mpc's for techno

[messyfuture]

I know some for you people use mpc for live sets and i was wondering if you ever had the same problem i'm having at the moment

I got mine in order to play out live with and my sets seem to be lacking something, when i re write my patterns in from cubase i cant seem to ge the same feeling across, it just sounds like a watered down version.

I play samples from the mpc and it also triggers my 909, they are seperated out onto a mackie which has a sherman filter bank, akai mfc digi tech effects and a compresser so twisting the samples and drums is not a problem.

At the moment i have about 5 sequences for each of my tracks(up to 25 tracks in a sequence) that build as they go on and some samples that are turned of that i can put in as i want. Would i be better writing these sequences as a song?

Anyone and tips or ideas?

Or

Should I just get down with the manual and do some serious work

[DJZeMig_L]

Hummm Sounds 2 me like what U r really missing is the ability 2 control every little fine detail in the prodution stage like u can do with a software seq. Live is generaly raw, meaning less processing/ efx/ etc... U generally concentrate on the strong points of yer track and work around that... Use more live tweeaking of synths, use more drum variations.. that generaly keeps a track going without it becoming boring!!

Z

[messyfuture]

thats probably it you know Z

think i'll hook up my nord to the mpc as well, and write loads more patterns for each track

suppose i better get of the internet and do a bit of work

[DJZeMig_L]

lol...


Z

[slavestudios]

buy 3 shit drumachines & put them thru many shit guitar distortion pedals & do lads of sweeps with delays & verb...

[professor]

I think I am confused by your "mpc speak." I have an mpc. As far as I know a "sequence" is just a loop of tracks playing however many bars you choose. The "track" is just an individual loop...like a bass drum track...and snare track. A song on the mpc is a bunch of sequences ordered to play one after the other in whatever order you program. we may be talking about the same thing, but in different ways.

with that said, why would you program sequences to build for live work? why not just write loads of "sequences" and use the track mute option to make you sequences build or fall on the fly? granted you still gotta write loops. make sequence 1 and 2 have some of the same samples/midi so that the transition is easy, etc. MH suggested to use no more than 16 tracks per sequence so that you can see them all in the track mute screen. Make sure to write patch changes to your synths...blahblahblah.

Damn, if you got a nord, why didn't you hook it up in the first place? play it in and record the midi, then tweek like mad whilst your playing live. the mpc is all about jamming. play the M-F rather than program it...

Also, I would suggest that you not try to emulate what you have done in cubase. make a program on the mpc, hit record and start playing the pads (or midi keyboard) as you like. As one reviewed said, they are like musical sketchpads.

[messyfuture]

Its all going much better now!!!!

taken the whole day off work cause i'm really getting into this at the moment ........

anymore ideas are most welcome

[messyfuture]

right i've recorded a mix of my live set...

its only one track at the moment and i know its not the right place but if you heard this out would it bore you (be honest)

and i need to pracstise lots as well

[messyfuture]

better put the link up i suppose

live mix1.mp3
http://download.xdrive.com/s/5098512...p;partner=plus

the link can be a bitch some times ......give it a couple of goes if it does not work first time

[slavestudios]

Invalid Username. The Username entered is not found in our records. Please try again. Error Code: 2141


tryed 8-9 times

[g]

came down no problem for me

well.. it's actually a hell of lot more interesting than i thought it would be ;)
dunno if that means i just had pessimistic pov to start with or what, but who cares. going really well i'd say. keep it up!

only thing that feels out of place to me is the hats. maybe it's just a personal pref but they're too bare, too on top of the mix. they need some processing and to get out of the way of a lot of the other sounds, imo. the most interesting things to me here are the more subtle elements.

[messyfuture]

i was just listening to it myself in the car g and the hats are way too loud,

i seem to place them to high in alot of tracks

gotta ease back on them

[professor]

sounds good to me. gots a lot of energy. sure the sounds are a little bare, but that's live!

what mpc you using?

[mux]

with that said, why would you program sequences to build for live work? why not just write loads of "sequences" and use the track mute option to make you sequences build or fall on the fly?

