MPC 2500 for live performance - Beatboxing. . .

Hi.

Im a beatboxer and a producer and i want to go onstage with my MPC and perform my tracks. I watched a video of anchorman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpUPbYEAeb8 and he seems to be able to loop his beatboxing directly into the MPC. . .

Is this right? Can the MPC record live audio as well as sequence and programming drums and samples?

I would really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction here.

Thanks, Ben

yes that is right the mpc 2500 has a feature called direct recording which enables you to sample audio while a sequence is playing.
the function is easy to use if you can live with a somehow "blind" recording interface. you can record a phrase and then put it on a pad then goto next track and record another phrase all while the sequencer is running, but you can not trim on the fly. the direct recording feature also records somekind of timestamp, so your new sample can beginn before the sequence.

for live looping (especially for beatboxing) i would look at ableton live used with a good footpedal. search the net for kid beyond and look how he is doing it.

peace jo

Im really not sure if i want the source of my music to be coming from software. I want to build up tracks and bring parts in and out. I use a 2000xl in the studio and therefore a mpc would be perfect. Im sure i saw this guy record a phrase and then trigger parts of it from the pads whilst the sequence is still running? Is this right?

Also, what do you mean by a blind recoding interface?

Thanks, Ben

i looked at the anchorsong video and don´t understand how he did what he did with a 2000xl. record a phrase and then play it from the pads to the running sequence is what you can do with all mpcs, but he started the kick (from where?) and then recorded his vocals while the kick was running. this is normaly not possible with a 2000(xl).
a mpc is also a just piece of software running in a (dedicated) hardware box.
get a good laptop or a macbook pro and a decent (firewire) interface to get good sound of ableton live.
maybe you like using a looper pedal (like the akai headrush) with your mpc onststage. so you can play sequences, fire live shots from the mpc and loop and layer your beatboxing with the looper pedal.

the blind interface is difficult to explain - in a nutshell: if you use directrecording live you can not see what is already on your pads so sometimes you have to guess what is the next empty pad to put the sample on when deciding to keep it. but if you stick to certain schemes and always use the same pads for the same layers you´ll get along.

peace jo

selecta jo wrote:yes that is right the mpc 2500 has a feature called direct recording which enables you to sample audio while a sequence is playing.
the function is easy to use if you can live with a somehow "blind" recording interface. you can record a phrase and then put it on a pad then goto next track and record another phrase all while the sequencer is running

With Direct Recording you cannot record and insert the sample while the sequence is running, without having to interrupt playback. That is the great flaw of that feature.

ive seen an acoustic katie tunstall doing similar (not on mpc!). recording guitar loops on the fly with a foot pedal and have them add or subtract from the running sequence.

perhaps both ableton and mpc at same time? or 2 x mpc?

How does Anchorman do that then (check the link above). he clarly records samples and puts them straight into the sequence????

Benji

its tricky cause i dont got a 2k.

but i would say in that clip he is running the kick from a separate source.

perhaps you could email anchorblokey.

i don't think he's recording into the mpc. looks like he has a keyboard there midi'd up to it.

Mike Feedback wrote:i don't think he's recording into the mpc. looks like he has a keyboard there midi'd up to it.

But he's tweaking the sample in the MPC afterwards?

exactly . .

_Stilo_ wrote:But he's tweaking the sample in the MPC afterwards?

he's only pitching the sounds which you should be able to do through midi, it doesn't mean the sounds are in the mpc.

i owned a 2000xl for years and i know that you can't record into it while a sequence is playing. in fact, the 2000xl doesn't have a "record" mode, it has "sample" mode. to even monitor the sound that's being sent to the inputs you have to be in "sample" mode since there's no input thru option, and when you enter "sample" mode, it stops the sequence.

also, if you take a look at the mpc, he doesn't have any cables hooked up to it's inputs. looking from the back, all the way on the left hand side of the unit the inputs on the mpc2000xl are headphone out, right out, left out, right in, left in. you can see that there's only 2 wires going into the mpc there, and they're plugged into the output jacks. there are some midi cables hooked up, and the 8 outs (if installed) clearly have no wires plugged into them.

_Stilo_ wrote:With Direct Recording you cannot record and insert the sample while the sequence is running, without having to interrupt playback. That is the great flaw of that feature.

stilo you are absolutely right on this - my bad... i think i want that feature myself so i thought it was already there. if you stop the recording in direct record mode the sequence also stops.

on topic: anchorsong uses a triton le - does this have a sequencer? and is it capable of live recording while the sequence is running?
apparently he does not use any other equipment besides the mixer in all his (solo) videos.

peace jo

yea but you can do all of this with the 2500. its not only a sampler/sequencer/drum machine any more. Its a performance phrase sampler. You can sample on the fly and add live audio to the sequence whilst it is running. He then starts messing around with the sounds he has in the mpc. Its crazy. If all of you wanted to sequence live audio in sync with an mpc sequence how would you do it?

Thanks, Ben

Mike Feedback wrote:

_Stilo_ wrote:But he's tweaking the sample in the MPC afterwards?

he's only pitching the sounds which you should be able to do through midi, it doesn't mean the sounds are in the mpc.

Yes...that could be the answer.