Post your questions, opinions and reviews of the MPC1000. This forum is for discussion of the OFFICIAL Akai OS (2.1). If you wish to discuss the JJ OS, please use the dedicated JJ OS forum
By tritone Wed Apr 21, 2004 6:47 am
Hey, just got my MPC 1000 today and have a lot to learn, but I've been lurking on this board since I found it this weekend and have learned a LOT already. Thanks for all the good help!

Being a newbie to the 1000, one thing I wish it had was a Pad Layout View. In other words, a 4x4 layout that shows you at-a-glance what Samples are assigned to the (current) 16 pads BEFORE YOU HIT THEM. (Maybe "Sample Layout View" is a better name). Of course I realize that with practice I'll memorize where some of the pads are located... but I was never much for "practicing my lessons" when I was a kid. :) But learning curves aside, this is the kind of instrument that I know I'll spend lots of time loading and moving samples around, and there just isn't enough hours in the day to be memorizing where the pads are.

Which is a shame, because the 1000 already has two *similar* layouts that I already LOVE... the Track Mute View (for quickly getting a birds-eye view of what all the tracks are doing) and the Next Seq View, which lays out Sequences across the pads. Why not a Pad View to aid in performance?

I already thought of *one* place you could put it... on the F5 button in the Program Mode. There is nothing on F5 at the moment... it would be invaluable to have the names of the samples spread out in a 4 x 4 pattern while you're recording... I would also think it would invaluable as a Live Performance Aid. I can only imagine how much FASTER you could lay down tracks if you never had to hunt/peck/memorize the pad layouts. Never hit the wrong pad at the wrong time!!!

By the way, when I first got the unit this afternoon I was very disappointed in the PADS themselves. The velocity response was HORRIBLE, and in fact, some of the pads would only produce either VERY HIGH velocities, or VERY LOW velocities. It came with version 1.03 and I had already exhausted the Shift-F4 Pad Sensitivity hack (thanks to this forum for that secret tip!) to no avail. I hadn't loaded version 1.04 earlier today even knowing it "exposed" the pad setup screen, figuring it just would be the same identical adjustment procedures. WRONG! Between the expanded level settings, and different Velocity Curves, I now have an almost "perfect" keypad! I would surely have returned the unit had this update been dalayed another week. Thanks to Akai for that.

By nospoon Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:04 am
I always assign my kicks, snares, hats etc to the same pads. When you name the tracks to the samples assigned to the corresponding pads, the track mute window gives a quick view what's on board.
User avatar

By effekt Thu Apr 22, 2004 3:30 pm
nospoon wrote:I always assign my kicks, snares, hats etc to the same pads. When you name the tracks to the samples assigned to the corresponding pads, the track mute window gives a quick view what's on board.


wicked, I do the exact same thing 8)

By tritone Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:27 am
nospoon wrote:When you name the tracks to the samples assigned to the corresponding pads, the track mute window gives a quick view what's on board.


Neat trick! Hadn't thought of that. Love this forum.

By cut out Fri Apr 23, 2004 5:54 am
i'm totally the opposite - i have my stuff all over the place at the moment - so i spend a fair time using an excel spreadsheet noting down what sample is where for each program... just create a page with 16 x 4 squares on it and label them a, b, c, d - etc... if i get a chance i'll upload it to my website and put a link up to it.

music admin is just one of those things that has to be done sometimes...

By Shook1 Sat Apr 24, 2004 2:43 am
nospoon wrote:I always assign my kicks, snares, hats etc to the same pads. When you name the tracks to the samples assigned to the corresponding pads, the track mute window gives a quick view what's on board.


Thats what works for me ........ drums on bottom row ....snares next row.... hats/brushes/rims next row...... samples on next row. Same goes for A B C D

By jksuperstar Sat Apr 24, 2004 11:46 pm
I use the same naming trick.. It lets me load different samples into the same sequence without creating a new program, so I can bounce samples to the PC, edit them, and A/B the differences with the original samples.
User avatar

By cybernaga595 Sun Apr 25, 2004 5:23 pm
Shook1 wrote:
nospoon wrote:I always assign my kicks, snares, hats etc to the same pads. When you name the tracks to the samples assigned to the corresponding pads, the track mute window gives a quick view what's on board.


Thats what works for me ........ drums on bottom row ....snares next row.... hats/brushes/rims next row...... samples on next row. Same goes for A B C D


Same here 8)