Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By dwizzynfp Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:23 am
im used to my 1000 where i literally jus sample like a minute of whatever track im usin and slice and divide to find the actual chops i wanna use

but the 2kxl is waaaay different. this friggin zones thing is gonna take some getting used to cuz you only get 16 chops out of it

on my 1000 in some cases i have 3 banks worth of chops from the same sample

please tell me theres a better way of chopping that im not seein so far or any tips and tricks you guys use to chop would be helpful cuz i really wanna start makin some beats on the 2k but by the time i get a sample chopped up i forget what i was gonna do with it
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By Lampdog Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:31 am
You've gotten used to using up so much sample time.

Well now you gotta learn how to conserve and cherish sample time.

Don't sample 1 whole minute. Sample EXACTLY the part you want, nothing more
and remember that you max out at 32mb if your 2k/2kxl is expanded. You have alot less ram dynamically
so think CONSERVATIVELY instead of LIBERALLY (no fobe this has nothing to do with politics, lmao).
By dwizzynfp Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:53 am
not so much about the sample time as it was the freedom of chops

sometimes when i would like a sample but not exactly sure how i wanna go at it i would jus sample the whole part i like, chop it into 1/16ths and jus bang the pads until something makes sense

also sometimes there may be a beat thats done already i'll mute out the sample tracks and play out some totally different chops over the drums

i've done this a few times over the past week goin thru some old joints and ive gotten like 6 new beats jus by doin that

seems like wit the 2k, sampling only what you know youre gonna use, it kinda cuts out that possibility
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By Lampdog Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:11 am
dwizzynfp wrote:not so much about the sample time as it was the freedom of chops

Reverse that thinking because your mistaken. Chops = sample time, when an mpc is powered on EVERYTHING you work with resides in RAM and RAM is dynamic, sample time, sequences, workspace, etc. ALL your work is contained within RAM while your mpc is powered on.

I said 32mb, meaning you don't have as much freedom (sample time). Know what you want, sample only that and go at it.
It's so little sample time that you NEED to sample ONLY what you need. Know what you need, put work in, get a better ear on detail of what you need and sample only that.

You'd seriously get your feelings hurt back in the 3kle era, even more so in the sp-12 era, but how did SOOO many classic hits get made with so little ram, because those producers understood the limitations, sampled ONLY what they needed and rolled with that. ASR10 is only 16mb but MANY hits have been made soley on that machine. Now that samplers have a way bigger memory size than decades ago, people are spoiled with sample time. Some peeps go back in time as you have with mpc's and are hit with sample limitations.

You need to understand the several years technology difference between 1k and 2k/2kxl. Know what your getting into and proceed with a good understanding of that. If it bothers you to that great an extent then change machines.
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By Tha_Skywalker Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:51 am
I use to do that in FL Studio, I would get a whole minute of a sample or even an entire song and see what I can come up with. I can't say I made the best beats that way though, you would think. Believe it or not limitations are good my friend! It opens the path for more creativity.

As for tips on chopping samples, well I don't know if these would really be tips but more like the method I use to chop a sample without the drum machine chopping them into 16 pieces automatically. Lets say I have a sample that is 10 seconds long. I go to the trim section and leave the start at "0" and set the end at "0" and I basically start moving the data wheel to the right and pressing a pad at the same time. Until I hear something I like. Now lets say I do hear something I like, I go to edit and copy and move on to the next chop. I set the start to where ever I ended the first chop and set the end to what ever I think sounds good. Sometimes I skip parts in a sample because I feel I can't really do much with that section. This indeed is the slowest way, soooo you wouldn't want to get an entire minute because as you see using this method will take you forever but it allows you to be more picky with what you want.

Another method I've used is getting small portions from a record and assigning them to the pad right after you recorded it. Which is indeed much faster than the previous method. I tend to rotate between all of them just so I dont become this robot.

Hope I helped!
By dwizzynfp Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:18 am
Lampdog wrote:
dwizzynfp wrote:not so much about the sample time as it was the freedom of chops

Reverse that thinking because your mistaken. Chops = sample time, when an mpc is powered on EVERYTHING you work with resides in RAM and RAM is dynamic, sample time, sequences, workspace, etc. ALL your work is contained within RAM while your mpc is powered on.

