making programs

hy,
i am new to the mpc, and i like mine like hell. a phantastic beast...
but i have some troubles understanding all the terms like the workflow with sequences, tracks, programs....
now, my question:
does it make sense to build programs for each instrument ?
for example:
if i build a program for bass-drums - i record a sequence on track 1 with a certain bass-drum - and choose my program for the bd`s.
now, after making snares on track 2, hi-hats on 3 and so on,
i can browse back to track one and exchange the bd as i like it by pressing different pads, so the different bd`s will play back the choosen sequence?

does that work - or is it better to build programs in a certain way,
like : the bd always on pad 1 - and then browse different bd`s by selecting track one and just changing the choosen program?

wich one would work better, how do you work?
thanx for a little help

hey thats a good question!

software has made us all softies haha its too convenient to just load the next sample in the folder...

its a wonder akai didnt build this capability in. maybe jj can add it or some sort of live audition in sequence? it is nice to change it up till you find one that fits well.

by the time audio gets to my mpc, its usually in loop form... or maybe a sound or a phrase i have rendered from a project in software... to start an idea purely on the mpc hasnt happened yet with me. but it is a great place to dump samples of loops ive made. it lends freedom to a software creation in some ways. helps to allow interaction with hardware effects too.

its in the Manual

It may be, but not always in plain english for simple minded folk like me... but having said that I understand the manual after reading it twenty or so times..

There are little issues that are not covered in the manual, like how to move samples over to the "program" you are working on... for instance, I was making a drum kit full of lo fi sounds, and the manual never said that to access samples off the CF card, you would have to go into the "load" mode to bring the samples to your current "program"...

I'm not even sure that I've done it right and it will save the program on the pads I've chosen...

experimentation is the key. you already see multiple ways your workflow could take.... why not try them all out and find out which ones suit your best?

it's not in the manual because it's up to you to use the machine for your own purposes, so figure out what those purposes are, then adjust your methodology accordingly.

some thoughts on your mentioned workflow:

i think you might find it better to always use a certain type sound on a certain pad & create full kits that all match.... then you can put the bass on one track, snare on the next, lay down the structure of the beat, then go through and change the program for each sound while your sequence is playing until you get the perfect combination.... you would get quicker results and stay true to your original idea of previewing all the sounds.....

electric dragon wrote:
i think you might find it better to always use a certain type sound on a certain pad & create full kits that all match.... then you can put the bass on one track, snare on the next, lay down the structure of the beat, then go through and change the program for each sound while your sequence is playing until you get the perfect combination.... you would get quicker results and stay true to your original idea of previewing all the sounds.....

this was my next idea,
maybe i should go this way - after i tryed the whole night, it doesn`t seemed a good idea to make programs for each instrument.
now:
i choose a kind of "pattern":
pad 1 - 4 for BD and Toms -
pad 5 - 8 for hi-hats
pad9 - 12 for snares
pad13 - 16 for percussion.


then bank B for Bass-Sounds, bank C for Synths D for FX ...

but to get back to my first point:

so, this means: you normally not gonna change from one program to another within a sequence`s track ?
once you decide to use your bass-drum, you stay with it ?
but wouldn`t it make fun, lets say for a live-act, if you can just change some of your bass-drums, hi-hat and or snare- sounds to others, and just keep the sequences, so it wold be basicly the same rhythms, but with different sounds, so the ppl will not recognise, that you played the same thing like a week before ?

or is it just too much work, to build all your programs in a certain way, so the sounds are exchanchable ?

maybe i miss some points, after trying a little bit, i think of the best way to set my mpc up, so it suits me best, and helps me to get the most out of my work .

thank you for the input so far ..... and go on telling me what you think of my ideas..

you can as you suggest.... you are the one who has to put the work in, so only you can decide if it's too much trouble.....

you can use different programs in the same sequence. my earlier suggestion is oriented towards production, not live usage. when i play live, i stick with one kit and just play the pattern in realtime into a looping pedal or program like Live. if you are recording MIDI loops, you can change the program on the MPC and have the sounds change..... i have the sounds set up in a weird pattern that makes it easy to play the snare, bass and hihat one handed, so i can use the other for laying down synthesizer sounds..... it's basically a L- shape layout mirrored so i can use either hand. i don't worry about making complicated beats live because we have more than one person creating drum sounds....

for production i'll use a different type of layout, more like the one you are experimenting with. i'll record the bass drum pattern on one track, snare pattern on the next, etc. all these production programs are setup the same so I can just create the pattern then go in and change the Program as the beat plays back and try the different sounds from the different kits.

if you are heavy into using the grid edit feature in the JJ OS, you might want to setup your kits for that, very much like you listed in your last post actuually, go do a search for some of antonym's posts about how he creates kit layouts for use with the grid layout.......

i've seen other people talk about sampling breaks, creating kits out of that sample, and that's all they use for that one sequence. you can certainly do that, or combine it with the stuff i mentioned above and layer more stock sounding sounds over your sample, mix em together to fatten and tighten up the sound.

you don't have to make every song the same way either. these are just different techniques to try out.... look into using bluebox or mpcpad 187, it can help you layout your programs a lot faster than doing it inside the MPC, especially if you are trying to get all your kits to match for the first time......

Like Electric said, get blue box. It will really decrease the time investment in making programs, so it will give you more time to experiment. I like to have all my kicks in Bank A, Snares on Bank B, Aux Perc. on C and Cymbals and misc. on D.

i just create a program along with samples from vinyl that i use for each song, i just pick out what sound im using with that song or live i have diffrent kits for each song the crooks do or for my DJ sets its all on the harddrive and on CF card for the live stuff

Thanks.. you guys have some great advice and it's cool to hear your ideas on practical applications of the machine.

I tend to put kick drums on the bottom row, snares one row up, cymbals, and percussion and scratches, etc on the top row...