Ok now here's a CHALLENGE !!!

Hello my MPC comrades!

The challenge is this one:
What would be the most efficient and profitable configuation for a home studio with the following items?
(This is all i got at home.... I'm So lost!!! Don't know how to get te best out of everything)

Hardware: MPC 1000, MiniaK synth, MPC 5000, MPK 49 midi controller. Edirol FA. Laptop MacBook pro and Imac desktop.
Software: reason 4, recycle2.1, ableton 8 and Logic studio.

I'm into hip hop and r&b mainly but always open to lots of other styles. So as you might figure out, i love sampling, chopping etc...
I d' like to be able to have everything interrelated following an order and get te best out of both (hardware and software) worlds. For example Time stretch and slice my samples on ableton, use the mpc swing and quantize Power, use thé MPC as Master and reason as slave, thé advantages of having 2 MPCs... Etc.
NOTE: One important thing is i'd love it if the MPC s could be the heart and soul of thé whole configuration.

What Would you do? How would YOU Get thé best out of this?

Thanks Comrades!! Hope i was clear enough and hope this ain't a boring thread...

midi in out the 5000 to the ak then midi out 5000 to the 1000
then id sync the 5000 to your computer no hard decisions here

you can read some manuals to see how to get all the settings in order

EDIT: i forgot rewire ableton and reason to logic DONE

First of all thanks So much for such a Quick answer. Still a few questions though:

1 when you say midi in out the 5k to ak, did you mean to the mpk49 or th miniak?
2 would you mind giving me a step by step simulated example on how would you produce a beat with a configuration like this one? Would you start chopping in ableton? What would you use one mpc for and not the other? When would you use reason? Would you send the final tracks back to any of the mpc s? If I use my mpc as a master and any of my softwares as a slave will my mpc swing and quantize work on the daw?

Thks So much!

Sorry to say but you apperently have enough money to buy all this gear and all that software but you cant even get the midi working? Then for your last questions, THATS ALL UP TO YOU, we CAN NOT tell you what the best workflow is for YOU.

Just start working around with stuff, iff I were you I would sell half the stuff yu got and focus on one item at a time. Your trying to drown yourself in gear mate.

Jim Beats wrote:Sorry to say but you apperently have enough money to buy all this gear and all that software but you cant even get the midi working?

Exactly... contract an engineer out if you don't know how to set up that mountain of gear. Then rent out your studio to make some real money.

Now Jim Beats, let me explain you a few things:

My brother died last month and me being interested in gear music and beats, inherited all his studio gear. So as you might have figured it out by now, i m not thé one who bought it. If i did or didn't havé thé money to buy it... Would you have a problem with that? Have YOU got money problems? Sort them out mate but don't make us all part of your economic and/or Life frustrations.
And I do have a workflow but i was interested in opening myself to other people's opinions... And of course i'm always open to accept that the way i work might not be the best and this i learn from other people. It's called knowledge sharing and has existed in every music tradition: blues, jazz, hip hop, house etc..,

anyways this is more or less how I work with my gear so far (as I said I just inherited most of it)

How do I  work
1 select favourite one shot samples ( drums) 
2 create mpc pad programs with those samples
3 chop and slice song samples with ableton. Create a bank of sampled songs.
4 use the mpc 5 k as my midi controller for both reason (virtual instruments and refills sequencing) and record for audio like vocals, samples out of the mpc (the mpc will have the drum sample programs and the bank of sampled songs in it's harddrive as well as its built up synthesizer and the mic for vocals going in it through a mic preamp.

5 once the arrangement of the song is chosen (in terms of which instrument, which drums, the variations are exported to ableton to create clips that I trigger till I find what arrangement is best for the whole beat whith its sections separated this using an apc 40 i dj with
6 once I chose the arrangement, send the audio to logic and record it track by track and master it, eq it etc.. Lead Vocals last
7 once this done, I send it back to my mpc 5000 and finish the last tweaks there!

So far, my mpc 1k thought of using it when travelling. 

Sorry for your loss man...

Most people come on the forums asking for help to just load samples after they've bought far more gear than they know what to do with and never even read the manual...

It sounds like you're a bit further out than just getting started for at least some of the gear. Given where it sounds like you are at I'd probably take a crack at either working the 1k or the 5k and just get used to that. From there figure out what your needs are to midi/audio up the 5k to be master to one new piece of gear at a time as you see fit.

