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 Permernent Sun Oct 23, 2022 4:39 pm
Hello,
I am considering buying an MPC One.
Is it possible to switch between different Patterns of a Group, or on MPC on a Track on the fly?
I use Maschine for my Live Set, and I can switch directly between different Patterns in a Group.
Is there a way in the MPC, to switch between different Patterns (or Midi Files) similar to the Maschine?

Greetings, Pete
User avatar
By elstebbano Sun Oct 23, 2022 4:59 pm
Just go to track mutes..

edit: maybe I go in detail a bit more^^ you can assign mute groups (but don't have to) in the track mute page and the play you different variations there..
By mpc_fan_2022 Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:52 pm
Permernent wrote:Hello,
I am considering buying an MPC One.
Is it possible to switch between different Patterns of a Group, or on MPC on a Track on the fly?
I use Maschine for my Live Set, and I can switch directly between different Patterns in a Group.
Is there a way in the MPC, to switch between different Patterns (or Midi Files) similar to the Maschine?

Greetings, Pete


I suggest you download MPC Beats (which is free) and try for yourself because that's exactly how the hardware works (minus the max number of tracks, available effects and plugins...) so you'll figure out exactly right away whether it's equivalent to Maschine.... or not..

https://www.akaipro.com/mpc-beats
By Permernent Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:22 am
elstebbano wrote:Just go to track mutes..

edit: maybe I go in detail a bit more^^ you can assign mute groups (but don't have to) in the track mute page and the play you different variations there..



Thanks for the quick reply, unfortunately Track Mute isn't what I want. I would like to be able to switch between different midi sequences.
By Permernent Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:35 am
mpc_fan_2022 wrote:
Permernent wrote:Hello,
I am considering buying an MPC One.
Is it possible to switch between different Patterns of a Group, or on MPC on a Track on the fly?
I use Maschine for my Live Set, and I can switch directly between different Patterns in a Group.
Is there a way in the MPC, to switch between different Patterns (or Midi Files) similar to the Maschine?

Greetings, Pete


I suggest you download MPC Beats (which is free) and try for yourself because that's exactly how the hardware works (minus the max number of tracks, available effects and plugins...) so you'll figure out exactly right away whether it's equivalent to Maschine.... or not..

https://www.akaipro.com/mpc-beats



Thanks for the tip, I've already tried the "MPC Beats" but I can't get any further with it either.
I've watched quite a few videos about the MPC workflow and I think it's pretty clever too. But I can hardly imagine that there is no way to change only the midi pattern of a track.
By ivato Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:46 am
the Next Seq mode is the closest mode to what you are looking for I think.
In this mode, each pad is a sequence. you can go from one sequence to another by selecting the next one on that screen.

The song mode is on the same screen, it is a simple automation of that sequence switching : 3 times seq A then 1 time seq B then 16 times seq C and so on …

You can see it in action here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmS5VzpjxoU
By mpc_fan_2022 Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:54 am
Permernent wrote:

Thanks for the tip, I've already tried the "MPC Beats" but I can't get any further with it either.
I've watched quite a few videos about the MPC workflow and I think it's pretty clever too. But I can hardly imagine that there is no way to change only the midi pattern of a track.


Well MPC hardware has the exact same organisation as MPC Beats, so anything you can't do on MPC Beats regarding sequences, you will not be able to do that on the hardware either. It's as simple as that.

That system hasn't changed since the MPC2000 25 years ago.
By dwah Mon Mar 20, 2023 11:24 am
Permernent wrote:Hello,
I am considering buying an MPC One.
Is it possible to switch between different Patterns of a Group, or on MPC on a Track on the fly?
I use Maschine for my Live Set, and I can switch directly between different Patterns in a Group.
Is there a way in the MPC, to switch between different Patterns (or Midi Files) similar to the Maschine?

Greetings, Pete


I am having the same issue, I have used Machine where each track can have 16 patterns, so it's easy to flip to a new blank pattern and improve something and then flip back to the main riff afterwards. I am finding it a bit off a show stopper tbh. Swapping sequences seems to clunky because I am sending midi to 4 hard ware synths from 4 midi tracks so I'd need 8 different sequences to have a one blank track and one recorded track for each synth. And if I decided I wanted a new blank pattern on the fly I'd need to create a new track and sequence. The MPC seems good if everything is mapped out in advance but I work more improvisationaly. Just wondering if you'd got anywhere with this?

