explain your process of making a beat

Firstly: I just got some discs so I'm ready to make a beat and I have to admit it's not as easy as I thought.

I've read the instructions on this and as far as I understand it, I make a sequence with different instruments on different tracks.

What I don't understand I guess is how the time keeps going while you're recording, so essentially you could make a whole beat out of one sequence? I guess that would be pretty easy, but everything loops constantly...so I could make seperate sequences for different parts of the song. I record, say a 20 second sequence with two tracks for the intro. Then another sequence after that for 16 bars with 4 tracks or more, bringing in the drums and what not. A third sequence for the hook...and maybe a fourth for an outro.

Then take all the sequences and put them in order in song mode.

Let me know if I have gone astray and lost the way...but this is what I'm thinking I'll have to do.

Basically how do you do it, if you care to divulge.

Secondly: The discs I just bought are DD 720K discs, the right kind, and I formatted them in the MPC. It will save the sequence, but then when I go to load it, it says "Sorry, this file(or possibly the whole disk) contains damaged data. For safety, transfer any other good files on this disc to another disc and stop using this disc. I dunno what the deal is, maybe because the sequence is already opened?

Thirdly: I made the sequence and I can hear it while I'm playing it, but when I go back afterwards and press play I can't hear what I just made. i could hear it last night when I was messing around with it but not today.

That's all I got, if you read all or any of this and can help me, please do, thanks in advance.

Are you sure your saving the programs and not just the sequences... If you heard it last night that's prolly because the Programs were still in the drum machine...

The MPC works so that each time you shut down the machine it's internal memory is erased... If you didn't save the Program of sounds that you used along with that sequence then you'll have to re-load everything...

I don't know how familiar you are with the MPC... So don't take any of this in offense if you already know about all this... I just thought this might be what you're doing wrong...

yeah, I'm not really loading programs and all that yet.

I'm miding it with the SP505...but I just saved the sequence to disk, while the sequence was still up and everything, just to see if it would save, then once it did, I loaded it up to see if it would load and it wouldn't. I dont' know if it's because I already had it open or not.

I don't know why it won't play the sound(midi info) I just recorded on the MPC if everything is still turned on, the MPC and the 505...especially since it was doing it fine last night and I don't think I changed anything.

I'm not too good with MIDI, but the problem may lie in the 505... You may have to change some MIDI connections in the 505... Because when it powers down it may have changed something... I have the 505, but don't use it through MIDI... I know Andreas could probably help.. He syncs up his 60 and his 303

right on, so what's your process of making a beat?

I do everything on my MPC 2KXL.... Sample, chop, sequence... The whole Nine Yards...

I re-sample my drums in lo-fi Mono to my 505... Maybe add some light FX....

Record everything into my computer into Adobe Audition...

Compress, limit, EQ, and Mix it down...

Then just sit back and enjoy...

Deta!L wrote:right on, so what's your process of making a beat?

do a 2 or 4 bar loop, then cut, copy and paste bars and sequences, then go inot song mode and arrange it. then i convert the song into a long sequence, and do mutes and erases on the fly. then i track 4 channels to either pro tools or my new toy, a little Roland 880 and do edits.

These days I tend to just create one sequence after another and sample each one into Kontakt to be triggered from a different midi-note by the MPC-60 sequencer again. Then I use the 60 pads for realtime performance to add rolls, flams and shit over the top and, when I'm happy, I record the whole lot into Nuendo. I tend to find I've got way more realtime control of it all and don't have to map a whole piece out into a song in any arbitrary way.