problems getting the tempo of a sequence

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problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By sonic1 Mon Sep 26, 2011 1:14 am
Ive been using mpc for a while, but have not been able to get much success with recording sequences.

Ill be playing a drum(etc) beat, and then want to record it as a sequence, but then when I do that, the tempo is always way off and it doesn't work, and I have to scrap it. Ive tried to adjust it using the tempo correct function where you tap the pad, but that doesnt work well, unless its a very regular thing I'm playing anyway. But for beats that dont have a constantly tapped sound, it doesnt seem to work,.

Has anyone found a way to get past this? Can't you just record what you're playing and then cut it at the po8int you want it to repeat, and get a tempo that way?

Thanks
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Tha_Skywalker Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:33 am
I'm a little puzzled about what your asking but I'm going to try my best to answer your question.

sonic1 wrote: But for beats that dont have a constantly tapped sound, it doesnt seem to
work,.


I believe what your talking about here is getting a sample to match the drums?
Usually tuning the sample helps, changing the pitch allows you to match with the tempo.
Have you try'd using the "tap tempo" button? Overall really it just takes practice. I'm not sure if this was the answer you where looking for, if not be a little more specific.

sonic1 wrote: Can't you just record what you're playing and then cut it at the po8int you want it to repeat, and get a tempo that way?


I think you can only do that in a DAW, im not sure if the newer/older MPC's like the 5000 or even the 3000 or 4000 are able to do that but editing is usually done in a DAW.

I don't want to be one of those people but have you checked the manual?
You might find the answer to your question in their and its most likely more precise then me.

Hope I helped
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By m:t:c Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:05 am
For example if you have a loop and want to match that to beats, you could do any of these:

1. chop it up using non-destructive chopping (jjos) and play it as you wish on top of the drums (if you have a really short sample and it cuts off, you could play with adsr and add reverb to the end)
2. chop it into separate samples & now you could add sample-looping (trim screen, also jjos) to make one note sustain longer (depends on sample and also adsr+reverb as mentioned above)
3. timestretch it until it match your beat (takes more effort & doesn't sound as good depending on the amount of stretching you need to apply)
4. tune it
5. use patched-phrase (also degrades sound quality and makes your loop mono)

edit: now that i re-read the original post, i'm not convinced that i answered your problem at all. Here's an additional tip:

Try using more precise timing correct value (1/16 or 1/32) or turn it completely off. Also when tracking beats in, use metronome to stay on beat.

Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By sonic1 Tue Sep 27, 2011 3:09 am
thanks for trying to answer my question man. I'm not sure if any of those do help in this particular thing, but I think I learned some stuff from your suggestiongs I can use for other things.

What I meant was (its' sorta hard for me to explain well too) for example, Im messing around on the pads, and come up with something I'd like to make into a recorded sequence, but its 5 pads, one hit each, and irregular, like boom-boom.. da da da. Then I try to record that as a sequence, but i cannot for the life of me get the tempo to match up so I can record this 5-hit line and have it repeat as the beat I want, even trying tap-tempo many times and adjusting the tempo manually by small degrees.

What do you do when you've got like an irregular beat, like not just tap-tap-tap-boom-tap-tap-tap-rim, and are trying to record it to sequence. What method do you use to figure out what tempo you need to record at?

Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Clint Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:33 am
Use your metronome, that is what it is for.

Set your own tempo and tap those pads where you want the drums to hit.

Turn off quantize and you own timing/ rhythm is brutally exposed.

Turn on quantize if your programming is sloppy, something like 1/16 will get you going.

Excessive use of quantise will kill the natural feel of programmed drums.

Try using quantize only on kicks and snares for now but aim to get by without it eventually.

Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By innovine Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:29 am
I am having the exact same problem. I do not wish to use quantizing, as I can hear that my timing is good. What is bad is the tempo set in the sequencer.. For example, what if I have chopped a loop that is very swingy (some hits early, some hits late), but it also contains a hihat pattern? Now when I trigger my chops, I can time my playing to the swingy hihat patterns, and I can hear that my timing is spot on. Say I play two bars like this. Now, how do I get the sequencer to know that I just did exactly two bars? The manually set sequencer tempo is either fast (my recording is truncated) or slow (there's a gap after what I played before the sequencer loops).

