Mpc, mpd ... Need advice

[Sin City Studio]

I have been writing/recording music for 10 years now. I want to get into production. I'm just tired of hearing wack beats all the time.

I purchased the yamaha mm6 keybaord to start. Now I'm looking into mpc or mpd but know little about it.

Are they like midi controllers where they do not come with sounds built in? I'm really into old songs and sampling is the direction I want to go. Any information on how they work, what knobs and pads do what would be great knowledge before making my purchase.

I looked at the MPD32 and it looks like a good stater piece of equipment.

Thanks in advance to those of you who respond.

[Tnevz]

They both can transmit midi. The mpd is a midi controller. The mpc contains sounds and you can import, export and edit audio and samples within the unit.
The mpd slider or knobs can be assigned to control objects in your daw.
On the mpc it's pretty much just the pads that transmit midi data for midi notes.

[RonGherkins]

Are you using a computer to produce? If not, the mpc is going to be a no brainer (except that you should still do a bit more research it sounds like!)

[Sin City Studio]

Okay I understand that. As far as sampling with the MPD goes, how do I do it?

[Sin City Studio]

Yeah I'm using a computer. I have pro tools and Fruity loops for programs, and cubase.

[Tnevz]

A better question is how to sample in the daw's you mentioned.
The mpd is a just a box with pads box unless hooked up to a computer or some kind of hardware that generates sound. It does nothing Except trigger midi. No sound comes out of it.
And protools doesn't come w/ a sampler afaik so you'll want to use Cubase or fl to actually sample. Although the mpd can trigger the vst sounds, via midi, in any of your daw's.

[G. Kaye]

basically an mpc is a computer in box with pads, an mpd is just a box with pads and needs to be connecting to an external computer to function like an mpc.

While an mpd + external computer can function like an mpc, it will not sound like an mpc, nor will the sequencer you use on your external computer have the same timing as an mpc.

You can do the same thing w/ your mm6 that you could do w/ an mpd - use it as a controller for samples in FL. You just have keys to press instead of pads.

imo, if you like the sound of older music, the mpc is probably what you want. If you want a modern sound, use FL and just get an mpd, or just use the mm6 as your controller

[Sin City Studio]

Originally Posted by G. Kaye

imo, if you like the sound of older music, the mpc is probably what you want. If you want a modern sound, use FL and just get an mpd, or just use the mm6 as your controller

what do you mean by older music and modern sound? if you mean high quality by modern sound, yeah im shootin for that.

[ianbryn11]

For sampling, I think an mpc is the way to go. I've tried making beats using samples on my computer in pro tools for years, and was never happy. First day I got an mpc, I realized what all the fuss was about that machine. It's incredibly intuitive, and sampling sounds from record, or your daw is easy and fun. Stuff just works. And that's not to mention the actual drum programming aspect of mpc. No latency, easy programmability, great sound, and it's all in one box. Winner....

I'm sure lots of folks sample and make beats in daw, but for me, mpc made a world of difference.

And of course, using it with your daw is a winning combo. Create a drum beat, bounce it into your daw, record bass, guitar, vox, whatever you want, resample those lines back into mpc, and continue making your beat. Or just do drums on mpc, and everything else in daw. Lots of possibilities...

I bought an mpd years ago, and never got into it. The latency was a killer for me. Mpc is great cause you don't have to rely on your daw.

[G. Kaye]

Originally Posted by Sin City Studio

what do you mean by older music and modern sound? if you mean high quality by modern sound, yeah im shootin for that.

Maybe I misunderstood but I thought you said you were really into old songs, as in older hip hop. A lot of old hip hop beats were made with mpc's. So by using an mpc you will get more of that old school sound.

A lot of hip hop today is made with software, so if you are trying for todays hip hop sound, software is probably what you want.

Thats really all I meant.

As for which is higher quality, thats a never-ending debate around here, lol, software vs hardware......I guess it comes down to personal preference, and what you are trying to accomplish. Thats why it helps to know the kind of beats you want to make, old-school or new school. You can make both on either an mpc or mpd. Just that if you;re leaning more towards one sound, each has advantages over the other, depending on what you want.

Maybe post some examples of songs that you want to model your production after, and then it would be easier to point you in the right direction of the best equipment needed to make those type of beats.