Read the ReCycle tutorial on this page. It will tell you how to change the note numbers.
If you're only going to use those samples in one track, it makes sense to save the program with it.
By mpc3000
Sat Jul 12, 2003 1:37 pm
"how come my drum 1 program is out of order. "
That had been a mysterious issue. Best I can have been able to figure is that this comes from the original MPC60 layout. Early versions of the MPC60 did not use note numbers, but instead samples were assigned to pads that were labelled with the sounds. About the same time, GM drums were all the rage. GM has note number assignments for certain drum sounds like 35=BD, 36=snare, etc. When Akai added external midi control to the MPC60, it was imperative that the midi notes matched up with the existing labelled pads to conform to this GM layout. Akai eventually dropped this pad labelling with Bass, Snare, side stick in later MPC models. The result is this apparently random assignment of note numbers to the pads.
So why did Akai not change it with later models? Akai is one of the best companies in the world when it comes to maintaining backwards compatibility. This arrangement has made it for MPC users to steadily upgrade to newer MPC with a minimal of fuss. This concept has been true for all of Akai's products.
I still use the orginal layout which incorporates a GM style consistency. This allows me to change drum kits using a same sequence and the kicks are replaced with kicks, snares with snares, hats with hats, and so on. This also makes it easy to share dru kits with others that also sue the GM style layout. As a matter of fact, professional sample kits will use the GM style layout. I do not recommend buying any kits that do not use this layout. It is too much trouble to bend and massage my sequence to someone elses arbritary layout. Consistency is the key, regardless of the layout you prefer. This minimizes the dependancy of your sequence on any one program. Consistently using a particular layout allows me to use any program kit with any sequence.
That had been a mysterious issue. Best I can have been able to figure is that this comes from the original MPC60 layout. Early versions of the MPC60 did not use note numbers, but instead samples were assigned to pads that were labelled with the sounds. About the same time, GM drums were all the rage. GM has note number assignments for certain drum sounds like 35=BD, 36=snare, etc. When Akai added external midi control to the MPC60, it was imperative that the midi notes matched up with the existing labelled pads to conform to this GM layout. Akai eventually dropped this pad labelling with Bass, Snare, side stick in later MPC models. The result is this apparently random assignment of note numbers to the pads.
So why did Akai not change it with later models? Akai is one of the best companies in the world when it comes to maintaining backwards compatibility. This arrangement has made it for MPC users to steadily upgrade to newer MPC with a minimal of fuss. This concept has been true for all of Akai's products.
I still use the orginal layout which incorporates a GM style consistency. This allows me to change drum kits using a same sequence and the kicks are replaced with kicks, snares with snares, hats with hats, and so on. This also makes it easy to share dru kits with others that also sue the GM style layout. As a matter of fact, professional sample kits will use the GM style layout. I do not recommend buying any kits that do not use this layout. It is too much trouble to bend and massage my sequence to someone elses arbritary layout. Consistency is the key, regardless of the layout you prefer. This minimizes the dependancy of your sequence on any one program. Consistently using a particular layout allows me to use any program kit with any sequence.
By MPC-Tutor
Sat Jul 12, 2003 3:30 pm
Dont you find the GM layout very restricting? What if you have 15 different samples of a snare sound that you need to incorporate into a kit, how do you cope? Most of the drum kits in my studio feature at least 8 samples per snare, 8 to 12 hi hat samples etc all to get the utmost realism in my drums - there's only so much you can do with the filter, attack and tuning settings to emulate different timbre - you cant beat having multiple 'takes' of the original instrument (IMO).
By mpc3000
Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:59 pm
"8 samples ... to get the utmost realism in my drums"
Frankly I do not find that using several like samples very realistic. Strange? Yes. Electonicish? Yes? Realistic? Not when a real drummer uses one snare drum, 3 toms, one kick drum, one set of hats, etc.
In the rare case that I do need to use more than one sample of a like sound, I will put the extra above the basic set of GM sounds, usually on pad set D. The core set of GM sound remain intact for compatibility purposes.
For me it really has to do with time and money. A little bit of time used now saves me a lot of time and money later. There is little need for me to spend hours contructing a new kit each time want to work on a new project when I can pull one off the shelf and I already know where the kick, snare and hats are. The real time saver comes when I get halfway into a project and I decide I do not like the sounds I chose and I have much of the song already sequenced. A whole new set of sounds are just another program load away. The new sounds lay on the same pads as the previous program. No need to rewrite the sequence to fit the sounds.
