sequencing rhythmic samples

thanks for the tips. first of all, i've been doing this for years using just my ears, so don't jump on me about being lazy. the beat calculation method works, but i actually think it's quicker to tap in a rough tempo and then fine tune it until it loops just right. as for editing in the mpc...god damn, i don't know how people do it so easily. as far as i'm concerned, you can't see SH*T with that little screen. give me cool edit for chopping/looping any day. guess that's why i went with the mpc1000 in the first place though, so i'm not worried. i agree that recycle is easy, but not the best approach. i'm definitely a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff, so i don't like handing the control over to a program like recycle.

as far as silence at the end of the loops: i'm still unsure about this one. at this point, i've gotten it to work without silence for some samples, but others simply don't loop well in a sequence if they are perfect loops in edit mode.