Time stretching for dummies (who does this)

My confusion is this: Say I have a sampled 2 bar loop that is 96bpm. I want the full track to be 90bpm.

the trick is not to put the whole loop on one pad. if you're gonna do stuff like that you might as well be using an sp303 or something like that. the power of the mpc is in the sequencer, so break that loop down onto separate pads so you can control exactly when each note hits rather than have that dictated by the sample. it's about control and power. if you chop it up, you'll see how much control you truly have. it takes longer, but the end result gives the producer true control over his instruments.

otherwise, you're applying timestretch to the whole thing rather than just the necessary part of it. timestretch should be used on as small pieces as possible.

Antonym wrote:

My confusion is this: Say I have a sampled 2 bar loop that is 96bpm. I want the full track to be 90bpm.

the trick is not to put the whole loop on one pad. if you're gonna do stuff like that you might as well be using an sp303 or something like that. the power of the mpc is in the sequencer, so break that loop down onto separate pads so you can control exactly when each note hits rather than have that dictated by the sample. it's about control and power. if you chop it up, you'll see how much control you truly have. it takes longer, but the end result gives the producer true control over his instruments.

otherwise, you're applying timestretch to the whole thing rather than just the necessary part of it. timestretch should be used on as small pieces as possible.

I feel as though you've really enlightened me during this thread. I appreciate the knowledge!

Quick Question:
If I use BPM match to raise the tempo of a sample, how do I assign that altered sound to a pad from within the ZONE/TRIM - EDIT screen?

abbot_x wrote:Quick Question:
If I use BPM match to raise the tempo of a sample, how do I assign that altered sound to a pad from within the ZONE/TRIM - EDIT screen?

Most mpc's are the same, so Ill go out on a limb and say go into the program screen and assign the sound to pad .


My Man Nym dropping knowledge in here tonight. Let em know Nym,

Chop small baby

GRACIAS!

yep.... stick with chopping individual hits unless the retrig sound is what your going after. i tend to use pitch breaks up to speed as ima jungle brotha and dig the oldskool pitched sound of breaks but when chopping melodic samples its all about chopping down to the note. sometimes a single chop sounds so lush on its own you dont need the rest of the sample..

Yeah, what y'all said... sometimes a "dah" needs to be stretched to a "daah" for a better melodic flow.

abbot_x wrote:Yeah, I get that part. But I guess I am just looking for the most accurate way to do it, rather than just feeling it out. For instance, with the example I mentioned in my previous post (original sample 96bpm, full track will be 90bpm), would I basically perform the math this way:
96bpm is the %100 point
Will need to lower the original bpm by 6 to make it fit into the 90bpm track.
96 - 6 = 90
How would I correlate that into ratio percentage? Since I need to slow the bpm down, do I add the bpm difference between the original and what I desire (in this case 6) to the %100 ratio point?
Would it be the equivalent of 100 + 6 = 106? Or %106?

wouldn't the easiest way be just to use the bpm screen in the timestretch section? - like select 'timestretch to 90 bpm'

but another easy way to figure this out on the mpc is to use the tempo change screen.
I use it as tempo calculator all the time. For example you want to change a sample from 96 bpm to 90- set a sequence at 96 bpm - open window on the tempo. It shows %100 = 96 bpm - just change the tempo in tha

t screen and it will tell you your percentage - %93.8 = 90 bpm.

i never use numbers for timestretching since i'm stretching segments of sound that aren't even half a second long most of the time.

if i'm doing it, i just kind of guess, like from 120 bpm to say 80

if that's too much i do it again, and again. to the point wehre i can usually get it right the first time. but like i said, if i'm timestretching i'm neither looking for quality or accuracy since it's only 1 note i'm timestretching.

when you have a ram ceiling that you can't poke with a twenty foot pole, you don' have to worry about spare 100 kb wavs kickin around.

if i'm for some reason trying to get a loop to fit, i know i've done something wrong because i have a sample w/ more than 1 note in it. if that's the case and i can't bear to part with the loop as is, i throw it into my sp404 and loop it from there. no sense using an mpc for something the sp404 was made for better.

I'm not talking about timestretching, but does anyone chop a 4 or 8 bar loop, then chop that loop into 16 or 32 even segments, which you already matched bpm.....

but then try in program edit to add delay on the amp envolope cutting off your chops but then increasing the stretch percentage past 100??? So each chop matches up again??

I'm trying to experiment, sometimes I can make my chops (all 16 pad chops are even lengths) kind of bounce but I havnt found a consistent amount yet but always try random attsck amounts, delay amounts and stretch percentage amounts and sometimes it makes the loop kind of bounce or sound different...

I'm not referring to timestretching or nothing.

Basically I warp usually so stretch at 100 percent without adding delay on envolope is already on time and perfectly looping..

When I add delay to my chops it cuts the ends off making it choppy and appear off tempo but then stretching the chop percentage so it kind of sounds like it's on tempo again but adds a rather cool bounce or breathing characteristic sometimes.

When looking up if anyone messes with the stretch percentage in program edit, I don't get any results because what pops up is specifically about timestretching and matching bpm.... so wondering if anyone tries the stretch percentage after you already matched bpm... and if so how do you use the stretch percentage? Any cool techniques with it or tips?

havent tried it and never use these features, but it could be simple as that,
if you do know the original bpm:

original_bpm / new_bpm == required stretch

example:
100 / 128 = 0.78.. ; so speed up with 78% stretch

or

132 / 100 : 1.32, slow down with 132 % stretch

Mpc pads are like turntables you are beatmatching the tempos to make a smooth mix. Tuning can be just like your pitch slider on the Mpc with next to no artifacts unlike time stretch in fact many hip hop pioneers did just that tempo the loops on the turntables on the way into match the loops with the sequence on the Mpc. Or once in the Mpc use semitones and cents to beatmatch the loops to your sequence, You can used time stretch on the 2xl on up to the new but a lot of the daws and third party apps are smoother than the Mpc algorithm. Most people want to work standalone so either get it right going in. Or beatmatch in the Mpc using tuning. Modern mpcs gives use the original bpm in sample edit so tuning to new tempo can be easy and simple even without the math.