Managing user progressions is infuriating

Does anyone have any tips - beside the info provided in the manual?
I must be missing something because it can't be this broken.

I can export progressions from my MPC software to my standalone unit. But then I can't edit them ever again, and loading a second batch later, simply did add those new ones to the list, it seems like it only loads progressions from that root folder once? That can't be right.

I've deleted all the progressions in the SD card root Progressions folder, but this doesn't delete them from standalone, because the MPC moves them somewhere.

Why doesn't Akai just let us load, edit and save them like a sequence? If you try one out and realize that the root note was set too low - you can change the octave, but it doesn't save these settings. When you save the progression from the MPC software, setting the root note does nothing in fact - it will use the note in your progression at whatever octave it was in the sequence. That seems broken.

I've spent hours now trying to update, rename, edit existing progressions, but just going in circles.

I have not read the manual nor used the software for progressions.
So maybe you know this and mean something else.

But in standalone you can remove user progressions in the browser under mpc documents in the map progressions.

To edit you just go back and redo, using the same name will overwrite.

Thanks for the tip, which reminded me that there was a progressions folder on the internal drive. where things can be deleted. Here is what I figured out. . .

1) If you make a progression in stand alone mode - it goes to the Progressions folder on your internal drive.

2) If you import progressions from your computer using a Progressions folder on your SD card, it seems that these get added to the list of progressions you can use, but not 'moved' to the internal folder. I'm not sure how to move them to the internal folder. So the SD card has become a crucial part of using standalone. However I did once delete them from the SD card, and they were available, yet not showing in the internal Progressions folder. So there might be more to this.

3) When you make a progression on the computer, you can set the root note and they key of the scale, when you load this progression, the MPC does not load the key of the scale you set, you have to manually re-set that to get your progression in the key you wanted. This is stupid, but if you name your progressions with the key in the name, you can then re-set this when using your progression.

At least now I have something working, and understand the process better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fWVBMEzvyc

I wouldn't even bother doing the conversions in the standalone. Do them in the software then save them to your ssd or sd card and you don't have to worry about fiddling with the root drive.

Except for one caveat, the key of the scale doesn't matter that much because you can always change it on the fly so there's no need to put the key in the name. Labeling the mode of the scale is more important because the progression will always transpose in what ever mode you originally saved it in.

The tricky part is, the scale/ root note of the progression is always the lowest note of the first chord. So it's always necessary to be aware of what scale you are actually in as opposed to letting the conversion determine it. If the first event is not the key/scale of your progression, the root note will be wrong and it will also transpose incorrectly in performance mode.

As for a re-editing, just play out your progression then save as the same name and it will just overwrite.
Use a hyphen in the name to organize your progressions in the performance mode tabs. Such as
My Custom- Progression1 Lydian or alternatively Lydian Progressions- Progression1

If you are converting progressions from existing midi files make sure your chords are all quantized and not arpeggiated, delete runs and accents and half time the sequence at least 2 times before converting. The conversion algorithm will group notes that are close together into a single chord and that can make for some awful progressions.

Thanks for the link - i found the next video in that series even more enlightening - showing how to add category folders by using the minus sign in the naming convention of the progressions. Had no idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLf1nD6 ... e=youtu.be

Is there a way to convert many midis to progression? Like hundreds

I've done about 150,000 conversions now. Its no way to a batch process properly. Also the conversion makes the scale whatever the lowest note of the first chord is so it is often wrong and best to do one by one. It's especially important to have the scale correct if you plan on having a ton of progressions because it would be difficult and time consuming to find progressions that match what key you are creating in. Also if notes are too close together they will become one chord that sounds like a dead body dropping on a piano so really the best way is to go through each individual file. It takes a little bit longer but if done correct, you'll have progressions that you can go to and transpose correctly instantly instead of blindly fumbling through your progressions trying to find a match.

The biggest time saving tips that I forgot to mention especially when doing bulk progressions is rename midi files with a bulk renamer (using the hyphen method) before hand so there is no need to rename afterwards. Make the name as short as possible (remove all special characters, abbreviate when possible) and folder organize all your files by scales/modes and then convert, this way you can adjust the root note/mode quickly and correctly without having to listen to every sequence. If you do good prep doing hundreds of files only takes about 30 mins or less.

Its best to do it in controller mode, so that once you have your folders organized you can just drag
up to 128 files in at a time. I sometimes get crashes when tying to load more than 100 sequences so I just load about 50-70 at a time and you can blast right through the conversions.