MPC60 with external controller. How to set up?

Hi there!

I have recently bought the MPC60 (the first one), and I like to trigger external devices with the drumpads. I can't seem to make it work... The MPC has OS 2.xx.

I also can't figure out how to play the MPC60 recorded sounds with an external controller!

Can anyone help me out?

Thanx a lot!

Connect a midi controller (Keyboard, MPD, whatever) with a Midi cable from the Midi-Output of the controller/Keyboard to the Midi-Input of the MPC60. Connect a Midi cable from the Midi-Output of the MPC60 to the Midi-Input of your external devices. Go to the track you want to record to in your mpc screen, and right under it, highlight the "Chn" field with your cursor and turn the data wheel until it says something like "1A-Synth...blabla" (this means you are on midi channel 1, output A).

You can find more information in the manual...

Hi! Thanks for the information.

I want to control the internal (MPC60) sounds with an external midi controller. I also want to trigger external MIDI devices with the pads of the MPC60. Do you know how to do this? Thanks again!

He just told you, read the manual if you don't want to listen.

Hello Clint.

I know how to control an external device with an external midi controller, and use the MPC as sequencer. That's not what I am asking!

I'll try to rephrase the two things I want!

1.
I want to trigger internal MPC60 sounds with an external controller.

2.
I want to trigger external devices with the internal MPC60 drumpads.

I read the manual, but it only tells me that I can trigger external devices with an external MIDI controller, as Jibber said.

Thanks again!

PS: I already tried this: I connected a MIDI cable from the MPC's MIDI out directly into the MPC's MIDI in. It seems the internal MPC sampler just doesn't accept incoming MIDI messages from outside the MPC. Am I correct?

Hello pattat

1. You can do that, but you need to assign incoming midi note numbers to pads (samples). They are not in chromatic order by default, the 32 sample locations (pads) are assigned according to the midi drum spec.

2. You can do that too. Same as above, but applies to outgoing midi notes.

I don't have OS 2.xx so I cant be more specific on the precise location of the settings, or even if your OS can do this, but a good place to start is the "Midi" menu. For maximum functionality of the machine you owe it to yourself to upgrade to the Roger Linn 3.10 OS, it does a lot of things that 2.xx cannot.

Also there is not a 2.xx OS, do you have version 2.0, 2.02, 2.12 or 2.14?

pattat wrote:PS: I already tried this: I connected a MIDI cable from the MPC's MIDI out directly into the MPC's MIDI in. It seems the internal MPC sampler just doesn't accept incoming MIDI messages from outside the MPC. Am I correct?

no you are absolutely incorrect - and i cant think of a situation why you would need to plug the mpc midi out back into itself.

1.

pattat wrote:I want to trigger internal MPC60 sounds with an external controller.

jibber wrote:Connect a midi controller (Keyboard, MPD, whatever) with a Midi cable from the Midi-Output of the controller/Keyboard to the Midi-Input of the MPC60.

2.

pattat wrote:I want to trigger external devices with the internal MPC60 drumpads.

jibber wrote:Connect a Midi cable from the Midi-Output of the MPC60 to the Midi-Input of your external devices. Go to the track you want to record to in your mpc screen, and right under it, highlight the "Chn" field with your cursor and turn the data wheel until it says something like "1A-Synth...blabla" (this means you are on midi channel 1, output A).

Looking quickly through the OS 2.0 manual p.43/44...

Things to help with your two questions.

1. To assign a track to be a "drums" track: Set the track's midi output channel number (the CH field in the PLAY/R,ECORD screen) to 16 (A, B, C, or D), which is the midi channel number normally assigned to the internal drums...The internal drum generator plays all notes received on channel 16, regardless of the assigned output midi jack (A, B, C, or D). In this case, the output jack selection is only used to
determine which output jack will be used to send out midi note commands
when the drums play.

Note: Although the internal drums normally receive their data on channel 16 (A, B, C, or D), this may be changed to any other channel. If you change it, then use this new assignment in place of 16 in the above two paragraphs. This is explained further in section 9.3.

