Drum Programs in 2000xl

OK,

I have used the 500, 1000, 5000 and I now have come across a 2000xl. I kinda like this beast. I have yet to obtain a manual so I am hoping to get some help here with a few items.

1) The concept of Drum Programs (1-4). From my limited usage it seems that I can only have 4 unique programs / kits / instrument / drum kit in my project. Having only 4 programs for my project seems rather limiting. I know I can have 64 pads (4 banks) in each program but just find it odd that the 2000xl is limited. Am I missing something?

2) Also, can I layer sounds on a pad. I know on my others I can go 4 deep.

3) Muting pads in a program. So I am selecting mono for the sounds on the pads but it only mutes itself not other pads in the program.

4) Unit came with OS 1.12 installed perhaps this is the reason for my issues...? I intend to upgrade to 1.20 tonight. Is there anything specific I need to know / do? I plan to use Winblows or Linux to format my floppy as FAT partition and copy the .bin OS fine I downloaded to the root partition and then power up MPC with the disk in. I hope I can upgrade directly from 1.12 to 1.20 skipoubg 1.14 all together.

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions or info.

Peace,

Jayson Wonder wrote: have yet to obtain a manual so I am hoping to get some help here with a few items.

You can download the manual here:

http://www.mpc-tutor.com/akai-mpc-resources-downloads/

I also wrote an award winning tutorial book for the MPC2000XL:

http://www.mpc-samples.com/product.php/ ... mpc2000xl/

From memory (it's been a while), I believe you can have 24 programs in memory, and can use program change messages in your sequence/MIDI to change which program is assigned to a particular DRUM holder.

You need to use SIMULT to layer.

Muting is done in the PARAMS screen, hit WINDOW over (I believe) the PLAY MODE param - again, bit rusty, been a few MPCs since the XL - but all this is in the manual and in more practical detail in my book.

Jayson Wonder wrote: Having only 4 programs for my project seems rather limiting. ,

You think?

Previous MPCs only allowed 1 program at a time.
You need to be a little more creative to get the best out of legacy models like these.

As Andy said, download the manual and check out PROGRAM CHANGE.
This allows you to change programs within a sequence. You can use up to the maximum 24 programs in a song as long as you don't need to use more than 4 in any one instant.
I think the maximum number of samples you can load into the machine is only 256, so if you build your programs efficiently, you should find 4 programs is all you need anyway.

The latest OSs are v1.14 and v1.20
They work slightly differently so check which one you prefer and load that.
Don't just assume that v1.20 is the best.

Thanks guys. I can deal with 4 programs just seemed surprised. Guess the new units have me spoiled. Looks like the only real difference between 1.14 and 1.20 is card reader support and the 1gb partition limit. I only have a floppy at this time so I went straight to 1.20 so I can add a MCD kit later if I keep this baby as a collectors piece.

It's not so bad once you get used to it. I went from the 1000 back to the 2000 classic. It only uses 1 PGM at a time, which is even more limiting. But as I trained my mind to focus on the limitations, I found that it's all about quality over quantity.