Recording phrases onto mpc

I have been experimenting with the best way to record musical phrases to an mpc. Sometimes when composing a song, parts come quickly, and I just want to record them as fast as I can. I have at times kept a tempo with my hand, set up the record sample function, and just recorded the part to my own self temp. But that can get sloppy. I thought about having an external metronome that I Could sync with the song tempo, and it would just let me record phrases to mpc with little hassle.

I have recorded the beat to pro tools before, and then recorded over it, then sampled new parts back into mpc. That works, but seemslike a bit of a run around to me.

Just searching for the best way to do this.

Best way is to practice your playing so you dont need a metronome..
Play your first riff live.
Add the drums/layer in the next parts.
The mpc4k will record while it's playing.. so nothing to stop you there.
Don't know which newer mpcs are able to do that.
Oooh and dont bother messing with loop points, just stop recording after the audio from the last bar has faded and youre good

szr wrote:Best way is to practice your playing so you dont need a metronome..
Play your first riff live.
Add the drums/layer in the next parts.
The mpc4k will record while it's playing.. so nothing to stop you there.
Don't know which newer mpcs are able to do that.
Oooh and dont bother messing with loop points, just stop recording after the audio from the last bar has faded and youre good

Thanks. I've done that before. And it is pretty cool. But that is usually for starting a beat from scratch. If I have for example, a synth, or live bass part which I want to add to an existing beat. That is more what I'm talking about. I am using an mpc 3000 at the moment. Also have a 2kxl. A far as I know, I can't record samples on either while the beat is playing. That would be amazing!

Thanks for the tips!

Ideally you want a full duplex sampler.... or a multitrack
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... -seqs.html

I used to use the rs7000 just for recording all my phrases.... as it also supported playback during recording... and preferred the smoother sound over the mpc4k.
Then there is the asr10 and a bunch of newer mpcs that also have the same capability.

...or you could just split your phrases across your mpcs... hear half of them in one mpc, while sampling into the other mpc.. etc

...Other option is to do a guide layer... simple chord sequence coming from a sound module/synth...
monitor that while adding all the other elements... I've done that... but if you want to tweak sounds to fit the other elements it's a loss... hence record and playback sampler / multitrack being a better solution

if you can shift yer focus more out of audio into midi you can do some amazing things.

i always rep this dude anchorsong for live mpc as looper props.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf5w_Nl ... ure=relmfu

the power is in the sequncer.

would be harder to do with a guitar unless you get a sort of midi pickup.

Problem with midi is that you end up tweaking your performance.. loosing time/vibe.. YRMV
Also if you stick to using midi instead of layering audio phrases ... and happen to use synths/samplers with limited polyphony.. it's just not efficient. No need to buy 15 examples of the same polysynth to arrive at the same destination.

szr wrote:Ideally you want a full duplex sampler.... or a multitrack
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... -seqs.html

I used to use the rs7000 just for recording all my phrases.... as it also supported playback during recording... and preferred the smoother sound over the mpc4k.
Then there is the asr10 and a bunch of newer mpcs that also have the same capability.

...or you could just split your phrases across your mpcs... hear half of them in one mpc, while sampling into the other mpc.. etc

...Other option is to do a guide layer... simple chord sequence coming from a sound module/synth...
monitor that while adding all the other elements... I've done that... but if you want to tweak sounds to fit the other elements it's a loss... hence record and playback sampler / multitrack being a better solution

That is great stuff right there. Thanks!

As to midi, I am open to trying it out, but for the same reasons szr mentioned, I tend to prefer working with audio.

I love the sampling using one mpc as a playback device idea. Just sample a loop from one machine into another, play that loop, record parts over it in the other mpc. Sounds easy and effective.