My loops are clicking, need explanation of zero points

Im new too the mpc 2000xl, and my loops are clicking, i have tried the decay and attack trick, but i think my points are off, i have searched every single site and used all the tutorials.

Some people say i need to zoom in better, and make sure im looping at the "zero points" can somebody help me gather this concept, and get me looping without these clicks!!! I was thinking if i put some silence on the end of the sample that might help, but i guess i need to know why its actually clicking

What's what PW.

Get to the whole concept of zero-crossover looping in a sec.

Zooming on the MPC is trash. The screen and software cannot accomidate the level of detail needed for true zero crossover looping. Do it in software or approximate it mostly by ear and minimalist visuals on the MPC, both work fine for most applications.

Now.

Zero point crossover looping is based on the visual interpretation of waveforms. It relates to the imaginary "zero line" that runs through the center of any given waveform. You've seen them in any wave editor, including the one on the MPC. The idea is that if the end and start points of the loop match up end to end, meaning one is exactly crossing over the zero line from beneath and one from above, the sound will flow better.

This is not always the case but it does tend to cancel out clicks to some extent. Try it in a software editor where you can zoom in to your heart's content.

Another thing I've discovered is that if you advance the To point of an MPC loop just a few clicks in, it eliminates clicks that you can't otherwise figure out the reason for. Dunno why, but it tends to work.

Peace,
-thynctank

Ok i have seen that, and i guess i can try to figure it out, right now im just strictly on the mpc, i dont have a good comp to do all that, i might in the future but i want to learn how to do it without soft, old school way. But thanks for that, so now i can know wut to look for when im looping.

I think i need to choose better loops, i was playin with it last night, and in the graphic, i looked for a small blank space towards the end of the loop, and one towards the beggining to make the start and end points, and when it looped there wasnt a click...... so i looped it on the silent spots in the sample, which is coo for now, so i can look for a sample that has a lil space at the end, a lil silence then loop it there, but at the same time all loops wont have that , so i guess thats when i need to use the zero crossing.

but im learning, im learning

If you're looping beats or whole measures of something, it might be better to trigger the sample manually in your sequence with the pad instead of using the loop function. Then adjust the 'attack' envelope of your sample to '1' or '2' - most of the time that will kill any clicks when your sample re-triggers.
(ps- make sure that the pad is set to 'mono')

Thats funny because i was thinking bout doing that, it will be more control on my part, and as long as it comes out sounding the same or hotter, nobody knows, all that matters is how it comes out right, but yeah i might try doing that method, and later i think im gonna get this wavelab and sonar for free, so if i really need to loop i will use that, i wanna be versatile anywayz so i can get the result using soft, or just the mpc. Thanks for the input

itchy, you hit it on the head, man. I was so effin frustrated when I first started messing with loops on the MPC because of this click that I couldn't kill. I never would've thought to mess with the attack but I think I did it by accident one day, and have been using this 1 or 2 click attack fix every time since.

Hadn't seen anyone else mention it before and wanted to say thanks for spreading the word to someone in need.

-tank

I like the technique of triggering the loop manually useing the mono setting on the pads, more control...... EXCEPT, when i press stop, or the sequence changes, the entire sample will play at the end instead of cutting off when it loops. Like say if the sample is a 2 bar sample, but im just retriggering after 1 bar, then when the sequence changes instead of that sample cutting off, it plays out the whole 2 bars and messed up the song.......... king of like when ur just playing a sequence and u press stop and u might here that sample still play..

How do i stop this!!!!!!

Copy the sample and trim it down to only the segment you want played.

If need be you can use both the original and the trimmed version in a single sequence, just replace the "trailing off" copy with the trimmed one, and there will be no problem. Be sure to add decay to cover up any inconsistency in sound.

-thynctank

always retrigger- keeps the loop tighter, pad must be set to mono- plus doing it this way allows you to pull the 'prodigy trick', resequencing the loop into a new rhythm- a classic example being a trigger on the first beat and another trigger between beats 3 and 4- for use with any old hiphop/breakbeat

greg