Frankly I do not find that using several like samples very realistic. Strange? Yes. Electonicish? Yes? Realistic? Not when a real drummer uses one snare drum, 3 toms, one kick drum, one set of hats, etc.
In the rare case that I do need to use more than one sample of a like sound, I will put the extra above the basic set of GM sounds, usually on pad set D. The core set of GM sound remain intact for compatibility purposes.
For me it really has to do with time and money. A little bit of time used now saves me a lot of time and money later. There is little need for me to spend hours contructing a new kit each time want to work on a new project when I can pull one off the shelf and I already know where the kick, snare and hats are. The real time saver comes when I get halfway into a project and I decide I do not like the sounds I chose and I have much of the song already sequenced. A whole new set of sounds are just another program load away. The new sounds lay on the same pads as the previous program. No need to rewrite the sequence to fit the sounds.
By MPC-Tutor
Sun Jul 13, 2003 8:05 am
mpc3000 wrote:"8 samples ... to get the utmost realism in my drums"
Frankly I do not find that using several like samples very realistic. Strange? Yes. Electonicish? Yes? Realistic? Not when a real drummer uses one snare drum, 3 toms, one kick drum, one set of hats, etc.
You misunderstand me - I meant 8 samples (or if you like, variations) of the same snare - i.e. samples taken at different velocities (soft, medium, hard etc) or hit at different parts of that same snare (edge, centre, off centre etc). This wont sound strange - quite the opposite, it sounds incredibly realistic if , say, the snare coming in on the 2nd and 4th beat never sound exactly the same (as is the case in real drum playing).
If I'm trying to emulate a real drummer (rather than producing somthing electronic), I tend to use samples from collections by Ross Garfield (Drum Doctor pts 1 and 2) where he'll take a single snare drum and record around 30 or so variations of that snare by hitting it at different velocities or positions. No two hits of a snare/hat/kick etc are ever the same, so I like to have at least 8 samples to cover quite a few variations and then mix them up appropriately in my sequence. If I'm emulating a short snare roll, I'll use at least 5 samples of that same snare within the roll.
Therefore a GM layout will not suffice as it is too restrictive - I usually have the kick and snare variations on Bank A, hat and cymbals on Bank B, toms and percussion on Bank C.
By mpc3000
Sun Jul 13, 2003 7:47 pm
". samples taken at different velocities (soft, medium, hard etc) or hit at different parts of that same snare (edge, centre, off centre etc). "
I have found that slight variations in tuning, decay, filter and attack will take care of this. That is exactly what they are there for and I do not bother going any further than these available parameters, since frankly no one really notices (except for the drum nerds).
I am not saying what you are doing is wrong, but I could not envision the amount of time it would take me to construct and manage that many samples for a project. Of course I usually work on someone else's clock and they are paying me by the hour, not per song.
I have found that slight variations in tuning, decay, filter and attack will take care of this. That is exactly what they are there for and I do not bother going any further than these available parameters, since frankly no one really notices (except for the drum nerds).
I am not saying what you are doing is wrong, but I could not envision the amount of time it would take me to construct and manage that many samples for a project. Of course I usually work on someone else's clock and they are paying me by the hour, not per song.
By elmacaco
Sun Jul 13, 2003 8:35 pm
I usually set up my programs with kicks on 3,4,7,8, snares on 1,2,5,6,
Hihats on 9,10,11,12, and general percussion on 13-16. I do this on all banks until I run out of kick or snare samples then I group like samples together.
This gives me a pgm that allows me to make several different songs with each bank, and a way to know where sounds are located on all programs.
Hihats on 9,10,11,12, and general percussion on 13-16. I do this on all banks until I run out of kick or snare samples then I group like samples together.
This gives me a pgm that allows me to make several different songs with each bank, and a way to know where sounds are located on all programs.
By MPC-Tutor
Sun Jul 13, 2003 9:32 pm
mpc3000 wrote:"
but I could not envision the amount of time it would take me to construct and manage that many samples for a project.
A lot of time - but I find it very satisfying to get all the small details just right, which is probably why I dont get out much these days
