MPC Live 2.15 - Track mutes for live sets

Anyone find a practical way of handling track mutes on the new MPC's for live sets outside of the track mutes window?
I play a lot of sounds on the pads at live shows, & switching between windows isn't an option for me - there's a certain amount of improvisation involved too so I need to be able to switch tracks on & off quickly on the fly.
I was using a little LPD8 for this with the MPC 1000 (via a small basic midi host box), worked perfectly & took me about 20 secs to set up. Can't get it mapped on the MPC Live at all, & tried programming Q links for the task too - nothing seems to be working for me..
I'm on OS v2.15 on the Live if it makes a difference, I've been through a few different threads on this, seems it's a common complaint - but none of the solutions mentioned are working out at all.
Ideally I'd like to get this working for a gig this weekend, but this issue is holding back & driving me nuts!
Thanks!

Personally, I wouldn't rely on the current OS for a live situation at this point in time

Any recommendation for a more stable version 2?

I use track mutes to arrange projects live.
If I have a drum track with more samples, I duplicate the track many times as the number of samles and trigger only one per track on the grid so I can ignore pad mutes and have all in track mutes.
Then of course I assign qlinks and use qlink project mode.
This way you can just stay on track mute page basically, since qlinks appear as you touch them.
I am on 2.15.1, all works perfectly for me.

jaymack wrote:Personally, I wouldn't rely on the current OS for a live situation at this point in time

OP is not using the current unstable release.

Correct @jamos I'm running 2.15

Midi mapping is an absolute shambles on this..
Managed to get the q-links set to mute tracks 1 through 4 (I'm only using 3 to 4 tracks on any given song) - but it's glitchy & doesn't really do the job well at all

Straker wrote:I use track mutes to arrange projects live.
If I have a drum track with more samples, I duplicate the track many times as the number of samles and trigger only one per track on the grid so I can ignore pad mutes and have all in track mutes.
Then of course I assign qlinks and use qlink project mode.
This way you can just stay on track mute page basically, since qlinks appear as you touch them.
I am on 2.15.1, all works perfectly for me.

Thanks for the input - but I play a lot of pads live so being on the track mutes page doesn't work for me.
If it could let me map the LPD8 for the task, I'd be all set. It's driving me mad that 2006 technology could handle this perfectly well with no fuss, but on this modern machine it's a total clusterfk..

Moot wrote:

Straker wrote:I use track mutes to arrange projects live.
If I have a drum track with more samples, I duplicate the track many times as the number of samles and trigger only one per track on the grid so I can ignore pad mutes and have all in track mutes.
Then of course I assign qlinks and use qlink project mode.
This way you can just stay on track mute page basically, since qlinks appear as you touch them.
I am on 2.15.1, all works perfectly for me.

Thanks for the input - but I play a lot of pads live so being on the track mutes page doesn't work for me.
If it could let me map the LPD8 for the task, I'd be all set. It's driving me mad that 2006 technology could handle this perfectly well with no fuss, but on this modern machine it's a total clusterfk..

So you can organize your main screen, and you can put padmute, trackmute, qlink shortcuts at the bottom of the left menu screen, and get used to that.
I also was a bit disturbed by that at the beginning, I never liked touchscreen but at the end I get used to it and it's fine.
You just need to memorize the places of shortcuts on the menu, and it becomes a habit.

Thanks - but that's pretty much the issue I'm up against, I had a bank of samples I trigger live on top of sequenced stuff that I often play at the same time as muting a track (drums / bass / keys etc) so swapping between menus on the screen isn't an option for me.
I had this flow perfected on the 1k, so I don't know why it's such a ballache to do on a modern MPC..
Pad mute groups (not regular 'choke' groups I'll specify) are something I've seen mentioned a few times so I'm gonna look into that!

I think I'm having this difficulty because I've never come across anyone that uses an MPC for live shows the way I do - I make it more complicated for myself to play 'live' like an instrument, it's hard work but the alternative is standing in front of a crowd doing next to nothing..

Moot wrote:I think I'm having this difficulty because I've never come across anyone that uses an MPC for live shows the way I do - I make it more complicated for myself to play 'live' like an instrument, it's hard work but the alternative is standing in front of a crowd doing next to nothing..

I think your (our, I'll kind of be in a similar boat when I'll eventually take my MPC out) answer is to use 2 samplers.
Previously, I've used an S5000 live but with the 8 analogue outs I physically mute channels on my desk, but I'd also use Koala Sampler to trigger one shots - I use a Korg Nanokontrol as a pad trigger and map knobs/faders to fx as sweaty fingers and touch screen devices don't mix well. My devices aren't fancy, Koala runs on my a Samsung A52s in flight mode fine with the occasional audio drop out and even rarer crash but I tend to use my iPad (regular...last version with the headphone jack) for the bigger screen and seems a bit more robust - though neither have crashed on me in a gig situation.

I think, once I do incorporate the MPC into my live rig, I'll still be using Koala alongside it.

Yeah I've only ever heard good things about Koala, never got around to using it though as I don't have an iPad - if you're looking for a sampler to use live along with Koala, the SP404mk2 seems like the best choice as they're now integrated!

Put the samples you want to trigger live on the first track so they are easily reached as you push the "main" button.
Quantize the track mute or pad mute TC, so it gives you time to switch to main page as you mute/unmute.
It's just developing a flow, like playing an instrument.
It works that way with me.

Moot wrote:I think I'm having this difficulty because I've never come across anyone that uses an MPC for live shows the way I do - I make it more complicated for myself to play 'live' like an instrument, it's hard work but the alternative is standing in front of a crowd doing next to nothing..

I know what you mean about performing live and looking like you are doing nothing…..
I have had a Live 2 for over a year and I am still learning how best to utilise it for live gigs.
There are so many different ways to do it and I have discovered things I didn’t think of just by reading this forum.
Personally, I went down the route of sampling portions of my mixed and mastered pieces [from Cubase] and loading them into a clip program on track 1. [I am using and will continue to use MPC 2.15.1 until I have to jump]. With new pieces I am partially composing on the MPC as well, utilising instrument plug-ins and the sequencer, together with the project Q-links.
One thing I would say is that it depends what you want to achieve with your onstage performance and how much pressure you want to put yourself under. There are some dudes out there who like to look like they are composing and improvising on the fly – arms flying around, fingers looking like a blur, making dance moves and timing gestures etc. Great, if you can pull it off without a f**kup.
Or, I have been to Kraftwerk concerts where the guys simply stood infront of laptops and even walked off the stage!
Two extremes.
What I am learning [and it may change the more gigs I do] is to set up the Live to do difficult things automatically and keep myself just busy enough to improvise just some changes by hand. An audience won’t like it if I mess things up and they can tell I have. They might be patient if you’re doing very little but the music keeps them interested; and they might possibly get a kick out of your performance if they can see that you are obviously in control of some of the changes eg, filter sweeps, pitch risers, drops, echo dubs, rhythm and sequence switching etc etc.
You obviously care about playing live and probably have more experience than me. Just make sure that you enjoy it and if the audience can see that, then all is good. I hope I haven't been patronising and I hope this helps. I’m not an expert – still learning at 67