A BiG QUeStion for ALL the Experts

Do you guys think that the mpc is limited in the music that it can produce?For instance I'm a big early 80s late seventies funk/ rnb guy ( for those of you in LA , im an aquaboogie man), but w/o actually taking a sample and looping is the mpc capapble of producing that kind of music thru pure sampling. In regards to producing big JAy Dee and Dj Quik fan but Dilla is straight mpc and turntable while quik uses live instruments, do you think that just smapling pigeon holes your sound? I love that traditional hip hop sound as i own an mpc 2000xl and just sample straight from vinyl, but Im worried that i will always have that same sampled feel. ANy suggestions to funk up my sound ( I have considered live guitars, bass and keys). Will the mpc ever be obsolete? Just some questions for the forum browsers...

To make the best music you must have instruments. There are times when you want notes in a certain order or with a definite sound, and you cannot get that through sampling alone. You don't have to be an expert keyboardist, but at least one synth should be in your studio. The more equipment you have, the better your music will be--provided that you master each of the components.

I won't mention any names, but I have listened to enough DJ this and DJ that who only sample, never play instruments. Their music lacks the depth and complexity that is made by musicians and producers who use the MPC (or software sequencer) and actual instruments. This does not mean that you cannot make a living through sampling alone IF you are good enough. But you'll have an easier time getting somewhere if you have more skills than just sampling.

I'm not an "expert", but.....

The MPC is a blank canvas. You can sample four bars from a record and loop it. You can sample individual drum hits and program a beat with it. You can sample one bass note and play your own bass line with it.
You don't have to sample from records. You can sample a synth sound from a keyboard. You can sample a real guitar, a voice, a piano.
You can sample your toaster popping and make a beat out of it.
You can sample you a baby crying, a dog barking, the garbage man banging cans, your bong water bubbling......
It's completely endless and limitless.

MPC's have made music ranging from grimey hiphop, shiny techno, dance hall, drum tracks for smooth jazz songs, industrial techno-metal, etc. etc.
So - NO, I don't think the instrument will pigeon-hole you.

To give things a more funky, natural old sound, try not using quantize.
Treat view the MPC as an instrument and not just as a "sampler."

i like sampled music, thats what hip hop, its raw **** music. the drums and bass is the heart of this shit. thats why so many west coast ****** feel premiers shit, cause his drums are there.

if i want to listen to some nerds playing instruments id be into rock and when i do listen to rock its the good shit from the 70s, three dog night, the doors, jimi, etc....if anything it seems like rock is dead and not vice versa.

i'll take the JAYLIB album which is raw sample music over that garbage LIMP BIZKIT stuff which is MPC meets instruments. the JAYLIB album is 110% more creative than limp bizkit.

bottom line is if YOUR tired of the sampled sound, pick up a guitar and sell the mpc to someone who will flip it.

I think you have me wrong I don't want to get rid of my MPC i just want to add something to it because I want to broaden my music. And regarding jaylib that album wasn't all sample, Dilla uses a triton for some of the songs like "In the Red"

go to the guitar shop, pick up some cheap boss effects pedals, run your samples through em, etc. get creative with the shit, hell, buy a cheap ass casio run it through the effects pedal at the same time, feel me? no rules.

DuB.eSt wrote:I think you have me wrong I don't want to get rid of my MPC i just want to add something to it because I want to broaden my music. And regarding jaylib that album wasn't all sample, Dilla uses a triton for some of the songs like "In the Red"

then buy a triton, buy a Juno, whatever mang. i use a ms2000 for basslines....still hip hop though. do what you got ta do to make YOURSELF happy.

if YOUR not getting the sound YOU want from just the MPC, add something else. regardless its the best **** sequencer out there. bar none.

You should not limit yourself to sampling alone because that is supposed t be hip hop. Try some synths, effects, racksamplers whatever it takes to get your creative juices flowing. And to everyone saying synths don't belong in a hip-hop studio: Kool Keith.

who said synths dont belong in hip hop studios.

Dub,
If you are a Quik fan like me.... get the Visualism DVD. There is bounes material where he talks about some of his equipment... He has a MPC 3000 And he has used that for years along side all of the live instrument. Matter of fact, there is a picture of him and the mpc on forat service...

easy trev

MPC_Producer wrote:To make the best music you must have instruments. There are times when you want notes in a certain order or with a definite sound, and you cannot get that through sampling alone. You don't have to be an expert keyboardist, but at least one synth should be in your studio. The more equipment you have, the better your music will be--provided that you master each of the components.

I won't mention any names, but I have listened to enough DJ this and DJ that who only sample, never play instruments. Their music lacks the depth and complexity that is made by musicians and producers who use the MPC (or software sequencer) and actual instruments. This does not mean that you cannot make a living through sampling alone IF you are good enough. But you'll have an easier time getting somewhere if you have more skills than just sampling.

I disagree 10000%. DJ shadow samples all his stuff, yet his music has that depth and complexity that makes you think he is playing some of the parts on a synth. Madlib also is another good xample of this.

now, I feel the opposite, if its all a bunch of synth stuff, it loses the dynamic feel you get of say, sampling a drum break, chopping it up and rearranging the parts, you dont LOSE the natural dynamic of a real instrument, you preserve it. some work and you can make it do anything you want without losing the feel of the original funkiness.

I disagree 10000%. I have a few DJ Shadow CDs. Every one of them sounds like a hodge podge of samples. Shadow mixes in a variety of musical styles without any clear intention of where things are leading. One minute you're hearing Tangerine Dream new age music, the next minute you're listening to R&B, then a minute later you're hearing rock drums. His music reflects the aimless direction his vinyl collecting took him.

Some of Shadow’s music sounds as if he is playing a synth or drums, but with a sample file he will never get the control that is offered by an actual synth. He does use long sample files. They were never played quickly on pads. I don't care what he said in an interview about a 4-second limit. He uses many samples that are more than 4 seconds long. Listen to "Changeling" and the part he snatched from a 1970's Tangerine Dream track for an example.

Playing one or more synths has nothing to do with losing dynamic feel. They add dynamic feel. If you don't understand this, then surely you don't understand keyboard playing. Workstations have sampling built into them.

Keyboards complement samplers. Having only one or the other imposes limitations on music production. If you enjoy sampling only, that's fine. But don't try to fool anyone into thinking synths make music less enjoyable. If you still don't understand, I suggest you visit the studios of a few Hip Hop producers and tell them their music is no good because they use a Triton or Motif.

The MPC is limitless. Look at DJ Shadow or RJD2 for inspiration. Jay Dee aka Jay Dilla doesn't use just an MPC and a turntable... they are his main instruments but he also has a Triton and an SP1200 and various other equipment. I have Welcome 2 Detroit and inside he breaks down what he uses for almost each individual track, that's how I know this, so that you don't accuse me of BSing. But I do think most of his beats, I'd say 90% are done on his MPC3000. Check out Frank-N-Dank "48HRS" if you're a Dilla fan, he did ALL of the production. Uno

where can you get that frank n dank at? i dont think they got distribution out here in SF.

In my opinion the most important thing is to be aware of the rutine. It's very easy to make rutine beats on mpc, if you'll handle it, you can do a lot with it.