Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
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By tunnelno5 Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:50 am
i finally purchased my mk3 and have a good amount of vinyl i'm listening too. i'm sort of new to turntables and mixers, so i was coming to ya'll for some help..

i was curious on how to set correct levels when sampling. i noticed that the three main levels important to sample are the trim level on my mixer, the master level on my mixer, and the gain level on my mpc.

1) when my turntable 1 fader is set up on 10, what should the input level light be hitting? peaking at +6, +3, 0, or? im assuming whatever it is peaking at, should tell me where to set my trim level.

2) when i sample into the mpc and want to adjust the level of the sample in the record screen of the mpc, should i adjust using the gain on the mpc or the master level on my mixer?

good looks fam, so much music to listen to in this world, wow
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By dabmeister Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:18 pm
There's no recipe to go by to set trim levels other than the tool everybody has called "your ears".

Make whatever neccessary adjustments you need until everything sounds good and doesn't exhibit distortion.

Once you find & zero in on where things need to be, you won't need to deal with it again other than the basic nominal adjusting that's needed from time to time.
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By nogginj Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:41 pm
0 is where you want to shoot for and I'd adjust gains in order of signal flow....ie adjust mpc gain last.

Set channel gain to just barely peaking.
Set mixer master to maybe midway, maybe loud.
Start checking with MPC gain...but if you have to turn it up, try turning up the mixer level first.

Just get the hottest, but undistorted, signal into the mpc you can, and try not to boost too much there as it is amplifying a buildup of noise from the other devices. Still, it works pretty good, so don't be afraid....your ears really are the best judge.

Case in point i have plugged a piezo directly into mpc and made fine contact mic samples. I never thought that would work, but it did.