Sequences, Tracks & Programs: Whats your workflow?

There are some people that like a track for every sound, a program for every track. Some people don't even bother with multiple sequences and just use one sequence for their entire song. Some people use a single program for their songs. What is your process and why? I am just now getting comfortable with the mpc and find all the methods have their pros and cons and it can get a bit confusing, so I was curious how all of you approached it?

I can't shake the old school approach. Sequences per section of the song, each track is tied to the same program throughout, then use song mode.

In the cases where I need a bridging section between sequences, I'll either bounce a clip, merge the 2 sequences, or throw a ghost note in the grid at the end.

I still experiment with different approaches, but usually i start with one sequence where i just throw stuff at it, new sounds, layers, messing around, sound design etc.
Then i duplicate it to have a copy, and then i make new copies and adjust them to match the part of arrangement they are for. All of arrangement sequences are put into song mode so i can listen to the track. If the original sequence is messy i create a new blank sequence and copy tracks there in order and cleanup.

After song is more or less done i export to pattern and make adjustments on that if necessary. Then bounce tracks, mix in ableton, eventually master it and publish it being ashamed i rushed the process

jabberwalky wrote:I can't shake the old school approach. Sequences per section of the song, each track is tied to the same program throughout, then use song mode.

In the cases where I need a bridging section between sequences, I'll either bounce a clip, merge the 2 sequences, or throw a ghost note in the grid at the end.

i find the oldschool approach to be the most efficient for me as well. getting comfortable with resampling/bouncing changed the game up big time.

handthrow wrote:I still experiment with different approaches, but usually i start with one sequence where i just throw stuff at it, new sounds, layers, messing around, sound design etc.
Then i duplicate it to have a copy, and then i make new copies and adjust them to match the part of arrangement they are for. All of arrangement sequences are put into song mode so i can listen to the track. If the original sequence is messy i create a new blank sequence and copy tracks there in order and cleanup.

After song is more or less done i export to pattern and make adjustments on that if necessary. Then bounce tracks, mix in ableton, eventually master it and publish it being ashamed i rushed the process

so if im understanding properly, you're making a 'base loop' more or less then copying it over and tweaking for the parts?

eight_trx wrote:There are some people that like a track for every sound, a program for every track. Some people don't even bother with multiple sequences and just use one sequence for their entire song. Some people use a single program for their songs. What is your process and why? I am just now getting comfortable with the mpc and find all the methods have their pros and cons and it can get a bit confusing, so I was curious how all of you approached it?

my method is really strange. i like to make 4 sequences with 4 tracks. that in essence to me is a complete song. one bridge, one drop, one melody and one counter melody.

The tracks are as follows: lead, melody, bass, and drums.

I do this to avoid over saturating my songs with a zillion instruments and to mimic the concept of a humanized band.

When i get done making those i usually clone then segments to 5,6,7,8 and do a little more automation / muting unmuting to keep the same sort of vibe going but in a way where its not the exact same section we've previously heard.

also when i use this method after i am done creating the song i then have the option to bounce it all to samples and create a clip program so if in the event i want to play my song live im not just standing at a box pretending to do stuff. i can actually interact with the song.

Sometimes i will create a 9th sequence the full length of the song and play that clip program to plot the overall layout of the song and then render THAT to a wave...

then a 10th sequence again the full length, and import my rendering to an audio track on the 10th sequence and apply my final trouches like xyfx (tape stop, studders, reverses etc etc.)

That's pretty much it. I try not to over complicate the process because if i work in a non-standard way (my own standard) I find myself losing track of what I was doing on the project months down the road.

Workflow is the million $ question

Is the MPC at the center of your workflow ?
Do you use external instruments/FX ?
Do you work with other people via the MPC ? or do you have to export to DAW

After you figure out your workflow, I rec building a template that gets you there faster.

jabberwalky wrote:I can't shake the old school approach. Sequences per section of the song, each track is tied to the same program throughout, then use song mode.

In the cases where I need a bridging section between sequences, I'll either bounce a clip, merge the 2 sequences, or throw a ghost note in the grid at the end.

Coming from ableton, SONG MODE is horrible for me.
Thus, I like to move thru sequences with NEXT SEG/pads on the fly.

