ATM so will check tomorrow in standalone, but certainly in the MPC Software it's reassigning the MIDI notes as expected (I followed your exact workflow).

BTW if you prefer, you can open up the MIDI .xpm file in a standard text editor and edit the midi note assignments quite easily. Look for the <padNoteMap> section.
By ArtVark Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:04 pm
Thanks for the replies,
I did search for pad mapping, midi mapping and variations of it on the forum, no luck. I do recall a Google result mentioning the MPC60 standards but did not put 2 and 2 together.
I have it working now, next time I want to do something like this I'll try it with the software or the editing the .xpm file (did not know that was plain text, good tip!). I generally avoid using the PC for anything music related but recording and essential VSTs, do not even have the Akai software installed. I did hook up the USB yesterday to update my firmware and was greeted with a horrible computer interference noise so I guess that I'm going to need a USB ground isolator if I want to start using it properly (could be my PC USB ports, the machine is getting on a bit).

I was actually on the forum years ago when I had an 2500 but I guess they did a spring cleaning or something, the account seems to be gone.

Thx again!
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By Ultros Fri Mar 26, 2021 5:08 am
I recently went through this as well damn near went into a rage over it. What i had to do ultimately was modify the midi note numbers in my keyboards firmware to match the mpc's pads.

48,49,50,51
44,45,46,47
40,41,42,43
36,37,38,39

Then anytime i bang bang on the pads the correct pad is triggered and never again do i have to fight mapping it on the mpc side. The MPK line have tools for editing the notes and midi channel and favorites and a number of other things.
By Schnooker Mon Jul 04, 2022 3:50 am
Sorry for the rehash, but I found this thread and jumped for joy, as I’m having EXACTLY the same issues mentioned in this thread.

I have a Behringer RD9 & Roland TR-08, and all I want to do is map each drum sound to the pads - in order, off course.

In this thread, it’s been suggested I map the machines to the X’s pads, and this is a good workaround for the RD9, as it will let me in preferences, but the TR-08 has no option for internal remapping, so I’m sunk on that one, and I go right back to square one, in having my selected remaps be changed without my go ahead.

I cannot believe this issue appears to be an old one, but still not resolved by Akai.

This bug remains in full glory in 2.11+, and I went back to 2.10, and it’s exactly the same.

There must be somebody out there who could help us poor souls with this problem, or at least point me in how to contact Akai with a bug report.

Thanks for reading.
By Schnooker Mon Jul 04, 2022 5:00 pm
No, my PC is on the blink atm, so any attempts to resolve this issue for me, has to be in standalone.

An option is for me to take my X to a friend's house, could you point me in the right direction for a resolve in both of your scenarios - how to execute the fixes..

Thanks for your assistance.
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By MPC-Tutor Mon Jul 04, 2022 5:13 pm
Schnooker wrote:No, my PC is on the blink atm, so any attempts to resolve this issue for me, has to be in standalone.
An option is for me to take my X to a friend's house, could you point me in the right direction for a resolve in both of your scenarios - how to execute the fixes...


The text editing fix is literally as I described in my previous post - open the XPM in a text editor, locate the section which lists the <padNoteMap> section and update the midi notes assigned to each pad.

But as stated, I have not come across these issues in the MPC Software app, so you'll might find just using the MPC Software 'Edit Note Map' GUI will work as expected.

The thing is if you do it in the text editor, you can easily copy/paste your favourite pad layout to other existing XPM files, so it works well.
By phillipadsmith Sun Aug 28, 2022 3:22 am
Schnooker wrote:Ok.
I'll get on this and report back.

TY!


For anyone else that stumbled on this thread in the future, I just wanted to share that @MPC-Tutor is correct.

The easiest way to deal with this strange "bug" of sorts is to simply edit the note map using the MPC software with the MPC hardware connected in controller mode.

Save the program and when it's opened again the note map will be correct for the TR-8 or what-have-you.

Thanks MPC-Tutor, appreciated.