Dot Dot Dot

.

You can also use the "stereo" outputs panned hard L & R to add 2 more outputs to equal 10.[/color]

...

your song mathmatics are on point i do my songs like that too 8 bar intros 16 bar vers 8 bar hooks. And as far as you worring about having to fit the artist song. his hook will most likely be 8 bars but i have got in fussin fights with those who wanted 4 bar hooks. and if his verse is longer and he knows the proper bar song format he will end is vers on a even number after 16(20,24 and so on) so all you got to do is copy what ever amount fo bars you want and fitt it in song song mode. I dont know what else anybody else will tell you but right now your on point.[/color]

Thanks for the reply, but my questions weren't really about song format. They were about outputting to and using a multitracker.

If you're using a multitracker that has a built in midi sequencer (most of them do, such as Pro Tools LE), when you transfer the MPC tracks into Pro Tools, use "MIDI Beat Clock" to sync the MPC to Pro Tools while you're recording.
Once your MPC beats are inside Pro Tools, the bars will be lined up with the bar lines on Pro Tools' sequencer. That way you can edit your song structure in Pro Tools by selecting whole bars and cut/copy/pasting (much easier/quicker than editing by just looking at the waveform).
I hope my explanation was understandable.

there are a few ways to do what you are trying to do.

if you are tracking to a recoder that does not have an internal sequencer(radar or other hard disk recorders, da88s/adats ect...) most of these machines offer midi time code, which the mpc will sync to. set the mpc to sync to midi time code and route track one out the left, track two out the right(mute other tracks) and hit record on the multitrack ( you may have to enable the multitrack's mtc output). the mpc should chase. when you're done locate back to the beginning, mute the two you just dumped over and go on to the next two sounds.

If the recorder doesn't have mtc you can still slave to smpte. you just have to get a box to convert smpte to mtc. the JL Cooper PPS box will do the trick and they are fairly cheap. smpte out of the multitrack into the pps, midi out of the pps into the mpc.

if you are tracking to a daw with a sequencer, set up a sequencer track in the daw and set the tempo the same as your song on the mp. midi out of the daw into the midi in on the mpc and set the mpc to sync to external midi clock. when you drop the multitrack into record the sequencer should spit out midi clock with the correct tempo to the mpc and the mpc should play along.

its been a minute since i had to do this, so forgive me if i left something out. its been a long day!

im in a similar situation my beats are solely on my mpc wen i hit my frends studio. similar to the previos reply itd b wise to get to grips with syncing ur mpc to a daw via midi, dude sed several options. personally take sa while but i dotn hav to pay 4 my studio time yea i usually sit down with the artist and wel rehearse the song cuple times wen we agreeing ont eh sogn fromat i record each individual trak to a seperate trak in pro tools or woteva daw, all ur trax will b on pouint together bcoz uv used midi clok from there uv basically transferred ur beat form ur mpc to your daw alot easier to tweak smal issues and woteva basically im tryna say ur best bet is to go into the studio and if possible prepare to record ur beat aswell as the artist that way the whole songs more personalised not jus any rap insturmental. since im in a similar situation im interested in any other ways of tracking to daw you guys know of or use...?

Carterficial wrote:In the near future I'd like to take instrumentals that I've made here at home to a studio and have an artist lay vocals over them. I need some information as to what goes on during a typical studio session.

I don't use MIDI...I sample from my keyboards, so every sound will come from the MPC(2000XL) alone (don't ask why, that's just how I do it). I don't have the SMPTE or 8 Outs installed.

So, how could this possibly work? Is it required that the MPC have the 8 Outs installed for mixing in the studio? I'm guessing that the 8 Outs don't really measure up to the 64 track mixing boards studios use, so how exactly would I go about mixing, say, 12 different instruments playing from the MPC, through the 8 Outs, into the studios mixing boards?

Perhaps the way I'm visualizing things is all twisted, and if so please let me know. I'm really trying to understand how this works. If anyone can provide some useful information it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Take it easy.[/color]

Ok Carter/ thaflyest, heres my take on your issue.

First up, if all your sounds and samples are all coming from the MPC as you say there is no need to sync the machine with pro tools when you get to a studio. All the tracks are already lined up inside the MPC. SMPTE is not required.

The eight outputs will allow you to record/ track eight tracks simultaneously into your DAW, as stated by itchvinyl you can also make use of your main stereo outputs to increase this amount to ten tracks. You can get by with just your stereo outputs but doing so may compromise your session. Imagine you have a hot 3 minute beat spread over say 16 tracks on the MPC using stereo samples. Using the main outs this will involve 16 individual passes (of 3 minutes) to track into your DAW. With time in between passes, call it an hour or so to track the whole beat. You'd then have to ensure all the passes lined up with each other correctly, taking more time. With the optional eight outs, it would all be tracked and lined up in 3 minutes. Studio time costs real money, so if you have to pay get the eights. Using the mains is ok if you're at home doing your thing and time/ patience isnt an issue. 12 instruments therefore would normally have to be tracked in two recording passes (8+4 or 10+2) to your DAW. Better off spending more time recording the vocals if time is money.

