question

Is there any way for me to record a live insturment into my 2000xl or is that something I'll need to do once i've made my beat on another device?

Edit: I think I already know the answe to this but I'm hoping someone might prove me with a creative solution.

I've plugged my bass guitar directly into the left/mono input and sampled sounds and basslines. It works even better when running thru amp first. The problem I had was in not having a metronome to help keep the right tempo in sample mode. I really wish that I could record directly into a track in a sequence while it's playing. Unfortunately I don't think that's possible. What type of live instrument are you trying to record?

turntable / guitar / whatever

The mpc2000xl can only record as a sampler or midi tracks (as far as I know anyway).You can sample any instrument you want to, as long as you can input into the 1/4 inch jacks. You can take a sample of your live performance for as many bars as memory allows. You can then play this sample in a sequence and build other tracks around it. If you have a synth or some midi device, you can record a live midi track into a sequence. However, for real live performances you probably need a multitrack or recording software. Hope this helps.

Get a recorder. Even a cheap 4 or eight track can do what you need.