The "Tips and Tricks" thread

Someone already said that timestreching/resample thing on samples, but this is my 2 cents...

In XL (works also in other models with bpm match function):
Take a one shot drum sample, for example snare, and go to the timestrech window. Use BPM match function instead of normal timestrech and set the values like "beats 2, original tempo 300, new tempo 180". Try different BPM values to get something you like.

btw, this is a really nice thread.

man i just read through this thread and some people have posted some really inspiring stuff

good shiit. lets make an mpc forums tips and tricks pdf haha

This thread is dope.

I'll throw out some simple ones i use all the time that are super easy but often over looked.

1. If you are using low end theory for basslines, take out chops with kicks on them. This will clean up the bass alot. THe silence from the chop being gone usuall won't matter that low, depending on the sample.

2. If you want ridged timing (like on a dramatic sample) but you don't want it totally quantized, layer snares and use one unquantized. Or use a combination of quantized and unquantized hats. This will keep the timing solid but give some variation. Very simple obviously but it works real well.

3. If your track is where you want but you want to add a bit of depth, layer chops but high pass and add some delay. It will liven it up a bit but won't detract from what's their. Put this at a much lower volume than the main sample. The same can go for stereo as well. You can use panning to get a wider field without having it be obvious or distracting.

I know these are all very simple but i find they are very usuable, easy, and work most of the time.


Oh, one more. Take a break. So many people think they have to make a beat a day or have some type of schedual. If you arn't doing it for a living, take advantage of the fact you can take time off. You would be suprised what it can do for you. You can come back with the passion you started off with when you began to make beats but with the skill you left off at. My best beats always are after i took some time off. Obviously this is simple and their is no trick here, again, this has helped me stay doing it for 5 years and i'm still loving it.

chop samples & put each note on 16pads.... then playout the sample till it fits perfectly. then u get the sample tempo real fast & easy. then u can tune sample up or down & u get a better i dea of what tuning notes song the best. thats probally the best tip i can give. & LOck the sample in so tight cut off the velocity @ the end a lil bit, or front so u cant even hear a chop. sounds like it was meant to be played this way.....AAAhh FRE$h.

Grime wrote:Probably already said but if not...

Easy way to make a bass program:

find one good bass sound youl ike, clear, warm, distroted, whoever you liek it...

copy it onto 16 tracks, and then go to programs and set each one to a different Tune...

you'll have the exact same note, in 16 different keys, so it ends up being 16 notes...get it?

hum.... am i wrong or is this 16 levels...

Ldizzy wrote:

Grime wrote:Probably already said but if not...

Easy way to make a bass program:

find one good bass sound youl ike, clear, warm, distroted, whoever you liek it...

copy it onto 16 tracks, and then go to programs and set each one to a different Tune...

you'll have the exact same note, in 16 different keys, so it ends up being 16 notes...get it?

hum.... am i wrong or is this 16 levels...

no actually, because 16 levels is the same sample playing on each pad, but Grime's way is 16 different samples. Well... uh, the same sample assigned 16 times, not 1 time.

It's hard to explain, but in 16 levels , Note On mode, the samples cut each other off, but in Grime's way, they can overlap. it's Rafferty's way too, sometimes

talontsiawd wrote:1. If you are using low end theory for basslines, take out chops with kicks on them. This will clean up the bass alot. THe silence from the chop being gone usuall won't matter that low, depending on the sample.

if you do this and want some more attack, chop the kik and put it on another pad whit the same settings as the bass, simult the two and maybee lower the volume on the kik till it bumps nice. oh and fade the attack on the bass abit

nice to do on any sample that needs some pop

Rafferty wrote:

Ldizzy wrote:

Grime wrote:Probably already said but if not...

Easy way to make a bass program:

find one good bass sound youl ike, clear, warm, distroted, whoever you liek it...

copy it onto 16 tracks, and then go to programs and set each one to a different Tune...

you'll have the exact same note, in 16 different keys, so it ends up being 16 notes...get it?

hum.... am i wrong or is this 16 levels...

no actually, because 16 levels is the same sample playing on each pad, but Grime's way is 16 different samples. Well... uh, the same sample assigned 16 times, not 1 time.

It's hard to explain, but in 16 levels , Note On mode, the samples cut each other off, but in Grime's way, they can overlap. it's Rafferty's way too, sometimes

why don't you just set the sample to poly in the params screen? that way you can use 16 levels without the samples cutting each other off..

XL pitchshift

Yes, there's a way to pitchshift samples in XL, even though it's not often mentioned. Pitchshift means you change the original pitch, but still keep the original tempo of a sample. Usually oneshots or generally short samples can be pitched decently for example in 16 levels, but when it comes to longer samples or expecially loops, basic pitching just dont fit in. So, like 2 years ago I figured how to do pitchshift in my XL. Some of you may already know this or maybe yall guys use audioeditors or some ish, but this is for the xl-heads who doesnt use anything else.

NOTE: This thing has nothing to do with BPM-match function.

First of all, check this link:
http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html

Based on frequencies of each note and it's possible to calculate relations of each note.

For example A0's frequence is 27.5, and G0's is 24.5.
A0 is one whole step lower than G0.

24.5/27.5 = 0,89090909

If you want your sample to play one whole-step lower, then you have to timestrech sample (compress it) by 89.09%, and then pitch it down for 20 (in mpc pitching 10 is half-step and 20 is whole-step). When sample is pitched down, it makes it longer, right? When you compress it for a certain amount and then pich it lower, the LENGHT OF A SAMPLE still remains the same, but it has different pitch than the original.

Try different timestrech presets, some of the algorithms works better than others.

