The "Tips and Tricks" thread

sometimes when im working on basslines, ill have a few cool samples but not a full set, so say i have one sample that plays an a then a d and another that just has a long d, well maybe ill just use those two but switch them both into 16 bars at one point, and you can mess around and make it so it seems like you have 32 samples, not 2...feel me?

EDIT: oh ya, set 16 bars on tone, not velocity

I just made a post for this, but I want to put it here too:

MPC controls modular and analog gear with sampled control voltage!

I tested the following:
3 octave range (volts per octave)
V-trigger gate
Various sampled lfo's, noise, etc.
Audio rate FM
Clock pulse


Wasn't sure (and still am not) if the mpc 2500 had DC coupled outputs, so I was kind of afraid to try this but just said **** it.

For those that haven't seen Motu's upcoming Volta plug-in, this is what's going on: http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/01/1 ... aphically/

Motu interfaces have DC coupled outputs, meaning they allow a positive voltage to pass through them and control cv analog gear. Folks have been doing this for a while, but I thought it would be nice to be able to without a computer and interface.

This means:

No need for a midi/cv convertor
Project synced LFO's and CV automation (provided the CV samples are at your project tempo or you speed them up/ slow them down in the mpc's program screen.
Clock sync and divisions (tapped out by hand on the pads, using note repeat or by recording the pulses as a sequence).
Lots and lots of other really really cool ****!!!

Menco wrote:Use the slider and 16 levels on programming drums. Listen to a real drummer, for example the snare. Not a single snareshot has the same pitch, brightness and velocity.
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or mess around with the aftertouch in the pitch screen in programm mode. set ur snare to note on and give it some release. gives a good feel

I posted this some time ago, but still usefull .. atleast i hope

(based on mpc1000)
1. chop your loop so it loops right
2. press chop or make regions according to the lengt of your loop..
3. chop on the kick and snare of the loop(hats don't matter)
4. make a new program with your chops
5. go to main
6. press first chop on lets say a1
7. go to trim mode
8. now, edit your start point and try to exclude the begin of the snare or kick in a way that you won't hear much of the kick or snare back, do this for al of your chops with kicks and snare's in and optionally also with the hats... this can be hard to doo differing in the samples you take and how busy the drums are.. if you got lots of reverb on the drums then it's gonna be difficult.. anyway, you got to be creative!

it will always differ from the sample you take but this method could work(it does sometimes.. for me).. also try to tune down your whole program with -01.00 or -02.00 to make it sound better on the beat because you will chop some spaces away wich may cause to get unwanted ending of chops before the next chop starts..

another tip(based on mpc 1000 jj os!):

let's say you have a program with a chopped sample. tuned to -03.00.

- Copy the program
- Tune that program with + 12. So the tune in this case should be +09.00
- You could set the program on note on, depending on how long your chopped samples are.
- Now play it with your current sequence, you can make nice little additions in your sequence. You can also try filtering the whole program or try to make an nice LFO effect.

This wil give you some fill ups in your beats, extra sounds, to make it more interessting!

Good luck

this thread is great. thanks for everyones tips n tricks...

Had 3 different 808-Hihat-Samples put on one pad, into seperate velocity-zones. That's one closed hh, one medium and one open hh obviously but all have a different tone as well. Velo-sensitivity set to 80-100 and volumes adjusted and you are ready for tap-repeating. Playing with the velocities in grid-edit also creates nice and unexpected patterns. Ah and try to set the pad to mono to cut off those open hats.

DennisFromHamburg wrote:Had 3 different 808-Hihat-Samples put on one pad, into seperate velocity-zones. That's one closed hh, one medium and one open hh obviously but all have a different tone as well. Velo-sensitivity set to 80-100 and volumes adjusted and you are ready for tap-repeating. Playing with the velocities in grid-edit also creates nice and unexpected patterns. Ah and try to set the pad to mono to cut off those open hats.

That's a good one - must try it when I gets home.

Here is a simple tip I picked up to quickly record drum rolls/fills from a 4 bar sequence.

1) Program a 4/8 bar sequence
2) Copy that sequence
3) Select the Loop On option and press Window
4) Set the loop to play back only the last bar
5) Record your fill/drum roll, keep recording till happy
6) Copy your initial sequence again
7) Repeat the process to create a different fill

I find that repeated recording of just the fill part gets you 'in the feel' and after a few minutes you will have a few multiple sequences with different rolls/fills.

best thread ever. i'll be making even better beats by the end of this year than what i have now.


thanks to this community.

we have to repeat this one : sample ur own sounds... if u have enough ressources to mic a drum from a friend of u or something like that... ull end up with some REALLY dope sounds.. often doper then those iwannabearealhiphopproducerandfeellikeimfromthestreetseventhomymamapaysmygear.com soundbanks... and spend time ORGANIZING ur samples ...

1

ps : this doesnt mean sounds from packs are not good.

Someone posted earlier about "manual" chorus in a sound editor but I've got a similar technique for chops on the MPC.

Basically if I have a track with pretty much any sequenced notes on it I'll copy that whole track, go to the next track and paste the second track slightly later (or earlier) than the previous track was.

Simpler than it sounds.
If track one's a simple drum beat:
K---S--k---K--S---

Then the seconded track would be
-K---S--k---K--S--

And you could do a third
--K---S--k---K--S-
off into infinity.

Then I'll mute all but the "root" while playing the sequence, go into Track Mute mode and play with layering my "chorused" tracks. You can get stutter effects, cheap "echoes" or a vinyl "beat-juggling" sound out of it. It's an easy way to add hella variety to a simple loop.

One more step on top of that is Basically taking your root sequence
K---S--k---K--S---

And replaying it with the note repeat so it's like
KkkkSsskkkkKkkSsss

And then track muting that one in/out. Works well if you fade off the velocity of the hits.
So those first few kicks might be 127,90,60,30. Depending on your resolution (or if you're using the double BPM trick) this one's an easy way to get some glitchy stutter effects.

Only thing you might run into there is maxing out the allowable notes per sequence if the rest of your song is complex. Season to taste.

i want to add something to the "record your own samples"

almost everything can produce sound. just take a piece of paper and rip it apart, take a pan from the kitchen with a wooden spoon and hit the pan, ask your girl to come around and twist her nipples , take an empty beerbottle and blow into the bottle, snap your fingers, clap your hands, crap you pants, whatever.
you can use almost anything to make crazy sounds. from percussion to whatever. of just grab some random stuff and go nuts.
you can make complete beats using random objects of use them to add little details.
i like to use a half-empty box of sweetners as a shaker.

also try to experiment with how to record. stand close to the mic or 2 meters from it.

a bag of pop rocks inside a pack of smokes makes a mad shaker. variate between open and closed pack while shaking for a true analogue filter.