I have a lot of external instruments, so I have to capture them in the clip program. I’ve been having a lot of issues with NEXT SEQ & clip programs.
Quite often the clips don’t start on the NEXT SEQ.

Do I need to have all my MIDI on the same track for the clips to start up right ?

DokBrown wrote:Do I need to have all my MIDI on the same track for the clips to start up right ?

no, the clips are usually like a giant note though sometimes turning off time correct then selecting the first notes in the grid edit mode then just ever so slightly moving them to the right will correct this issue. ive encountered this as well a number of times. i dont know if its something being held over from the last sequence or a problem with the current sequence but my little tc off wiggle wiggle trick seems to fix it.

If all the songs clips are coming from the same clip program, I assume the mutes set by the program should hold. NEXT SEQ shouldn’t overwrite the pad mutes correct ?

I do all my drums in red [1st /2nd columns]
I do all my MPC clips in purp [4th column]
I do all my synth clips in blue [ 3rd column]

DokBrown wrote:If all the songs clips are coming from the same clip program, I assume the mutes set by the program should hold. NEXT SEQ shouldn’t overwrite the pad mutes correct ?

I do all my drums in red [1st /2nd columns]
I do all my MPC clips in purp [4th column]
I do all my synth clips in blue [ 3rd column]

Automation from one seq shouldnt affect the next sequence regardless of what method you use. next seq, song mode, whatever i'm fairly certain its a bug because it doesnt persist throughout every project. either that or we enabled some magical setting unbeknownst to us that is causing it.

Different sequences for different sections of song (verse, hook, intro, bridge etc)

Track for each sound (sample, kick, snare, hat, bass, etc etc). I usually tap out drums on one track and then explode

One program for sample, keygroup for bass, program for drums

Lots of dope workflows on this thread. Mine is similar to a few that were previously mentioned.

I stick to the 1 track per program method. I have my sequence defaulted to 8 bars, so I usually just start by figuring out the tempo, then I add the melody or chords. I like to keep my drums fresh per session, so I don't use a template. (I made a template, but it takes a while to load, and I like to make each session different instead of starting with the same presets every time. Thile non-template method takes more time, but allows for more creativity and unique sounds.) I have HYPE defaulted to a Piano sound, so I can always start with by writing the melody or chord progression first, then figure out what sound I want to use, then add drums and other samples around it. Also, Since I start with an 8 bar sequence, I will usually start with the Hook, that contains all the parts, then use copy sequence to build the other sections of the song. Usually, I'll end up with 8 sequences, Intro, Verse A, Verse B, Hook, Verse C, Verse D, Bridge and and Outro, and then I'll go to song mode and test out different arrangements. Once I have the arrangement complete, I make sure all the programs correspond to the correct tracks and sequences, then convert everything to a new sequence with the complete arrangement. Once I have the whole arrangement in one sequence, I do an ALS export and finish the track in Ableton for Mixing and Mastering.

For me everything starts with a sample.
So my first track is always the sample. I'll chop it up or just put it in a program and start playing with it untill it sounds great without drums.

Then I start doing track 2, 3 and 4 with a single drum program with layered sounds. In this program I generally have 3 snares, 3 kicks and generally between 3 up until 9 hihats. I always start from the bottom while building these, so I can change the layers to suit the sample best. Start with laying down the snares, then hihats and then kicks.

Track 5 is the bassline/subkick. Subkicks I usually place in the same as used in track 2, 3 and 4 drumprogram. When using the bassline synth or a lowpassfilter I'll make a new program.

I generally have between 1 and 3 sequences. Then I export everything and make it into a sequenced beat in Reaper. Easiest thing to do when having to work with vocals in my opinion.

I use use track mutes and various length bar loops so my way of doing things is 1 sequence of 999 bars composed of up to 16 tracks. Most of the time drums are 1 track with 1 or 2 more tracks dedicated to specific parts of the drums like hi-hats or funky beats that don't need to go on repeatedly while looping. I'm not skilled enough to punch into pad mute for a drum kit, do my thing, and push back into track mute while keeping the flow going juggling the other tracks. Everything else like plugins get its own track.

If I find something I really like while playing around with the track mutes that needs finesse like automation, etc. I'll build it out by copy+paste the loops into the lengths as needed in the sequence to make it mostly or completely a one-shot song.