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30th June 2006
| #1 |
| Gear maniac  Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston
Posts: 299
Thread Starter | something tells me .... buy a MPC !! is it worth it? My first music job ever was a record totally sequenced on a old Korg 01w/pro somewhat 15 years ago... so I 've been around. For economic reasons ( I used to live in brazil ) I dropped out of music for a while and I am back now. I always wanted to have a akai mpc, but always sounded to pricey for me. Now I am trying to get to music with all of me, I thought reason was a good way in so I use it together with cubase sl. But I still have the feeling that they are not the real thing and I live with something on the back of my head about a MPCs. I never had one and I feel like I have to have one I need to experience it . When I read stories about big producers,they don't really mention vst as something crucial. Not a lot of passion there. Instead they always talk about the f***** Mpc's. So I am about to commit the crime and pay freaking big bucks on one. THREE MAIN QUESTIONS... IS it REALLY WORTH IT ?? HOW IS THE LEARNING CURVE ON THAT THING? ARE GOOD LIBRARIES EASY TO FIND ? ANY TIPS? |
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30th June 2006
| #2 | |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: san jose, califas
Posts: 2,610
| Quote:
you do you. if you have the music inside you it'll come out. plain and simple. i know fools making bangers on impulse tracker and BUZZ....whatchu kno bout that? | |
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30th June 2006
| #3 | |
| Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston
Posts: 299
Thread Starter | tnx Quote:
my main question about MPC is library affordability and sound quality i guess. I know that no equipment in the world makes anyone a genius, there is no such a thing... | |
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30th June 2006
| #4 |
| Gear Guru  Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Miami FL
Posts: 10,055
| in a word, YES its worth it. i started out all software and ended up getting an MPC and some sound modules as well. Now i use both. There's just something about the ease of the workflow on hardware that gets me where i need to be. |
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30th June 2006
| #5 | |
| Gear interested Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 27
| Quote:
I am basically the same way . I love my mpc ! Sequencing in a pc on anything but FL or reason is just too much work . I work much faster on the mpc and use softsynths/cubase for special stuff and sprinkles . | |
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30th June 2006
| #6 |
| Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston
Posts: 299
Thread Starter | which one which one do you guys own ? |
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30th June 2006
| #7 | |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 1,611
| Quote:
you're gonna need to aquire sounds regardless of the platform you are working on. Why not dig for your own samples vs. buying a generic library? I've been collecting sounds since the 90's so I don't really feel the need to buy sounds. It all comes down to what inspires you to work. D
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30th June 2006
| #8 |
| Gear Guru Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Miami FL
Posts: 10,055
| you don't want to buy a sound library, you'll be disappointed. You're better off putting together your own. Sample kicks from records, download free sounds off the internet and build your own drum sounds, that sort of thing. The only library i've heard with halfway decent drum sounds is Bangin Beats. But there's also a lot of fluff in there. |
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30th June 2006
| #9 |
| Gear Head Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 45
| I have a MPC 4000 and I love it. I've tried Reason and it's cool but I prefer the feel of banging on pads. Go with whatever workflow feels best for you. |
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1st July 2006
| #10 |
| Gear addict Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 326
| There's still a lot to be said for tight midi + hardware synth(s). If you agree, the MPC is still the way to go. Best hardware sequencer around. A million things have been said about the midi timing, I won't repeat that whole debate, but those who know, know. A friend of mine who does everything ITB now rocked an MPC3000 for years. When I was talking to him about going ITB myself, he told me I'd regret it. He was right...so I ditched the MPC2000, and got a 4000! Best move ever...though I wish I still had my ASQ10, if only to compare.