Studio mixing boards can have any number of channels for monitoring or recording purposes. THe MPC can only use a maximum of 10 at one time, so dont worry about the impressive looking 64 channel SSL or Pro Tools HD in the big studio. Your terminology is slightly off, but you could 'mix' 12 tracks using the MPC's internal mixer if thats what you wanted to do. Otherwise, the tracks would be tracked out to the DAW first in one or more passes so they are recorded. Then later on the tracks would be mixed in the software mixer of your DAW. The big studio mixer will then be used to monitor the output of the DAW with each DAW track having its own channel on the big studio mixer. Each daw track should have its own channel on the mixer for purposes of seperation and for using outboard inserts and effects devices.

Bottom line............Treat yourself to the eights if you're gonna be going to other pro/ semi-pro studios.

Secondly, one of the questions was indeed related to song format/ arrangement.

" Thanks a lot. I have some more questions, if you don't mind. Typically, I like to arrange my beats in the MPC in this fashion: 4 or 8 bar intro, 16 bar verse, 8 bar chorus, 16 bar verse, 8 bar chorus, 16 bar verse, 8 bar chorus, then X bars for fading out (with instruments dropping in and out here and there, etc.). Usually, a fully arranged sequence is around 96 bars. Now, I'd like to imagine that I can modify this default arrangment to whatever specifications the vocalist needs......"

The answer is to make your sequences for each section inside the MPC as normal. If you need to re-arrange anything, just do it in song mode. Track out the whole song in one pass once the arrangement is tight in song mode.

I know its an old thread, but the previous answers were not really on point

Carterficial wrote:In the near future I'd like to take instrumentals that I've made here at home to a studio and have an artist lay vocals over them. I need some information as to what goes on during a typical studio session.

I don't use MIDI...I sample from my keyboards, so every sound will come from the MPC(2000XL) alone (don't ask why, that's just how I do it). I don't have the SMPTE or 8 Outs installed.

So, how could this possibly work? Is it required that the MPC have the 8 Outs installed for mixing in the studio? I'm guessing that the 8 Outs don't really measure up to the 64 track mixing boards studios use, so how exactly would I go about mixing, say, 12 different instruments playing from the MPC, through the 8 Outs, into the studios mixing boards?

Perhaps the way I'm visualizing things is all twisted, and if so please let me know. I'm really trying to understand how this works. If anyone can provide some useful information it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Take it easy.[/color]

Hey man if all else fails the most simple way to get your stuff in the studio. take the mpc down the studio and wether the sound engnineer has logic or pc based programs it doesnt matter you can just record one sound at a time in its loops then do all the automation mixing on the comp example. if your drum pattern is 4 bars record just the kick have that as just a single track on the production soft ware then the hi hats record that as a track then the snare and etc etc till you have the drums nowyou can loop them on the comp add external effects and all. then its a case of doing it the same to your melody base and whatever long but the only way in some cases!

Trust me mpcs in studios is a doddle compared to beats from reason on a pc then trying to get them on to a mac in a studio it took us a while to work it out!



Peace

Ok here's what you need to know :

What type of multitrack recorder is there in the studio you're going to (example : 24@30 , Pro Tools HD, Radar 24.. )

What kind of synchronization is the recorder using to sync up to ABSOLUTE TIMECODE . example : SMPTE through LTC , SMPTE to VITC , MTC ...

It has to be ABSOLUTE TIMECODE ......

Then you have to make the MPC's timecode which is either (MTC or SMPTE (if you have the smpte-board)) work with the one they use in the studio.

DO NOT USE Midi Clock !! ...this is a relative timecode and it will just sync the tempo not the absolute time !!

So maybe you'll have to use something like a MTC to SMPTE converter box of some sort....

Or if you're lucky you can just hook up the mpc through MTC to something like Pro Tools.

Then the next step is to setup a few bars for the 2 machines to catch up to sync, give it like 2 bars, should be enough...
Also set up the TEMPO of the two machines to the same value, that's one thing MTC does not include.

NEXT STEP : Pan the first 2 tracks to the L and to the R so they will go to the console on the first 2 tracks.... mute all other tracks and record into the recorder, then repeat the process and record the other tracks...

This way everything will be in sync and you will be able to mix all the individual tracks.

IMPORTANT : If this is a session where you want to record a vocal, you might want to reconsider just tracking a GUIDETRACK of the instrumental into the recorder and spend more time on the vocal production (and this process can take up a lot of time; choosing pre-amp, microphone, position, making the vocalist comfortable enough so he or she can perform well (VERY IMPORTANT !!!)....etc

Because we all know that studio time is expensive and you might just end up loosing money just because you didn't do the proper pre-production....


MY ADVICE : Plan the session so you will have enough time to record all the vocal takes, and if there is time left , record all the individual tracks into the recorder...
In this order the vocalist can start quickly, and doesn't have to wait. (waiting means usually : poor performance...)

You can always go back to the studio just to track the beat through the console into the recorder..... but at least you have the vocals.....

Sorry for the long reply.... but that's my 2 cents...

Also get in contact with the engineer of that studio, so he can help you out in the process of tracking...

If you didn't pay for the engineer, make sure you check out the gearlist, and patchbay layout of the studio so you know what's going on....

Hope I could help ?