Any help arranging more complex songs?

Hey all,

I need help arranging songs that have more complicated arrangements. Videos and tips on this forum seem to be for making beats rather than songs. (Make one main beat, then copy it and remove some elements and call it a verse, then do that again and call it a breakdown. Then they stitch it together in song mode and convert it to a sequence.) I want to make songs where verse 1 has I’ve version of automation and some nuanced fills and elements that don’t appear in verse 2, and there may be a transition element that starts in verse 1 and fades out throughout the chorus.

One issue I face is if I create sequence 1, then move onto sequence 2 I may add tracks (ex. Track 12 - synth pad) which don’t exist on seq. 1. Then if I return to seq.1 and want to add another element I need to remember to duplicate track 12 (even though there is no midi) so that the element I add is on track 13. I really wish Akai would make it so track layout was the same among all sequences.

Additionally, if I manage to put a bunch of sequences together and create a complete sequence from it (using song mode) I often have to go in and add nuances like drum fills and such. I don’t want the same full every time the verse plays for example.

Does anyone have any insight into creating more elaborate arrangements?

Should I just use a single sequence the whole time to overcome my first issue? If anyone does that, is there an easy way to insert/move/copy/paste parts in the sequence so I could double the length of a verse after I’ve built the sequence? Is there an easy way to navigate around while working on different “sections”?

Thanks all!

It sounds like you should just work in a completely linear fashion and forget about song mode, just build your composition gradually, maybe copy some bars, erase events, insert blank bars and create sections from scratch, whatever works for you,

You can configure 6 time markers in the locate screen (double tap the time at the top of the screen). It's basic but the probably the best way to jump around a long sequence. And remember you can change the sequence start and end bars to loop between certain sections.

This is actually one of the new workflows I'm incorporating into MPC Bible 2

Layout and name your track elements in sequence 1 and give yourself extra tracks for elements you may add later before you even start to create. Then when you duplicate your sequence its easier to keep track of things. Decide on the usual main elements of your arrangement and always keep them on x track for every song you make so it becomes muscle memory. Examples are Track 1 is always drums or if you like to space your drum elements tracks 1-10 are always x type percussion, Next track/s would bass/es etc etc.

Thanks. That’s what my instincts were telling me. I’ve been doing songs in a single sequence, then copying the sequence multiple times and isolating different sections within each. So seq2 might be bars 1-4 from seq1, and seq3 is bars 5-8 from seq1. That allows me to use song mode/ next sequence mode to stitch it together with different arrangements until I found an arrangement I like. Then , I’d export it to a single sequence and massaging it from there.

Really hope a visual song mode/ arrangement mode like the force comes to the MPC. That would probably make it much easier.

I’ve also been toying with using the MPC like a force or ableton to launch “clips” that can be mixed and matched. If you create multiple performances of on different tracks that all use the same program you can use quantized track mutes to “launch” different drum clips. Example: tracks 1-4 are different drum performances all using the same drum program. As the sequence plays you can try different mixtures of “clips” by muting one track and unmuting another.

To add to my previous suggestion, you could make your decided layout a template so you ll only have to do it once then open it whenever you are creating a new song. Cant get much easier than that.

Thanks SuperKonquer.

That makes sense, but I often change instrumentation, so a template only takes me so far. Plus, I still need to duplicate sequences (to copy over alla the tracks programs) then erase the midi from the new sequence so I can create a new section. It’s just a little less logical than a daw. I guess I got too used to Ableton. Haha.

That said, the MPC is so flexible, I’m sure I’ll figure something out. I just wanted to reach out to other users to see what you do.

Having owned a Force, I don't think the arranger adds much for editing complex arrangements. I prefer Maschines approach to arranging on a groovebox where your arrangement is linked to scenes that are linked to patterns, very cohesive. If anything I wish the Force had the MPC song mode or a way of automatically triggering scenes like Ableton now has.

However the advice above regards having a good default template is the best way to work, not just in MPC. But particularly for MPC, have all your tracks separated out in the first sequence with dummy plugins or even no plugins on tracks labelled for each expected drum part, bass, lead, chords, pad, sound fx1, sound fx1, etc. And yeah then you can duplicate. If you are super smart you could even have a default set of sequences with the expected sequence length. Always have your first sequence as a 'everything' sketchpad area. So you add all elements into you first sequence and always keep those elements in the first sequence. Sequence 1 won't actually be used in your final arrangement, it's just when you can easily go back and copy parts to other sections. Anyways that was how I worked with an MPC.

KRITical post, definitely made me think . . . . . .

on my mpc1000 from time to time, I used to turn off the loop & freestyle 64-88 bar beats. Usually, it would be 2-3 takes: mpc chops, drums, random adlibs. It produced a lot of interesting, natural sounding sketches but I never got any songs out of it.