Tutorial: Using Logic Pro 8 With Your MPC4000

the mpc

Well Im not really sure what your issue might be!

If you've recorded a sequence on the MPC with each track assigned to and set to output on a different midi channel you should be good to go. The instruments in Logic are triggering properly when you press the pads but not when your sequence is recorded?

There may be something wrong with your MPC midi settings. I'd suggest playing around with those.

Sorry, I can't help any more than that Jeff. But you are 90% there dude!

Do let us know when you finally pinpoint the problem so that others can hopefully avoid the same in future.

As you've probably begun to see, all the effort is worth it.

Good luck.

yo... one last question.. is there any particular steps for mirroring the mixer window with the arrange window? i hit the arrange tab, and the instument tab but am lost as to what steps if any that needs to be taken to mirror the two screens? i think thats where my problem lies, i dont think the software is sorted correctly.

There are some buttons along the top of the mixer screen which can be used to show or hide certain elements/ track groups of the mixer. In the tutorial I used the button that displays only midi tracks.

yo Clint... YO DA MAN!!!!! i got that rockning now its was just strictly user error you can you help me again ? now im trying to add audio tracks to logic so that i can hear the MPC and my other out board gear. How do you add tracks without having them effect the midi set up? im trying to add them to the end of the chain.. like 16, 17 etc..... but they end up in the middle dividing the midi tracks, also can you turn the midi tracks thats sequenced from the mpc and record them as audio?

jeffmuzic wrote:yo Clint... YO DA MAN!!!!! i got that rockning now its was just strictly user error you can you help me again ?

Not unless you're plannning to pay me first!!

Good luck! Maybe Blue Haze post in this thread can help you?

Or better still, have fun finding out for yourself...

Enjoy

Not unless you're plannning to pay me first!!

Good luck! Maybe Blue Haze post in this thread can help you?

Or better still, have fun finding out for yourself...

Enjoy

Clint, can't let you get away so soon, bruh. I'm new to the MPC and this forum (which is great) and I need to resuscitate this thread and your expertise. This method works on my new 2k Classic. Although I have been tryinna get accustomed to this new workflow after doing sequencing solely in Logic. (BTW when I say new 2k Classic, I mean literally brand new, unused, untouched, on eBay, with maxed RAM and boot ROM but that's another story).

I've experienced two issues: 1) midi lag that didn't exist when using my MPD 24 with Logic sequencing ITB. 2) Sluggish peformance in Logic, though this may because the template you recommend starting from is a mixing template as much anything and has a great many inserts/plug-in instances. I have stripped out all the sends, saved channel strips, etc. to create my own barebones template to start from so that helps.

Still, you mention loading MPC samples into the EXS24 and triggering from the MPC for smoother workflow even though you could still have the drum samples coming from the MPC, right? I guess I'm wanting to know if there are things that you do that I'm not aware of to maximize performance in this setup. I'm on a single proc 2.5 G5 (was a dual but one processor died in the last 6 months). I have the option of using my 2.2 Black Macbook if necessary, though my desktop machine has up to now worked flawlessly and is so well integrated into my studio setup I prefer to stay with it if possible. Using Midisport 2X2 midi interface, and Apogee Duet also.

I have some other questions about specific midi routing using multi outs as well using this setup with drumkits in Battery 3 as opposed to the the ESX24 (or Ultrbeat for that matter) but I'll pose those elsewhere after searching the forum.

Thanks for the knowledge that you have provided here and elsewhere in the forum. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

learnmedia wrote:I've experienced two issues: 1) midi lag that didn't exist when using my MPD 24 with Logic sequencing ITB. 2) Sluggish peformance in Logic, though this may because the template you recommend starting from is a mixing template as much anything and has a great many inserts/plug-in instances. I have stripped out all the sends, saved channel strips, etc. to create my own barebones template to start from so that helps...you mention loading MPC samples into the EXS24 and triggering from the MPC for smoother workflow even though you could still have the drum samples coming from the MPC, right?.

The template used in the tutorial was from a choice of those supplied ready with Logic Studio. The 'Electronic' template is intended as a composition environment, not a mixing one. The channel strips in this template have been pre-defined and loaded with pre-set plug-ins. I can only suggest that if your Mac has trouble running the templates, it may be lacking some processing power, RAM, HD performance or a combination of these?

The two other points you mention are also symptoms which must be specific to your setup, which I couldn't possibly identify from afar. Midi lag and sluggish performance are not produced by your software or hardware, there are usually a result of incorrect system settings applied by the user and/ or poor performance of your Mac as previously mentioned. Poor quality midi cables and loose connections can also contribute towards midi lag in the studio.

When working this way, I load all the samples Logic using Ultrabeat or EXS24 simply for speed and convenience. You could however prefer to do your drums the 'traditional' MPC way and just use Logic for the instruments. It's really down to you to explore the different programming methods available to you. The tutorial serves as a foundation, which can be adapted in an infinite number of ways to suit YOU.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Get in there and tweak...

Great thread and good advice - cheers clint.

