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By stonetrooper Mon May 15, 2006 6:53 pm
for now im limited to only my mpc1000 and my pc ive been getting really down on myself for not possesing a nice keyboard or synth, so is it possible to make a proffesional album with just an mpc1000. (ive made some nice beats on it alone but struggling with making progressive melodies and bass)
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By trupro Mon May 15, 2006 7:38 pm
Does this bother you for how flashy the studio is, or are you not ready to play your own parts? For one, you have a PC already, and you can use whatever midi/audio software you have. You can have it start the MPC with midi timecode. Then you sequence softsynths in the computer, etc. You don't need an 'industry standard' keyboard, because, aside from being nicely integrated with good features, you can get a small controller with usb to trigger synths from the computer. Depending on the speed and power of your PC, you could do better than the best industry standard keyboard or synth. Fancy weighted controllers, in my book, only make piano and keyboard sounds play more realistic and pleasing to the fingers. All other synth, string, guitar, etc and percussion instruments are not played in their real existence on piano keys anyway, so regular synth keys are actually better to trigger those, in my book. Maybe get cubase running and when you ready to lay more parts, you sync the MPC to that and do the softsynth stuff in the PC. If you have an audio interface, you could even just multitrack the MPC parts as audio and then continue entirely in the computer. Many ways to skin a cat...
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By stonetrooper Mon May 15, 2006 9:02 pm
I got talent been playing drums for 8 years played in a band for 2 years used to own a Korg DX 32 Multi track played bass in a band, and play guitar on the side, also got pretty good at turntables and spun at a few raves,i rearly even step edit I can bust out ghost note hi-hat kick and snare all in one track one time ,I just dont know if I got all the right tools to go ahead and start working on a professional demo. like I said im very limited for now, I use sony music studio (cheap version of acid) a mpc 1000 and a line 6 tone port, thats it.. no special midi connections to my pc no soft syth none of that..

By sleepersriddle Tue May 16, 2006 6:20 am
i guarantee you have heard tight tracks that were made only using a sampler and some samples... so yes its possible.

otoh to do stuff that's more melodic than typical hip-hop 'beats', it will require extra work to use good sampling technique, sample different notes and stuff, or sample real instruments.. maybe buy sample cd's... that is def possible but getting synths/romplers with huge built-in melodic instrument libraries basically saves time (though id actually rather listen to an album someone painstaking put together by making all their own samples)

also for thinking 'pro' using samples the old-school way leads to more copyright issues potentially.


to make a glossy well-mixed sounding demo it would help to have a good pc audio interface so you could track into the pc with high quality.

By Ajax Tue May 16, 2006 3:13 pm
I would think that a synth has very little to do with making something sound "professional".


Thats going to come down to how you mix and engineer it, no?


A synth will certainly help with how you can structure your own melodies.. it will really help in terms of laying down basslines. But, those or melody issues, not quality of sound issues.


I dont know. Im by no means an expert at any of this, but it seems like youre confusing apples n oranges. Oh, and you could get a synth that sounds good for pretty cheap. If youre really hankering for one, just save a few hundred bucks and get movin.




ronJ
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By Smoove03 Tue May 16, 2006 3:45 pm
GRMM D wrote:no but it helps


i was about to say that
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By Lampdog Tue May 16, 2006 4:29 pm
Smoove03 wrote:
GRMM D wrote:no but it helps


i was about to say that


me too
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By jaem Tue May 16, 2006 4:59 pm
doesnt always help......

cats get lazy, use preset sounds, and their beats sound like.......























that they got lazy and used presets :roll:
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By trupro Tue May 16, 2006 5:15 pm
Can you run plug-in soft synths out of that Sony software?
If not, get Reason from someone, a $30 midi interface, and steal the cheap casio that was your older sister's in 1988. Then you can get software based sounds and synthesis, export them and use them in sony studio etc. after you lay your MPC sounds. Or you could have cubase or reason start your mpc for a combo approach. Reason is a good way to get solid sounds with little or no cost.
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By M.ic P.ro C.rusher Wed May 17, 2006 1:51 am
No.
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By stonetrooper Wed May 17, 2006 5:40 am
went to guitar center today and got a usb to midi cable hooked up my casio to it. and yes the sony software does support soft synth . next week im going to purchase this program called collosus. for 500$(normally 900$) comes with like 2 gigs of sounds. guess i need a mixer next
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By MARCODANE79 Wed May 17, 2006 5:52 am
Dude I've done 2 albums with just sampled beats and no keyboard, and yes it is possible to make hot 5hit without a board. Many may say different but you make the best with what you got and deal with the rest later. While making the best of what you have be the best at what you do.


Don't stop till you get enough! 8)
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By JUKE 179r Wed May 17, 2006 4:12 pm
Master your music with what you got... first!
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By mnh2410 Wed May 17, 2006 4:22 pm
You can sample melodies or sounds needed for melodies or u can even buy multisample packs which will turn your mpc pads into a keyboard. So i mean u can do alot on the 1k cause if u watched that waxmasta vid he didnt use a keyboard. I mean he got bass from the korg but u can get bass samples from other sources to. He made a complete beat and all the sounds came from the sample. So that prooves possibility.

Nicole