mpc's

[YEK]

what do you guys think of mpc's? does anyone use one regularly?

i was thinking about buying an mpd for use with reason. then i thought an mpc would be cool to own, but why try and fix something if it aint broke, right?

 

also, to me, and corrrect me if i'm wrong, but i think you can do way more technical sequencing and effects on computers

[Guest RadarJammer]

I bet an MPC is like having a lil buddy to make music with. An MPD has dead eyes and no soul. You can do infinitely more complex music on a computer but its probably more rewarding in some ways to do something crazy and outside the box on an MPC.

[joshuatxuk]

My temptation for me to get a MPC always brings me to a specific memory: seeing a co-worker I didn't know personally hammer away at his little portable MPC500 in the breakroom of a call center I worked at. He could of been making beats that were in his head just 15 minutes before during a long, boring call. In terms of "studio" use I think a lot of producers start with one MPC, learn on it, then upgrade or branch out to different models but essentially stick with it for familiarity.

 

There's also the allure to the older samplers: golden hip-hop was built upon producers using the original Linn designed Akai MPC60 and the infamous E-mu SP-1200. They are constantly sought after because of their 12-bit sampling rate and it's "grittiness" - if I'm not mistaken a lot of bitcrusher software suites seek to emulate the warm compression they produce. One of those "if I had a million bucks" units. Hell, I believe Kid Koala just bought one after wanting a E-mu for years and made a whole album with it. So I wouldn't go for the big complex units, especially new ones when you could just use a MPD + DAW. Or get a little Boss/Roland SP sampler - Madlib, Dilla, Four Tet and others have all used the SP-303.

 

I'm avoiding them, might get an MPD soon to give my keyboard a break. Though Radarjammer has a point, and if you're keen on hardware or just want something to hammer out ideas that's independent of your computer, skim ebay and craigslist for a used one. Just think about your workflow and go from there imo.

[LimpyLoo]

Just keep in mind that convenience and flexibility (i.e. infinite options) aren't necessarily the most important qualities of a piece of gear. Just ask an Sp1200 owner. Or a TB-303 owner.

 

Personally, what's more important for me is a piece of gear with vibe, whose workflow forces interesting results. I own alot of limited, "obsolete" gear. I have a Roland Sp-303 sampler that always makes me do things I wouldn't normally do; it forces creativity. It has a gritty charm and vibe and workflow that stuff 2012 state-of-the-art stuff (e.g. Maschine) isn't gonna naturally have.

 

The old MPC's are like that too. Even the OG 2K--with all its shortcomings and limitations compared with modern specs--has a user-base subset who think it's a perfect machine. (The Cult of SP1200 is the most interesting sampler subculture in this regard: the thing has 10 seconds of sample time and it's quite widely regarded as the holy grail of samplers...check out the eBay prices).

 

I feel the same way about my SH-101. One oscillator. No midi. Very limited vis-a-vis modern synth specs, but on account of its vibe and workflow I wouldn't trade it for all the soft-synths that have ever made (unless of course I was able to sell them to buy more SH-101's).

 

Anyway, I would recommend looking into what sorts of results MPC's tend to yield, cause that's the good stuff, not the specs.

[LimpyLoo]

(wpw. sorry for bad grammar and typos)

[ryancolecreate]

I would love to have a 1000. It just seems to me to be the best option out there for hardware sequencing. It would be a great advantage to have sampling built in, which is where the elektron stuff falls short for me. The multiple outs also make it pretty sexy for hardware integration. :p They can be had pretty cheap too I think.

[ryancolecreate]

It's just irritating because over here (czech republic) they go for like $1000 used, and in the states they are like half that price. :p

[Guest uptown devil]

My temptation for me to get a MPC always brings me to a specific memory: seeing a co-worker I didn't know personally hammer away at his little portable MPC500 in the breakroom of a call center I worked at. He could of been making beats that were in his head just 15 minutes before during a long, boring call. In terms of "studio" use I think a lot of producers start with one MPC, learn on it, then upgrade or branch out to different models but essentially stick with it for familiarity.

 

There's also the allure to the older samplers: golden hip-hop was built upon producers using the original Linn designed Akai MPC60 and the infamous E-mu SP-1200. They are constantly sought after because of their 12-bit sampling rate and it's "grittiness" - if I'm not mistaken a lot of bitcrusher software suites seek to emulate the warm compression they produce. One of those "if I had a million bucks" units. Hell, I believe Kid Koala just bought one after wanting a E-mu for years and made a whole album with it. So I wouldn't go for the big complex units, especially new ones when you could just use a MPD + DAW. Or get a little Boss/Roland SP sampler - Madlib, Dilla, Four Tet and others have all used the SP-303.