I prefer you write these down because these are hard to remember on fly. These are values based on relations of different notes. (check the link)

Half-step down: 94.3
Whole-step down: 89.09

Half-step up: 105.9
Whole-step up: 112.2

Bigger than whole-step usually sound bad in my experience, but you can still try those out if you want.

But, as we all know timestreching and pitchsifting doesnt always make the job. Sometimes there's just too much happening on a sample that it's impossible to keep even acceptable sound quality. I like to use this trick in loops or parts of it, like switching up the first two or three notes of a loop to play lower/higher. It takes some time (xl's timestrech is daaaamn slow) but it's worth it.

I hope some of you found this tip useful. peace

anders882 wrote:

Rafferty wrote:

Ldizzy wrote:

Grime wrote:Probably already said but if not...

Easy way to make a bass program:

find one good bass sound youl ike, clear, warm, distroted, whoever you liek it...

copy it onto 16 tracks, and then go to programs and set each one to a different Tune...

you'll have the exact same note, in 16 different keys, so it ends up being 16 notes...get it?

hum.... am i wrong or is this 16 levels...

no actually, because 16 levels is the same sample playing on each pad, but Grime's way is 16 different samples. Well... uh, the same sample assigned 16 times, not 1 time.

It's hard to explain, but in 16 levels , Note On mode, the samples cut each other off, but in Grime's way, they can overlap. it's Rafferty's way too, sometimes

why don't you just set the sample to poly in the params screen? that way you can use 16 levels without the samples cutting each other off..

...because that's too obvious, and easy. Isn't this the How To Make It Harder thread?

Rafferty wrote:

Ldizzy wrote:

Grime wrote:Probably already said but if not...

Easy way to make a bass program:

find one good bass sound youl ike, clear, warm, distroted, whoever you liek it...

copy it onto 16 tracks, and then go to programs and set each one to a different Tune...

you'll have the exact same note, in 16 different keys, so it ends up being 16 notes...get it?

hum.... am i wrong or is this 16 levels...

no actually, because 16 levels is the same sample playing on each pad, but Grime's way is 16 different samples. Well... uh, the same sample assigned 16 times, not 1 time.

It's hard to explain, but in 16 levels , Note On mode, the samples cut each other off, but in Grime's way, they can overlap. it's Rafferty's way too, sometimes

got it! hehe... i rarely use 16 levels tho! So i end up doin this with most of the sounds i like!

Question : THERE WAS A TIP ABOUT MPC 3k'S WHERE U COULD KINDOF AUTOMATICALLY CHOP UP SAMPLES.. without like.. takin ur time to assign each sound uve copied to a pad and then determin the ones that cut it off and .. u know it can be pretty long... so i end up doing it in my daw most of the time... when i had patience to do this, it ended up being dope.. but i dont have patience anymore!

this thread rules

ive already tried out a bunch of stuff mentioned in here & while the way im doing it is sloppy, it's already added a bunch of life to the music

i just need to tighten things up a little with my loops & chops

obviously i didnt write this & it is a technique i am yet to try for building up my own kits ect but i thought id share to give back a little to this thread since im taking alot out of it;

This is a simple yet fairly hard to master technique to improve the sound of your beats called multing.

This is not the same as layering different sounds to fatten up drum hits. (Also a great technique)
With Multing we are splitting a sound (for example a kick drum) into 2 or 3 different duplicates and we are treating each copy differently before merging them all back together on a buss.

Multing can be done in the analog domain, on an analog console, or digitally, inside a DAW for example.

To start with take the snare track (or kick track) and create 2 copies of it.
Send each track to the same group channel or buss.
We want to think of each of our copies of the snare as different 'portions' of the sound.

So the first will be our attack, or snap.
The second will be be the meat or body of our snare.
The third will be the tail.

We need to process each track differently so that we are bringing out just the portion we want, and not the rest.
So for our first track, our attack portion, use a compressor, followed by an EQ to really bring out the initial crack or snap of the snare. It will likely sound terrible on its own.
For the second track we went the meat of the snare. Again use a compressor followed by an EQ to emphasise the belly of the sound, and shape the rest out of it. Similarly to our first track it will likely sound strange on its own.
Finally take the third track and do the same, this time emphasizing the tail sound.

Then you will need to adjust the levels of all three of the tracks to 'mix' them to taste.
You will likley need to practice this technique a lot before you get the results you are after - but when you do crack it, your hits will be bigger than they ever were before...

Remember that different compressors and EQs have very different flavours, different colours to their sounds.
Different compressors have very different characteristics in terms of how fast they can attack for example. So bear this in mind, as predictably, you'll want to choose the right compressor and EQ combination for each track.

TIP: instead of a compressor on the attack mult, maybe try an SPL Transient Designer, or one of the plug in emulations like Waves TransMod.

TIP: instead of splitting the sound according to different portions, split it according to frequency - bass mids, and high end.

TIP: try mixing the original sound in with the mults aswell

TIP: try a compressor on the group channel or buss, to help 'glue' the mults back together

TIP: try multing a vocal. A simple vocal mult might be just to run the clean vocal alongside a slightly distorted version to dirty it up a little.

hope this makes sence and helps some one!

cool!

drukqs2369 ...perth boy aswell ! we should have a beer and talk drums ...
nice avatar btw

I like to use mute groups to spice things up.
set a pad up with no sample , then set it to mute , say the ride line or more , then play a rhythm on the pad and that'll chop bits out of your beat , good for lil breaks too. ( or put a sample on the mute pad , maybe a vocal bit )

go even crazier and note repeat the mute pad , cool stutter effect.