My turn with midi...(syncing sp505 w/ MPC 60)

elmacaco and andreas I need your help brothers...I've got the time and patience to get this thing right tonight and I need your help.

I have midi cables and I have the midi out of the mpc going into the midi in of the sp505. I have both of the units on their midi screens and that's where I'm stuck.

I hope you guys are log on tonight or maybe someone else with personal experience could holler at me. thanks in advance

Did you read the manuals for both?

Read the 60 part especially, about sequencing external modules.

yes I read the manuals...I have them synced up where if I press play on the MPC it plays the pattern I made in sp505 but that's not what I want it to do...I want it to trigger samples in the sp505 and I'm a bit confused, that's why I figured DJ Andreas could drop some knowledge on me since it's a similar situation...thanks!

okay, I have it trigerring sounds right now...don't know how I did it, but how do I specify which pads to trigger which samples? right now it's just using the general midi numbers I think

double post

I'm curious about this too... Cause I wanna sync up my SP-505 to my 2000XL

See, you could do it!!

Well, if you don't use GM format for anything else like controlling drum kits from modules, I suggest you remap the 60's midi note number assignments to a sequential layout and make that the master. It's in the midi menu.

Then the pads on the MP should correspond better to the SP's, which if memory serves me, has a sequential midi note number layout.

The key to using the 60 with external modules is to turn midi local mode off, set the sequence to the midi channel of the 505, and leave the track set to drum, the pads should play the samples from the 505. I am not sure how you would set up the samples on the 505 to the pads of the 60, so you're on your own with that, but what you want to do is sequence your part in that track, then stop the sequence and change the track to midi or you'll get the internal 60 drum sounds playing as well. (not valid on the XL, it seems they thought people would use the 60 to sequence like this with no samples loaded, probably my only beef with the 60, but it's a small beef) Then set up a new track the same way if you want more 505 samples in there.

I would sequence only from the MPC, and just leave the 505 not playing personally.

My only beef wit AKai in General is: How are you gonna make something called the "MIDI Production Center" that is not set-up in sequential order, which is important for MIDI Sequencing... Biggest flaw by far...

It's part of the midi drum map included in the specs, that's why, it used to be more important than it is now.

Yea it still sucks that I have to load a .PGM that I titled Recycle every time I want my pads in Sequential order on my 2000XL

You don't have to, go to the page where you can change them (in the midi menu it should be) and change them to sequential, then set that to master, everytime you make a new program it will be default.

I wish the MPC editor could load programs like that, in sequential order, I haven't figured it out and sometimes I make the pgm's on the PC.

done deal, so when I change it in the master to sequential, after I cut the machine off it will still be set like that?

if so, that's pretty cool

damn, I have them sequentially setup, but after the first pad bank I run out of sounds that I can control on the MPC.

DJ Andreas you have to chime in here man, how do I assign midi notes to specific pads in the SP? I'm dying! I need to get this joint out ASAP

Nah son, don't change the assignments on the SP, just make the MPC sequential and change that to master, then your SP sounds should be on consecutive pads (I don't think we went through that did we Andreas?)
Just find out what pads correspond where from the sp, so play a sp sample on pad 1 of the sp, then see what pad on the mpc plays it, write it down, then play pad 2, going through all 4 banks in the SP. Since you only get 4 banks of 8, you should only have 2 banks on the MPC that trigger samples in the SP.

Look in the SP manual, I believe it has the keyboard range of the pads in a graphic near the beginning.

I just talked to a Roland/Boss support person and they say that I have to "send" a program change to the SP505...I was like I think I have it set up that way, and they were like "well, you probably have it set up to recieve program changes" and I'm like...I do and they're like well find out how you send program changes from the MPC and use the corresponding program change numbers in the back of the instruction book...


Soooo, anyone know how to send program changes?