MPC Release Notes
About
Version 1.8 (January 2015)
Version 1.8 vastly improves the sample capture, edit and slice experience. It also
brings exciting new features for live performance.
New features
◾ Non-destructive chop MPC 1.8 provides two new “non-destructive” chop facilities. This allows you to chose the slice/edit behaviour that you prefer without destroying your original sample. This gives you far more control over your sample playback.
◾ Per-sample: Sample slices are now saved inside the sample file. When assigning a sample to a pad, you can either chose to assign “all” of the sample (previous MPC behaviour) or a particular slice (referenced by the
Akai Professional is continually updating and enhancing the MPC experience.
This document lists the new features, fixes and improvements made to your MPC software.
slice number). This means that you can save your sliced sample, and re-use the slice data in another project.
◾ Per-pad: Additionally, each pad can reference specific regions of an audio sample, regardless of whether it has been sliced or not. Select the “pad” slice to unlock “pad start” and “pad end” pad parameters which determine which samples to play. Also, the pad can have an independent sample loop setting.
◾ Built-in looper allowing you to record, overdub, and manipulate audio in real time. It’s great fun! Access the looper by pressing Looper (or F1 on the hardware) on the Sample Record page.
◾ Quickly record and overdub audio in a looper audio buffer, with punch-in overdub/replace capability.
◾ Can be enabled live by LCD, GUI or footswitch.
◾ Configurable number of bars of audio record loop.
◾ Looper input and output monitoring on LCD.
◾ Large, clear LCD looper display.
◾ Sequencer SYNC mode ensures that the loop buffer always plays in step
with your sequence playback. You can disable this to use the looper without sync.
◾ Realtime loop reverse. (When sequencer sync is on, this switches direction at end of each sequence loop. When sync if off, reverse happens immediately.)
◾ Export recorded loops to a pad, or to the sample pool for further use with MPC.
◾ The sample editor has received numerous improvements and new workflow to make chopping samples into slices easier and more fun:
◾ Program/pad audition mode in the sample editor. You can now edit a sample in the context of the program it will play in. Select PROGRAM mode, and the current program will appear on the pads. Tap a pad to select it. The sample editor will allow you to edit the settings of that pad’s first layer. You can audition the sample through the pad and the program’s entire audio chain. In this mode, you are adjusting the pad parameters, as if you were using the Program Editor.
◾ Live sample chop. In sample chop mode, start auditioning a sample, and press “Slice +”. A new slice point is inserted in real time. This allows you to checking “perform” a chop as you listen to the sample. At any time, you can drop out of audition mode, fine tune a pad chop point, and then re-start the live chop.
◾ Sample trim mode can now trim "all" of the sample (the legacy behaviour, which allows you to set the automatic chop ranges), or a specific slice. This provides a more detailed view of a single slice than you get in sample chop. You can switch between trim and chop to make slice edits.
◾ Sample chop has a new “cue” playhead for fast manual chopping. You can manually select a sample position, audition the sample from that point, and then insert a slice at the cue point.
◾ Cue audition behaviour can toggle between “toggle” (press to start, then press to stop) and “note on” (play whilst button is held) play modes.
◾ Click in the GUI timeline to quickly set the cue point.
◾ Audio marker preview function (press WINDOW over the “Start:”, “End:”, or
“Cue:” LCD field, or use the GUI’s “Other” preference tab). This plays a small snippet of audio at the marker point when you adjust it from Q-Link, data wheel, or GUI. Tap a Q-Link knob to replay the audio marker preview.
◾ Audio marker preview play can be configured to play a snippet BEFORE or AFTER the marker. The different modes can help you find accurate cue points by listening to the preview.
◾ When adjusting start/end/loop sample positions, the data wheel adjustment increment is scaled based on zoom level. Zoom in for very fine, sample- level, control or zoom out for coarser adjustments.
◾ The selection of chop type (e.g. threshold, regions, BPM, etc) from LCD is now made in a cancellable popup so you don't destroy slice edits accidentally.
◾ Limitations on slices have been removed. Slices no longer have to run in order, or be contiguous. They can even overlap.
◾ Added many new convert/assign features employing the new non- destructive chop functions.
◾ Sample chop operations are undoable.
◾ GUI waveform handles improved. They are now clearer and easier to move, and include the slice number, and intelligent display.
◾ Waveform handles are adaptively displayed in chop mode: the end marker is only shown for the currently selected slice. This reduces visual clutter and makes it easier to see all of your slices. The handles highlight to indicated which point (start/end/loop) is being edited from the hardware.
◾ GUI timelines are clearer, and have new bars/beat/pulses display option.
◾ The sample editor automatically opens on currently selected sample.
Playing pads in main mode updates the currently selected sample.
◾ Updated pad lights in new sample trim and chop modes to make use easier.
◾ Retune a sample to the sequence tempo (press WINDOW over the sample
edit “tune” parameter, or process FROM BPM in the GUI panel).
◾ New, reorganised, sample process panel.
◾ Time stretch process gains a ratio setting allowing you to easy calculate the
time stretch factor.
◾ Ability to remove all slices in a sample.
◾ Your sample editor settings are remembered between runs on MPC.
