sequencing rhythmic samples

im new at this so forgive my ignorance. if you have a rythmic sample...say a drum hit and couple of bass notes...and you want to get it in rhythm with the click to add other drums and samples...what's the best way to do this? do you start with a real slow tempo, put the sample down on the one then speed it up to get it in time from there? just wondering if there are any tried and true techniques for this.

jt

practice works best, try em out, everything you mentioned is pretty much all you need to get busy.

yeah, i was wondering about this too. just got an mpc1000 and that's the way i've been doing it so far. seems kinda silly to me...is there any way to get the mpc to calculate the BPM from the sample length? also, when i trim a sample to loop perfectly in TRIM mode, it doesn't loop well when i add it to a sequence. i've heard people mention that you need to add silence to the end of each sample because the mpc fades out the last 30 milliseconds of the samples. is that true? seems pretty stupid to me, because then the loops will only work on the mpc....if you try to loop it in audition or something, there will be a gap at the end. also, any loops that i make in audition have to have 30ms tacked onto the end (which is really obnoxious). i just tried trimming a sample and leaving a little tail at the end...it works when i loop it in a sequence, but what's the point of having a loop feature if you have to create an imperfect (longer) loop to get it to work?

ShamusRD wrote:is there any way to get the mpc to calculate the BPM from the sample length?

You have to do it yourself:

(44100 x 60 x beats) / sample endpoint = BPM

btw 1 measure has 4 beats.

dubnov wrote:btw 1 measure has 4 beats.

Depends entirely on the time signature of your beat.

pt3r wrote:Depends entirely on the time signature of your beat.

Yes you're right. I forgot the word "usually".
Ok, to keep it simple:

(44100 x 60 x beats per measure x measures) / sample endpoint = BPM

sample endpoint?

ikke wrote:sample endpoint?

End in trim menu

ok cool. thanks for the info. still don't understand why the mpc can't do this automatically...seems pretty simple to me. anyway, how about my second question (sorry to hijack this thread slightly):

ShamusRD wrote:also, when i trim a sample to loop perfectly in TRIM mode, it doesn't loop well when i add it to a sequence. i've heard people mention that you need to add silence to the end of each sample because the mpc fades out the last 30 milliseconds of the samples. is that true? seems pretty stupid to me, because then the loops will only work on the mpc....if you try to loop it in audition or something, there will be a gap at the end. also, any loops that i make in audition have to have 30ms tacked onto the end (which is really obnoxious). i just tried trimming a sample and leaving a little tail at the end...it works when i loop it in a sequence, but what's the point of having a loop feature if you have to create an imperfect (longer) loop to get it to work?

use your brain dammitt!!!! lets say you have a rythm pattern which is kick, snare, kick (3 beats)--- loop it from the beginning of the first kick to the beginning of the third kick which equals a 2 beat loop... once its looping on point, check the bpm of the 2 beat loop in the params screen and there you have it, thats your speed.. if you just wanna leave it as a loop keep it like that or you can chop it and make a different pattern... hopefully you understand, if not, trade your mpc for a laptop where everything will be calculated for you

ShamusRD wrote:ok cool. thanks for the info. still don't understand why the mpc can't do this automatically...seems pretty simple to me. anyway, how about my second question (sorry to hijack this thread slightly):

ShamusRD wrote:also, when i trim a sample to loop perfectly in TRIM mode, it doesn't loop well when i add it to a sequence. i've heard people mention that you need to add silence to the end of each sample because the mpc fades out the last 30 milliseconds of the samples. is that true? seems pretty stupid to me, because then the loops will only work on the mpc....if you try to loop it in audition or something, there will be a gap at the end. also, any loops that i make in audition have to have 30ms tacked onto the end (which is really obnoxious). i just tried trimming a sample and leaving a little tail at the end...it works when i loop it in a sequence, but what's the point of having a loop feature if you have to create an imperfect (longer) loop to get it to work?

i dunno about this... maybe you dont have the right bpm on your sequence which is why the loop is not looping properly or your loop's start and end points are flowers up... i dont have this problem at all... i suggest you put some work in... practice makes best...

the silence at the end of each sample thing def makes sense to me...this way you'll have some leeway when setting the bpm...the sample can technically still be playing when the beat starts over and you wouldn't hear it...you'd just hear the loop start again.

dubnov wrote:

pt3r wrote:Depends entirely on the time signature of your beat.

Yes you're right. I forgot the word "usually".
Ok, to keep it simple:

(44100 x 60 x beats per measure x measures) / sample endpoint = BPM

it's that easy? pretty much all my beats are in 4/4 so the # on the left side of the equation will always be 42336000? and then just divide by the end point?

Put the calculators away and use your ears.

sounds like you guys need to check out Recycle, lazy bastards!

i sample, listen and chop roughly in nuendo, then do the close chopping in sample edit on my mpc.. having your samples chopped properly is very important! thats why i dont like programs like recycle to auto chop for me