how do YOU setup your sounds on an MPC for drums? (order)

Im new to the mpc and i would like to know different ways of setting up drum samples on the pads. Perhaps this might sound rediculious to some, because its im sure mostly personal. But is there a more popular way of arranging each sound with pads. ie bass drum bottm row, kick snares, here, highats there, toms over there,ect ect..... Let me know how YOU personally set it up so i can get some ideas, at where to start.

Also, is there a certian method that most people use as far as using one hand to do the stare and kick ect.... blah blah maybe this is a pointless question... who knows... Help me if you can. :]

I let the chips (samples) fall as they may. I put them on the pads in the order that they're sampled. I'm often sampling from records and I'm taking whatever sounds that I like which will usually be more than drum sounds. If your sampling from the web and are specifically sampling drum sounds it would be much easier but, as for me in either case I have no particiular order. It's like potluck for me; I have to hit the pads to know what's there and it hasn't been a problem for me. Maybe I can get some better ideas from other fellow mmbers here myself.

I tend to put my kicks, toms and bassdrums on the left pads and the snares, Hi hats and etc; to the right of them. Pending on how well they roll from each other. this way when I "m laying drums I can lay down quick sessions without having to go one drum sound at a time and then try to find my way around 3 or 4 program banks. Trust me when you want to lay your drums you want it to sound tuned and complex but without the complexity of pad hopping. As for samples I try to put them in their own banks and/or sometimes own programs. As long as you're comfortable and your technique allows for you to easily lay down the sound you want there is no better way.

I try to place all my first string (main sounds) sounds on bank A for easy access. After that everything else doesn't matter to me, I'm not picky. But I like to have my main sounds on bank A.

I start with 4 programs loaded at all times.
1. Kicks and snares ( the two bottom rows kicks, the other snares for each bank)
2. Fills.
3. hats and shakers
4. Random program. This can be anything i sampled that day, or something i already had on disk.

I always change the position of all the sounds, If my last beat started with the kicks on the bottom left and snares on top of them then my next beat will have my kicks in another corner like the top right. I do this so I don't wear out the pads or sensors by always have my kick on the same one cuz' the pads with the kick and snare I always hit harder then the rest of the pads.

i display my sounds as one pgm.

i jsut lay sounds ondifferent banks

like i put my drums on bank A or B depends on how i feel that day i make my program.

i usally put samples on C or D

as for placing drums sounds i put them on pads where its easy to hit with my two fingers.

always change the position of all the sounds, If my last beat started with the kicks on the bottom left and snares on top of them then my next beat will have my kicks in another corner like the top right. I do this so I don't wear out the pads or sensors by always have my kick on the same one cuz' the pads with the kick and snare I always hit harder then the rest of the pads

this is a great idea i think i will start doing this too.

I always use the GM Drum layout. Anyone pro that sells samples should be putting them in this consistent layout (and most do).

This allows me to quickly change programs for a particular sequence and still have the sounds match up. Good for live work. People that I exchange sounds with use the same layout for ease of exchange. Also, sometimes I want to use an existing GM compatible midi sequence. This way the sounds are already matched up with the samples.

Having a consistent layout makes sample mangement much easier, particularly when you have some 600 programs ready to go. I already know where everything is.

The layout and some more info is at mpc2000xl.com

I lay my shit out like this,

lower right square of 4 pads, kicks
lower left square of 4 pads, snares
third row from the bottom, 4 pads across, hi hats

then othershit on the top row, maybe more hats, other shit too.

I do this across all 4 banks as much as I can (before I run out of Kicks and snares for that program.)

is thier an automatic way to do a GM Drum layout?

what ever you decide on try and keep a standard- then you try all your custom kits with each sequence you write.....

greg

For the 4000 I put my:

Kicks in Bank A
Snares in Bank B
Hi-Hats in Bank C
Effects in Bank D

Then depending on the amount of extra sounds I have for one of the above, I dedicate those to Banks E & F.

I do have programs where all my drum sounds are intermingled, but you'll be surprised how different your drum sequences sound when you work with one sound at a time.