Is the MPC a suitable machine for me?

Hi guys! This is my first post here. I've registed on the forum some days ago and I've been reading some discussions here, and most of my doubts are gone. But I still have some doubts regarding other stuff, and the only answers I found were too technical for me to understand.

Yes, I'm a complete noob...

Either way, I'm going to tell you about 'my problem'.


All my life I've been listening to music every day. I listen to an average 12-14 hours of music each day. I've played bass guitar, guitar and some other instruments. And I've entered the 'synth world' not so long ago. I also played in a couple of bands (the bass) when I was younger, yet I've never recorded a thing in my life.

And this is my problem, the lack of experience on recording and all related to that, make me unsure of what I need. And the thing I need is very simple: I need to take out of my head the bunch of songs that are buzzing for months there. I have so many ideas I want to 'record' in order to have some piece of mind.

And now summing it all up:

- I want to record the stuff I have in my head, yet I also want to play my tunes live for an audience. Since I want to to all this solo, and I don't have eight arms and hands, I need to find a way to sequence my instruments or pre-record them (!?)

- I mainly use synthesizers, and here and there other instruments, like bass, guitar and other stuff. But the thing is that I also want to use some samples recorded by me from other stuff (street sounds, several FX, etc)

What are my options?

I've been checking out MPCs and some stuff, yet I don't know if that is a good option. It's great to have a bunch of stuff sampled there, but I also want to be able to create a full-length track with all the variations that exist (imagine Squarepusher, yet my stuff is nothing like that!) adding several instruments, etc. I don't know what kind of control a MPC has...

I've also seen software packages like Ableton Live, yet I really want to use something non-related to a computer. I work a bunch of hours a day, and my computers are being used professionally for my job (I'm a designer), so I'm not able to have music software installed there since the computers are customized for the stuff I do. Plus, I want to have the possibility to make some stuff on-the-go. Let's say on the beach or something...

But I think the stuff I want is something very similar to Ableton Live, yet on a hardware platform. The possibility to sequence stuff and re-arrange it the way I want; something that allows me to use samples and add them when and how I want them to my tunes; the chance of having my tunes sequenced and make changes on each track the way I want in live playing; the possibility to play something live and add that 'sampled' on-the-go and loop it.

Basically I think that's it. I don't know very well the genre of music I'm going to do, because it's a mixture of a bunch of stuff: bossa, jazz, electronica, etc. But imagine a box with YMO/Sakamoto, Herbie Hancock, Roy Ayers, Sinatra, Squarepusher, Tom Jobim, Coltrane and Jaco Pastorius and mix that up. It's something like that



Anyway, now talking about the MPCs, I have a bunch of doubts that I wasn't able to found 100% sure answers on this forum.

The MPC.... the 'common-sense' tells us it's a hip-hop/whatever machine, yet I'm not into that at all. I think it would be fun to try other stuff there. Either way, I've never messed up with a MPC before.

I know the MPC is a sampler. I can record all the stuff I need there and throw it live, yet I have some questions regarding this equipment:


- can I connect an instrument to the MPC (synth, bass guitar, etc) and record stuff directly to the MPC, and then transform that stuff into samples?

- is there any way I can edit my samples on the MPC (cutting size, etc) and add some effects to them? Internal or external effects...

- is it possible to sequence midi with the MPC? Like a Yamaha QY700 or something like that?

- how intuitive is the MPC interface? Is it cool enough to make music with it, or it's just too difficult to make things?

- I don't really know how the MPC works, but when I record a tune can I export it later to a computer with all the tracks separated? (drums, bassline, etc...), and if it works by 'tracks' can I connect some kind of midi controller to the MPC - with a bunch of knobs - to control all tweakinb possibilities of sound on the MPC?

And if the MPC is really suited for me, my options are limited to the MPC500 or the MPC1000. Can't really spend a bunch of cash on this since I'm hooked on the DSI Prophet as well.



I'm sorry for such a long - and boring - post. Like I told you I searched for this over and over again, and I couldn't found what I need.

Cheers!

In a nutshell... yes, the MPC will provide you with what you are looking for. The sequencer of an MPC is what producers most value, and the sampling and editing capabilities are sufficient enough to produce a whole range of different types of music.

Will the MP cover all your needs? Probably not, but it will give you lots of creative and hands-on options away from a computer.

The MPC will do most of what you need. ESPECIALLY if you go with the 1000 (it lacks the portability of the 500, in that it has no battery power, but, to me, being able to get the ob done thoroughly IN the studio is more important than being able to bang pads on the beach or train or wherever. Portability is a novelty, the beefed up features of the 1000, especially with the JJ operating systen, makes the 1000 the CLEAR choice.) Plenty of info about the JJOS on the forums so I won't go into it. Basically, it's an operating system that massively supes the machine up. But you WILL be able to record and arrange loops of you playing any instrument, in any way you want, (only halfway decent for LIVE applications in terms of Loop Management, you may need a loop-station or something similar if you need to do a lot with looping in a live setting) For Me, the beauty of this machine is the way you can manipulate the sound once it's in the box. Anything you imagine is pretty much possible with the right techniques.

Another tactical advantage is that once you learn to play the box like an instrument, you get a level of personal style that (To Me) is very hard to mach with software programs. Your own rhythm will come across in the tracks you build by hitting pads, and it's fairly easy to learn, especially if you already have experience with live instruments. Now, that's just the way I use the MPC 1000. There are (Probably) as many ways of using this box as there are users. It's VERY versatile, and from what you describe it would likely suit you well in your song construction. Also, the MIDI is very straightforward (unlike a lot of software) so syncing your synths with it's extremely capable sequencing brain should be easy peezy.

Hope This Helps,
-Falconrest

Thanks for the input guys. I think you got me convinced. I believe I'm going to order a MPC1000 soon!

Regarding the JJOS, do you think I should buy the paid version as soon as I get the MPC, or should I just stick with the free version for some time and later update? And is there any problem connecting the MPC to a Mac computer? I don't really use Windows...

And now one final question that I need to clear out: imagine that I'm playing live with the MPC and some instruments, and I pick up a bass guitar for instance and play a 30 seconds sequence. Is it possible to save those 30 seconds directly into the MPC and start an immediate loop of that?

Thanks a lot!