how do you do it?

I work with some rappers who spit on my beats , ill use sync my mpc4000 with samplitude, and i record the "spits" on samplitude, then i sync each individual track to samplitude and mix it down.
is there anyone of you that actually do the entire beatmix, mix what so ever on the mpc and then just syncing one mixed track? or is it mostly my way that ppl normally does it?
just wondering

You have a lot to learn! No one in their right mind will do what you are doing. For one it is not logical and two the sound quality of vocals and stuff must sound like dookie.
Get yourself a audio program like Logic, pro-tools or Cubase for vocals andit will sound 10 x better.

Wil wrote:You have a lot to learn! No one in their right mind will do what you are doing. For one it is not logical and two the sound quality of vocals and stuff must sound like dookie.
Get yourself a audio program like Logic, pro-tools or Cubase for vocals andit will sound 10 x better.

hehe, sound like dookie, dont know what dookie is, but my sound is actually very good..
maybe a little misudnerstanding.

1st i sync my mpc to samplitude, so when i record vocals on samplitude the rappers hear the beat from my mpc 4000.
then i do moore work on the beat, and then sync each induvidually track to samplitude for mixdown from my 4000.
aint there anyone else doing it like this?
or do you fellas normally mix the beat through the mpc while its in sync then simply record one track to samplitude and then a little moore plugins and stuff then burn to cd? just wondering though...

Wil wrote:You have a lot to learn! No one in their right mind will do what you are doing. For one it is not logical and two the sound quality of vocals and stuff must sound like dookie.
Get yourself a audio program like Logic, pro-tools or Cubase for vocals andit will sound 10 x better.

Wil, you got alot to learn, I got an old version of Samplitude and it's deep with the functions and everything. Actually the interface reminds me of Protools. It's a good program.

What I do is (since I only have 2 input channels into my PC) make the whole song on my 2kxl and record the beat on trk1 into VV (Vegas Video).
Record the spits on trk2. Record the adlibs on trk3, other background vocals on 4 to howver many tracks it takes. I don't have the 8 outs so that's my plan of attack. Multitrack/Process/Master everything on my PC and burn to CD later on.

Maybe I do have a lot to learn but this seems more logical to me. First I bang out the track on the MPC. When It is done I open up logic. Next I set the tempo in logic to what the tempo is on the MPC. Then using midi timecode I record each individual sound from the MPC into logic. So if I have a 4 bar beat I record for 4 bars in logic until each sound is on a individual track. Then Once I am done I have a 4 bar 10 -12 tracks worth of audio all from the MPC lined up perferctly. Now all I have to do is copy my four bar beat to make it fit the lenght of the desired song. Along the way I can now drop the snare when ever I want and apply effects and eqs to any track and mix to perfection. Not to mention I still got about 25 tracks still left to play with for vocals. This process is what most people do. It really opens your project up and makes it sound professional and full. I guess you could recored all of your audio on one track and then vocals on another but if you want that sound that you hear on the radio and in the club this is where you should start. You tell me what makes sense.

Wil wrote:the sound quality of vocals and stuff must sound like dookie.

what is your proof of this statement???

Wil wrote:Maybe I do have a lot to learn but this seems more logical to me. First I bang out the track on the MPC. When It is done I open up logic. Next I set the tempo in logic to what the tempo is on the MPC. Then using midi timecode I record each individual sound from the MPC into logic. So if I have a 4 bar beat I record for 4 bars in logic until each sound is on a individual track. Then Once I am done I have a 4 bar 10 -12 tracks worth of audio all from the MPC lined up perferctly. Now all I have to do is copy my four bar beat to make it fit the lenght of the desired song. Along the way I can now drop the snare when ever I want and apply effects and eqs to any track and mix to perfection. Not to mention I still got about 25 tracks still left to play with for vocals. This process is what most people do. It really opens your project up and makes it sound professional and full. I guess you could recored all of your audio on one track and then vocals on another but if you want that sound that you hear on the radio and in the club this is where you should start. You tell me what makes sense.

U might as well sell your mpc and just use software programs to do that........because it sounds as if you are wasting time........everything you just said that you do with the mpc and then send it into the computer, you can just do in the computer without the mpc.........just kidding about sell your mpc but you are basically computer programming man

Phatz, that is true to a certain degree, but I have to agree with Will on this one. (not the sounding like dookie part) There is a lot of extra work involved, but you get a way better overall mix if you solo each track into the Multi-tracking software. It definitely does not defeat the purpose of having a MPC. Look at it this way, in most major studios they track the instrumental from the MPC to the board so they can mix the various instruments around the vocals. this is the same theory. You make the beat on the MPC sequence 1. Then for instrumental purposes you create a song from multiple sequences mixed down on the MPC and then burn on a disc. When you're ready to record vocals that is when you track the beat. Not that any one way is wrong, I used to just record my beat from my MPC and rap over it, but I get a much better mix not to mention the ability to drop out instruments when I seperate the individual tracks. Another way around it is to sync the MPC up to the computer and record the vocals over the track without recording it into the computer, then make all of the necessary dropouts and mixing during playback. Now record the track from the MPC properly mixed around the vocals. Whatever is clever!

djames wrote:Another way around it is to sync the MPC up to the computer and record the vocals over the track without recording it into the computer, then make all of the necessary dropouts and mixing during playback. Now record the track from the MPC properly mixed around the vocals.

