Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By hyena Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:54 pm
hi all,
stupid question maybe,
does the pitch bend in step edit affects also drum tracks or only external midi tracks?
im tryng to experiment myself but i still dont hear his effect and dont know if im operating it correctly given that im not much practiced in step editing
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By pt3r Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:52 am
Not a stupid question and the answer is:

The MPC sequencer records and transmits pitchbend midi events.
This means that you can send pitch bends via the midi tracks.

The MPC sound generator (aka the sampler part) does NOT recognize pitchbend events nor transmits it. This means that pitch bend events won't have any effect on your samples (aka drum tracks) in the mpc.

You can verify for yourself in the 2kxl manual on pages 195,196 where you will see the midi implementation charts for your sequencer and your sampler.
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By Lampdog Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:05 am
Pitch bend, with that, the NV slider.

Only affects when the sample is retriggered, not realtime.

Pitch bend with an external controller, I don't know, never tried or looked into that one. But I do know pitch bend has a midi cc number to it, maybe you can insert that in step edit and control it with a midi controller or something, I've never tried that, I'm not anywhere near the lab. I will write that down and check it when I get the chance, cause that sounds like something I'd be intereseted in.

By nanoloop Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:09 am
your better off using a visual sequencer to do your automation, thats if u have one at your disposal. editing automation in the mpc step sequencer can be time consuming, and theres nothing better than clicking that mouse twice for the perfect ramp. i know it defeats the purpose of using the mpc, but it can also help to have a few midi files on your memory card of preset automations parameters. i have one for a gating volume, up ramps, down ramps, etc, etc.
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By hyena Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:37 pm
thanx everybody, no pitch bend on sampler, no problem!
about pitch bend on midi tracks:
i usually write most of my tracks on cubase but lately im gettin more and more into writing everything on the mpc, its an addiction hehehe
in fact im really plannin on gettin a 4k so i 'll be able to do EVERYTHING i want directly in the box...but im in love with my xl, thats out of question!
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By McSmooth Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:04 pm
You can do everything in the box, some tasks are just more time consuming (like ramps on cc automation, copy and pasting stuff all over, and other midi tools the mpc does not have). Its nice to have the ability to go back and forth between a different sequencer when you know it will save you time. Most of the time I am able to just record the CCs realtime and get the results I want (maybe after a few quick tries). Always helps to record CCs on a different track in the MPC if you already have notes on that track. If you pick up an S or Z sampler, you'll find the samples do respond to pitch bend, oooh yeah!
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By hyena Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:23 pm
yeah man, thanx i know, i own a good old fashioned s950 and am a bit experienced on samplers...well, im very in doubt coz in love with my xl (she never gave me a bit of a headache and made possible all my livesets) but im starting to feel the urge to have more control (both realtime for liveacts and in production),more features(fx, multi out) and(i know someone will say its untrue but for my kind of music is important) more than 32 mb ram...

i was also thinkin to trade her for a silly 1k(thing that i will probably not do anyway)....
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By Lampdog Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:59 am
Do whatever you have to do to be comfortable and let yourself grow.