Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By DrV Fri Oct 10, 2008 10:01 pm
Hey guys,

Just signed up to the forums.
Got my MPC 4K Plus about 8 months ago. Don't want to brag, but I want to let you know what I'm working with...
Got one used on craigslist for 1200.
Came with every upgrade possible. Hell Yeah!
My first ever MPC! Came to this from an EMX and an SP-606. Definitely an upgrade.
Also has regular OS 1.71.

My friend said with the 1000 he had there was a way to record directly to a pad - so you could use the mpc
as somewhat of an ultra loop pedal. Is this really possible? Can't find a way myself or anything online.
As far as I see, you have to record, save then save to a program.

I'm sure you get what I'm asking, but if you don't. What I want to do is have a beat playing on one track,
then record violin directly onto a pad of another track and have it automatically stay with the beat when the
loop starts over. Then, grab a melodica or a guitar and throw another layer onto another pad. I'd also like
to do this all using pedals if possible, if not, I can still push controls and pads. Basically I'd just like to do this
without stopping the track completely live.

Thanks for your help.

Peace,

Dr V
By TSR Sat Oct 11, 2008 3:34 pm
No, this feature isn't implemented in the 4K, neither it is in
the MPC1000 / MPC2500, as far as I'm informed.
There is no way of continuos recording without stopping the beat.
Also using JJ OS for the 1K or 2,5K doesn't give you, what you are looking for.

Nevertheless, I think there are a lot of potential users who
like to see that feature - regardless of which MPC they use.
I recommend using a dedicated looper like the Electrix Repeater
or the BOSS RC-50.

TSR
By DrV Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:36 pm
Thanks TSR.

It's funny, my friend swore up and down he was doing it on his 1K before he sold it.
I couldn't find anything online like that either. I guess I have to get a loop pedal.

Peace,
DrV
By renegadebliss Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:43 am
Here is one of the cheapest loopers and it keeps everything in sync... many DJ's use it.
It uses the audio to keep the sync rather then Midi...


http://www.redsound.com/products


The Pro version has 1G of Flash, so you can actually store your loops..

I've been wanting to grab one for my live show, so I can jam it while
I'm waiting for the 4k to load up the next 512M for the next part of the set.
I currently use the TR 808 and do a Drum Jam..
By TSR Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:24 pm
This redsound XL sampler is easy to use (fire - record - play loop),
but for me, it has 2 major drawbacks:

- no MIDI SYNC
- you can't erase one distinct sample, but only the whole memory

This led me to sending back that unit.


By the way: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=95571&hilit=looping

TSR
By foge1 Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:38 pm
gibson echoplex
An absolute monster of a looper
g
By renegadebliss Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:23 pm
TSR wrote:This redsound XL sampler is easy to use (fire - record - play loop),
but for me, it has 2 major drawbacks:

- no MIDI SYNC
- you can't erase one distinct sample, but only the whole memory
TSR


For me , the Midi Sync is useless, if i'm using it while my 4000 (master clock) is loading up a new 512M set of samples.
So that was actually a benefit for me. Also, from the few people's that I've checked out, it's fairly spot on with the Audio
Sync... were you seeing it out of sync with the rest of your gear?

I though that if you didn't like one of the loops, you just record over a new one.. with the XL there's only 6 samples
available, and you should be able to just hit the button again and it will re-record what's coming into the input....???



Dave
By TSR Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:09 pm
Renegadebliss, I can't remember in detail, so I recommend dowloading the
really short manual from Redsound website. Otherwise, the beat detection
of the XL was working quite nice.

It is a very direct to use tool, doing for what it is made - looping material.
You just press the record button once, then it records for the time that
is dedicated to each pad. When coming to the end of the time-frame,
the recorded loop automatically begins to play in loop until hitting the pad
again.

BUT BE AWARE: Check out, if you can really REPLACE one pad's sample by
just pressing the pad again (RECORD). If I remember correctly, that couldn't
be carried out. ???

Hope that helps,

TSR
User avatar
By alpha80 Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:51 pm
Record to pad is cool.

I was hoping Akai would implement realtime chop&assign to pad (on sample playback) since like 04.
Just tap empty pads til you run out, the tap is the start point, the next pad tapped is the new end point, simple.
They droppped the ball on all fronts, creatively and even obvious specwise.

And now I know they won't get it right next time.
Anybody know if a software does that realtime chop&assign on playback w/ midi interface yet?
User avatar
By LvngDead Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:54 pm
Would it not be possible to resample an entire sequence as a single sample and then assign that sample to a pad?

The sp505 does what you are looking for, btw. I'm sure the 606 does also.
By TSR Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:11 am
Yes, this works, but it is no alternative to a real
sample looper - it's rather a workaround.

TSR
User avatar
By LvngDead Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:44 pm
I am sorry. The SP-505 can not resample it's own sequence to a pad, but it can resample whatever is being put out by an external source that's connected to its inputs. So if you had 2 sp 505s, you could definitely do this.