__________________ "The triumphs of modern science went to man's head in something of the way rum does, causing him to grow loose in his logic. He came to think that what science discovers somehow casts doubt on things it does not discover; that the success it realizes in its own domain throws into question the reality of domains its devices cannot touch." - Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth |
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2nd July 2006
| #11 | |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York City
Posts: 1,198
 | Quote:
you could buy a microkontrol by korg or a MPD by Akai for a controler. people use a 4000 for travel and portability - because they are comfortable with it and the sequencer voodoo. They are great for all in one but you still need keys in my opinion. You can convert any library if you really want to. You can get any sound in there that you want. | |
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2nd July 2006
| #12 |
| Gear Head  Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dallas,TX
Posts: 57
| Try cubase sx 3.0 and Halion or Phatmatik. |
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2nd July 2006
| #13 |
| Gear Head  Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 44
| I was pure software for ages, and I had the same MPC bug that you have. About 5 months ago I got a 2000, and I feel ashamed at how little I turn on my computer now save for dumping and mixing. Honestly you can score the 2000 for dirt cheap. Go for it. It will cost you less than a new computer. If you're not into it (which you will be) after a year, flip it. So what if you loose a hundred bucks. In my case it was the portability, workflow, and frankly the aformentioned "voodoo" that won me over. They're just fun as hell to use. |
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2nd July 2006
| #14 | |
| Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston
Posts: 299
Thread Starter | the old? Quote:
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3rd July 2006
| #15 |
| Gear maniac  Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Edison, NJ
Posts: 222
|  I was using a Trigger Finger with Battery, Stylus etc and had to test the waters on the MPC. I just bout my first MPC, the 2500 with 128MB RAM and an 80GB Drive and am absolutely in love with it! I bought Sounds and DVD Tutorial from Sounds For Samplers and they are hot! http://www.akaimpc.com/mpc2500video.html I also bought DVD Tutorials from SampleKings as well. http://www.samplekings.net/Merchant2...ry_Code=MPC25K |
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4th July 2006
| #16 | |
| Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston
Posts: 299
Thread Starter | Quote:
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4th July 2006
| #17 |
| Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NYC
Posts: 695
| anything you can do on an mpc you can do with a pad controller and software. the reason i have an mpc (4000) is workflow. for me better workflow means increased productivity and creativity. for that reason alone the mpc is essential. |
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4th July 2006
| #18 |
| Gear maniac  Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 150
| if you have the money go and try for yourself , i was in the same situation as you , i had some bucks and i thought man finally get one. but for me it was pain in the ass , tiny screen for editing and programming , you will have pain to get those samples into the mpc , as the mpc is not compatible to ntfs formated pcs . try halion2 and intakt too , both have amazing abilities , great filters , you have a huge screen to work on . you got all the samples on your hard drives , you dont have to worry about a/d converting losses . you have the total recall , you have basically unlimited ram , you can automate your software samplers . and theres a million more things . if its the pads you miss , akai sells a pad as midi controller you can bang your beats on this one too . but hey you will never now until you havent tried so buy one and try it for a year if you dont like it you can sell it anyway . peace |
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4th July 2006
| #19 |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,707
| since i've been using the mpc more and more, i'm satisfied w. the timing on my computer less less and less. i've got the mpc3000, which, from a processing power standpoint, is pretty primitive compared to a computer. however, the timing on the mpc is much more solid to me... i especially notice this when i use both the mpc and the computer at the same time. the mpc was made to make beats.... the pc was made for spread sheets... with all its power, to me, a windows pc doesn't sound as solid as an mpc... or a 1040 st, for that matter... (never tried a mac) the simpler the better.... mouse grabbing and icon pointing is a buzz kill. AND, if you get an mpc and the "all the breaks" cd, you'll be set for sounds, and be further along than if you picked up a pc, sequencer, and all of the gigabyte libraries out there (stylus, bfd, etc...) you WILL have the classic sound at your fingertips.... the music, of course, must come from within. if you work the mpc (and a good eq) and sample correctly, you can get a much better drum sound then using dry samples w. reverb /eq plug ins in my opinion. ALSO the mpc has "a sound;" (i'm speaking here of the 60 and 3k, i don't know the newer ones) and so do the other older classic pieces, like the sp1200... jay dee (r.i.p.) for instance. his music was a mystery to me until i got into the mpc. you can't make those type beats dragging blocks around by a mouse on a grid. OR, let me say, if you've worked on an mpc and know what to listen for, you can do it on a computer. BECAUSE... if you specialize on the mpc for a while, and THEN go to the computer for a convenience thing down the road, you will be helped in putting tracks together. i'm sure jay dee (r.i.p.), or cut chemist, or dj shadow, or whoever, can use a pro tools rig and probably get THEIR sound... but they developed their sound on an mpc... owning an mpc is great for studying the HISTORY of hip hop, house, etc... because the capabilities and limitations (sound, filters, sample memory, quantization templates, etc) of the mpc/sp is WHY, in large part, the music sounds like it does. 01w's (and even m1 before that) were limited instruments but easy to get a good sounding track on... triton is even more so in that direction... an mpc is like that... an mpc w. an 01 w or triton have done a lot of damage.... and still can.... |
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4th July 2006
| #20 | |
| Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,707
| Quote:
but you can chop/edit all your samples on the pc and then save them onto a zip drive in mpc format using the "mpc editor" program, which i think costs less than $30 bucks... i have a pretty nice pc rig... but just for fun, i like to start my pc and my mpc cold, and see which one is ready to play, even loading in the zip sounds, first... the mpc is armed and ready while the daw is still initializing the asio drivers. | |
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4th July 2006
| #21 |
| Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 150