Hi Clint,

thanx for ya brilliant tips on the mp using logic as a sound module. till now ive always used logic as my main sequencer, loaded with synths etc and a korg triton. now i wanna buy a mpc 4000, because of the analog boost and of course the swinging sequencer
you tell us much about the midi setup, but how ya connect the audio cables? im using a digi003 interface and krk active monitors.......if i setup my stuf like you said, how do i connect my audio ?
do i connect the monitors to the main outs of my mpc and re-route my logic tracks to the inputs of my mpc ?
if i do it like that, re-recording in logic to put down the tracks for mixing, could get difficult

please help me, i have a cable chaos in my mind right now , haha.

i just want a mpc centred and uncomplicated soultion, without the mouse based logic as my main application, sounds and fx are great, but editing and stuff can get too much for the creative process of writing

thanx

D

If you're using a digi 003 with Logic the solution should be easy.

If you are only using the MPC's sequencer as I did in the tutorial, you only need to monitor the audio outputs of the Logic program via your digi interface. Connect the KRK's to the 003 main outputs.

If you want to hear audio from the MPC at the same time, its probably best to get a mixer in your studio and connect all your gear too that.

I suppose it is possible to monitor the MPC outputs thru your software/ digi 003 (as if you were tracking), but thats not the most flexible way to do it and it may introduce LATENCY to your MPC's sound.

first of all, thank you clint!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, using the digi 003 and logic is pretty easy, haha.

hm, i^m searching for the one and only audio connection soultion. i dont want to buy no mixer, because i dont want to get another new sounding gear between my system. ya stuff is always sounding as good as ya worst gear, so a new mixer would be a lot of paper first if ya buy it in a useful quality

and it would be a lot of patching when the track is done i want to record it into logic or protools to edit it. if someone has an idea i would be thankful

do i understand right? in ya tutorial, ya just trigger all the sounds with ya mpc, even the drums (ultrabeat or somethin). dont ya lose all the analog drum boost, the mpc got, by using the "wacker" ultrabeat (ultrabeat is a great tool, but im just wondering cause the mpc is the drum machine and with the harddrive, it would be perfect to bang the drums out of the beast). ya could download the mpc groove quantisations and buy a mpd and have the same results.....im not hatin just wanna discuss

clint246clint wrote:it is possible to monitor the MPC outputs thru your software/ digi 003 (as if you were tracking), but thats not the most flexible way to do it and it may introduce LATENCY to your MPC's sound.

Digi 003 has 18 ins and 18 outs. It also has various monitoring options available. You dont NEED a mixer, but it would make life easier and is inevitable at some point if you are serious about your music.

How many studios do you see without a mixer? A few, but not many.

If you want someone to break down the connections for you, I'd suggest posting a specific thread in 'Getting Started' forum.

Oh, in case you're wondering what happened to your other post, there is a 'Hardware for Sale' section on these forums.

ok i think i got an idea, tell me what ya think about it...

i use the digital outputs of my digi003 to send them to the digital inputs of my mpc4000 (is there an mpc 4000 with adat ?)
and monitor the digital inputs and the mpc main outs of course.....

if im tracking out all the tracks to logic again and record them, i just send them via the analog outputs of the mp to the analog inputs of logic / my interface and re-record it into logic.

if i slaved logic to the mpc i could just bounce the synth tracks or somethin, but i dont wanna f*** around with MTC or MidiClock.

cheers and thanks

I understand that Clint was kinda making this a simple solution, but you don't need to load any electronic kit template. This might be a waste of time for some people especially if they know they would never use those instruments anyway. They might wanna use 3rd party AU instruments.

You can load a blank template, and simply create as many blank software instruments as you see fit (you might not want 16, and you damn sure might not want corny electronic kits ).

His directions on going to project settings-recording-demix still stands and are necessary.

The directions on using the inspector and setting each software instruments incoming midi receive channel are also necessary, as is arming the track so you can monitor/hear each channel.

If you guys are still lost and clueless, David from Logic Pro Help has a short guide with pictures:
http://logicprohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=32201

Logic does have a very dumb and illogical default setting: If the midi controller (mpc in this case) sends information on a channel that the Logic software instruments are not set to, it will default to the last selected track and trigger it, regardless of its midi channel. Pro Tools doesn't do this if you have default thru instrument set to none in midi settings.

This is a problem if for some reason you are using another midi device on the same mpc midi out that is going into your Logic/Interface set up. They way around it is to use a blank software instrument and keep it selected and unarmed. I generally just keep it at the bottom.

This way, if I need to have another midi device on the same mpc out and it is already taking up a channel, logic won't think "hey I am getting a channel message that doesn't go to any of my load instruments, I will trigger the last selected instrument."

Pro Tools does not suffer from this phenomenon. Pro Tools won't do anything if you send info to a channel not being used. (The way it SHOULD be).

Generally you would not run into this problem if Logic is only thing being controlled from that midi port on the mpc, but I have a special case, which I will explain in the next post.

Further more I hate how logic merges all incoming midi ports when using a a software instrument track. For example, say you have 2 or 3 midi INPUT ports on your computer, logic will not give you the option to use separate ones on an *instrument track*, and instead will merge them all, only giving you channel options, but no port options.

The only way Logic gives you a choice for what port things are coming in on is when you use an external midi instrument track. You then are able to select what midi interface port AND channel incoming information will come in on.

I explain how to incorporate Reason into all this madness on the next page/post.