The "Tips and Tricks" thread

when you've identified a particular part of the song you wanna sample...say 10 - 15 seconds..record it into the mpc. Then, depending on how much memory and what not you've got..take the needle and arbitrarily place it in different tracks of that 10 - 15 second interval. You may hear some crazy ass chops you miss when you listen to the sample all the way through. Record that into the MPC and play it back. May even try recording a set of 4 of these..doesn't hurt to try. It helps you brainstorm.

I'm sure someones already brought this glitch to the table but it's sorta neat. You can have the MPC loop without recording to a sequence.

1.) Assign a looped sample to a particular pad (note off) must be selected (don't really have a choice if it's a looped sample)

2.) In program mode press down the pad assigned to that looped sample.

3.) While the sample is looping execute program mode again to where it allows you to select a different program

4.) Select that drum program

5.) Release looped sample

The MPC will automatically loop the sample without having to use the sequencer. You can tap other pads w/ assigned samples. If you want to cancel it out..just go to trim mode.

Smoove03 wrote:if any of your chops begin with a kick, set Attack between 8-12 (depending on how loud the kick is)

if any of them begin with a snare, set attack between 8-10 (depending on how loud the snare is)

that way when you program your own drums over the chops, the original drums wont interfere as much! simple but it works great!

------------------

if you find a drum break you like that may fit the sample you're using, try running the break through a lo cut filter and cut out the low freqs. this is going to get rid of the thump in the kick drum. you'll still be able to hear where the kicks are, but it wont THUMP. all that should be left is the nice rolling hats and snare drum (and hopefully the snare is faint!)

now you can program your OWN drums right over the break and possibly use those nice rolling hihats to spice up your own drums! then build from there!

Thats a great tip. I use that everyday since i read your post.

I wonder if there is a list or something where you can look up any tip if you are still getting to know your mpc? I have had the Mpc 1000 for about 2-3 months and i probably just know the basics and maybe a little more and i am in serious need of a "tip-list".

Tips just like the one i quoted. Its a real pain going through all the pages in this thread.

I´m sorry if i have not spelled something right. I do not speak english.

/F.

hejdaman wrote:Its a real pain going through all the pages in this thread.

So you want to be handed tips on a plate.

There are thousands of tips in these forums.

FIND THEM, READ THEM, OR DON'T BOTHER IF DOING SO IS TOO MUCH WORK.

this is definitely fun!!

olavi3000 wrote:I've been re-doing beats for years, but just recently I understood the power of it.

1. Start doing a beat and continue to the point where you cant add any new instruments or samples or whatever. Stop right there. Do not try to finish it! Do not start recording or mixing or anything.

2. Save it. Then write some notes about it, like how you felt when you made it and why it is not complete yet.

3. Continue doing another beat or go to a lunch or what ever.

4. Next time you're starting your MPC or PC or whatever, start reading your notes and find a beat which matches your mood best. You can also try different route and load a beat which matches your mood worst.

5. This is where the magic happens! You hear the beat as it's not yours! If you don't force anything on the 1.point, you kinda start to find out whats wrong and what is working on more objective level. Adding more stuff, changing samples or removing parts comes easier cause are not forced to work with samples you started with. At this point, it's all about the idea instead of "dope samples" or "banging drums".

You can continue writing notes and coming back to the project later, or you can just finish it if you feel like it.

Just recently I made probably 2 of my all time best beats by using this method. If I listen my old beats I realize that I've tried to do a nice beat in only 30-90 minutes. I can hear it from my own stuff, and I think everyone else can hear it to from their own projects too. Using a 2-4 weeks for a beat is totally different than doing it in one night.

I don't mean you shouldn't do the whole beat if you feel like it. This is just a tip you can use, if you lost your idea or you're forcing too much.

TIP: Analog Phase

-When looping a break on the MPC, also loop it using the turntable. The results are a favorable analog phase that can be manipulated in real time via the turntable.

instant loops: the idea is to loop a very tiny portion of a sampled note and loop that,
so you´re will be able to play it as long as you want to.
(on the 2500)
1. sample a bass note ->TRIM mode: adjust the start plus end point and truncate
2. go to the loop screen -> set the start ca. at the last 7/8 portion of the
sampled note (the tail) -> open window (watch at the sample after hittin LOG (switchin
to LIN)you have to search for identic wave cycles. loop a little section of 1 maybe 5 or 9
of them, whatever sounds best) on pad 13 you can play that portion looped, so check
if it sounds clean or not. If not you have to adjust the st&end point carefully again!

