Tracking your beats out to Pro Tools?

Anyone using Pro Tools as the master and the MPC 2500 as the slave for tracking out their beats?

My Pro Tools rig has been down for a year, since my Mac laptop crashed. I was running Pro Tools 6.4 and a Digi002. I use to track my beats out of an EPS 16+ MIDI synced to Pro Tools. I remember having to create a MIDI device in Pro Tools and then turn on Beat Clock.

I just ordered a new Macbook and MBox 2. I'm gonna MIDI sync the MPC 2500 to the Mbox. Anyone using that set-up?

Also, I use to track out my beats by each sequence, then arrange in Pro Tools. Sometimes the swing would be off from the EPS. I read someone saying that with the MPC and Pro Tools, they put their beat in song mode, then solo each track and run it the length of the song. That way it kept the swing of the MPC. That sounds like the way i'm gonna try it.

Any suggestions or feedback is appreciated. Hopefuly this post helps some other people too.

Thanks!

That's my exact setup and method. Works great! Swing is always perfect. Just hit me up once you get everything if you need help!

hellfire

good lookn out! when i get it i will hit u up. also, i used pro tools for like 5 yrs. so there may some things i could help you with if needed.

just let me know.

somethings off the top that use to be handy.

1 using tab to transient to chop things up.
2 using the TCE tool. excellent timestretch
3 holding in the ctrl key while moving the fader in the mixer sceen. it moves the fader in incements of .01 works great for sitting things in the pocket.

r u running 10.6 on that mac with protools 8?

haven't gotten it yet. ordered it from sweetwater, should have on monday.

i think it's gonna be Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard with Pro Tools 7.4. then, i can update to Pro Tools 8 if i want to.

i use to use pro tools 6.4 and recentlly worked alot at my boys studio on 7.4. i love the new feats of 7.4, big difference from what i was use to.

i haven't tried Pro Tools 8 yet.

you wont be able to use 7.4 with leopard only protools 8 ... you prob got 8 thats what digidesign is shipping with the mbox now

the sweetwater crew is top notch. they know what they're doing. they're installing everything before they ship it to me. i hope 7.4 works, i like working in it. don't know if i'm gonna run 8 or not yet.

good lookn out on the info. i just researched it and this is what i found on the digi site. hopefully it works good with no bugs.

Digidesign is pleased to announce the availability of Pro Tools® 7.4.2 software, which provides Mac OS X 10.5.3 and 10.5.4* (Leopard) compatibility to Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE®, and Pro Tools M-Powered™ users. We’d like to thank our entire community of Mac users for their patience as we worked to bring a fully tested and reliable version of Pro Tools to Apple’s latest platform.

nod records wrote:3 holding in the ctrl key while moving the fader in the mixer sceen. it moves the fader in incements of .01 works great for sitting things in the pocket.

Damn, I didn't know that. That is an EXTREMELY helpful tip for me. I hate when I'm trying to move the fader really slow and it damn near moves a whole dB! Great info! I'm only about 7 months into Pro Tools, but it's really easy to learn. I always hear a lot of people say that others told them it's complicated. I wanna get that Pro Tools keyboard sometime soon, but I can always think of better ways to spend that extra $100 when I have it!

no doubt. when i learned that one, my mixes came out 100% better. you'd be shocked, but that .01 makes a big difference in the mix. it lets you put things right in the pocket, whether vox or insts.

i just move the fader to get it close, then hold in cntrl and fine tune.

what version of Pro Tools you using? Your on a PC right?

If you don't mind, how did you set it up to work with the 2500?

nod records wrote:what version of Pro Tools you using? Your on a PC right?

If you don't mind, how did you set it up to work with the 2500?

I recently installed 8.0 on my vista pc. I used to have 6.8 on my xp PC, but when I switched to vista I had to get 7.4 and then got the free upgrade to 8.0.

Here's how I synced protools up to my 2500 using MTC. keep in mind that I'm using JJ OS 2 and I think at some point MTC didn't work properly on the Akai OS.


In Pro Tools:

1) Setup -> MIDI -> MIDI Studio Setup

a) Create Instrument

-Manufacturer: Akai
-Model: MPC2000
-Input Port: Digidesign Mbox 2
-Output Port: Digidesign Mbox 2 [Emulated]

2) Setup -> Peripherals -> Synchronization

a) MTC Reader And Generator

-MTC Generator Port: Akai MPC2000 1

3) Setup -> Session

a) Format

-Session Start: 00:00:00:00
-Time Code Rate: 30


On MPC

1) SYNC Menu

a) Choose Appropriate Sync Port
b) Mode: MIDI TIME CODE
c) Receive MMC: Off


Leave a blank bar or two for preroll on the MPC to allow the MPC to sync up when you want to record, but pressing play or stop in protools should now start and stop the MPC.

if you set the mpc's mode to midi clock u wont need that preroll

kustom-get-money wrote:if you set the mpc's mode to midi clock u wont need that preroll

I'm not entirely sure that the MPC will start right away using MIDI clock either, but I prefer MTC over MIDI Clock anyway because I like to use the mpc's timing. if you use MIDI clock you have to set the BPM appropriately in protools because protools is telling the mpc what step it should be at, right?

with pro tools 6.4 ad my eps 16+ i used midi clock. i would record each sequence into pro tools, then arrange in pro tools.

i like the idea of putting the beat in song mode in the MPC, then using midi clock in pro tools with the tempo set. it should be on point because i'll be recording each track in seperate. so as long as pro tools starts all of them the same time, it will be keeping the swing of the mpc in song mode.

nod records wrote:i like the idea of putting the beat in song mode in the MPC, then using midi clock in pro tools with the tempo set. it should be on point because i'll be recording each track in seperate. so as long as pro tools starts all of them the same time, it will be keeping the swing of the mpc in song mode.

well, it keeps the swing meaning the step that notes are triggered, but protools is really telling the mpc what step to play. it's not using the mpc's timing, so if there really is an mpc "feel", you'd be losing it with MIDI clock.

i'm gonna have to research this more and play around with it when i get. here's what i'd like to accomplish.

do the beat in the MPC 2500, put it Song Mode, then track it out to Pro Tools thru my MBox 2. that way i can have all my sounds seperated in Pro Tools and change the arrangment if i need to, drop sounds after an MC spits to it and mix it down.

i want to keep the swing of the MPC, but be able to do block edits in Grid Mode in Pro Tools, if i have to make a verse longer, make a hook longer, etc... be able to do that in Pro Tools without loosing the feel of the MPC or the beat drifting off if i have to do edits.

i'll figure it out and let you know when i do. i figured starting this post now would give me ideas ahead of time help some heads who might not know either.

i really apreciate all the info. given so far. anymore given is appreciated!