I said 32mb, meaning you don't have as much freedom (sample time). Know what you want, sample only that and go at it.
It's so little sample time that you NEED to sample ONLY what you need. Know what you need, put work in, get a better ear on detail of what you need and sample only that.

You'd seriously get your feelings hurt back in the 3kle era, even more so in the sp-12 era, but how did SOOO many classic hits get made with so little ram, because those producers understood the limitations, sampled ONLY what they needed and rolled with that. ASR10 is only 16mb but MANY hits have been made soley on that machine. Now that samplers have a way bigger memory size than decades ago, people are spoiled with sample time. Some peeps go back in time as you have with mpc's and are hit with sample limitations.

You need to understand the several years technology difference between 1k and 2k/2kxl. Know what your getting into and proceed with a good understanding of that. If it bothers you to that great an extent then change machines.


yea you're really not understanding what im saying at all. its cool tho im sure some beginners will come across this thread find that helpful.

i dont care at all about sample time doesnt matter to me whether the sample is 16 seconds or 11 and a half minutes im jus lookin for some tips on how to chop in 2kxl. thats all.

im well aware of the fire thats been made with limited sample time. Kev Brown, DJ Exile, Marco Polo three of my fav producers today still use the 2kxl. not to mention Jake One who uses the asr10.

but im also aware that its not about the machine itself its the man behind it. i highly doubt i wouldve gotten my feelings hurt in the 3k era becuz that wouldve been the time when it was new and there was no such thing as more sample time. it was unheard of.

but now in the era where i have a 1000 and can sample a whole fuggin episode of robot chicken if i want to its kinda hard to backtrack.

All i ask is for a little help with the process. i appreciate it.
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By tapedeck Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:40 am
heres yer tip - forget zone, forget 'autochop', step yer game up and go manual.

go into TRIM screen. use the start and end point to find ONE chunk that you like. now hit EDIT, choose SECTION->NEW SOUND, and *shazam*, youve got that chunk now separated on its own. now do that 3-15 more times.

now go to program edit. assign those chunks to pads on ONE bank.

now get to mashing buttons.

i have a feeling yer response might be 'but thats a lot of work', but thats the way you have to do it on xl and its kind of like the difference between driving an automatic and a stick shift...yea it takes more movements but it allows you greater control in the end, saves gas, and youll eventually get used to it enough to make it go quick.

oh yea tip #2 get off the internet...all the tips to using your 2kxl come from, get ready for it, using your yer 2kxl.

have fun with it, go crazy. do it your way. :D
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By billynojokes Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:14 am
yea yo at first it does take a lot of time to chop ... but like tape said ull get used to it and once u get in a routine it gets quicker ....

the best tip i can give you has been said already by skywalker thats what i found to b the easiest most efficient way for me ... if you intend to cut somthin up in the zone function you can press the "open window" button while over zone ....and you can modify the number of zones you have if u plan on using less chops then 16....

when tunning samples i prefer the xl over the 1000 any day it defintly imo has a better sound to it especialy when tunnig drums ... check it out
By dwizzynfp Sat Sep 24, 2011 4:02 pm
ok thanks. sounds like the new sound method will be the way to go and may not even be as time consuming as it sounds

and i have noticed that the tuning on the 2kxl does sound better than the 1000. im really particular about the tuning of my drums so thats major for me
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By Coz Sat Sep 24, 2011 4:08 pm
dwizzynfp wrote:the tuning on the 2kxl does sound better than the 1000.




I used to play with the tuning on the XL all the time, but Akai seriously dropped the ball with the tuning quality of the 1k/2500. :|
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By billynojokes Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:03 pm
ziemia wrote:PS. what You mean "tuning"?



from the main screen window press shift + f6 select the drum pg your working with then find a sample on one of the pads u would like to tune ... once you find that press the " paramas" option ...its i think the second or third button below the screen from the left .. when in that window go to the upper right hand corner. there's and option that says "tuning" go over to that and use the jog wheel to adjust the values up or down! ... have fun!!!