Various MPC and PC configurations and installation questions

Hi, I am wondering how to make my mpc work propertly with my FL VSTs. I was told that midi does not transfer audio, only notes.

Im guessing I would need to record the VST performance I made with keyboard through the PC, save it as wav and then load the beat onto MPC. But that doesn't allow you to fully have control. What if you decide you want to make changes to the keyboard part? That means redo the whole wav... Loosing soo much precious time.

Is there a way to do all the recording only through PC or MPC? How would both these work together ? What's the most convenient way? Please elaborate hardcore, it would be greately appreciated to a newb like me.

One more question, what does midi interface do?

I wanna know what you masters do. I don't want to develop a dumb ass way again or purchase unnecessary equipment.


Thanks.

ooooo kay... lets see here. production 101 is it?

you would find a bunch of drum samples you like and load them up into the mpc and create a pattern with the internal sequencer, or cop out like all these kids do and sample a beat from a record or 2 and chop them up inside the mpc and make a sequence with the slices...

128 meg ram is a lot to work with, so you could render loops in your software and upload them to the mpc, if you didnt feel like recreating them by doing what i said in the paragraph above.

a midi interface is just a piece of equipment that lets you plug a midi cable into the computer to pass midi in and out.

you can use the mpc to control software samplers and synths and effects etc, by using the mpc sequencer to send midi through your midi interface to the computer running your chosen software, be it reason or battery or (insert your fav soft here)... if you pass too much over midi to the software, your timing will suffer. to get around this, you can record your mpc midi 'performance' to the linear sequencer in your chosen software, essentially using it as a midi recorder. then you can cut, copy, paste, quantize, etc etc etc

once everything is recorded as midi the way you want it, you can render to audio and edit further if needed.

some (most here) like to just use the mpc as a sample playback machine, and leave it simple like that.

ingenuity is the name of the game here, and in the face of ignorance, it seems all that is needed at times. dont worry about being a sniveling n00b, just write what you wanna write. you may look back and find that you had fresh ideas as a n00b. above all, save everything. you never know when youll find something useful in the grab bag of shiat that you made.

blaster18 wrote:One more question, what does midi interface do?
Thanks.

jesus, man! you have been asking WAY too many really basic questions in this forum, only 10% of which has anything to do directly with the JJ OS.

for your basic questions, use google.

for JJ OS, use the faq at the top of this forum and the 3 manuals that are available: AKAI manual, JJ OS online manual, and the excellent Stan Steez manual. links for them are in the stickies at the top of this forum.

you need to do a lot more of your own research and reading instead of flooding us with these basic questions. it's just going to take some time on your end. there are no shortcuts for this. everyone has their own way of working and gear that suits them and only you can answer those questions for yourself.

and you probably shouldn't be purchasing ANY gear until you know a bit more about the basics.

thanks for this excelent reply, sooty. way better than me yelling 'rtfm' again.

Im sorry for abusing this forum. This is the last off topic thread, I promise.

Rich Biatch thanks, but what did you mean by this ?

"you can record your mpc midi 'performance' to the linear sequencer in your chosen software, essentially using it as a midi recorder."

There must be something that I did wrong. When I press play on the FL the mpc does not start at the same time. I have to manually press play on FL and then on mpc and that puts me out of tune. Is there something I got to make active ? I feel like I missed an important but basic SYNCRONIZATION setting because there are many other similar things that are not working for me.

I see that feature PC Seq on the JJOS2, as I put it on, it doesn't seem to do nothing ...

yes you must sync FLS and yer MPC. since FLS doesnt follow external sync, youll have to set it to send midi clock and set your MPC to follow. youll have to find out how to set that switch, since i dont use FLS i cant help you there. i also dont usually make the MPC follow the computers tempo so again, im no help there. these are both things you can learn by reading the fncking manuals mate.

watch out tho, certain software doesnt seem to work as well with external midi control by hardware sequencer... i have no clue if FLS is on that list.

if youre only planning to sync the tempos of the 2 and not bother passing midi, then your task just got a little easier. a lot of peoples would say just record audio from the MPC without going to all the trouble of controlling your software from over midi. so there ya go.

you should also get a reliable midi interface for your computer. a cheap one will give you problems with sync and certain midi messages. but of course youre not that far along. just buy an m-audio usb thingy for midi. they work well enough for a n00b.

http://flstudio.image-line.com/help/html/app_wiz5.htm midi setup

from here

http://flstudio.image-line.com/help/Index_Frame_Left.htm


with fl studio open, f1 will give you this document.

blaster18 wrote:Rich Biatch thanks, but what did you mean by this ?

