The Official, "How to Play Drums Live on the MPC" Thread

flip-o-mat wrote:as far as i can say, it's very hard to rock the mpc like a drumkit, cuz on a drumkit u got 2 hands and 1 foot.

i can play the drums, but can't do "live drumming" on an mpc... cuz i miss my foot

the only tip i can give is to keep the HH on your right hand - kicks and snares on the left.
another thing would be that u let the HH play in a sequence and just tap in the kicks and snares... fill ins could be possible too!

I don't know which mpc you have but on the 4k you can assign two footswitches to trigger samples, so you can play the bassdrum with your foot and hihats and snares with your fingers...

U can send those triggers to a live roland pad or a roland vdrum kick..

But then again buy a v-drum setup and midi it to the mpc and it sounds like real drums trust me. with samples and all

quote: Originally posted by mwalker:
http://www.alternatemode.com/drumkat_main.shtml


Yeah, I saw that one but it costs more than a G. There are other actua drumkits you could get for that price:
http://www.zzounds.com/cat--2490

i hear what you are saying about prices but check the features of the drumkat (just a few):


Adjusts to your own playing style

Assign up to 8 notes per pad/trigger

Realistic hi-hat control

10 on-board pads PLUS 9 trigger inputs

built-in sequencer with tap-tempo control

those other controllers do not have the feature that the drumkat has. plus, i have been use them live since 1990 and never had a problem during a performance.

qenetic|storm wrote:^.... man that **** is dope!!!!!!!!.... i'm studying that **** too... i'm not sure if i'm looking at that correctly... but when you are hittin' the snare... you leave the hat alone?....

got any more vids?....

Thanks bro for the compliment.
On that beat, there is already a hi-hat in the snare sample, so I don't double it up.....but I don't always do it like that......it depends on the beat.
I don't have any more vids, but maybe I'll shoot another.

itchyvinyl wrote:

qenetic|storm wrote:^.... man that **** is dope!!!!!!!!.... i'm studying that **** too... i'm not sure if i'm looking at that correctly... but when you are hittin' the snare... you leave the hat alone?....

got any more vids?....

Thanks bro for the compliment.
On that beat, there is already a hi-hat in the snare sample, so I don't double it up.....but I don't always do it like that......it depends on the beat.
I don't have any more vids, but maybe I'll shoot another.

good looks... on that... thanks a million.

That was cool itchy, I like how you use it live with no sequencer, that's crazy, I'd love to see one of your shows on vid.

Have a look at the Pushing Buttons Routine vid by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and NuMark, might bring you some ideas

i have a video that I think will fit into this topic perfectly. Its a somewhat grainy video shot in Puerto Rico with a producer (forgot his name) giving some lecture. He's mainly a house(music) cat, but he is definitely a trained musician. He demonstrates how he "freestyles" on the mpc and he plays some NASTY grooves, all live. It actually sounds like a real drummer is playing. Im currently at work, but once i get home ill upload the video.

NelsonCruz wrote:i have a video that I think will fit into this topic perfectly. Its a somewhat grainy video shot in Puerto Rico with a producer (forgot his name) giving some lecture. He's mainly a house(music) cat, but he is definitely a trained musician. He demonstrates how he "freestyles" on the mpc and he plays some NASTY grooves, all live. It actually sounds like a real drummer is playing. Im currently at work, but once i get home ill upload the video.

.
.
.
yeah... post that shit... when you get home.

RKSOCOM wrote:that underdog track is hot... keep hittin those pads.. one of the hottest cats ive heard on here.. keep doing it.. you got that ny flavor ... aaaaight

.
.
.
thanks.

I actually found the link to the video. It was posted here before. Check it out, dude is NASTY. kinda long video though


http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... =mpc+video

I seen pushing buttons and this video posted just above, but that's 3 cats, and dude uses the sequencer.

Dude uses the sequencer on some parts. But there are other sections of the video that he is triggering everything off the top without a sequencer. I havent seen the Pushing Buttons thing though.

elmacaco wrote:That was cool itchy, I like how you use it live with no sequencer, that's crazy, I'd love to see one of your shows on vid.

Thanks, El.
I actually have a pro-shot DVD of one of our Paris shows, but I don't have the right stuff to rip/edit in order to post any of it.
My bro's album is finally coming out in the US this month, so hopefully we'll be touring here by the end of the year.

NelsonCruz wrote:Dude uses the sequencer on some parts. But there are other sections of the video that he is triggering everything off the top without a sequencer. I havent seen the Pushing Buttons thing though.

Nice video dude good work and seeing the cat improv was enlightening.

This a great thread by the way much tips and techniques.