 

I'm avoiding them, might get an MPD soon to give my keyboard a break. Though Radarjammer has a point, and if you're keen on hardware or just want something to hammer out ideas that's independent of your computer, skim ebay and craigslist for a used one. Just think about your workflow and go from there imo.

nice post.

 

i bought an mpc4000 off of ebay a few years ago and have had all sorts of problems with it. i can't get my computer to recognize the internal hard drive in it and the cd drive doesn't work, which leaves me with live sampling as the only way to introduce new samples. fuck that. there were barely any samples loaded on it when i got it as well, so it's pretty worthless. now it just sits in the corner of the room and takes up space. i really need to sell it, or fix it, or fix it and sell it.

 

i'm also put off by how much menu navigation is involved in its workflow. i'm coming from nearly a decade of electribe use, so i'm used to having everything laid out in front of me. it's probably too much machine for what i need it for regardless. maybe a 1000 would have been a more suitable choice.

[tokn]

An MPD has dead eyes and no soul.

 

I don't feel like that. I have a MPD for a year, my beats get better and more complex, my melodies get different, it's great for live performance and feels simply amazing. The pads get softer after some time - if you use it often at least. I don't think that a MPC would have many pros for me. Look at the latest edition, even AKAI is trying to implement a more software-based approach. I don't want to say that having a MPC wouldn't be amazing and feel much better - but a MPD is allright

[spunktronics]

MPC2500 user for about 6 years and it's totally baddass for allsorts if youre using the JJOS

you can sequence all sorts of midi gear as well as use the amazing sampler features...

you can get pretty deep if you go in the the many menu's and get in to some proper micro editing!

[Guest The Bro]

One time I was considering getting an MPC500 to make beats on the go or at work. In the end I got an Ipod Touch and downloaded Beatmaker 2 which proved to be the ultimate in portable beat making. Now I've upgraded to an Ipad although I'm on my second one as my first one's screen stopped working as the whole unit mysteriously got bent!!

[Guest EleminoP]

One time I saw an urban gentleman walking down the sidewalk in downtown Chicago with headphones on and hooked up to a portable MPC which he was holding up in front of himself like a crystal ball with one hand and hammering out beats with the other. That's what you should do with an MPC. Or you could have it be the command center of a large MIDI controlled setup.

[Guest kokeboka]

I have an MPC500. It's not as glamorous sounding or as complex as your run of the mill VST sampler with average samples, and being a newer MPC it doesn't produce the bit reduction compression artifacts people talk so much about. In addition to that, it came with a few bugs that I can't fix with OS upgrades. However, that being said... it's a fantastic little thing. It's fun to use, its workflow is surprisingly intuitive, the factory sounds are quite usable, and it makes you rethink about how you make your music. After using the MPC for a while, I had a completely different insight into the production MO of early hip hop producers. Didn't make me sound like one, didn't make me sound more talented, but it did give me a fresh new perspective - much like the Rm1x, it made me work away from the clinical eye of DAWs. I wouldn't say everyone should have a place for an MPC in their studio, but it's definitely worth at least trying out.

[sweepstakes]

I've had an MP1k since the end of '08 and I would echo LimpyLoo and kokeboka's comments about perspective and flow. It's true that on paper, any old DAW can wipe its ass with the (edit: any) MPC's specs. But MPC it is a very flexible machine, and it stays out of your way, it makes you get down to business. The downside of that is that it can feel very dry at times, especially when used on its own. I haven't turned mine on since I got my Octatrack. In fact I was planning on getting rid of it because the Octa and its crazy flow have blown some doors wide open that have been locked for me for a long time working with the MPC and Renoise.

 

But I've been getting back into hip hop in the last week or so, and that's reminded me what a good bud my MPC was, and what I'm missing by not using it - hand-crafted timing, velocity sensitivity, layering, and that juicy sense of satisfaction you get from bashing dem pads. I like the sample slicing better on the MPC too but I haven't learned the OT's properly yet and that is a VERY subjective thing, I've found.

 

One of the best things about making things on the MPC is that moreso than most modern tools, it's all you. It doesn't color anything for you, it's garbage-in, garbage-out - the samples, the sequencing, the pacing, the timing, etc. The MPC provides only minimal assistance with all that. So when I build a nice track on the MPC there's a sense of accomplishment I don't feel on fancier stuff, because I'm just hearing the sum total of the actions I've done on it. I guess you could say it's more like writing than painting.