I'm using an MPC1000 for my live set, and know exactly why he *should* do it that way - he doesn't have 16 fingers!! :D

Personally, I use four patterns per "song" - I stay the hell away from song mode. Each pattern has 16 visible "tracks", and a few off the track mute page, stuff that stays out of the way but needs to be running, like a note event every bar to keep the Nord Micro Modular sequencers in sync, etc.

My first pattern of four is always all muted - I build up the song using the mutes, jam around, make "live techno". When it's built up into a frenzy, it's time to switch to the next pattern, which only goes through once - pattern two has pretty much everything unmuted, but with some extra bits, like a snare roll or a crescendo of crash cymbals, etc... a huge build for eight bars... it plays through once, and then goes to pattern three, which is a huge DROP, with a new bassline, stompy kick, etc - the perfect thing to drop HARD on a dancefloor. I jam with that for a while, fade down in intensity, bring it out to almost nothing, swap some sounds in and out, then bring it back up in another huge build, and at the crescendo of that, switch to pattern four. Four is another huge drop - then I fade towards the outtro. Lots of room to jam, but less chance to **** up the drops, which is really what the dancefloor wants to hear at 3am anyway - flubbing a drop is the worst feeling in the world, so why chance it? Make the MPC handle the timing of the muting for your big drop!

Damn, if you got a nord, why didn't you hook it up in the first place?

AGREED! Nords and MPCs get along famously!

Also, I would suggest that you not try to emulate what you have done in cubase. make a program on the mpc, hit record and start playing the pads (or midi keyboard) as you like. As one reviewed said, they are like musical sketchpads.

Disagree here. I program all my MIDI "tracks" (basslines, lead synthlines, etc) in Logic, export as MIDI files, and drag and drop them into the MPC over the USB connection. I personally hate the sound of "human" feel in techno - I'm making 140bpm acidic stuff for dancefloors, I can see how it'd be very different with, say, deep house. I feel that a big part of the charm of 303-style lead synths is the robotic, perfectly-on-time nature of everything. I mean, sure, you can quantize, but editing MIDI in the MPC is much more of a chore than editing it in Logic! (that's not to say I don't do a lot of MIDI editing in the MPC anyway).

I do program all the MPC beats on the MPC - like, hihats, drum hits, etc - but most of my sounds come from MIDI devices, and as such, it's better for me to program most of my MIDI in Logic than on the MPC.

[messyfuture]

professor i'm using a mpc 2000, i got it pretty cheap cause i did not know if it would do the job, and now i'm getting into it
oh yeah

mux, its intresting to hear how you use ur mpc, i was jamming loops but i tended to go off on a tangent when doing this.
If i get into my basic mpc i will think of getting a 1000, but not just yet!

cheers for the feedback

[DJZeMig_L]

The quantise Shuffle on the Mpc is class !

On top of what the live monsters already said U can always have some samples/ sounds seperated by channels on yer mixer and then use it's mute/ mute groups/ groups for adicional control!

Z

[professor]

everything that I have recorded on my "live rig" I played via the pads or a keyboard. I agree that the step edit on the mpc is a chore, but my midi keyboard gets a hell of a workout now, as opposed to my years of using a mouse. Plus the undo button on the mpc gets worked continuously...if I don't like how a lead line came out, I redo it. If the bpms are too high to record a particular riff, then I slow it down until i've got what I want...(most of the music I make is around 140, but i've been tending toward 135 more lately).
Using a mouse to program midi sequences in logic is ok if that's what your into, but I moved to more hardware for the single purpose, that I wanted to "play" it rather than program it.
Plus the quantize function on my mpc1000 are rock f-king solid. AND I LOVE the swing.
@mux:
your live style and mine on the mpc differ I think mostly due to differences in techno production. I make minimal stuff that rarely has huge builds, breaks or drops. sure I take the kick out and jam my synth to frenzy then drop the kick in again, but I only need fewer than five fingers for this...it's all about what ya like.