Some basic questions

Hi guys
I apologise for asking what may really be dumb questions. Ive had my MPCX just over a week now and have been having great success in understanding large amounts of stuff.
So, I have been reading the manual and the bible but can't quite find what im looking for. So I've made what I feel is mistake of doing my first song/lesson with 16 bar loops. I'll definitely use 8 next time. So ive got 12 sequences that play nicely as a song. I took it into the studio properly at the weekend and realised loads of levels were not right. What appears to be happening is that each sequences levels are independent. Thats very very annoying at the stage im at as id like to bounce it down and get on with a new song. (Yes, I really did do something credible and releasable in my first week, the machine is amazingly inspirational.)
So can I apply level and eq settings globally across the tracks each sequence uses? Massive to me. How will I deal with this going forward when starting a new song? Build everything in one sequence and get all the eq and effects and levels right in that sequence and copy the data into new sequences? Im really not sure. Ive not learned any automation yet, ive not looked into that but will that remain something done at the end in each individual sequence.
I hope this all makes sense. If I can get this all understood im away!
Cheers
Lee

Arrange the song in songmode and convert it into a sequence. That way it’s easier to get the levels right. Use pad mixer mode and channel mixer mode for that.

For your next song try to setup the tracks the same way in each sequence. E.g. program your drums in track 1 in all your sequences. Your bass in track 2 in all your sequences, sample in track 3 and so on. To keep it simple, put all your drums in the same program, bass sound in it’s own single program, the sample you’ve programed in track 3 in it’s own single program, so that in all your sequences the same program is assigned to track 1, the same program is assigned to track 2 in all your sequences etc. Now adjusting levels is very easy in pad mixer mode en channel mixer mode.

Thanks dude.
I just got home. I did kind of work some of this out last night. What I found was that in each sequence there were different values in the levels in the page with the magnifying glass icon and also in channel mixer there were certain tracks with (accidental) level automation that I had no idea I had done.
Am I to keep the. automation icon green to avoid inadvertently recording knob movement or is there another way to turn automation off completely until I choose to use it.
Thanks for getting back to me, much appreciated.
Lee

Just keep the icon green and you should be good.

Cool I will

I would always try to make the whole beat in 1 sequence then copy that sequence and mute the tracks that I wasn't using. That doesn't work if your recording the track mutes with in the sequence. What menco explained eliminates that problem. I never used the mix down function in song mode until recently.

How many bars is your preference?

Personally I often start with 1 bar, just to see how sounds work together and be able to tweak things pretty easily. Once I want to start building a track I'll move over to 2 or 4 bars depending on how much I want something to loop or if I want a short or long transition between sequences.

Most western music is created around 16 bar shifts. So...... eight and sixteen is probably where your going to be as well. You created a hit song on your first try but your not sure of how many bars you should use. I’m looking forward to hearing this