2. To assign a track as a "non-drums" track: Set the track's output midi channel (the CH field in the PLAY/RECORD screen) to any channel other than 16 (A, B, C, or D). Once a track has been recorded as a "non-drums" track, DO NOT change its midi output channel assignment to 16, unless you have erased all the notes in the track first.

A more technical explanation:

In a "non-drums" track, incoming midi note numbers are stored in the sequence exactly as they are received. However, in a "drums" track, incoming midi note numbers (if the drums are played from an external keyboard) are converted by the "Assign incoming notes to drums" function to numbers 0 through 31, representing the 32 drums, and stored in the sequence as those 32 midi note numbers. When the sequence is played back, these numbers (0 - 31) are converted to selected midi note numbers within the keyboard range by the "Assign outgoing drums to notes" function and output in that form. This method has the advantage of being able to change the assignments of keyboard note numbers to drums at any time without affecting the sequence data. (These two assignment functions are accessed by pressing the MIDI key and selecting option 2.)

You really should read your manual.

clint246clint wrote:He just told you, read the manual if you don't want to listen.

I might do myself and the MPC a favour and upgrade to the Roger Linn 3.10. The most important reason I might upgrade is because the pads note off command. It's extremely tedious to play basslines with one-shot samples. (This is the reason I want to trigger a 16 tune sample in the MPC60 with an external pad controller. Which is not possible.) Also the function where 1 pad kills the other pad would be a nice bonus in 3.10.

However.

In 2.02 I would record a drumbreak pitched up (to save memory), retune it, save it to floppy and reload it to another pad where I would then change start and end point. I can do this 32 times without having to sacrifice memory. So the same sample (which might fill up the entire memory in the MPC60) is used on all different pads. Each with different start/end points, tuning, panning,...

I see in the 3.10 manual that the sampler now uses programs. I'm afraid that if I reload the same sample to another pad, extra memory is used... If I can load the same drumbreak 16 times on different pads and be able to trim those independently without it taking up memoryspace, 3.10 seems like a winner. I have used an MPC4000 and if would load the same drumbreak to another pad, it would use twice as much memory. On the MPC4000, that's not a big issue because of available memory. But I only have 750kb of memory in the MPC60.

Dude 2.02 is way old, that was released way before the MPC60II was released (89). Even 2.12 or 2.14 would be an upgrade for you, and they also came out before the MPC60II. For the record, the MPC60II originally shipped with OS 2.12 only. That favour you mentioned really is long overdue...

in 3.10 im pretty sure you can't load the same sound twice. You have to rename it, and it takes up more memory.

I wasn't aware you could load the same sound more than once in 2.02 without taking up more memory. How is that even possible?

When I bought my first 60 it had an older OS on it, it was a p.i.t.a. not having mono mode for samples. Trust me, 3.10 is a necessity.

One thing to note regarding bass and 16 levels.. The 60s sample engine and envelope don't seem to cut off low sub frequency bass sounds smoothly. ie even if you add a fade out in the envelope when using note off, when you release the pad 9 times out of 10 you will hear a click or pop from the large sub frequency waveform being cut off mid wave (not on a zero point)

there is no way around that other than to duplicate your sample and chop each bass note precisely which is highly un intuitive and takes up more memory.
I midi up a 3k with bass samples, or an external synth for bass sounds.

1. sample sound
2. save sound to disk
3. load same sound to another pad
4. change start and end points and whatever you want

You can repeat step 2, 3 and 4 thirty one times

This is a very cool feature for a device with such little memory.

Don't know if it suppose to work this way, though... I was thinking of ways to save memory.

The only reason I would purchase 3.10 is for basslines (note off). I think I'd make it easier if I just bought a s950 to pair up with the MPC60.

I think I found a way to use the MPC60 pads to trigger external devices. But I need OS 2.12

Does anyone know where I can get os 2.12 or 2.14? Is it possible to update the machine by myself?

Thanks again;)

Apparently these OS's are stored on 4 chips, which I need to get from Ebay...

pattat check yo pms homie.....