| sure you can edit and sample your stuff into mpc , but man thats ugly to work on a 2 line greyshade display , i usually sample my stuff with wavlab do my editings , i dont even bother of cutting things exacatly cus i dont have to worry about the ram . then i just load that wav into native instruments intakt and hit the slice it button thats it . i never liked skipping tru a hundred zip files until i finally got the ready to go kit together . the mpc is more hands on that true and if its the way you feel comfortable than you should go with it but thats about the only point to buy a mpc. if you have the skills to program your beats in cubase for example it sounds the same as on the mpc , in fact the mpc groove rumor was the point why i wanted to get one , i was fairly disappointed when i realized its sounds the same as in the daw . but i had the 2k maybe the magic lies within the 3k - |
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4th July 2006
| #22 |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,731
| Been there, done that ! Once the novelty wares of you are left trying to sell a machine you will lose money on ! IMO an MPC cann't compare with the workflow of a computer , instead of just copying a section over you have to string things together , everything takes longer , you want to extend a note that takes 2 sec on the computer expect it to take 10sec on the mpc while you number crunch it down to the closest length ! If you do more than just beats and you want a chord to start before the bar you are in for it , you will have to stick two patterns together and start recording half way through the pattern , instead of just going to the bar and recording your piano,string or whatver before the bar , if you do use it for just beats then you run into problem like things sequenced on the cmputer not quite feeling great with the beat from the MPC because of the slight midi latency MTC , i could go on and on ...... My position is if you did not start out on an MPC but a modern sequencer an MPC will frustrate you and it's type of workflow will not help you , and when the novelty wares of you will be a few dollars short in the pocket trying to sell it ! If you have a means to borrow a friends an MPC for a week or two to see if you like the way it works i would do that before coughing up cash before you are certain...... |
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4th July 2006
| #23 | |
| Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,707
| Quote:
how much will a 10 year old piece of software that cost $700 (remember vision? logic for pc?) get you now? classic hardware retains value much better than software... seriously, if i was starting all over again, and the last gear i remember was an 01/w, i would just skip the computer completely; get an mpc, add a triton, an hd24xr, an a/t or shure mic, a nice preamp, a good fx box (pcm 70 or rumour) throw in a cheap pc for editing etc. and get to work... display? wanting a big display for music is like wanting a nice set of headphones for a painting. it will sound much better than a dinky reason / m box / pro tools combo... although those can sound pretty good.... but for about $6k you will have the gear any pro could make a record on. REMEMBER, if you're just getting the computer... you've got to figure out which platform (pc / mac) then you've got to figure which software (cubase, logic, sonar, pro tools, reason, performer, etc) then you've got to figure which plug in's (stylus, reaktor, bfd,) AND which soundcard - da/ad to use (firewire, usb, pci,), AND which midi interface, AND which controller surfaces, etc.... those are a lot of choices to make, alot of gear to learn, alot of little screws on your floor, a lot of big manuals to dig thru, and worst of all, alot of authorization codes / dongles / iloks to deal with. with the all hardware kit, you could have a track done 2 days after you turn it on... | |
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4th July 2006
| #24 | |
| Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 44
| Quote:
 I think on the newer models it might be an upgrade though... | |
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4th July 2006
| #25 |
| Lives for gear  Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Dallas
Posts: 534
| i have a 4000... i also have logic, a ton of software instruments, and i have a triton, and a motif.. and i only track with my mpc, triton and motif.. i mainly do gospel, r&b, and i write for different media music libraries.. i very seldom use samples outside drums... all tracking is done in the mpc and finally bounced down in logic.... best thing i've done as far as music production concened in a minute.. keeps things simple and moving.. all i can say is that it works for me.. and nothing swings like an mpc.. rock solid timing.. it's the center of my studio.... btw.. you can acheive the many, if not all of the things in software that you can in an mpc, but there's a difference.. you just have to try it and see... |
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4th July 2006
| #26 |
| Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 44
| The Harware vs Software debate is so OLD... In the end isn't it whatever works and you enjoy or makes you money? Sure it takes me twice as long to make tracks with my MPC. But I have more fun  and they sound better so I'm sold. |
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4th July 2006
| #27 | |
| Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,731
| Quote:
BTW , I bought the MPC4k for around $3800us, then sold it a year and a half later for $2500us . Vision was my first Mac programme i worked with , it also had pattern based sequencing like an MPC60 ! Lastly Apps like Logic , P.tools etc are not about resale value but about advancements in technology that help us get our work done easier with more options . I understand peoples attachment to MPC's( I bought one)and they have made great beats/music in the past and will continue to do so with producers that grew up with them , like Rodney Jerkins who still uses an MPC3000 last time i checked but that was his era . Cheers | |
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4th July 2006
| #28 |
| Guest
Posts: n/a
| I'll NEVER let go of my 4k It provides the balance between software and hardware that was missing in other machines IMO. If you were raised on logic and never totally got into a MPC, then you'd probably hate it. I was raised on MPC's  |
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5th July 2006
| #29 | |
| Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,731
| Quote:
Exactly my point No SSL, i think if people have an opportunity to try one first before they buy they will save themselves some grieve , especially if they were raised on software , an informed choice.... Glad you are loving your 4k ,it is a great machine and if i were an MPC guy it would be the only one i'd own because of it's modern features | |
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5th July 2006
| #30 |
| Gear maniac  Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 157
 | I use a MPC 2500 to trigger Battery and sequence my sound modules and softsynths!! Does the job perfect
__________________ VIOLATOR ALL STAR DJ'S http://www.myspace.com/InsaneMixaken Sirius Satellite Radio Hip Hop Nation Channel 40 Violator Radio Channel 40 Superadio |
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