[Velazquez]

I had an mpc 500... it was fun, but i hated the scroll down menus. If you're thinking of a 500, i'd reconsider, and just get an MPC controller, you have to upgrade the "memory" on an mpc 500, and when you get around to it it's just way easier to use a decent software program, with a good controller.

[Guest A/D]

Very grateful this thread came around. I've been wanting to get off the computer for sequencing. In the past I've been reliant on the precision & crossfades & flexibility of the DAW. But I'm really hooked on doing things with my hands after getting my first HW synths.

 

I've been browsing MPC-FORUMS & Gearslutz & everywhere. I've read about & heard the sound of the different units and there really is a range. I was almost sold on an MPC 4000. It seems really powerful, but also like I could throw stuff together quickly if that was my goal. Now after Uptown Devil's post I'm not so sure. Though feel free to PM me and let me know what your price would be

 

From what I've read, the 2500 with JJOS is killer in terms of streamlined workflow. USB is pretty nice for loading samples. I'm thinking of trying a hybrid, like an MPC controller and an S1000, which sound really nice.

 

And after all this research, I honestly have very few facts to back this up. Just an aggregate of many different owners' feelings. Which is mostly how I roll.

[LimpyLoo]

I'd like to make a sampler-related observation that may or may not be pertinant to this thread (though I think it is).

 

There seem to be two schools of sampler users:

 

1) the school that fetches and chops their own samples, either from vinyl or from recording a live source

 

and

 

2) the school that uses 'stock' samples

 

 

IMHO the MPC4000 is a fucking beast if you belong to the first school.

 

However, if you're looking to load .WAV's from sample packs into it via USB or whatever, You might be better off just getting something like Maschine.

 

Unless of course you really really want a standalone HW unit for live or whatever.

[digit]

been using an mpc 1000 as my main rig for the past 5 years. highly recommended.

 

the beauty of it is that the JJ OS has been in active development via user requests & extensive bug testing for many years now.

it's a highly evolved piece of work at this point, and still being developed/upgraded.

 

i've personally had many requests implemented by the developer, sometimes in just a few days!

 

it's a great piece of kit not only for composing but also for live performance.

there are a million different ways to break up your sequences & rearrange them. mute/unmute parts, change programs, etc...

 

there is also the relatively new 'PATTERN' mode, which is basically Ableton Live clip launching for the mpc.

the patterns can contain sequences, or any type of midi data, can be looped or played as a one-shot, so lots of potential there.

 

for example, i've stored hardware synth presets via midi dump as patterns on the mpc, assigning each one to a pad.

so i can hit a pad and change the patch on my synth.

you can also have each pad set to output a specific midi cc or program change, so you can also change presets or change parameters that way.

 

 

there's no need to get an mpc1000/2500 new. check ebay or craigslist and you can ALWAYS find a used one for a reasonable price.

[ryancolecreate]

wow that sounds amazing.

[sweepstakes]

Pattern mode is great, although in practice it's annoying to set up and it's a bit flaky.

[digit]

Pattern mode is great, although in practice it's annoying to set up and it's a bit flaky.

 

agreed. i'm writing up some requests for JJ to improve that mode: a function in 'seq edit' to aoutomatically break up a sequence into patterns by bar/track, plus a way to record/overdub directly into patterns.

[Guest The Bro]

Can you run JJOS on an MPC500. Part me has always wanted mainly due to its size and the self imposed limitations of it.

[sweepstakes]

Pattern mode is great, although in practice it's annoying to set up and it's a bit flaky.

 

agreed. i'm writing up some requests for JJ to improve that mode: a function in 'seq edit' to aoutomatically break up a sequence into patterns by bar/track, plus a way to record/overdub directly into patterns.

Excellent ideas. Non-4/4 pattern support is sorely needed as well.

 

Can you run JJOS on an MPC500. Part me has always wanted mainly due to its size and the self imposed limitations of it.

 

Sadly not. The story is that JJ was a coder at Akai Japan and got sacked after the Numark/Alesis merger. This iirc happened after the 1k and 2500 were out, the software architecture of both of which he worked on or had access to. So he has been able to write code for those 2 machines, but the architecture of the 4k and 500 are different and he's unable to code on those.

[Guest The Bro]

I understand there are a few bugs with the MPC 500. Just saw one on Gumtree for £140 which seems like a real steal.

[ascdi]

Another MPC user here. 2kxl, though I had a 1000 for a while. I agree that it makes you think about music in a different way, and is fun. I suggest you try one.