Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By Joe_caithness Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:00 pm
before you go rar rar rar this is not a "cant be bothered to read the manual error"

but when I solo a channel it seems to cut absolutely everything off, as if its muting the entire MIDI of the MPC (note: it doesnt cut off all the sound, it lets the notes already playing finish)

kinda confused, as this means right now I can't record individual channels in to mix :(
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By noramoss Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:17 am
Joe_caithness wrote:before you go rar rar rar this is not a "cant be bothered to read the manual error"

but when I solo a channel it seems to cut absolutely everything off, as if its muting the entire MIDI of the MPC (note: it doesnt cut off all the sound, it lets the notes already playing finish)

kinda confused, as this means right now I can't record individual channels in to mix :(


hmmm.. when you solo a "TRACK".. it will only let that track play when in play mode. solo..1...uno.. eg:
so if you have Sequence one on and a kick on Track A1, snare Track A2, Hats Track A3, bass Track A4, Horns Track A5, Strings Track A6.. and you are letting it rock.. and you solo pad A1.. it's gonna only play what's on that track you're soloing.. the KiCK..
two things.. u have to set your pads up or the midi keys on the pads will be all over the place. if u go to one of my posts u will find a nice mpc500 project set up template that you can download which on the thread explains to you exactly what it is and does when u load it in your 500. If you solo and empty track, then you will hear nothing. I hope i was helpful according to how you worded the problem... it's 3:17am , i better have been helpful..lmaoo
By brazeca Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:11 am
Joe, as I said before, you have to be clear on what the problem is. You say that it "cuts absolutely everything off" and after that we read "it doesn't cut off all the sound". Well, personally, that leaves me confused...

Please, describe what you were doing in detail. And what do you want to do, as well. This way it will be easier to help.
By Joe_caithness Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:01 pm
let me point a few things out

I have been making music on DAWs for about 10 years so I know what Solo is meant to do ;)

What I am saying is:

no channels solo'd = plays normally
one channel solo'd = nothing sounds

but what I mean about "cutting everything off" is the sequence or the MIDI data, So it doesn't cut off my bar long loop, but it cuts off everything when that's finished, including the pad selected.

I think this forum is mistaking someone who is having difficulty with a unit which doesn't appear to be working correctly/logically for an idiot!
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By Lampdog Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:39 pm
Joe_caithness wrote:I think this forum is mistaking someone who is having difficulty with a unit which doesn't appear to be working correctly/logically for an idiot!



It aint the forum it's people.... :)

From an audio standpoint the solo would instantly on the audio and solo playback soon as it was solo'd.

Sounds like the mute takes effect on notes after it's solo'd. Any midi notes currently playing when solo is pushed get played out then muted.
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By noramoss Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:23 pm
Joe_caithness wrote:let me point a few things out

I have been making music on DAWs for about 10 years so I know what Solo is meant to do ;)

What I am saying is:

no channels solo'd = plays normally
one channel solo'd = nothing sounds

but what I mean about "cutting everything off" is the sequence or the MIDI data, So it doesn't cut off my bar long loop, but it cuts off everything when that's finished, including the pad selected.

I think this forum is mistaking someone who is having difficulty with a unit which doesn't appear to be working correctly/logically for an idiot!

wow! he's quite hostiLe. The way u explained the situation we tried to troubLe shoot it the best way we could. I guess ud have to be more specific in ur explanation
By brazeca Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:49 am
Joe_caithness wrote:let me point a few things out

I have been making music on DAWs for about 10 years so I know what Solo is meant to do ;)

What I am saying is:

no channels solo'd = plays normally
one channel solo'd = nothing sounds

but what I mean about "cutting everything off" is the sequence or the MIDI data, So it doesn't cut off my bar long loop, but it cuts off everything when that's finished, including the pad selected.

I think this forum is mistaking someone who is having difficulty with a unit which doesn't appear to be working correctly/logically for an idiot!


Joe, man, nobody's mistaking you for an idiot. The unit has different working style paradigm - that of a hardware sampler, which has limitations. MPC has limited ability to provide you with feedback information on what is going on inside it (it has a very small screen, you know). So, what works with a DAW where everything is expected to be intuitive, doesn't work with MPC. Your experience in DAWs actually is what causes trouble with your MPC workflow. What I mean is that you have to know EXACTLY what you want MPC to do, clearly understand principles of its functions and be able to imagine what is going on inside it at every moment when you work with it. And you also have to understand how MPC's sequencer is organized.

As far as I can understand from your rather hectic explanations, your loop is being played as a "One shot" sample (it's because the pad was set to "One shot" playback in the program). So, its playback isn't cut, because the midi event, which triggered the sample, was recorded in the beginning of the bar, and the Solo function doesn't have control over it. If you set the pad (your loop is assigned to) to "Note on" and then record the bar-long note event on the track, the loop will be played back for the duration of the bar, but this time when you solo a track, the loop WILL be cut off because sequencer will switch off note playback for all tracks, except the soloed one. It's the same as, when you press and hold a pad, set to Note on, the sample it triggers is being played back. But when you release this pad, the sample playback stops.

Well, as you didn't bother to explain what were your intentions with the Solo function, I guess I cannot be of any further assistance.
By Joe_caithness Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:14 pm
The "track vs pad" thing is definately worth looking into thanks.

I agree that the DAW training is a downside but we are talking about a function which is standardised, hence I am confused why it's not doing what I am expecting it to.

I am not being hostile, and reading my post it's not hostile at all. My explainations are kinda hectic, but that's only coz my mind is full of stuff right now and when I get the chance to sit down and make a beat it's a hectic affair, often ending in me being stumped and loading up MPC-forums quickly ;)

Please don't mistake my passion and franticness to learn for taking advantage, I'm sure I'll be on the other side of these things when I get my head round the little beast. :)