MPC 3000 SEQUENCER + S950 SAMPLER MIDI SETUP

Hey Everyone

I've done my research and checked through this forum and others, but couldn't find any info that directly linked to what i'm trying to setup.

I want to sample all my drums in 12-bit with the S950, but sequence it all in the mpc 3000 and then track out the indiv. 8 outs to my mackie mixer. But does this mean that i need to take 8 mono outs from the S950 or the MPC 3000?

Secondly with midi setup, how will this work. I have already setup a MIDI handshake between the MPC and S950

i.e. MPC 3K > MIDI OUT - TO - S950 > MIDI IN (and vice a versa)

then i set on the mpc 3000 main screen, for the Type: MIDI not DRUM then set the channel to 1A or 2A. But still the MIDI RECEIVE on the S950 will not flash, showing that i haven't set it up correctly.

If anyone could offer assistance on this, that would be great.

Finally i'm looking for the best way to save all my DATA in the most efficient way? On the S950 i have an internal floppy disk reader so could save all my data to HD floppy. But what i would prefer is to use SCSI and save all data to an external IOMEGA zip disk.

So i plugged my IOMEGA in to the back of the S950 but when i boot up the sampler it doesnt recognize the SCSI and the IOMEGA.

Any help would be amazing!

Sorry to put loads of info in one post. But might help other people to have all the info in one section.

Cheers Nick

I want to sample all my drums in 12-bit with the S950, but sequence it all in the mpc 3000 and then track out the indiv. 8 outs to my mackie mixer. But does this mean that i need to take 8 mono outs from the S950 or the MPC 3000?

if you want the sound of the 950, you will need the 950 outs.

Secondly with midi setup, how will this work. I have already setup a MIDI handshake between the MPC and S950

i.e. MPC 3K > MIDI OUT - TO - S950 > MIDI IN (and vice a versa)

Why vice versa? The MPC needn't be fed MIDI from the 950.

then i set on the mpc 3000 main screen, for the Type: MIDI not DRUM then set the channel to 1A or 2A. But still the MIDI RECEIVE on the S950 will not flash, showing that i haven't set it up correctly.

You need to make sure the 950 is ready to receive MIDI on the same channel. 1A or 2A means channel 1 or 2 via MIDI out A.

Finally i'm looking for the best way to save all my DATA in the most efficient way? On the S950 i have an internal floppy disk reader so could save all my data to HD floppy. But what i would prefer is to use SCSI and save all data to an external IOMEGA zip disk.

Does your 950 have the SCSI board?

So i plugged my IOMEGA in to the back of the S950 but when i boot up the sampler it doesnt recognize the SCSI and the IOMEGA.

Sorry, can't help with that. Never had a 950 with SCSI.

It will be easier if you set up a template program for the S950 with keygroups in place for your samples. And a template program for your MPC3000 with the pads set in chromatic order across the four pad banks. These templates will only need to setup once and come in really handy for other uses too. The S950 keygroups will be triggered over MIDI from the pad banks on the MPC3000 - up to 64 pads.

There are threads that tell you how to make these template programs, a good search should find them. Unless some kind soul posts the information here.

Menco wrote: I have a template program on disk I always mount before booting up. The s950 will automatically load up that program stored on ur disk...I have set everything to the same midi channel. 32 [up to 64 for MPC3000] keygroups in chromatic order with the outputs already assigned to them...Then it's just a matter of recording the sample, copy it, truncate the parts u don't want and assign them to the keygroups. From here the programming and the sequencing starts.

Menco wrote:Make a template program. Assign a keygroup program to every single note starting by note #36, all the way up till note #99. (64 keygroups, 64 pads) Save this template to a floppy disk...Then make one for the mpc as well. Set the midi notes in chromatic order so the pads will correspond with the notes which will trigger the keygroups. Save this one as your template program.

Clint wrote:Use a midi track on the MPC3000 and make sure the MPC is sending midi to your synth on the midi channel the synth is set to receive on...Try using all four pad banks to confirm the midi connection, the default MPC3000 pad assignments are mapped to GM drums and will be all over the place if used with a synth [or sampler].

Next step is to build a chromatic template

You can change the MPC3000 pad to MIDI note assignment so that it is chromatic. Start with midi note 36 on pad A1, 37 on A2 and work your way up, or set up the template to your specific needs. You only have to go thru this tedious process once, but make sure you save that template as a program.

NicDefn wrote:Finally i'm looking for the best way to save all my DATA in the most efficient way? On the S950 i have an internal floppy disk reader so could save all my data to HD floppy. But what i would prefer is to use SCSI and save all data to an external IOMEGA zip disk.

So i plugged my IOMEGA in to the back of the S950 but when i boot up the sampler it doesnt recognize the SCSI and the IOMEGA.

1 of 2 could be the issue:

1) maybe IOMEGA is not a compatable brand? I usually see that people use hard drives with the S950. I don't know off the top of my head but I'm sure if you search you'll find a list of hard drives that are known to work with the s950.


2) All S950s have a 25pin port labelled RS232 or something. It looks like the same 25pin youd see on an SCSI port, but it's just a different control interface. The 25 pin is not used to store data. If you have the rare SCSI expansion it's actually 50pin port. (forgive me if you already knew this part!)

