Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By Gigaton Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:35 am
Can somebody run down how to use the pad editor on Ak.sys?

By earthmorphosis Sun Feb 16, 2003 6:19 am
:roll: No problem droppin' sounds to keys on a keyboard on AkaiSys, but dont seem like there is a real 'MPC' (16 pads X 6) pad editor.....yet.....????

If anyone knows how to drop sounds on individual pads in the 4K, let us know.... I dont think there is, but I am high a lot. :shock:
Last edited by earthmorphosis on Sun Feb 16, 2003 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

By earthmorphosis Sun Feb 16, 2003 6:26 am
.......I mean the fast way. Not by trying to figure out what pad corresponds with which key... We need a "MPC 4000" version of AkaiSys that lets us drop sounds dirrectly on to pads, without having to compute where the pads are on the keyboard.

By Gigaton Mon Feb 17, 2003 8:53 am
Been to busy today to run my system, but I got this off another forum:

> Are you saying there's currently a Drum Pad Editor in Ak.Sys.?

Yes, for PC users right-click on the MPC4000 icon and it will open a menu
where you can select the Pad Editor.

By earthmorphosis Mon Feb 17, 2003 9:54 pm
Thanks Gigaton......The best thing about MPC's is that you can have one for years and still not know everything they can do. On the one hand it sucks that Akai has such $hitty manuals and tech assistance, but it is kind of nice to get a present like this and its not even my birthday! Good lookin out. 8)

By Gigaton Tue Feb 18, 2003 4:44 am
Hey earth can you give me a quick run down on how to take a loop that is sliced up in Recycle and turn all the individual slices into a program in Ak.sys :?:

By earthmorphosis Tue Feb 18, 2003 5:14 am
There really isnt a quick way that I know of.... You have to slice the loop, and process each slice in Recycle into its own .wav file. Then you have to drop it into the 4K's pads individually. I have found that if I trim a loop in PT or Recycle so that it plays (looping) seamlessly, it (the wav file) can be imported into the 4k and auto-chopped and each slice placed across the 4K's pads automatically....with great results, unless there is serious swing to the beat. The more swing there is, the more slices you may need in order to make it more musical...like dividing the loop into 1/32's instead of 1/16's....Just so you know, I am still not an expert on Recycle ...or the 4k for that matter. I have 7 years of producing and enginering under my belt, but I'm still learning new $hit every day.

By Gigaton Wed Feb 19, 2003 6:34 am
when you auto-chop, it just slices the sample according to 1/16, 1/32 notes ect... right?? or does it auto chop according to attacks and sample peaks?
Question: How do I convert individual slices in Recycle into their own discreet samples?
Also I was working with the Pad editor today and it's drag and drop which is nice, but if you layer the sounds, I haven't figured out how to remove the layed sounds from the pad, within Ak.sys. Is there any kind of documentation on operating the MPC 4000 pad editor that you know about?

By earthmorphosis Wed Feb 19, 2003 6:40 pm
when you auto-chop, it just slices the sample according to 1/16, 1/32 notes ect... right??

Right, but you can extend the ends 'end margin' without affecting the start points. You can also adjust the regions and then slice later.
How do I convert individual slices in Recycle into their own discreet samples?

Just set your slices and then select 'export sample' and you can choose .wav, .aiff, .akp. Unfortunately, the 4K is not a supported sampler yet so if you export it as a .akp program, it will be a keygroup not a drum program. BTW make sure 'transmit as one sample' is not checked in the 'process' menu of Recycle.
I haven't figured out how to remove the layed sounds from the pad, within Ak.sys. Is there any kind of documentation on operating the MPC 4000 pad editor that you know about?

I have not figured that out either. I just went back to the 4K and scrolled the jog to the left until there was no sample selected. So far I'm not that impressed with the pad editor. When you change pad banks in Akaisys, it does not change on the 4K. Also, when you drag a sound to the pad, and then try to go back to the sample list, or vice versa, you have to click on the window to engage it before you can select it. Its almost like the Pad Editor and the Sample list are two seperate applications. Pretty annoying, and no faster than assigning samples in the 4K. I'm not sure, but I think there is some sort of document in the manuals section on akaipro.com. Hopefully the AkaiSys(MPC400) and Pad editor will evolve to a more usefull tool. I also hope that Recycle eventually supports the 4K and can save as a drum program. Also, we need OS X support for AkaiSys soon.