Do you use the MPC's "Song" mode to arrange your songs?

jwhaatt07 wrote:I have a BOSS DR-880 and the step sequencer in song mode is great.I know if I had a MPC I would definiteley use it.I simply just pick patterns and order them.

I have the same drum machine........and it works very well with the mpc.It's good to know the someone out there knows how to pick an awsome drum machine

I got it by suprise !

Nice!!1

also, we should be able to build a song from patterns and see where the bars are at. just the number of repeats is confusing...

Fasttracker wrote:Why not try linear sequencing then (one sequence and like 200 bars) , i have tried that a few times and once you get the hang of "sequence edit" and remember a few numbers (like where all your 8 bar loops start) you can actually get quite fast.
And don't forget about the grid-edit mode for adding some variations and stuff , and the sequence loop function so you can loop any number of bars in a sequence , like bar 16 and 18 for example and only record on those bars.
And while your at it , you can sync (if you have a soft-sequencer) a sequencer to your mpc via mtc , so it follows your bars , and record all your synths and stuff in your pc and leave the mpc for drums.

I think this is one of best way to composing a song like 200bars(first build a 2,4,8 loop and copy about 50 time)then you can mute in and out do mixer change, drop fx,build a bridge,by this way you can get more of a live feel

NiBL wrote:But I find the 2500's Song Mode to be incredibly weak because it does not allow you to record track mutes in real time. This makes adding an occasional fill or snare roll at the very end of a verse nearly impossible without doing it externally.

Just a suggestion but you could make your sequences then create a song, then convert you song into one long sequence (by hitting the CONVRT button on the song screen) then record the track mutes on that.

Personally I don't use track mutes at all when creating a track, I experiment with them while creating but I actually create the "mutes" in the sequence by not triggering the events in the first place, I kind of think of mute/solo as working tools rather that things to incorperate into tracks. I like to work with 4 bar sequences and it's not uncommen for most of my sequences to only be used once in a track, for me it's all about giving sequences meaningful names.

Anyway, that's just me, I'm sure a few people work in a similar way and I'm sure loads of people work totally differently. Just do whatever seems best/most straight forward to you.