That is my method that I use...........I use to do the samething also with the Vs 880 and the 1680 (by the way which I just recently sold) When I used to spit and the studio I use to frequent that was the method and when I first began to intern there that was one of the first things I mastered and have always stuck to it.........it serves me well......I think anyone can here it in my work



Much Love and Respect

Wil wrote:Maybe I do have a lot to learn but this seems more logical to me. First I bang out the track on the MPC. When It is done I open up logic. Next I set the tempo in logic to what the tempo is on the MPC. Then using midi timecode I record each individual sound from the MPC into logic. So if I have a 4 bar beat I record for 4 bars in logic until each sound is on a individual track. Then Once I am done I have a 4 bar 10 -12 tracks worth of audio all from the MPC lined up perferctly. Now all I have to do is copy my four bar beat to make it fit the lenght of the desired song. Along the way I can now drop the snare when ever I want and apply effects and eqs to any track and mix to perfection. Not to mention I still got about 25 tracks still left to play with for vocals. This process is what most people do. It really opens your project up and makes it sound professional and full. I guess you could recored all of your audio on one track and then vocals on another but if you want that sound that you hear on the radio and in the club this is where you should start. You tell me what makes sense.

What most people actually do is not what you just described. Most people LOVE the 8outs on the MPC, so those that have the 8out board set tracks via 8outs in pc/mac and each MPC out goes into a soundcard with 8ins (you get the picture yet). In the multitrack program on the computer 8 tracks are individually tailored to record each of the 8ins. That's how most people I KNOW use their 8outs. Vocals can be done on as many tracks as you like. I get ALL of my songs to sound actually pretty damm good so you saying that radio or club quality is where I gotta start doesn't compute homie. I only record like that cause I represent all the poor peoples that aint got the 8out board ya dig.

Lampdog wrote: I only record like that cause I represent all the poor peoples that aint got the 8out board ya dig.

Lamp holding it down for us poor bastards.

REPRESENT, REPRESENT !!!

I've got the 8 out board, but not enough spare inputs on my soundcard, so what I do is that I record between 3 and 4 channels of "mpc audio" into cubase for further processing, divided as this:

1 track for kicks, 1 for snares, 1 for "rattle" (hihats, shakers etc) and 1 optional one for percussion, toms and such. That way, I can process each element on it's own.

Everything else is sequenced in cubase around a basic beat. Then I go back to the mpc and add fills, variations etc.

i have the 8 outs and i record each intrument on a separate track in cubase but i do all the mutes and drops directly on the mpc. if i was nice with cubase though i would probably do it like will and record just a loop and stretch and rearrange the beat in my computer, it would eat up less memory that way when i record all that audio.

Wil wrote:Maybe I do have a lot to learn but this seems more logical to me. First I bang out the track on the MPC. When It is done I open up logic. Next I set the tempo in logic to what the tempo is on the MPC. Then using midi timecode I record each individual sound from the MPC into logic. So if I have a 4 bar beat I record for 4 bars in logic until each sound is on a individual track. Then Once I am done I have a 4 bar 10 -12 tracks worth of audio all from the MPC lined up perferctly. Now all I have to do is copy my four bar beat to make it fit the lenght of the desired song. Along the way I can now drop the snare when ever I want and apply effects and eqs to any track and mix to perfection. Not to mention I still got about 25 tracks still left to play with for vocals. This process is what most people do. It really opens your project up and makes it sound professional and full. I guess you could recored all of your audio on one track and then vocals on another but if you want that sound that you hear on the radio and in the club this is where you should start. You tell me what makes sense.

this is pretty much exactly what I do. I just use protools and smpte. I think people may have misunderstood him. It's a good technique and it's the way I've seen it done the majority of the time in most studios. Not to say it's the only way, it's just good advice.

Cheech wrote:

Lampdog wrote: I only record like that cause I represent all the poor peoples that aint got the 8out board ya dig.

Lamp holding it down for us poor bastards.

REPRESENT, REPRESENT !!!

maybe we should take up a collection to buy lampdog an 8-0ut board.