MPC 500, Alesis Micron. MIDI. and some more questions.

You can use .wav files. You have to import them via the usb cable. I reccomend for you to try the machine before you buy it. Find a store where it is on display.

thanks man.

ive been doing some research on MIDI and i just have a few questions.

it looks like i will be able to connect my micron to the 500 and use the pads to play the audio from the micron.

but i've just learned that MIDI does not transmit audio.
i am finding this very confusing.


i make gutter beats. i record straight to cassette tape on my hi-fi and then maybe sometimes i put my finished work onto my PC via my shitty soundcard.

this is what i do;
my micron outs are plugged into the second line in on my DJ mixer. i just turn my mixer on and i can hear everything from my micron on my hi-fi.
i make loops on my micron and then i scratch over them and just record directly to tape.
this is what i do and would like to continue doing.

i just have a small question;
i only have my hi-fi as a sound source so i will have my MPC500 going into my line in 2 on my mixer instead of the micron.



basically my question is;
will i have to connect the audio outs of the micron to the audio ins of the 500 to get the sounds onto the 500 or will the MIDI cable send the sounds??
MIDI does not send audio so im confused.


im really sorry. i must sound so stupid.

I would set the stuff up like this:

audio:
micron --> channel 1 on mixer
mpc500 --> channel 2 on mixer
mixer --> hifi set

midi: micron --mpc --> micron

or:
micron --> channel 1 on mixer
mpc --> audio in on micron
mixer --> hifi set

midi: micron --mpc --> micron


I have a Micron myself. the Micron has an audio input,, I havent tried it yet but I assume it can monitor sound from that input during play..

You can also connect the audio outs from the Micron into the mpc.. this way you can record the micron as audio into the mpc. From what I read, the mpc-500 has no audio thru while it plays, so you cant hear the 2 machines together...

I also want to buy a mpc.. but I have to decide if it will be the 500 or the 1000. The buggy OS of the 500 is what concerns me from gettin it..

Midi just tells synths and samplers, drum machines etc. wich notes to play, for how long a key is pressed, how hard a key is being pressed etc.

im really sorry. i must sound so stupid.

dude, you sound about 400x brighter than the vast majority of people who are currently learning what you're learning. don't sweat it.

Antonym wrote:

im really sorry. i must sound so stupid.

dude, you sound about 400x brighter than the vast majority of people who are currently learning what you're learning. don't sweat it.

Yeah, just relax

i think i understand MIDI a bit more now.
what i think i'll do is connect the micron to the 500, via MIDI and also connect the outs of the micron to the ins of the 500.
that should enable me to play the sounds of the micron on the 500 and at the same time get the samples onto the 500 right??


i have just come across something tho.

apparently you can't change the volume of your samples in the 500, is this true??
if so that is a major bummer.

gasmask wrote:i think i understand MIDI a bit more now.
what i think i'll do is connect the micron to the 500, via MIDI and also connect the outs of the micron to the ins of the 500.
that should enable me to play the sounds of the micron on the 500 and at the same time get the samples onto the 500 right??


i have just come across something tho.

apparently you can't change the volume of your samples in the 500, is this true??
if so that is a major bummer.

Of course you can change the colume of the sample! It can be done in progarm mode!

sorry

i just heard somewhere that you couldn't change the volume of individual samples, that you had to adjust the velocity??
i didn't know exactly what that meant but i assumed that because the 500's pads are velocity sensitive that you get different volume of the samples depending on how hard you press your pads.

god im an idiot.

well im pretty much DEAD SET on the MPC 500 now.
thanks for all your help. really i would have been totally reaching in the dark otherwise.


i just have a few final questions (i know ) :

i plan to run my set-up like this:
Audio outs from the micron into the audio ins on the MPC 500, and the MIDI in on the micron into the midi out on the 500.
i will run the audio outs of the 500 into my DJ mixer which goes to my hi-fi.

will this set-up enable me to trigger the sounds of the micron using the 500?? and since i also have the audio wires connecting each device that should mean that the audio of the micron basically goes into the 500??


also i am wondering can the 500 record while it's playing a beat.

like lets say i want to scratch 8 bars. can i play my beat and then scratch over it?? and then go and record again (using a different scratch sample) and do another 8 bars??
basically i want to make scratch oriented tracks and be able to arrange the whole thing on the MPC 500, is this possible??


sorry if that's kind of hard to explain, even anybody can't understand what i'm trying to get across i'll write it again in better english.

gasmask wrote:well im pretty much DEAD SET on the MPC 500 now.
thanks for all your help. really i would have been totally reaching in the dark otherwise.


i just have a few final questions (i know ) :

i plan to run my set-up like this:
Audio outs from the micron into the audio ins on the MPC 500, and the MIDI in on the micron into the midi out on the 500.
i will run the audio outs of the 500 into my DJ mixer which goes to my hi-fi.

will this set-up enable me to trigger the sounds of the micron using the 500?? and since i also have the audio wires connecting each device that should mean that the audio of the micron basically goes into the 500??


also i am wondering can the 500 record while it's playing a beat.

like lets say i want to scratch 8 bars. can i play my beat and then scratch over it?? and then go and record again (using a different scratch sample) and do another 8 bars??
basically i want to make scratch oriented tracks and be able to arrange the whole thing on the MPC 500, is this possible??


sorry if that's kind of hard to explain, even anybody can't understand what i'm trying to get across i'll write it again in better english.

With this setup you would be able to record the souds from your synth into the mpc, but you cannot run audio through the mpc in realtime! Its better to do this: Synth audio to mixer, mixer send to mpc, mpc audio to mixer, synth midi out to mpc midi in and mpc midi out to synth midi in. If you do this you would be able to record midi from the synth into the mpc, and then send it back to the synth! You can also use the mpc to trigger sounds in the synth!

Overdub: You can hear your beat when you record, but not in the way you are explaining. The roland sp-404/sp-555 can do this, but not the mpc's. I reccomend getting a midi sync'ed delay unit (it's the cheapest ) if you want to "record" live to the beat, i do this and it works.
You can have 32 mono tracks running at the same time, so the machine is able to make multi track recordings in this way . I still reccomend you to try one before you buy one!!!

what do you mean that you can hear the beat but not in the way im talking about??

also what is a MIDI synced delay??

You can record while you hear the beat, but you have to asign the new sample to a pad.

I use this delay



(danish design )

oohhh, TC electronics??

that's kind of fancy.
im more into analog delays myself but ive heard that the TC electronics gear is nice.


im assuming that thing has a MIDI port??

do i need a delay unit with one??

because i was thinking of getting the electro harmonix #1 echo



i don't think it has MIDI.



P.S. why would i need to sink it with MIDI??
couldn't i just record it as a sample and trim away at the end??

P.S. i think your "cheap" pedal runs at about costs around 400!!

I think i misunderstood you then . Yes you can record while you hear the loops/tracks but you cannot overdub in this mode! Yes the pedal i use is a bit expensive (i know a guy in the factory ). If you want to do the ovedub trick you must have MIDI. Or else it would be very difficult to sync the delay loop to the sequence!