Does the MPC1000 have synth sounds included?

Hello all. I visited Guitar Center and the salesman stated to me that the MPC1000 comes with synth sounds, but he claimed someone erased some of the sounds from memory and couldn't pull them up. Was he taking me for a ride or does this unit indeed have synth sounds as well as drum kits?

There are a couple of synth sounds in the MPC.

You can listen to all the sounds the MPC comes with here:
http://www.akaipro.com/int/mpc1k/factory.html

It's a sampler, so you'll be able to make it sound like anything you want (if you can record it..)

Thanks for the prompt reply, Stephen! One more thing...Given that this unit does indeed have synth sounds, will I be able to connect a MIDI controller and play my synth parts into the sequences like a real synthesizer or does it just have synth performance samples to insert into the sequences? Thanks in advance.

Yep, the MPC can assign a midi note number for each pad, so by setting the note numbers chromatically and assigning chromatic samples to the pads (or samples tuned chromatically), you can play the MPC like a synth.

Looping samples works just like a full sampler. You can loop a few periods of the waveform and it'll loop for as long as you hold the key down.

The filters on the MPC are a bit lacking for real synth work. There are no envelopes for the filters and the filter values are only updated on key down! That means no filter sweeps!

If I am incorrect on those last points, please let me know.

trehollywood wrote:Thanks for the prompt reply, Stephen! One more thing...Given that this unit does indeed have synth sounds, will I be able to connect a MIDI controller and play my synth parts into the sequences like a real synthesizer or does it just have synth performance samples to insert into the sequences? Thanks in advance.

The synth samples included... not a "general purpose" set, more to do with the sample songs included. You can hook up a keyboard synth no problem, I use a Kawai K5000S in that way, and with Local Off and "Soft Thru" I can send the MIDI from the keyboard to other modules, and I put together a few keyboard sample patches too (Piano, Mellotron etc.). Recording the MIDI to sequences works great, just set the Track mode to "MIDI" or else Step Edit thinks you were using Pads and it's confusing to Edit.

Yo, steroid your site is very informative. appreciate the no-nonsense approach without the fancy graphics that get in the way of information. So....how much for the synth patches?

Hey, Stephen I have to be honest. The talk about filters and sweeps just went completely over my head! lol. All I want to know is can I sample a synth sound, then play it directly into my sequences with a MIDI keyboard hooked to the 1000 so I won't be playing pads. I think I got out of all this is that I'll have to sample the note at each octave, right? So it seems I'll have to resample like 49 - 61 - 76 times? I might be way off base here (I hope so!) but I'm just trying to understand fully what I can expect with this unit. Thank you guys so much for your patience!

Depending on the waveform you're sampling, it is possible to get away with 1 sample for a maximum of 73 notes. The MPC can tune samples ±36 semitones, so you can assign the same sample to all 64 pads and tune them chromatically. The MPC can only assign samples to MIDI note numbers 35 (B0) to 98 (D6).

This method will work fine for sounds like a sine and saw waves where you can easily loop a period of the waveform. Just set the loop points around a period or two of the waveform and set the note playback mode as "Note On". Then, as long as you hold down a key from your MIDI keyboard attached to the MPC, you'll hear the sound.

There is more to think about when sampling sounds though. When you tune samples you are changing more than just the pitch of the samples, you are also changing the amplitude envelope - the higher you tune it, the quicker the sample will play its attack/decay - and the formant - the higher you tune it, the more "chipmunky" it will sound. This means that you will not be able to spread something like a single piano sound over all 64 pads and have a natural sounding piano. You'll probably need a new sample every three or five keys to avoid those problems.

To make samples sounds more natural, you can layer up to four samples per note. That way you can assign hard hit piano samples for a velocity range of 100-127, a medium hit for 85-100, and so on.

If you don't know how the filter stuff will make a difference, then you won't be missing anything .

okay, I've got it now. Thanks alot. What I'll do is make my sequences on the MPC, then record the sequence into my Tascam 2488. I'll buy a synth (probably the Korg MS2000B) and play my synth parts on separate tracks in real-time. I'm thinking with 4 outs from the MPC on four separate tracks, two outs from the MS2KB on two tracks...that should leave me with 18 tracks to play with, having my sequences taken care of. Do you by any chance have any patches for sale for the MPC1000? something geared toward the R&B/hiphop genre. Thanks for your help. I'll be picking this unit up sometime this week.