3. hit window again and turn loop to on plus lock the belt between the st&end points.
Back at the trim screen set the start point (only) to zero.
4. assign this sample to a pad and hit window to change from "one shot" to "note on"
5. Hit the pad and the bass will sound as long as you hold it.

combined with the 16th level function and different decay settings your be able to create dope basslines, weird tones for the background etc.
Bad English?sorry not my mother´s language!peace

another little tipp: use the build in compressor for your drums & basslines
search google for right settings and only use them to experiment but you will be able to change a weak snare to a headknock

you chopped that drumbreak???and you are really in love with the snare???but it ends too abrupt???
I load the snare to cool edit and create a copy of it -> reverse the copy and copy it -> then i go back to the original one and copy the reversed snare at the end of the normal snare -> now it looks like a bow tie. When you now marker the unreversed snare and also a bit of the reversed one you can truncate it. when you play it again it should´nt have that abrupt ending, but you can do this again 2 or 3 times till it ends as smooth as you want it to!

I´ve learned a lot in here, hope this might helps somebody.

here's one

do your digging/sampling separate from your beatmaking.. when you sit down to make a beat its nice to already have 10 jams ready to go.. keeps the juices flowing

olavi3000 wrote:I've been re-doing beats for years, but just recently I understood the power of it.

1. Start doing a beat and continue to the point where you cant add any new instruments or samples or whatever. Stop right there. Do not try to finish it! Do not start recording or mixing or anything.

2. Save it. Then write some notes about it, like how you felt when you made it and why it is not complete yet.

3. Continue doing another beat or go to a lunch or what ever.

4. Next time you're starting your MPC or PC or whatever, start reading your notes and find a beat which matches your mood best. You can also try different route and load a beat which matches your mood worst.

5. This is where the magic happens! You hear the beat as it's not yours! If you don't force anything on the 1.point, you kinda start to find out whats wrong and what is working on more objective level. Adding more stuff, changing samples or removing parts comes easier cause are not forced to work with samples you started with. At this point, it's all about the idea instead of "dope samples" or "banging drums".

You can continue writing notes and coming back to the project later, or you can just finish it if you feel like it.

Just recently I made probably 2 of my all time best beats by using this method. If I listen my old beats I realize that I've tried to do a nice beat in only 30-90 minutes. I can hear it from my own stuff, and I think everyone else can hear it to from their own projects too. Using a 2-4 weeks for a beat is totally different than doing it in one night.

I don't mean you shouldn't do the whole beat if you feel like it. This is just a tip you can use, if you lost your idea or you're forcing too much.

Definitely good stuff right here.

es-k wrote:here's one

do your digging/sampling separate from your beatmaking.. when you sit down to make a beat its nice to already have 10 jams ready to go.. keeps the juices flowing

Nice!!

es-k wrote:here's one

do your digging/sampling separate from your beatmaking.. when you sit down to make a beat its nice to already have 10 jams ready to go.. keeps the juices flowing

This tip right here is a gem. Focusing on just the sampling aspect really let's you do just that...FOCUS. There's no rush to jump into the beatmaking and this IMO frees up the mind and allows you to spending good, quality time LISTENING and selecting good samples .

es-k wrote:here's one

do your digging/sampling separate from your beatmaking.. when you sit down to make a beat its nice to already have 10 jams ready to go.. keeps the juices flowing

co-sign. I used to take a sample and then try make a beat of it straight away. I found myself forcing things way too much. Or even making compromises. And THAT really shouldn't be...

Holy shit ! Your are awsome. Thanks a lot for all your tips.
Im making beats since 5 years or so and now started on the mpc500... You all inspired me very much!
Hope this thread will never die

takkin wrote:Thought i'd post this here, not really a trick just something i only thought of doing the other day.

I was listening to some beats by a French producer called Dela whos drums are perfect sounding, he uses an MPC 3000, but i use a 2kxl.
I noticed his kicks (which are all sampled) are deep and sound lowpassed, but still have a nice loud snap/attack (like a 808 kick).

I mucked about with the filter settings in my MPC on a kick, lowpassing it to about 30, if you set the filter envelopes attack to zero then set the release/decay to the point where it just lets the high frequency attack through before the lowpass filter kicks in, it gives it a really nice clean sound, and adds more definition as it removes the air and vinyl noise from said kick while retaining the all important attack.
Thought someone might get some use outta that.

Dela is a beast on the production!!! Really like how his drum kits sounds, for sure I'm going to try this tonight.
I really need to find this guy Dela, he lives in my town