Help a newbie build a studio

So far I've decided on getting an MPC 1000 and a mackie 1202 vlz pro mixer. Could someone recommend a good midi keyboard and good turntables. Finally just a letting yall know I'm 14 and I don't have alot of money so what I buy now needs to last me. Where can I get an mpc inexpensively?

just get what you can afford to start out. dont blow a bunch of money on something you dont even know how to do yet. start out small and once you build up your skills, then build your setup. it depends what you want to use the turntables for. do you wanna dj or just use it to rip samples? i have a stanton t50 with a pretty cheap cartridge and it does the trick just for sampling. my table was only like a hundred bucks. which is about as cheap as it gets. you can get a used mpc for some pretty decent prices. check out ebay or this webpage. go to equipment for sale. if your patient you can probably come across a maxed mpc for a reasonable price. good luck

tyrade wrote: i have a stanton t50 with a pretty cheap cartridge and it does the trick just for sampling. luck

Personally I would buy a top line cartridge - I think that's more important than the table it self.

you might want to consider getting a good pair of monitors before buying a mixer.....

as for the MIDI controller, you can get just a controller to use with samples in the MPC, or an actual keyboard which can generate sounds and double as a controller. price range is pretty wide for either category and certain units might be better for you depending on how many keys and knobs you need....

DarkWing wrote:

tyrade wrote: i have a stanton t50 with a pretty cheap cartridge and it does the trick just for sampling. luck

Personally I would buy a top line cartridge - I think that's more important than the table it self.

^co-signed

dont get a belt driven table...besides that any table with analog outs to sample from and good needle will do the trick as far as sampling goes.

if you can..scrounge up a lil more funds and get a tt with digital outs ..that way you bypass a dj mixer and just hook it up to the digital ins on the mpc..you also save your record ins on the mpc for something else you wanna sample..i use one, Stanton STR8-80 and my record ins on mpc either get connected from my comp to the mpc to sample from Reason or my trusty cd wlkman or my portable dvd player...


..........one........


PS Good Luck..kinda cool you got that music bug at such a young age.Hope you love it as much as I do and hope your very successful at it

I know you said 1000 but I hear the pads sux on those things, I never had/use one I have a white 2kxl nowadays most people put card readers in them
mpc2000 xl/classic are like ak47's after the cold war = dirt cheap... find some lame who brought one cause he saw someone on youtube making beats but realize they can't make tracks overnight it bcuz its hardwork. ebay and craigslist.org are full of them. it takes time grasshoper. I use to be on of those cats actuallybut I busted my azz djing for years shaping my ear b4 I was able to really have respect for music. then I learnt the heck out that mpc and realize the machine itself is simple, making music is the hard part. it aint for everyone but its a powerful tool and I realize I couldn't live without mine since I got deep with it.

as far as building ya studio, its like pimping a dope ride. you can't do it all in one shot, as you become familiar with what you already use, you will learn and figure out what else you wanna do and what you need to do. its funny to see cat blow mad cash and not even know how to hook stuff up. that kills me. just keep learning and become comfortable with the mpc b4 you decide to go for broke with anything else. having a bunch of gear and no beats to show for is not cool man
congrats young whipper snapper.

[young whipper snapper]

grandpa...is that you? [/quote]

Thanks for that comment DJIO. I thought about it and I have a question wtf is cardreader? Because thats why I'm not interested in buying the 2000 because I'm not sure if it has computer compatibility similar to the MPC 1000's
Also I hear guitar center has mpc 1000 blue ones for 350 i called them today and no more in harrisburg pa or lancaster pa. I live in harrisburg, if anyone lives near me please hook me up I'm willing to pay 600.

alih wrote:Thanks for that comment DJIO. I thought about it and I have a question wtf is cardreader? Because thats why I'm not interested in buying the 2000 because I'm not sure if it has computer compatibility similar to the MPC 1000's
Also I hear guitar center has mpc 1000 blue ones for 350 i called them today and no more in harrisburg pa or lancaster pa. I live in harrisburg, if anyone lives near me please hook me up I'm willing to pay 600.

no doubt, granpa is always here to help, lol
a multi card reader drive or commonly refered to as an MCD can replace the old floppy/ and zip drive in the white mpc 2000xl. thats already a standard stock feature in the blue mpc 2000xlmcd {hence the term mcd}.
I use compact flash and smart media cards to save my samples. I also have a usb mcd reader for my computer. this allows me to go back and forth with my mpc 2kxl and computer. the only thing computers are a litte funny at reading mpc 2kxl files names{i think its has to do with the differences in formats } so you can not name them too long or have similar titles for ya samples. I dont know what other capabitlities the MPC 1000's has as far as working with a computer.