◾ Pad perform mode allows you to assign musical scales, modes, chords, and progressions to the pads for more creative performance. Press PAD ASSIGN when using a plugin, MIDI, or keygroup program.
◾ Allows mapping any scale over the pads starting from any note in any octave. (Also provides modes.)
◾ User-selectable start octave to ensure playable range in bank A is useful. This can be quickly adjusted with via up/down function keys.
◾ LCD displays the mapping of notes/chords to the current pad bank.
◾ Pad perform mode highlights each octave’s root notes so you can see how
octaves map onto your pads.
◾ The ability to base each pad bank on an octave’s root note, or to map the
pads continuously though the banks.
◾ Chord playback facility, with ability to select notes from the selected scale (e.g. 1-3-5, 1-3-5-7b), and chromatic patterns (e.g. major/minor/sus4/ diminished).
◾ In chord mode, press SHIFT and tap a pad for a quick chord variation.
◾ Play musical progressions with your pads: in progression mode you can
select banks of chord progressions with which you can quickly construct songs.
◾ Each progression has an associated scale that will be automatically selected. This means you can immediately switch into “notes” mode and play something cool over your recorded progression.
◾ Input insert effects allow you to sample audio and record in the looper through an insert FX chain.
◾ Vintage mode effects can be used universally as an insert effect.
◾ New pad layer play styles. These adjust how a sample plays without altering the
sample itself.
◾ Non-destructive sample reverse: play a slice or a region of a sample backwards without editing the sample.
◾ Pad offset parameter:
◾ Start playback a number of samples into the audio (with a positive
offset value), or
◾ Delay a layer’s playback (with a negative offset value).
◾ Enhanced sampler.
◾ Larger GUI VU meter for better signal visibility, and greater input threshold
control.
◾ Ability to send the mono or stereo input signal through mono or stereo insert effects.
◾ Ability to chose whether to record samples as mono or stereo audio.
◾ Enhanced program edit mode:
◾ New expanded LCD “Samples” tab with three further pages housing all new pad layer options (slice, pad start, pad end, pad loop enable, pad loop position, offset and reverse). This is available on the F2 tab from the hardware, or via a collapsible GUI tab section.
◾ Pad slice parameter can select a specific sample slice (from 1 - number of slices), “All” of the sample (this is the previous MPC behaviour, you can set
the bounds of “All” in sample trim mode), or “Pad” which unlocks the pad parameters for pad start, pad end, pad loop.
◾ Pad level and pan added to the master tab in LCD and GUI program edit pages.
Improvements
◾ Vintage mode effects available for MPC Studio users
◾ One-touch sequence half/double (See Edit>Sequence, or right click over the
sequence combo box, or press WINDOW over the Sequence field in Main Mode).
◾ Sequence Edit operations are available in the GUI (See Edit>Sequence, or right click over the sequence combo box).
◾ You can now drag files anywhere into the MPC window from Finder/Windows explorer to open them.
◾ Cursor keys are supported in the project info sample list for quick sample selection.
◾ Command/Control-click a sample in the sample list to deselect it.
◾ Project preview
◾ You can select a sequence, track, etc to export as a project preview in the Audio Mixdown dialog. (Select “Save as project preview”).
◾ Highlighting a project XPJ file that has an associated preview will cause the preview to automatically audition from both GUI and LCD file browsers.
◾ The file browser will hide the [ProjectData] directories when PROJECT filter is engaged.
◾ Step sequencer “Pad Select” button available on F4. When this is engaged, you can tap a pad to quickly switch to step sequence events on different pads.
◾ Sample edit time stretch off-line process extended to include BPM calculation from sample length.
◾ Tapping a pad in main mode updates the selected sample in the project info window.
◾ GUI workflow improvements:
◾ Ability to move the the main window by dragging in spare space on the transport toolbar.
◾ Sequence/Track combo boxes open on a single click. To rename the sequence or track, double-click the combo box.
◾ New “modal” window support. Pop-up windows are contained in the main MPC window rather than spilling out.
◾ LCD workflow improvements:
◾ Improved button styles, +/- pairs are clearer, as are toggle buttons and tabs.
◾ SHIFT + “multi option” tab to flip backwards through the tabs.
◾ Some LCD pages have a second bank of function keys, accessible via shift.
(See sample edit and looper pages.)
◾ Improved audio path performance.
◾ Many minor workflow improvements for MPC Renaissance and MPC Studio users. ◾ Bug fixes and stability enhancements.
BlaxGawd wrote:I'll wait until the website release it.
sharod88 wrote:Yeah why isn't this from the web site. Is this a beta version?
sharodHH wrote:Yeah why isn't this from the web site. Is this a beta version?Anyone is free to do what they want.
TT_Lab wrote:sharodHH wrote:Yeah why isn't this from the web site. Is this a beta version?Anyone is free to do what they want.
But as mentioned before I didn't make the links up.
Just go to akaipro.com -> Mpc Series -> Renaissance -> docs and downloads and copy the link from the 1.7.2 update and change it with 1.8 in the place of 1.7.2, anyway I guess it won't be long to the release.
I'll keep it installed til official release.
Scrubing is the thing!
pk1 wrote:where did you get the release notes?
this is a sketchy ass thing. You just stumble on it, by trying it?