"you can record your mpc midi 'performance' to the linear sequencer in your chosen software, essentially using it as a midi recorder."

i mean, once you have synced your MPC and FLS, you can then pass midi out of the MPC to be captured by FLS while you mute, send fader movements, etc. if you like to t00L around with your MPC muting tracks and shite, as long as youre controlling your midi software, you can use your performance from the MPC as a base to build a production in the computer. theres a few advantages to this: keeping it midi means you can refine your production further or even switch sound sources/sample data. but even if you dont, you can copy and paste. can you say r-e-m-i-x? aw yeah

you can also render at 32bits, 196khz or whateva if thats important to yas...

you have access to vst effects of any nature. heres a silly song i made a while back using the technique im describing. its not meant to be anything but a trial of the methods. it was fun but not serious.

try watching some youtube videos of the MPC, might help you get the idea of what is going on.

dont mind these idiots here. they have no clue what they are talking about. really. ill tell you everything you need to know. they cant possibly give you what they dont have. you are in the right place for n00b advice, and its good that you asked. ill be your daddy.

check out this humble tutorial

my son? where have you gone?

rich_biatch wrote:my son? where have you gone?

hahaha....

i think he's the number one producer for G-Unit now...

but thanks for all the replies Rich ... i'm a n00b to and your replies are a charm to read...

im glad someone gets a tickle.

hey i have room for more than one. ill be your daddy, h*ck ill be everybodys daddy!

whutchoo wownt lil man? you kin talk tuh me boy. yew got a queshtun fer meh? speak up i cain' barely hur yuh son...

rich_biatch wrote:, or cop out like all these kids do and sample a beat from a record or 2 and chop them up inside the mpc and make a sequence with the slices...

rich_biatch wrote:im glad someone gets a tickle.

hey i have room for more than one. ill be your daddy, h*ck ill be everybodys daddy!

whutchoo wownt lil man? you kin talk tuh me boy. yew got a queshtun fer meh? speak up i cain' barely hur yuh son...

Rich, you funny than a mutha***** WHats wrong with chopping and making sequences?? lol

primebeatz wrote:

rich_biatch wrote:, or cop out like all these kids do and sample a beat from a record or 2 and chop them up inside the mpc and make a sequence with the slices...

rich_biatch wrote:im glad someone gets a tickle.

hey i have room for more than one. ill be your daddy, h*ck ill be everybodys daddy!

whutchoo wownt lil man? you kin talk tuh me boy. yew got a queshtun fer meh? speak up i cain' barely hur yuh son...

Rich, you funny than a mutha***** WHats wrong with chopping and making sequences?? lol

well son, you see, its the paradigm. people just dont get better musically when they jack old records made by other people with real talent. its like all the gangsters shootin each other. what happened to a man to man? its all about the easy way out these days. i think it started when crack hit the hood. everybody started thinkin about how they could get over rather than do the work it takes for greatness. sure its art, and its a sign of the times, but it fits right in with the debasing of the population. we are all slowly getting dumber because nobody values hard work anymore. no one cares about the real thing. they all think sampling some other artist's groove is par for greatness. its like white people making jazz music. uh, well, at least that requires some skill. and what happens when you get that song to market and the original artist wants to sue you because you sampled their entire chorus? pay em i guess.

but it does not make a great man to find an old song from the 70s, sample it, and make a rhyme over top. put a little anger in there for myrth. kanye isnt so talented when you look at it like that. you are all on his tip over what? and look at his head grow. he believes he has arrived at greatness, and has all of you fooled. oh and the pressure to release something fresh... hes caught in a cycle of reinventing himself because he knows he aint shish. act like ya know, aye kanye? maybe if i act like im the shizz people will accept me as their new hero. but all i have to do is keep up appearances for them to spend their money and we arrive where we intended from the start, and all the fans are left holding is some fools gold. will kanye be remembered in 20 years? HELL NO.

so whats wrong with sampling a groove and re-sequencing it? i guess it depends on your paradigm. have you settled on a simple paradigm that rests on others accomplishments? can you see through to the real talent? or are you someone who can truly see and appreciate the finer things in life? of course if you subscribe to the first paradigm then the second one makes no sense to you, im sure.

blah blah you got me started now.