When creating a new sequence, track settings are lost?

Hi folks,

I'm probably just making a dumb mistake or not understanding some concept, but:

When i create a new sequence, all my track settings are lost.

However, if i copy the previous sequence, all track settings are retained.

But imagine i want the new sequence to by completely empty (no midi events or automation). So now i need to either go in and delete all that stuff in my new sequence, or set up my tracks all over again, including naming it!

And one bit of weirdness perhaps related to this: If i choose the "copy sequence" method, then not all track settings are copied over to the new sequence. For example, the midi "send to" selection isn't carried over to the new sequence.

Could anyone tell me what i'm doing wrong, or is this just the nutty world of the MPC?!

I think this is part of the nutty MPC workflow. Your best bet is to copy an existing sequence then use the Erase Events button in the sequence edit screen (the pencil icon on the main screen) to remove all notes and automation. Normally, for me at least, I don't want to remove everything since that would slow me down significantly. So in my mind, it's a good thing to copy a track because I can then keep drums on bass etc and only rewrite the lead melody for example.

I do wish that the MPC would be a bit smarter about retaining track settings across sequences automatically. A "lock track settings" across sequences would be great. It gets tiring to give the same track the same name every time, or the sequence transpose setting, or the sequence length, etc.

I don't understand what software or hardware works in the manner you are expecting the MPC to. Seems like an odd expectation. Mashine doesn't work that way. Ableton doesn't work that way etc. Everything that does let you duplicate without the events are per track or per group/program and not an entire scene\sequence minus events.

In 10 secs you can duplicate the Sequence then erase all tracks events. It literally can take10secs or less to erase all events and automation on 10 tracks. Main>pencil icon> erase , select track , All >DO IT done

Or in 5 secs you can copy bars from an empty sequence. Duplicate the Sequence you are working on then Main>pencil icon>Copy bars Select your from and to Sequences, set the bars then press replace.

Option 3 if 5-10 secs is too long. Set your tracks up in Seq 1 as a template. Whenever you want a new empty sequence with your track layout, you just duplicate that template Seq.

I think the not copying the "send to" is an oversight or a bug. The "send to" is one of the newer features added a few updates ago. I'm not sure if its its possible to retain those settings at the moment.

SuperKonquer wrote:Option 3 if 5-10 secs is too long. Set your tracks up in Seq 1 as a template. Whenever you want a new empty sequence with your track layout, you just duplicate that template Seq.

This is the way to go IMO - you could also make a template project with a blank sequence set up using your typical core tracks (e.g. track 1: bass, track 2: kick, track 3: snare etc).

But as a feature request, I do think the idea of having the MPC automatically mirror the track structure across sequences does make sense.

Thanks guys,

It makes no sense to me that when you create a new sequence, all track settings are gone.

That would be like if you added a new midi clip or object on a track in Ableton or Cubase, and when you're playhead moves over that clip, all of a sudden, you're looking at a blank, default project screen.

Who works like that? I would say that when adding a new sequence, the default should be to retain the track structure, with an option to have all track settings wiped!

Apologies if it seem like I was sniping at you. When I post i like to post in a broader sense to address specifics AND the biggest picture so other users can benefit. I'm not saying it is not a valid way of working. It would be really nice to have as an option. A version of what you have been asking for has long been requested by many users.

What I'm pointing out is the MPC has it ways' of getting things done. Sometimes(A lot) you have to scratch further than surface to figure out how to do something. Most of all, you shouldn't go into it expecting it to only do that something in a certain way. Don't assume it can't do it at all because you cant do it the way you expected. I've seen that approach leave many new users frustrated. Some even give up and buy new gear. But what they were seeking was already at their fingertips.

Ill say this 5000 times. Everything in the MPC is done at lightning speed. Many things you can do in other hardware or software probably can be done in 10 different workarounds. 90 percent of the time these workarounds are faster to do then what you could do in a daw.

When getting to know the MPC, you have to be part little kid and part detective. Touch, play with and investigate everything. Consider the Undo button your Mom telling you stop. It keeps you safe and can undo anything you broke. The MPC bible is really something you should have open every single time you are learning to use the MPC. With those approaches, there will be very little you won't be able to figure out or workaround.

i think it makes sense, even if sometimes its really annoying, because it doesn't makes assumptions about what you want to do and how you want to work with it.
for live performances i very often have different sequences with very different track layout and this ability is perfect for a live performance, so you don't have to keep piling up tracks to add new tracks for different parts of your performance, it helps keeping things tight and clean. but for production is less useful, of course.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Thanks guys,

It makes no sense to me that when you create a new sequence, all track settings are gone.

That would be like if you added a new midi clip or object on a track in Ableton or Cubase, and when you're playhead moves over that clip, all of a sudden, you're looking at a blank, default project screen.

Who works like that? I would say that when adding a new sequence, the default should be to retain the track structure, with an option to have all track settings wiped!

Its part of the wide open workflow of the MPC. While most of us do use one project for one song and all those sequences then get chained together in song mode, etc.. Some folks don't, especially for live sets. The MPC lets you use sequences for whatever you want so a project doesn't have to be one complete song, you can make for example a 'live set' where each sequence is each song you want to jam for your set. Instead of having to load a new project for each song, you just switch to the next sequence and the audience gets non stop action. It will be interesting to see how they rework the track list/arranger thing into the MPC if they indeed do. I know a lot of people that use the MPC this way, and arranger mode is going to kill that really quick unless they keep both workflows available.

Thank you!!! I have been trying to figure out how to erase events in a track without nuking the overall settings (MIDI set-up and name) for the track. This was what I was looking for.

A workflow tip for me is, once I kinda have my main setup on a sequence, I copy that far back to Sequence 10, name it empty, and clear it out of notes&automation. So then I can copy that blank template wherever I need it.

On all the hardware MPC starting with the MPC 2K, there's a button called Default and does exactly what you're looking for. What's cool is it takes the current sequence setting: midi routing, track program, track names ect.. and applies it to all un-used tracks.
Then if you make more changes (add more tracks with different programs, change midi routing, ect..) to the current sequence, hit Default again and it'll take that current sequence settings and make a new default setttings for all un-used tracks.
This was definitely a cool MPC workflow that they took out of the software MPC.
+1 please bring back the Default feature

hyena wrote:i think it makes sense, even if sometimes its really annoying, because it doesn't makes assumptions about what you want to do and how you want to work with it.
for live performances i very often have different sequences with very different track layout and this ability is perfect for a live performance, so you don't have to keep piling up tracks to add new tracks for different parts of your performance, it helps keeping things tight and clean. but for production is less useful, of course.

This is it. Some people reallllly have a hard time moving from DAW to MPC because they don't get how tracks and sequences work on it. But as someone who's used both for years, the MPC is much more refreshing. It doesn't assume, as you said. OP, just get used to making copies of your sequence, it takes two seconds, and you can erase all the notes of a sequence just as easily.

New sequence is new sequence, just use `Copy sequence` >> `delete bars`. It's a 2-3 second process at most.
Organizing it like this gives the most flexibility to accomodate multiple workflows - this is the part of MPC charm, you can do it in many ways and figure out workflow that suits you best - assuming one is not complaining that "it should work like this" instead of just figuring out how to use the damn thing.