Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
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By QuentinB Mon May 04, 2020 10:39 pm
Any way to recreate this with the arppegiator?


At the 1:41 mark, that's what I'm referencing.

Seems they input the rhythm and number of notes, then one key sets the scale it runs through, and they press another to shift pitch.
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By NearTao Mon May 04, 2020 10:47 pm
So I've got an OP-1... and you are correct with how the endless sequencer works... a few things that are 'different' about it...

It is variable length... I think it's from 1 to 99 notes that you can program. It then uses the root c note to play the pattern notes out as entered, and as you noticed, it will play the note by semitone changes based on what note you press and what the notes in the pattern are.

You can also do tricky things like... let go of the notes and it will start playing from the first note again, or if you play a second note while holding the first note it will transpose to the new note pattern while continuing to play from the position in the pattern you were.

As to your question about the MPC X/Live/One... I haven't been able to pull that trick off specifically... you could probably do something with q-links to change a program's tuning and get a similar effect for a pattern that you put together though...

Huh... will think on it... anybody else have any other ideas for how you could take a track/pattern and transpose notes from root to get a similar effect on the MPC?
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By QuentinB Mon May 04, 2020 10:50 pm
Man, that little device has some nice tricks to it :D I know that you can choose notes mode in the pad perform and select as many pads as your fingers can touch, then the arp will play through them in some pattern. But maybe the key to the next piece is as you say, using q-links to pitch shift at some point.
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By NearTao Mon May 04, 2020 10:56 pm
QuentinB wrote:Man, that little device has some nice tricks to it :D I know that you can choose notes mode in the pad perform and select as many pads as your fingers can touch, then the arp will play through them in some pattern. But maybe the key to the next piece is as you say, using q-links to pitch shift at some point.


The OP-1 is quite cool... but in a lot of ways hits bellow it's price point. It is awesome as a way to explore sounds really quick and just get something out... it isn't so great as a way to complete a track.

Yuri is kind of a lightweight with it... you can see in the video he just made a 4 track, 4 bar loop... whoop de doo... check out Red Means Recording on Youtube if you want to see somebody who has clearly mastered constructing a track on the OP-1.
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By QuentinB Tue May 05, 2020 3:21 am
I watch Red means record often! That person has some really creative methods on the op1. Went down a rabbit hole a few months before I bought the mpc one and watched a ton of videos on the op1. Yuki, red means record, and other persons videos were really awesome to see.

Seems the closest I can make the arp come to that type of method is using the patterns section. But those are all pre loaded patterns, which will get bland after a bit. Doesn’t seem to be a way to program in your own pattern yet.
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By NearTao Tue May 05, 2020 11:37 am
Once you've programmed in a track, you can hit the pencil on the track and go to "Export as Pattern" to save off your own patterns.

It's also not that much work to:
* write out a x bar loop
* go to sequencer pencil -> double length
* grid view select part of the sequence
* transpose some notes up or down...

Rinse and repeat a few times... and you'll get a similar effect.
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By QuentinB Tue May 05, 2020 2:36 pm
NearTao wrote:Once you've programmed in a track, you can hit the pencil on the track and go to "Export as Pattern" to save off your own patterns.

It's also not that much work to:
* write out a x bar loop
* go to sequencer pencil -> double length
* grid view select part of the sequence
* transpose some notes up or down...

Rinse and repeat a few times... and you'll get a similar effect.


Definitely not a lot of work! But seeing that feature in the Op-1 got me excited because there's a similar thing in Reason, it's a player device in reason, but you can pull off the same thing and quickly layout an idea. Doesn't hurt to ask :)
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By bees80 Tue May 05, 2020 3:01 pm
What you are describing is more of a step sequence, played at different notes. I have MS-1 with a step sequencer and it works exactly like this too. I'm not sure if you can do this on the mpc. But you can always put the notes in grid edit, copy the part and then transpose it in the grid. Though nearly not as fun..

You could also get some nice results when activating the arpeggiator (note repeat, arp - right bottom in the screen) and set the action to pattern. There are quite some patterns then to select and try out. It's not like the option you described because you don't enter the notes yourself, but you could get something cool out of it...
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By QuentinB Tue May 05, 2020 3:11 pm
I would play it by hand but I'm on a weird disconnect from location thing right now, trying to see how much I can get out of the MPC one on it's own. I've got other tools laying around, but this is an experiment for me to see how far I can push things with just the mpc. It's been really fun so far, and I've managed to get two whole songs done in no time, so that's been great too.

Re: the arp patters, we were discussing that a few posts above. That certainly works to find some nice patterns too! Wonder if they'll add a step sequencing function like that later on in an update.
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By bees80 Wed May 06, 2020 6:31 am
Ah sorry i thought that conversation only was about the arp in the OP-1.

It would be cool if the arp function has an added function where you can progam your own patterns for the arp!

But, then they also have to feature the midi note input i guess. That would be really nice for the step sequencer.