sampling/step recording questions

what up everybody i have had my mpc for some time now like 4 months and i haven't got step recording down yet, i just down know how to do it can anyone give me some advice on learning to do it, i am finding out that step recording is necessary for production, also when i sample some thing and chop it up i.e vocals, string,guitar sound and record it in a sequence it sounds choppy like when i switch form pad to pad there is like a space in the seq. when i switch from pad to pad it alsmost sound like the quantizzation is off how can i correct this?

sounds like you haven't sliced your sounds tightly enough if there is a gap when you 'switch pads'

i don't use step recording, i bang stuff in in realtime. then i go back through and add ghost notes and make some edits and fills in edit mode.

The only time I use Step record is for editing purposes and Control/Program change messages.

>"when i sample some thing and chop it up i.e vocals, string,guitar sound and record it in a sequence it sounds choppy like when i switch form pad to pad there is like a space in the seq. when i switch from pad to pad it alsmost sound like the quantizzation is off....."

Provided your samples are tightly chopped and your tempo is correct, you can use Step record to edit the duration value of the sample (if the overlap is set to Note Off). Sometimes the note isn't held long enough for a smooth transition and sometimes its held too long and either cuts off the next sample or sounds sloppy.

You could set one sample to mute the previous sample (the way you'd set up your program for the "open/close hi hat" effect). If it don't sound smooth then, you know you got chop or tempo issues to deal with.

Editing advantages with Step record:

Easily isolate events to be altered/erased. For example, if you liked your performance in real time, but there are small details you wanna change (notes played too loud things of that sort), you can adjust them there.

If you use a synth for guitar parts its useful to input pitch bend data in Step record. It sounds more realistic.

If I use the sliders on my controller keyboard to alter sound I can input values that I couldn't posibly do in real time (good way to make syth parts sound like samples).

I'ma quit ramblin... but to make a long story short. I build tracks in real time and freak 'em out in step.

sounds like quantize is ON, with a resolution that isn't tight enough for what you are trying to do.

You can also try and raise the tempo a bit.

all correct assumptions and I think that if the pads do in fact have space between transitions it is more than likely due to some more editing needing in chopping the sample as well as a faulty resolution. I have encountered this a million times over.

@ Middle:
Could you possibly PM me with a little more about this. I am all into realtime but it gets hectic, nahmean?!

If you use a synth for guitar parts its useful to input pitch bend data in Step record. It sounds more realistic.

I do the same. I'll get the initial idea down in real time and then do most of my editing and adjusting in step. it's a best of both worlds kind of thing.

I didn't think about this at the time, but try turning the auto step increment on (by goin into step edit and pressing open window). There you can also set the note duration from "as played" to the other option I forget what it was, my shits packed up.