Sequencing Trax in the MPC!!!??

[dmarz45]

I usually just make loops in the mpc and then track em out as loops to save time when tracking... i feell like if i make the whole track in the mpc as one sequence i can make it sound more like an actual "song" but i can only record one track at a time, because im using spdif to record... so it would take me forever to track out my beats into my daw... what do u guys feel about this subject? Im into making underground style beats btw... check out some of my shit at www.myspace.com/djmarz45

[cynic one]

just depends on if you wanna wait for the entire song to track out. i don't think there's much to discuss here :p

[psycho_monkey]

it takes forever....what to track out say 16 tracks....even assuming all are stereo (and if not, you can do 2 at once)....of a 5min song, that's only an hour and a half. If you think that it makes an improvement for the better, surely your music is worth investing the extra time?!

And of course, the time you save just tracking out "loops", you'll lose when you then have to recreate the arrangement within your DAW...

[fast-ideas]

I have a great fondness for the MPC's song mode but as soon as I got PT I never used it again. You know that even if you do track the entire song into your DAW you'll end up doing some stuff to it and editing it. There is a feeling of satisfaction when you press that red button and a whole song plays from the MPC but life's too short.

Interesting that you're using the Spdif. I always thought a lot of the vodooo of the MPC 3000 at least came from the stereo outs. I always steered clear of the indivdual outs for that reason and never really bothered with the digital out at all.

[Justice]

the 3000 has a digital out?

I dont think so.......

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by dmarz45

I usually just make loops in the mpc and then track em out as loops to save time when tracking... i feell like if i make the whole track in the mpc as one sequence i can make it sound more like an actual "song" but i can only record one track at a time, because im using spdif to record... so it would take me forever to track out my beats into my daw... what do u guys feel about this subject? Im into making underground style beats btw... check out some of my shit at www.myspace.com/djmarz45

Track them out.

Simple as that.

OR upgrade your MPC to one with individual outs and then you only have to do 2 or 3 runs max

You don't have many other options. Also saying it takes forever kind of will alienate many people here I think. People spend 4 or 5 hours setting up drums to get a take or DAYS mixing tracks. While you are transferring stuff, get another synth out and make some sounds or whatever, but almost to say it's too much bother kind of comes across as a bit negative
No disrespect, just a mention!

I also love working this way in the MPC. Creating whole songs. It's a very nice way to work. MPC60 here

[dmarz45]

im usin the mpc2500... the converters suck on my m-audio audiophile usb so i dont even bother recording via the stereo inputs.. thats why i just use spdif... and also i can get my mixes alot louder when recording with spdif

[Johnny Biggs]

i still build the entire song in my mpc wit song mode

i dont like the recordin of loops and then piecin em together in pro tools, i'd rather just setup my entire song mode in mpc, dump the 4 mins , then mute shit out and cut and shit in pt

[deuc647]

I actually track the loops, i have 8 outs on both drum machines and they run through my patchbay into the pres, i feel like i always add things later and as long as i have the "skeleton" down, im good.

[digiman]

Originally Posted by deuc647

I actually track the loops, i have 8 outs on both drum machines and they run through my patchbay into the pres, i feel like i always add things later and as long as i have the "skeleton" down, im good.

Please explain what you mean by "tracking loops". Do you mean just dumping a basic 4 (or 8) bar skeletal sequence on from the MPC into the DAW? Then from then from there you construct the song in in the DAW by appending sequences together and adding things on top of that? If that's the case, does the DAW then become the sequencer for adding things in?

[ignatius]

i don't use an mpc but w/other drummachines and synths w/internal sequencers sometimes i make the whole song in the machine then use the indivudal outs or do multiple passes. it always has a different feel when i do it this way. if i can realize my idea for the song in the machine itself then that's the way i choose to do it.

sometimes though i can't get the transitions etc that i want for the song. in those cases i get as close as i can and track it out almost like the way i imagine it then edit.. either way i try to use the song mode in a given machine. it gets me away from the computer a bit and i like that.

[fast-ideas]

Originally Posted by Justice

the 3000 has a digital out?

I dont think so.......

LOL.... Just goes to demonstrate the extent of my interest in the MPC's digital capabilities.