If I play to the click or use quantize it'll come out all wrong (flams, short gaps). Am I supposed to get close with the tempo, record myself, and then adjust the tempo up and down until it loops correctly? What I really want to do, and what I think the OP wants to do, is start the MPC recording, jam away freely on the pads, and hit stop or a pad to stop. At exactly that point stop point, I want the sequencer tempo to be determined by the time taken between start and stop. This is how a typical looper pedal records; you start the recording, you play your thing (no click, just play whatever), and when you hit Play, it _immediately_ drops out of record at that point, loops around over the length recorded, and goes into play (or overdubs). Can the MPC do like this?

Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By cab driver Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:42 am
Yo man Im having the same problem. I have a MPC 2500. The sample that Im using Ive placed in the 16 levels
function so that it can be played in a different key on all of the pads. This works fine. The issue is when I go to
record, I play the pads the way I want it to sound, and then when I get out of record, to play back to make sure
this sounds right, it is not the way I tapped the pads. The timing is different. What am I doing wrong?
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Lampdog Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:06 am
innovine wrote:This is how a typical looper pedal records; you start the recording, you play your thing (no click, just play whatever), and when you hit Play, it _immediately_ drops out of record at that point, loops around over the length recorded, and goes into play (or overdubs). Can the MPC do like this?

No, it's manual, not automatic.

cab driver wrote:What am I doing wrong?

Your own human timing is jacked up, fix yourself, sounds bad but that's what it is.

innovine wrote:Now, how do I get the sequencer to know that I just did exactly two bars? The manually set sequencer tempo is either fast (my recording is truncated) or slow (there's a gap after what I played before the sequencer loops).

If I play to the click or use quantize it'll come out all wrong (flams, short gaps).

If your using a loop and there is a gap at the end then tune, pitch, tempo is a balancing act you will have to conquer. There's no cookie cutter answer for this. Each loop is different so you need to balance those things and make the loop fit where there is no gap. Adjust each and keep adjusting.

If your talking about one shot drums then it's your own timing is off.
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By -niN Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:10 pm
sonic1 wrote:thanks for trying to answer my question man. I'm not sure if any of those do help in this particular thing, but I think I learned some stuff from your suggestiongs I can use for other things.

What I meant was (its' sorta hard for me to explain well too) for example, Im messing around on the pads, and come up with something I'd like to make into a recorded sequence, but its 5 pads, one hit each, and irregular, like boom-boom.. da da da. Then I try to record that as a sequence, but i cannot for the life of me get the tempo to match up so I can record this 5-hit line and have it repeat as the beat I want, even trying tap-tempo many times and adjusting the tempo manually by small degrees.

What do you do when you've got like an irregular beat, like not just tap-tap-tap-boom-tap-tap-tap-rim, and are trying to record it to sequence. What method do you use to figure out what tempo you need to record at?


I'm not sure wether I got u right, but to me it seams like u might be playing in a diffrent time sig. "like boom-boom.. da da da" . To me this reads like a 5/4 :?
In case of doubt I'd just go with what lampdog said and get ur rythm straight. And maybe try somthing like an a little more... I dunno.. aprooved ?? Rythm pattern. Mybe a boom bap. And once you've masterd that, then u can move on and get a lil more freakey.. :mrgreen:
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Lampdog Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:36 pm
And I should have thought of this before, record a beat you made with this same problem and let us hear it and maybe we can get a much better of what your talking about because boom daba bing words just don't help us help you.

Or explain in detail what you've done, what exact functions you are using to trying and it's not coming out correctly. It's hard to help when your not giving up enough info.
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Ill-Green Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:39 am
This the Ill-Green method:

1 - Trim your sample to a perfect loop.

2 - Record the sample into a sequence.

3 - During Overdub, adjust the BPM until the metronome is in sync with your sample. Must use your ears to get it right.

4 - Now you got the BPM of your sample.

:wink:
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Re: problems getting the tempo of a sequence

By Lampdog Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:14 am
Ill-Green wrote:Just use your ears to get it right.

Impatience and instant gratification has gotten a hold of new users and won't let them go.
This is a big factor in it.

Ears, use them.
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