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.
By Jim Roseberry Wed Jul 20, 2022 1:14 am
Hi Folks,

Just got a MPC Key 61.
Like a lot about it...

Made some test samples from a Moog One.
In this case, I want the samples to play like an old-school monophonic Mini-Moog type lead.
When I set all the keygroups to Mono, the envelope isn't retriggered (as would be with most synths).
Am I missing something?
If keygroups don't retrigger, mono synth samples won't play like the real thing.
Especially trills, mock hammer-ons, etc.
By Jim Roseberry Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:06 pm
NearTao wrote:what does your current key group sound like? legato or portamento? something else?


Lets say I'm wanting to play an old-school mono Moog lead type sound.
The samples themselves sound good. Auto-sample is amazingly easy.

I'll try to describe the issue.
Lets say I'm playing and holding an E3 note... and (while still holding that E3) I play an A4 above it to simulate a hammer-on (or trill).
When I release the A4 note, the E3 note being held doesn't get retriggered.
Instead of a hammer-on type articulation, when I release the A4... it's dead silence.
All classic synths will retrigger when in mono mode.
If MPC Keygroups can't retrigger in mono mode, playing/articulating classic mono synth sounds accurately won't be possible.

I hope I'm just overlooking something.
Portamento settings (Legato) have no effect on the above.
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By MPC-Tutor Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:23 pm
This happens when the individual keygroups are set to MONO. For monophonic instruments, only the program itself should be set to 'Poly: Mono' (Program Edit > Global > first column). On that same page, the KG POLY should be 'Poly'. Make sure you set this for all keygroups (select 'KEYGROUP:All' at the top of the page in program edit).

It's worth noting that envelopes are always re-triggered on each note. In fact a big complaint is that it's not possible to create a filter sweep when trilling, as the envelope restarts on each note played (hint: use one of the filter insert fx instead).
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By jabberwalky Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:27 pm
I got excited for a second, thinking they actually allowed envelopes to play proper legato. Nope.

What you're talking about is note priority, which many monosynths do, either with high note priority, or low note priority (like the Moog). Many synths also have last note priority, which I prefer. MPC has no such settings sadly.
By Jim Roseberry Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:58 pm
jabberwalky wrote:I got excited for a second, thinking they actually allowed envelopes to play proper legato. Nope.

What you're talking about is note priority, which many monosynths do, either with high note priority, or low note priority (like the Moog). Many synths also have last note priority, which I prefer. MPC has no such settings sadly.


Thanks for confirming.
I tried setting all Keygroups to "Poly" and setting just the Program to Mono.
Does the same exact thing. (Doesn't retrigger the held note)

For what I was hoping to do, that's a major limitation.
By Cgip Sat May 02, 2026 10:36 pm
Love all my MPC’s but this is my biggest gripe with it. Can’t even sample and play a lead or bass the way I want because this feature is missing. Been bugging the developers about it for years.