sequencing with mpc60??

how many tracks do you guys use in one sequence?

use as many as you like some people like to put every sound on it own track to get a cleaner mix i use a lot of tricks you just got to find your own some time i put every thing on its own track if im going to do drum drops or try something new but most of the time i put my drums on 1 track then put the rest of the instrument on thier own tracks you can do it all kinds of ways some cats do all there work on the mpc then import the midi data into a proggam like cubase then they lay thier song out some people need to see the music just got to find your way use all 64 track if the beat your working on calls for it but the most i ever used was like 12 track but thats on some westcoast synth ish for stan

Man, is this Questor C. from SJ, Eldon's old school potnah??!!!?? If so, what's up man holla back!!! I'll reveal my true identity with a reply, hope so it'd be good to see a familiar head up on here!!!!

yo i tryed to get nate back on some ish but the drink has taken him under he's a closet tweaker like alot of my so called friends i talk to eldon his bro lives down the street from me is this ant or dame well any way im here in the jo got a nice set up at my houseand im tryin to get back to the days of epic paradox or raw spit cus everyone is switchen up chasen dough even derrick rose is on so westcoast soundin ish get at me with your name i love to chat with cat from the jo that produce it seems like all of campbell is maken beats me ,jason aquilia/art wickersham/akeem allen/eldon mcgee/hella cat are maken beats its crazy

I use between 20 and 40, not all of them make it to the song, not all of them are on at once.

20 tracks what are you a purist or are you on some westcoast synth shit

I use midi a lot, not a westcoast steez.

Plus I put every new addition to a beat on a separate tract for easy erasing and muting.

It is I crazy Leon, we talked a while back about some technical sh** can't remember what it was off top, sum'n to do with MPC's I think. Anyway, yeah man sh** has gotten bad around the way....The inside joke with the crew this year is....'Waiting on distribution'.....I'll be tellin' these cats, keep on waitin!!! I myself ride the balance between doing nice synth module stuff that has a nice dark drive like some soundtrack sh** and just rockin sample tracks for the sake of the art. I know what you mean about San Jo slippin....Oh you was talkin about Eldon's roommate from back in the day!! I don't know all those cats you mentioned but yeah erybody makes beats or raps these days. I'm personally tired of the 'My Triton is my career path'/'I make hot Neptunes beats' bullsh**...what happened to the mid-90's smooth funk the bay was known for??? Cats need to buy some wax and remember what this was supposed to be... Anyway, nuff of the rantin'......I'll try to track you down on here and get in contact!!!

i tend to use a new track for each performance part, which is frequently a single sample per track, but just as likely a group of similar samples (such as cymbal-like things, or kick/snare combos) per track. at any rate, i organize sequences and tracks compositionally rather than by what is contained in them.

it does make things more complicated in editing, but i it easier to keep the overall structure of things organized in my mind.

but to answer your question, 10-12 tracks average..

yup, that's pretty much what I do. Each new performance part on a new track. Hell we got 99 tracks at our disposal, so use em if you got em!

man I used to do that shit but i think it's mad more difficult- not only does it take like 5x longer to copy each track to another sequence it also becomes difficult to manage - my layout is simple

track 1: drums (this includes my kick, snare, hat, cymbols, etc. anything related to the drumset.)

track 2: percussion ( sleighbells, shakers, tamborouines etc)

track 3: 808 kicks ( don't ask me why I just like to have them on a seperate track sometimes)

track 4: music 1 (i label this track for the S950 samples usually the main verse instruments)

track 5: music 2 (same thing - use music on this track for chorus samples)

track 6: basslines or synth bass samples from the S950

track 7: vocal fx or cuts and scratches track

track 8: misc track (this track is open in case i decide to add another strange sample or instrument at the last moment

I learned that you want to label as many tracks as possible at first and then save that as like a temporary sequence - each time you wish to start a new song or whatever - load this first temp sequence and then rename it as you build your track and need to save. It comes in handy when copying event notes to other sequences because if you don't have your tracks pre-named you will have to do so later and it's a real pain in the arse.....


I hope that helps....oh yeah also - when sequencing i've been setting my tempo to double the standard time and I switch between TIME CORRECT - 8 beats swing % 52-71% depending and NOTE OFF.....

sick of typing sorry for the messy response....too much cream and sugar in this coffee damnnnnit.....gotta go back to messing with this beat before the wife arrives back from her daytime trip....peace yall.


DRUMZ.1

The reason I separate everything is cuz then you have velocity control over each element without going into step edit or edit note data, just lower the velocity on the track if your bells are too loud without affecting the other sounds.

I don't really name my tracks much, I did it once on a beat I did last week, but I rarely feel the need, if I don't know I solo it and then I know. Plus I like muting hats and snares sometimes, so then I just mute that track or just go to erase and select the bars I want silent.

I never copy a single track to another sequence, when settng up song mode I just have everything in an uber sequence and mute to taste. Sometimes I'll add a new track of something if I need something, but usually I have stuff that doesn't even make it to the song and stays muted.

having a lot of tracks may make the copy sequence slower, but I have had up to 40 tracks and it is about the same. Now in song mode when I get to step 13 I can see it starts to take longer on the analysing sequence part and it keeps taking longer.

The only problem with simply muting a track is it doesn't give you control over single velocity notes which is necessary to program a strong realistic drum sequence.....after all that's what the MPC-60 is really designed for....drum sequencing. Also the naming of the tracks isn't really that bad and it allows for complete organization when entering song mode.

For example, I'll label my finished sequences in this manner:

Sequence 1 - Verse1a = 8 bars
Sequence 2 - Verse1b = 8 bars
Sequence 3 - Hook1 = 8 bars
Sequence 4 - Verse2a = 8 bars
etc.....

You see it's easy to organize and also very helpful for sequencing beats to songs that contain lyrics such as my group's material......keep your eyes peeled for that new DRUMAT!C and NEED NOT WORRY lp due out around May 05. FORMULATIN' FATHERS at your service...here to once again revitalize hiphop.

Having it on a separate track does not stop you from editing the individual velocity of each hit, in fact it makes it easier, cuz if you want to edit the HH velocity, you go to the hihat track and all you have is hats, you don't have to keep skipping all your other drums to find them.

Naming sequences is one thing, naming every track is something else. I find naming things in the 60 to be faster than on any other MPC, using pads and such, maybe the 4000 has a keyboard port or something, so not a big deal, I just haven't needed it, but Imma try it cuz you recomended it.

Also, once you have the velocity set for individual notes, when you use the track velocity, it keeps the different velocities there, just adds the same number to each, so Closed hihat will still be softer than the open, but both will be louder if you want that for certain passages.

I still need to mute tracks as well, so keeping it separate is the best way for me.

Yo El,

I use a lot of tracks too when I sequence. But I have to name my tracks or not I will get confused. 20 to 40 tracks is a lot of info to remember, especially when you try to recall the track a month or two later. The track naming on the 60 is hot since you dont have to stop the machine to proform the task. I hated it on the 2kxl. You got to stop the machine from playing to do it. I just work much faster on the 60.

As far as the velocity per track aspect, I agree with you 100%