By
FAMOS!
Wed May 05, 2010 4:35 pm
All great advice so far. Combining synth racks, beat/loop machines, plugins with a DAW help to conserve CPU. My DAW choice is Cubase 5 soon to be Cubase 5.5, which I'm surprised no one has mentioned. I have not dug deep into C5's MIDI capability yet, but after some tutorials, I can see it working along side my MPC1 as a MIDI/sampling sequencing companion or one day replacing my beloved MPC1 as the main brain of my set up. It's much more visual in programming, easier organization and recalling presets. Trust me, I am NOT a computer or software guy, but Cubase 5 has expanded my creativity and helped me integrate my entire setup which includes: MPC1000 jj2XL, MOOG Voyager, Motif Rack XS, Roland XP50, Novation Nova II, KORG Karma, microKORG & microKORG XL.
I started with Cubase AI4 that came with my Motif Rack XS and immediately upgraded when I got the money for Cubase 5. It may be somewhat difficult, but if you stick with it, it's so rewarding. It's not just press record and edit - it's so feature packed, you choose which method works best for you and you will spark creativity beyond what you thought you were capabale of! Lastly, I actually understand my MPC1 more because some of the features are so visual on C5 that are similar but not visual on the MPC thus making my MPC more fun to work with, which is the point!!