I feel like an a$s............

.e

If your not getting good after the first week, this is my advice, park your car in the garage, duct tape a garden hose to the tailpipe, place hose in drivers side window, get in car and turn it on. Trust me, all the pros have done it.......at least once.

Sounds to me like you need more protein in your diet, hit the speed bag once and a while. Either that or start doing heroin.

Like nanoloop was saying ........ most people are their own worst critics. It might not sound right to you just because you think you aren't doing things the right way. With almost everything I do, by the time it is finished there will be some little thing I'm not 100% happy with. Maybe when I listen to them a year later they sound fine, & other stuff I liked will have something I wish I could remove. I've heard that John Lennon was never satisfied with any of The Beatles records, & wanted to do one last take on all of them.

Play what you've done to someone whose opinions you trust. Someone who knows the kind of music you like & are wanting to make. Even if they have no production knowledge themselves, if they say there is not enough of this or too much of that it can be a big help. Plus, once you start getting to a level where you are dealing with with other people you might find their opinions are calling the shots.

I've had tracks released that I didn't think were totally ready but the label really liked. I've done remixes that I was really pleased with but the label asked me to take out a certain keyboard sound, or tighten up the vocals.

Finally, not many people can be good at everything. You rap as well & you might decide in a few years that that is what you want to concentrate on. By then you might have hooked up with someone who is a genius at making beats but is searching for an MC. The fact that you can make beats too will be good because you can say things like "change it here so the kick goes like this" & actually show them what you mean.

theworks wrote:

mpc4000xl wrote:Hit UP Some Goodwill/Salvation Army or Thrift Spots


Study The Process ....Samplin'.....Synthesis......Filterin' Etc
Get Some Acapellas and See What You Can Do Behind Them



Hey 4k I'm a little confused what do you mean when you say "synthesis". , Does that mean the 4000 has a synthesis algorythm to apply to onboard sounds? Either way I use the 2000xl so my question probably isn't relevent.

No Not Really I Use An Mpc2000XL.............................
But Believe Me Understanding Synthesis will help Your Music and
Sampling even on An Mpc2000XL Plus eventually You will be asked to use
some type of a synth .......................

Believe me sampling and synthesis are cousins......................

I'll tell ya mo' later

Do you mean THIS Christmas?
Dude, you're not gonna master the MPC in a month unless you have a lot of experience on other machines.
Do you play any instruments? If you don't have prior musical experience, it will take you longer to learn the MPC.

This sh!t takes time, practice, and dedication.
If you're ready to throw in the towel after a few weeks, then you might as well put that mofo up on eBay and get your money back.

But if you're willing to INVEST the time and effort it takes, then maybe after a few months or a few years, you'll be happier with your output.

I'm still not all the way happy with my sh!t, and I've been a musician for years and years. In a way, dissatisfaction is what keeps most people striving to improve.

Oh, and I agree that learning the basics of synthesis will help out in understanding certain concepts on the MPC....especially topics like filtering and envelopes.

itchyvinyl wrote:Oh, and I agree that learning the basics of synthesis will help out in understanding certain concepts on the MPC....especially topics like filtering and envelopes.

That's Whatz UP Ichy

YEAH I GOT IT THIS CHRISTMAS BUT I NOT REALLY RUSHING MY PRODUCTION IT JUST THAT ITS NOT QUITE SOUNDING RIGHT. wHERE DO YOU LEARN THE BASICS OF SYNTHESIS? AND IS THE TRITON RACK A GOOD PURCHASE?

I feel like my beats were boo boo until I got more memory and a zip drive, I don't know if you've done that yet. And I studied the manual until I felt I mastered all the features. Learning the basics of midi will also save you a lot of headache in the long run.

The first track I did that people outside of my circle called a "banger", didn't come along 'til maybe a year or so after I bought it. I was listening to the Rocky sound track and recognized a sample used in a Big Pun song. Hearing the original and comparing the two made me realize how little they did. After I hated on them for a minute I decided to take a crack at it. I ended up choppin’ a different part of the song and laid a Nancy Wilson vocal over it ala’ Rza, and there it was.

So, that’s my advice… Master your machine, learn MIDI, max out the memory, get a large storage device, and study the greats. It took me a couple years to be completely confident in my skills, for some it takes a lot less time. It depends on the base of knowledge you’ve started with.

daInfamous_mpc wrote:YEAH I GOT IT THIS CHRISTMAS BUT I NOT REALLY RUSHING MY PRODUCTION IT JUST THAT ITS NOT QUITE SOUNDING RIGHT. wHERE DO YOU LEARN THE BASICS OF SYNTHESIS? AND IS THE TRITON RACK A GOOD PURCHASE?

Believe Me Ur At the Right Place The Forum .....................

OK Synthesis.......
Computer music Is Very Good
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial ... forbeg.asp


Tips O The day Is Real Huge (I Prolly Need 2 look Back on this 4Delf)
http://www.keyboardtipoftheday.com/a-An ... hesis.html


Or Howz Bout This........Tips on Buying a Keyboard for your Home or Project Studio .............Tweaklab R MY Peepz
http://www.tweakheadz.com/tips_on_buyin ... board.html

The Triton Rack Is FIRE!!!!!!!!!!! BUT Don't Jus' Trus' Me...............

Check out sonicsite Reviews, Classified sales n More
http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/korg_tritonrack.cfm


AND DO Some Comparison Checking ALA ...........Motif Rack, Triton Rack or Fantom XP

Holla at Me If I Can help U Some MO'

My ¢2:

It takes time dude. Lots of time. Getting to know the technical aspects of your machine(s) isn't even half the battle. It takes experience to be a good producer. If you're just starting out, try to analyze what other producers are doing. Play that Primo or GZA beat over and over and try to peel it apart. Don't be afraid to copy something you hear as an excercise, just to see how it's done; you'll develop your own style as you go. Listen to as much music as you can, dig for samples, chop things up, practice, see what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Of course your first beats aren't gonna be world-class bangers. What the hell do you expect? It wouldn't be much fun if anyone could just buy an MPC and put out an album the next week. If you're not prepared to put in work, you're not made for this game.

On a brighter note, you probably are your own worst critic. I've been doing this for 8 years and every time I finish something I think I can do better. I'm never satisfied, and that's what keeps me hungry.

Oh, and you could also post some beats here and let us try and give you some specific pointers.

here's my advice. always focus on your weakest points. if you're not your own worst critic, you'll never improve. if your snares are weak, take a day or two to trick out some snare samples.

you can't expect the first 10 or 20 beats you make to be anything more than crap. but keep making them. how many garbage beats do you think pete rock has made? how many jump shots did michael jordan miss? a lot more than you or me, for sure.

my other advice is even when the purpose of your session is not to make a beat, make one anyway just to stay in practice. if you're just teaching yourself a feature of the mpc, like zone editing, make a beat with that feature.

The MPC is not an easy tool for the first few months unless you're already very familiar with other machines like it. if it's your first piece of gear, give it time.

took me a while to get used to my shit.
i STILL haven't mastered any of my equipment.
but that doesn't mattter.

i'm gonna quote depeche mode on this one:
"you don't have to be an expert guitar player. with electronics, you don't have to be the world's greatest musician to make good music......you can have GOOD IDEAS.
_Dave Gahan, 1984