All the best
Dave
User avatar
By hyena Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:25 pm
well, the track mutes tip was actually spot on.
on the mpc you switch sequences on the Next Seq menu, ok? but a sequence is made of all tracks, you cannot switch a sequence JUST for the bassline or JUST for the drums, you have to switch entirely all tracks.
that's where track mutes and the mpc routing helps you:
inside a single sequence you can program different tracks with the same program assigned, for example, you can make a track for your bassline, then mute it, go to a different track , assign the same bass program and write another bassline. then playing with mutes\unmutes you CAN switch just the midi pattern for the bassline WITHOUT switching the entire SEQUENCE, hear me? so, you can use this trick inside a single sequence, and switch sequence just when you want to change everything at once (a bit like using clips vs scenes in ableton live).
that's what i do in my livesets with the mpc. i almost always have multiple tracks for drums , multiple tracks for melodies and basslines, and use those track mutes to spice things up and have variations before moving to a new sequence and starting it all over again.
By dwah Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:45 pm
Yeah I have been messing about with that way of working, feels a bit clunky when I wish to pull up a blank pattern and improvise something new in the fly. Have to make a new track etc...I guess I could take a track page and pre arrange 4 coloums of tracks, 1 coloum for each of the 4 synths. Or 2 pages of tracks even. That'd be 32 tracks given that more than 4 patterns per synth is common. Complexity! Tjanks for the reply
By SuperKonquer Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:43 pm
MAYBE we'll see midi clips in MPC 3.0. Akai Force has had them since inception so we know it's possible for the MPC OS to have independent play heads per track.

As a workaround, have multiple midi tracks using the same program and create mute groups so that you can play around with switching which SINGLE midi track is un-muted. That works if you are looking more for a legato mode style of switching. If you are looking for a play from the start mode you'll need to use audio clips or a drum program. You could also play with where the first note of each midi track is so you can pseudo play from the start when switching. I don't know how well that'll work I'm just theory crafting but I do know it's possible.
By HouseWithoutMouse Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:59 am
dwah wrote: I wish to pull up a blank pattern and improvise something new in the fly.


Akai Force is your product, not MPC. Improvising the song structure on the fly, creating new pattern variations, replacing old variations with new ones, and switching between variations, that's Force. In the current MPC version, you'll have to stop the flow a lot, as you've already found out.
By kazakore Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:15 am
SuperKonquer wrote:
As a workaround, have multiple midi tracks using the same program and create mute groups so that you can play around with switching which SINGLE midi track is un-muted.


How do you get Track Mute Groups to do this? This is expected and wanted behaviour for me but when I put multiple tracks into a Mute Group they all mute or unmute together, instead of work as an excludive mute group like I would expect.

(For Pad Mute Groups I can see an argument for this style of grouping, and both types have some use, but for track muting you really want exclusive groups.)
By PhatBob Fri Mar 24, 2023 5:59 am
hyena wrote:that's where track mutes and the mpc routing helps you:
inside a single sequence you can program different tracks with the same program assigned, for example, you can make a track for your bassline, then mute it, go to a different track , assign the same bass program and write another bassline. then playing with mutes\unmutes you CAN switch just the midi pattern for the bassline WITHOUT switching the entire SEQUENCE, hear me? so, you can use this trick inside a single sequence, and switch sequence just when you want to change everything at once (a bit like using clips vs scenes in ableton live).
that's what i do in my livesets with the mpc. i almost always have multiple tracks for drums , multiple tracks for melodies and basslines, and use those track mutes to spice things up and have variations before moving to a new sequence and starting it all over again.


This is exactly what I do, and I would recommend for live situations.
But it could be so nice to be able to be able to use Time Correct when using Mutes! And so basic and easy to implement. Having Mutes associated Tracks and not the Program would be nice as well....
In the same idea of live playing, one of my wishes would be to be able to use Next Sequence in a more “musical” way: not to have the next sequence starting from the start, but from the position of the previous one (when using Next Bar or Sudent)