Song chaining

Hello,
Is there a way to chain songs or assign a program change or any other MIDI event on the MPC to load songs on stage without touching the screen?
Even if it takes some time between tracks, it would still be faster than doing it manually.

Thanks!

No, but it's pretty fast if you use Setlists.

You can set up a large project where each scene corresponds to a song, and switch between them using program change.

jamos wrote:No, but it's pretty fast if you use Setlists.

Thanks,
It’s not ideal since I have to manage multiple devices on stage.
Is there a way to access the setlist directly or set up a shortcut?

Elijah wrote:You can set up a large project where each scene corresponds to a song, and switch between them using program change.

Cool, it could be a great solution.
How can I set up scenes with different instruments? Or even better, can I import scenes from other projects?
Thanks for your help.

There are no "scenes" in the MPC. only tracks, sequences, songs & projects.

mpc_fan_2022 wrote:There are no "scenes" in the MPC. only tracks, sequences, songs & projects.

Ok, does that mean there’s no solution?

Jeezs wrote:

mpc_fan_2022 wrote:There are no "scenes" in the MPC. only tracks, sequences, songs & projects.

Ok, does that mean there’s no solution?

Replace the word scenes (Force term for seqs) with sequences.

There's no way to achieve what you initially asked for (e.g. sending a MIDI message to trigger a new song). If speed is of the essence then you could try building one almighty project where each song is a sequence, but you'll have to use the MPC itself to change the currently loaded sequence, I'm not aware of a way to achieve this via midi.

But MPC3 with it's unified track system really assumes 'one composition per project', so if you plan on having completely different kits/instruments per sequence, you'll have to put each song on a different set of tracks, e.g. sequence 1 uses tracks 1-8 , seq 2 uses tracks 9-15 etc. Creating merged kits is another option (track 1 kit: bank A for song 1, bank b for song 2 etc), split keygroups etc.

MPC3 is in no way optimised for live performance, MPC2 was better as you could easily have different track/program structure per sequence. Alternatively you can accept that you will have to load projects between songs and use something else to 'bridge' while you are loading. Also be aware that some samples are not actually loaded into RAM immediately, they are loaded as a background process and may still be loading even after leaving the browser

Thank you all. I hope Akai updates their ecosystem to make it easier to use on stage.

MPC-Tutor wrote:Also be aware that some samples are not actually loaded into RAM immediately, they are loaded as a background process and may still be loading even after leaving the browser

This. Totally threw me off when I first started messing around with the Live for live backing tracks. Ended up just making one big project with all my songs in a separate sequence. Had one track for the backing audio, one track for triggering visuals via MIDI, and another track with MIDI CC automation and program changes for my Boss VE-500 vocal pedal

The octatrack, could be a live looper, and you can then 'mix' the next loaded track over the recorded loop.

The rc 505 /202 would also suffice.

The issue is that the tempo needs to be similar.

The way I have everything geared up for live gigs is this :
Build your individual songs first of all with separate sequences etc, arrange the sequences in song mode to complete your track, & then convert back to a single sequence once I'm happy with the arrangement.
Depending on the gig - some I do with rappers & singers so we treat it more like a regular band with a brief pause in-between songs - but sometimes I will play solo beat sets for a while, & in these cases I may sometimes arrange all the single sequence 'songs' into a set list in song mode, which will start the next song as soon as the previous ends.
Bear in mind - I'm on an older v2 OS, & not familiar with how v3 works in this capacity.

Jeezs wrote:

jamos wrote:No, but it's pretty fast if you use Setlists.

Thanks,
It’s not ideal since I have to manage multiple devices on stage.
Is there a way to access the setlist directly or set up a shortcut?

If yoy save your project with the setlist as the last screen you touch before saving, it will open with the set list active. Do this for all songs and the setlist will be active throughout the set.

Here's what I mean. After finishing any edits, and just before saving, navigate to the setlist. Now press Menu, Save, Save Project. The next time you load the song, the setlist will be active.