New Stand-Alone MPC

[Monotremata]

Fighting the urge to get a 2020 present to myself and get an MPC Live, I go through something around every decade where I REALLY want a MPC.

Eventually the fever passes, and I get back to my senses but the new Live interaction got me Shook.


I would be interested in any use cases where its for more synth based melodic music, it seems most examples/video guides are for beat based music like generic Techno/House or that boom Bap.

Does this transcend the usual 8 bar loop limitation of most grooveboxes?

whats the MIDI sequencing like?

any gotchas? or glaring omissions?

Ive been doing the same since about 1998 or so. Artists I really admired were using them for sequencing them so I figured I should have one but the 'pattern based' thing always turned me off after moving to a DAW ages ago. I bought one of those shady $10 licenses for the software on Ebay to try it out at the beginning of the year, LOVED the workflow and the speed compared to Logic, bought an MPC Studio a few days later, haven't used Logic for anything other than simple playback since. As mentioned, the 'sequences' can be any length you want. You can work the "MPC way" and make a bunch of sequences and chain them together in song mode, or you can just stick with one sequence, make it 20 minutes long and compose away all in that one block. Or do what alot of electronic folks do, make a single sequence full of all your loops, and mute em in and out dub style.The way the sequencer works actually helped me get 'organized' and focus more on the composition itself, my brain is way quicker in it than Logic's wide open linear playing field. And the tools like the sampler and programs are a bit quicker to get to and set up than say using EXS24 or Kontakt. Haven't tried the Live stuff yet because I only have Live Lite, but its also got a network MIDI driver now too. People are controlling AUs and VSTs in other sequencers wirelessly from across the room now haha.

The sequencer is well, a typical sequencer really. Its just got a built in sampler. Theres no glide/portamento though if you need that. I don't think its very high on their list to implement either but whatever. The sampler itself could use an update into the modern era, spec-wise its the MPC5000 in software. The modulation options leave ALOT to be desired but I got an EIV for tracks that need to be 'out there'.

[Mr D]

Anyone had the MPC X for a while? Looking to get a used one and make it the center of my DAWless setup... for sequencing my couple of synths as well as my soon-to-be modular adventures and sampling them in the near future.

How has it held up build quality and enjoyability wise?

Old thread but i'll share my thoughts anyway:

I've had an MPC X for a couple of weeks now, and i'm really loving it, especially in Standalone mode (not tethered to the computer).

But there's one sort of major mental road-block that you need to get past before you can really enjoy it, which is:

Most likely you're coming from a DAW, so you might be expecting DAW functionality. But you need to put this out of your mind and accept it for what it is. There are some features missing that you would expect from any DAW, which are simply non-existent. For example, when you're editing a midi clip or sequence, you'd expect to be able to do "select all". Not possible in MPC land. Nor is shift + click possible to select multiple notes.

Nor is there a linear arrange view as you'd expect in any DAW, arranging works more like clip launching in Ableton (which i truly hate).

Just some really basic stuff like this about which you'll be tearing your hair out........... until you learn to just sit back, breath deeply and let yourself go, and give yourself over to the idiosyncratic and whacky MPC way of doing things!

Also, the U.I. is a total mess, with no rhyme or reason to it. But once you learn it and where everything is, no worries.

[wavejockey]

some small remarks:
you can select multiple notes with the lasso tool in the grid editor, you cannot select multiple non-consecutive notes in the grid
(but you can select those in the list editor with shift)
song mode is exactly like any linear arranger in any DAW - but i admit it can use a boost there (e.g. you cannot copy a song to a new instance to try out a different arrangement) - which supposly is coming in 3.0 FW
post your remarks too here http://97.107.134.128/feedback/create/f ... alone/none (the more will voice, the more NUKAI will pay attention)

[hawkfuzz]

I just wish copy and paste worked. It would be way easier to copy patterns to tracks.

[h4ndcrafted]

Anybody got maschine + as well , I know there are comparisons on YouTube , loopop etc but I’d appreciate an opinion here.
I’m leaning towards maschine at the moment , just seems like a more simplistic workflow , but the stability issues are really putting me off.

[dBVelocity]

I just wish copy and paste worked. It would be way easier to copy patterns to tracks.

You can copy and paste by selecting the notes with the lasso tool in the grid view, hold shift and the sub menu buttons on screen appear. For paste, just move to the track and move the play head to the beat/bar and have the base note/ pad selected then shift and paste.

[dot matrix madness]

Does anybody knows
a) if the touch screen display of the MPCs can also be used with common touch pens,
which are available for smartphones and tablets?
b) if you can connect mouse & keyboard via USB?
Thanks in advance!

[abruzzi]

The screens are pretty standard capacitive touch screens, so those pens with the rubbery tip should work fine. As far as USB keyboard and mouse, I did see a post in GS claiming that a usb keyboard can be used to name things. I don’t know if imparts any other capabilities, or if a mouse does anything.

[dBVelocity]

I've used a keyboard for naming samples/tracks and sequences but nothing more.

[Exit Chamber]

Mouse doesn't work.

[hawkfuzz]

I just wish copy and paste worked. It would be way easier to copy patterns to tracks.

You can copy and paste by selecting the notes with the lasso tool in the grid view, hold shift and the sub menu buttons on screen appear. For paste, just move to the track and move the play head to the beat/bar and have the base note/ pad selected then shift and paste.

That worked. It never works. I'm not sure what I just did different but thanks a lot.