Blue Haze wrote:I read the same article concerning a raw sample based sound. He use the mpc as a multitrack along with his turntables and sampled loops and phrases into a collage through his dj mixer. That is all fine but if you are really mixing your music shadow ran it through a board at a studio onto tape and then mastered it. If you really believe it was all mixed inside a mpc 60 it is sadly a myth. Basically you can do level and some panning just like a dj mixtape (remember djs are the real beatmakers) but you will lack control of dynamics, space, and being able to correct overlapping frequencies. Correct me if I`m wrong but the MPC 60 doesn`t have filters!!! I`m a 3k owner also and I believe that it was from the 3k series on up that filters were added to the mpc series. And remember that before Shadow made entroducing he was working with the rapper Paris in a pro studio on the boards mixing and programming beats not just straight from home on an mpc.
Any mixer be it hardware or software is a essential part of recording and getting your music to the best it can be.
No doubt, a fine(!) final mix shouldn't/can't be done in the MP.
But that wasn't even the topic.
You guys talked about the arranging/sequencing in the first place. And THAT is a step, which can actually be done in an MPC - in a very comfortable manner imho.
You see i prefer sequencing and arranging in the maxed out MPC(1k that is) via Song mode (Did software sequencing in the past - never satisfied me as much). You can do this on the balcony or any other decent place and let the mood (or the doobie

) inspire you...
I play with panning/reverb etc. while sequencing or before while hammering the beat so it already sounds somewhat decent.
AFTER I'm satisfied with the whole song structure i turn off any effect/panning info etc. from every single track.
Then I (hail the 1k) resample every single dry(!) track (HiHats, Kicks, Samples balablabla...) in Song Mode and save shit as single wav samples on my 4GB CF-Card. I do so because my AD/DA converters of the audio interface aren't that tight and i dont like additional humming etc. on my tracks...
Not till then i touch the PC and import every single track into my DAW(ableton live).
Here i'm mixing, readding the (better) effects, pans etc. and finally even the vocals of the MC.
Tataa, thats my way of working, aiming to use the computer as little as possible. I'm fine with it.
Peace