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.
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By pt3r Tue Jan 06, 2026 10:46 am
I have been digging through the manual pages but I cannot figure out how I can record an audio track without the specfying its length beforehand. Is it even possible? If so how do I do this on os 3.6?
By Digital Larry Tue Jan 06, 2026 6:24 pm
MPC One 3.6.0 Manual page 462, is this what you are looking for? (uncheck "Fixed Length Recording").

462
For empty clip slots:
Tap Create to create a new clip.
Tap Paste to paste a copied clip.
To open the Record Configuration window, press and hold
Record, and then tap Settings.
Check the Write automation when recording box to capture
automation while recording.
Use the Record Launch field to set how recording is initiated:
Clip: Tap any clip launch pad while the track is armed to
begin recording.
Record or Clip: Tap any clip launch pad while the track is
armed to begin recording, or press the Record button to
begin recording on the highlighted clip slot.
Record then Clip: First press the record button, then tap
any clip launch pad to begin recording
Record to Selection: The record destination automatically
updates to the currently selected event list. Whether a clip
or the Arrangement is selected, pressing the Record button
and then Play will begin recording to the current selection.
(This is the default mode when MPC is powered on).
Use the Clip Record To field to set the behavior when recording
is completed, entering either Overdub or Play.
Use the Record Arm field to set the arming behavior of the Rec
Arm button. When set to Single, MPC automatically record
arms the current track when changing tracks and disarms any
others. When set to Multi, you can record arm multiple tracks at
the same time.
When using Single Record Arm, it is still possible to record arm
multiple tracks using the Channel Mixer or Track View Mode.
Check the Fixed Length Recording box to stop recording after
the clip length set in the Fixed Length (Bars) field. Leave
unchecked to record for any desired clip length.
Tap Close, the X, or outside the window to close the Record
Configuration window and return to Clip Matrix Mode.
By Elijah Wed Jan 07, 2026 1:25 am
Recording with a free length is only possible when using the clip workflow, with Fixed Rec Length set to Off. It isn’t possible in the traditional sequence/arrangement workflow.
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By pt3r Wed Jan 07, 2026 7:13 am
Thank you so much for your answer, but my MPC has no pro pack installed so that settles it for me. Not sure I want to spend money on the pro pack just to get that feature. Since I'm oldschool in my workflow I'll leave the clips to the Ableton users, Ableton never gelled with me so I see no reason to go that route now on my MPC. At least I did not miss some hidden info in the manual, which I find very hermetic to say the least, at least compared to the manual that came with my 2kxl :lol:
By B-Wise Wed Jan 07, 2026 1:55 pm
pt3r wrote:Thank you so much for your answer, but my MPC has no pro pack installed so that settles it for me. Not sure I want to spend money on the pro pack just to get that feature. Since I'm oldschool in my workflow I'll leave the clips to the Ableton users, Ableton never gelled with me so I see no reason to go that route now on my MPC. At least I did not miss some hidden info in the manual, which I find very hermetic to say the least, at least compared to the manual that came with my 2kxl :lol:

The cool thing about the Clip-matrix is that you can still use it like the traditional MPC sequencer, but with extra flexibility. The Row Follow Action feature let's you compose an arrangement right in the matrix without using the arranger, but you still have 128 arranger seqs if you need them.

Only the Force dudes have a legitimate reason to feel disappointed with the pro pack, since we already have half of the features :nod: :lol: . They need to break that crap up & let us buy the features we want.