Introduction & 2 Quick Questions from new MPC owner

hey everyone!

what up. Prior to purchasing my MPC I’d been lurking on here gathering info etc etc. Now that I have it, I finally registered to join in the community officially to hopefully make some input! im dubstate.... i've been djing & collecting vinyl for over 15yrs and only (yes only!) have decided to try and make some beats.

I bought an MPC1000, new, still running the original Akai OS..
I have read the fkng manual 2 times over and now come to you all with some newbie questions.

(1)
should i continue to use the Akai OS and learn to use the machine it inside out
or
should I install JJOS immediately and learn on that?? If so...why?

(2)
I'm trying to lay down some beats and find that they sound off time?
Steps:
- have a drum PGM loaded
- set the bpm to say 85
- tap out a 2 bar beat (with click in the background)... in time! - im sure its in time as i’m pretty good keeping on beat...and @ 85bpm, its not that hard.

when i play back that beat though, i dunno, some parts seem off? the playback beat isn't fluid? Some drums sound like they get cut off. It’s just not good at all. Im not sure what im doing wrong... do i need to change the “swing” level? It’s at 1/32 ? Is there something else I’ve overlooked?

Any advice appreciated!! Look fwd to contributing in future

dbste

First off, welcome. The more the merrier I say.

In answer to your q's:

1. It's entirely up to you. Before I "upgraded" to the 1k, I got to grips with my old 2k OG as much as possible. Before too long I felt it's limitations, which spurned me on to buy a more modern machine. So, you can obviously stick with the Akai OS on your 1k, and play around with it. Once you've got the basics down, and you know your way around it, go ahead and upgrade to the free JJ OS.

2. Exactly why you should probably stick with the Akai OS and learn to get the basics right first. Don't try to have sex before you've first learned how to wank:

a) Have you got the Timing Correct (T.C.) set? Is it off? If your T.C. is at 1/32, it will allow your drum hits to fall slightly off-time. E.g. when I'm doing a standard hip-hop beat, I ALWAYS use 1/8 to lay down my hi-hat and snare, and a basic kick. Then I'll take the T.C. off for any additional hits that are slightly off time.

b) Ensure that when you assign a sample to a pad (in Program Mode), you check the Params. If drums cut off samples or other drums, you need to make sure you have POLY selected for Playback, and not MONO. The Playback field is top-right of the screen in Program Mode (I think - my machine isn't turned on, and I'm at work!).

c) Sometimes your samples can be out of time because you haven't hit the pad they were assigned to in time with the click whilst recording. That's often just down to practice. Try letting the full two bars play and on the second repetition, once you've got a feel for the beat, then you can start hitting your pads.

Anyway, good luck. I hope some of this crap I'm talking helps.

1. check the section for the mpc 1000 jjos lots of good info there. check out the jjos website and read about the features and decided if its good for you.

2. def check what dolo said, its most likely you have you T.C. on.

Dolo wrote:Don't try to have sex before you've first learned how to wank.

hahah... nice one.

thanks for the input dolo & x.. appreciate it.

yeh i'mma continue *tugging* on the original OS thanks for confirming my initial thoughts on it.

as for the off beat playback... i will definitely look into those tips and keep banging away... im sure its also down to practice.

thanks again lads