Would love an MPC, technically ignorant- some questions!

Hello,

I'm looking to get an MPC (probs the 500, as I don't have much cash)

Basically i'd like to know wether I have the right idea of what a sampler actually does, and it's hard to get through jargon on the internet!

In my mind I want a machine that...

You can load sounds on to. Let's say I create some ambient noise, or a short synth line on my laptop. Can I then transfer that sound and trigger it live? How long can the samples be?

You can sequence the samples to trigger in order, as an acompaniment to live instruments. So i could be playing violin to a beat on my drum machine, and have the sampler add a premade synth line, then a different one underneath- without touching!

You can edit the timbre and effects on a sample while they play live

You mess around with the samples timing wise, by retriggering and phrasing

You can use the pads a la drum machine!

sorry for all the questions, but I know i would love one if they can do the above!

thanks

Harry

harryburgess99 wrote:Hello,

I'm looking to get an MPC (probs the 500, as I don't have much cash)

Basically i'd like to know wether I have the right idea of what a sampler actually does, and it's hard to get through jargon on the internet!

In my mind I want a machine that...

You can load sounds on to. Let's say I create some ambient noise, or a short synth line on my laptop. Can I then transfer that sound and trigger it live? How long can the samples be?

You can sequence the samples to trigger in order, as an acompaniment to live instruments. So i could be playing violin to a beat on my drum machine, and have the sampler add a premade synth line, then a different one underneath- without touching!

You can edit the timbre and effects on a sample while they play live

You mess around with the samples timing wise, by retriggering and phrasing

You can use the pads a la drum machine!

sorry for all the questions, but I know i would love one if they can do the above!

thanks

Harry

with an mpc, you can load .wav files from the memory card or you can use the line in's to record from any sound source. Then you can push a button to make that sound go off when ever you want!

it's pretty simple. and as for "how long" the sample can be ... it depends on how much memory you have installed in the machine.

Thanks!

But as always more questions have arisen since I posted! (sorry)

So can I sequence when those sounds go off, so I don't have to trigger each pad individually?

Can a sample via the line in live? Kind of like looping?

Will the 128mb maximum flash be enough?

Thanks and sorry again!

The 128mn RAM for the MPC500 is the max you can put, and yea it should more than be enough for use.

And you sequence you're samples however you want, and it will play back how you want it to. There's different settings, effects, tools, etc. that this little thing has. It's best you cop it and read the manual thoroughly as you're trying along the things you read. I learned a lot like that. Now I'm workin on building up a nice drum library and searching for good samples.

Awesome cheers.

What does it mean that it has no pattern play? Is that same as saying.... pad A triggers 4 times then pad B 2 times and finaly pad C. Or can it do that?

Also, is this a suitable peice of kit for musical and not percussive samples. I'll be using percussive ones too, but I have a drum machine for that. I'd be more interested in using synth and instrument loops... a la animal collective.

You play the pattern however you want. It's like an instrument in itself. There's also ways to insert pads at any given point in a sequence or change 'em or whatever. But yeah.... I think you'll be satisfied with the purchase. I'm new to it still and I like it. It's useful. It can run on batteries lol. I haven't tried that yet tho. But yea.

I wouldn't mind a 1000 though... especially finding out about JJOS. But eh, I'll just work with AKAI for now.

oh, and yeah. You can place pretty much whatever sound you want to whatever pad. So other instruments can work too. There's some stock sounds that come with the flash card when u get one new. You can see real quick about trying strings and other instruments with the pad. But you obviously know you should go and get other audio to use.

But yea, MIDI is another way to go to and u could control instruments in programs like Pro Tools and play them out using the pads. The 500 only has 12 pads while the other MPCs have 16. So you get 16 lest to work with (from combined 4 diff sound banks) which means 16 less notes of the full spectrum. One negative of having 12 pads instead of 16. I haven't experimented with this too much tho. I've just used MIDI for syncing between Pro Tools and my 500. >_<

Thanks for all the help guys. I've spent ages scouring reviews and band equipment lists.

The MPC looks great and sounds like it'll deliver the majority of what i need, and more.... but it's quite exepensive.

The other options are either rolands sp-303 or sp-404. I realise they are relatively similar in price to an MPC. But they they come up on ebay for pretty reduced prices.

The other two sound like they would deliver what I want too, the MPC can just give more. It's wether i'll need the more...

Tie breaker.... Can the MPC500 serve the purpose of a live loop pedal. i.e - could i put a mic/guitar input into the machine and create a sample live in the middle of a song? play a guitar line into the MPC and have it repeat it back to me?

Thanks...

I promise i'll shut up and buy one soon.

harryburgess99 wrote:Thanks for all the help guys. I've spent ages scouring reviews and band equipment lists.

The MPC looks great and sounds like it'll deliver the majority of what i need, and more.... but it's quite exepensive.

The other options are either rolands sp-303 or sp-404. I realise they are relatively similar in price to an MPC. But they they come up on ebay for pretty reduced prices.

The other two sound like they would deliver what I want too, the MPC can just give more. It's wether i'll need the more...

Tie breaker.... Can the MPC500 serve the purpose of a live loop pedal. i.e - could i put a mic/guitar input into the machine and create a sample live in the middle of a song? play a guitar line into the MPC and have it repeat it back to me?

Thanks...

I promise i'll shut up and buy one soon.

no, the mpc is not a live loop pedal.

basically here is what an mpc does. you use the machine to record a sound through the line in's or you load one up with the memory card. You assign it to a pad of your choice so that when you push that pad... it plays that sound. now you set the BPM (tempo) of your song on the mpc... now you push record and tap in the correct pads in the correct order.... when you push play it plays back what ever you did.

harryburgess99: Akai has a dedicated product for live loop playback. It's called Headrush. Check it out here: http://www.akaipro.com/e2headrush , perhaps it better suits your purposes. And it is way cheaper than MPC.