Akai S950 with IB-109 SCSI looks like this.



Akai S950 with IB-105 Hard Disc interface looks like this.



Akai S950 with no drive expansion looks like this.



Which one do you actually have?

If using the SCSI or Hard Drive options, these must be selected for use via the S950 and formatted IIRC. The default source drive is the floppy disc unit.

Do Zips and other SCSI drives work with both the IB-105 and IB-109?

I thought the IB-105 was for some sort of Atari HD?

Zips should work with the IB109 SCSI, I've seen examples of this. They will not work with the IB105 which connects to Atari Megadrive or Supra HDs which have a different type of connector. Atari Megafile is shown on top of S950 in photo above.

Is it possible to use the 16 level velocity on the 3000 when connected to an S950? I am using my 950 to sample and my 3000 to sequence, I tried using the 16 levels for hi-hats and it didn't seem to work.

Any ideas?

Yeah i had the same problem as this!

Im trying to use the 16 levels - tuning feature to control the pitch of my sounds in the S950, but i can't seem to get it to work?

Any help would be great!!!

Bewareofthewolves wrote:Is it possible to use the 16 level velocity on the 3000 when connected to an S950? I am using my 950 to sample and my 3000 to sequence, I tried using the 16 levels for hi-hats and it didn't seem to work.

Any ideas?

Hey, I'm not an expert but I think the only "16 Levels" parameter you can tweak via midi is velocity, the rest of the 16 levels stuff (like tuning) is only for internal sounds on the mpc.
You'd also have to make sure the velocity settings are set up to receive the full range of velocity values (0-127) on the s950, I think that is under either "edit sample" or "edit program"

Of course, hopefully I'm wrong here and you can send tuning data, etc. via midi but I have a pretty strong hunch this isn't the case. At least for an mpc3000>s950 chain.

@Nicdefn

It won't work. The S950 has keygroups, use them to pitch a sample over 16 keys and trigger the keygroup from a bank on your MPC. Use the MPC template and assign Bank X to a suitably programmed keygroup. You could make a template for the S950 whereas Bank A is for drums, Bank B is a 16 key keygroup, etc etc. Whatever you're likely to need in a typical session.

Thats a shame that it doesnt work for the 16-level tuning, and i could stretch the key group notes to cover all 16 pads, then only problem is that this doesnt allow much room on other pads!

@ Clint maybe if you got time, you can have a quick look at my other post and have a read and let me know what you think?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=164712

MPC3000 has 4 banks x 16 pads = 64 pads. You only need one bank to trigger a 16 key keygroup. That leaves 48 pads to work with, more than enough.

NicDefn wrote:@ Clint maybe if you got time, you can have a quick look at my other post and have a read and let me know what you think?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=164712

I've copied that post into to this thread, it makes more sense. Ill close that one for you.

NicDefn wrote:Ok so ill try and explain this the best i can. But just ask if you want to elaborate on any points.

I am using a MPC 3000 as my sequencer and the S950 to sample my sounds and have all individual outs of the S950 going to the inputs of my 16ch. - Mackie Onyx 1640i mixer.

But there are a few problems with this setup

1) When creating a sequence on the MPC 3000 i use my headphones plugged into the mixer to hear the sounds of the S950, but this means that i can't hear the metronome click of the MPC 3000. Which makes it difficult to keep sequences in time with the click.

Is it possible to output the sound of the metronome click of the MPC 3000?

Or is there a better way to approach sequence creation?

2) When i have my program made with all its key groups in the S950, i can't then use the MPC 3000's 16-levels tuning function to change the pitch of sounds. I really want to achieve this as it helps keep drums in tune.

I could stretch a key groups note range to stretch over all 16 pads of say bank D on the MPC, but this takes up a lot of room and doesn't allow for many sounds to be had in the overall S950 program!

3) The final problem is that sometimes i want to use the 8 individual outs of the MPC 3000, because i have sounds saved on disk that i want to use in a sequence. But this means that i have to continuously unplug cables from the S950 and plug it into the MPC.

Could i maybe use a patch bay in a rack that would allow me to easily rewire cables without having to go round the back of machines all the time?

4) My final problem is that when i have a sequence created on the MPC 3000, the overdub button isnt working? i read some where on this forum that i might have enabled the MMC. But i turned this off and it didnt have any effect!

So any help with this would be amazing!!!!

Sorry for such a long post, but hopefully if we get to the bottom of it, it might help some fellow MPC 3000/S950 users!

1. The MPC3000 metronone can be assigned to the stereo outs or any one of the 8 assignable outputs. Monitor this through your mixer.

2. Already answered this a couple of posts previously, use the S950 keygroups to imitate 16 Levels (pitch).

3. Your mixer has 16 inputs. Patch the MPC3000's main stereo outputs or any of the 8 assignable outputs into your mixer as needed, along with the S950 outputs. Work out a scheme that will eliminate constant repatching, or consider using a patchbay.

4. Your second "final question". Well I read that post too. If it's not due to MMC being enabled as stated here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=163681&hilit=+MPC3000+overdub then I'm not sure whats going on.