I'm not sure anybody can really tell you how you should set your gear up though... it'll come down to what your preference is and how you work best with it. Should the 5k be your sequencer, your DAW... who knows... only you can answer these questions once you know what you want.

Good luck, keep bangin' and peace.

juan gris wrote:Now Jim Beats, let me explain you a few things:

My brother died last month and me being interested in gear music and beats, inherited all his studio gear. So as you might have figured it out by now, i m not thé one who bought it. If i did or didn't havé thé money to buy it... Would you have a problem with that? Have YOU got money problems? Sort them out mate but don't make us all part of your economic and/or Life frustrations.
And I do have a workflow but i was interested in opening myself to other people's opinions... And of course i'm always open to accept that the way i work might not be the best and this i learn from other people. It's called knowledge sharing and has existed in every music tradition: blues, jazz, hip hop, house etc..,

anyways this is more or less how I work with my gear so far (as I said I just inherited most of it)

How do I  work
1 select favourite one shot samples ( drums) 
2 create mpc pad programs with those samples
3 chop and slice song samples with ableton. Create a bank of sampled songs.
4 use the mpc 5 k as my midi controller for both reason (virtual instruments and refills sequencing) and record for audio like vocals, samples out of the mpc (the mpc will have the drum sample programs and the bank of sampled songs in it's harddrive as well as its built up synthesizer and the mic for vocals going in it through a mic preamp.

5 once the arrangement of the song is chosen (in terms of which instrument, which drums, the variations are exported to ableton to create clips that I trigger till I find what arrangement is best for the whole beat whith its sections separated this using an apc 40 i dj with
6 once I chose the arrangement, send the audio to logic and record it track by track and master it, eq it etc.. Lead Vocals last
7 once this done, I send it back to my mpc 5000 and finish the last tweaks there!

So far, my mpc 1k thought of using it when travelling. 

Well I can asure you I do not have any money problems, it is just a typical sight to see some one with loads of gear and not knowing what to do with it. Sorry for your loss, must be tough on you.

Now if I where you I would just focus on ONE thing at the time. Put the rest in the closet and let it one piece of gear come out of it each 6 months.

Jim Beats wrote:Now if I were you I would just focus on ONE thing at the time.

I'd suggest some cherry-picking first to reduce the studio components to what is actually needed.

Sell either the MPC1000 or the MPC5000, there really is no need to keep them both.
Sell the iMac. For studio work you only need one decent computer. Mac Book Pro wins the argument.
Sell the Akai Miniak, its a very limited piece of hardware. A 16 track/ channel workstation would be far more useful.
Decide which will be your main DAW, Logic or Ableton. It may be a tough choice but stick to using ONE for a good while.

If I were you that means keeping the MPC1000 or 5000 (whichever you prefer).
Getting rid of the iMac, it simply isnt as flexible as a portable MacBook for studio use.
Selling the Miniak for as much as you can get! Treat yourself to a true workstation synth (Motif, Triton etc) for your studio.
I'd go with Logic if you're mainly doing hip-hop and R&B, Ableton favours dance, trance, mash-up and remix producers.

This way you'd have both a fixed and a mobile studio solution with a great degree of flexibility.

Guys Thanks so much for your Help!
Jim i'm sorry if I got a bit edgy... I truly apologize for it.

Well I think you guys are completely right about the whole thing.... I'll try to keep things simple. Now Choosing One MPC is gonna be hard though... I like em both so much! I must say there's much more info about the 1000 everywhere. Nice tutorials everywhere, OS updates, JJ OS etc....
And..
It feels like in spite of it's size the 1k it can be much more powerful but then again i'm still not that familiar with the 5k yet.

With The 5K I do like the fact of having a slightly larger screen, few more knobs to tweak and well the posibllity of its VA Synth etc.... The swing is pretty solid. But well...The rumours of Akai not pushing its OS any further does put me off though.

Anyone out there has experienced both full on?


Thanks Again

If I were you I would sell the 5000 and buy a 2500 as it would be a great compromise
between the two, JJOS, larger pads, 8 outs.......you get the picture.
And you would still have some change.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

I wouldn't be to quick to sell either MPC just yet. Might be worth giving both a little time to feel out and see which girl really is the prettiest at the ball.

If you do decide to sell/trade the 5000 though hit me up, I'd be interested in trying to strike a deal... If the wife will let me