Tech-tard pt 2 - What home studio set-ups do you guys use?

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
That's really interesting -thanks.

Can you explain the merits of the MPC? Is it just that it offers a more hands-on feel, or is there more to it than that?
 

barry_abs

lil' beyutch
i asked myself the same question.. i searched youtube and watched loads of videos of producers demonstrating their mpc skills.. i can see the attraction for sample-based beat making.. if i was a pure hiphop producer, i'd consider one myself.. i need further convincing of their value too (bearing in mind i already have a sampler, sequencer and midi controller)..

my main requirement at the moment is for a good external controller for logic - any suggestions welcomed.
 

Gabba Flamenco Crossover

High Sierra Skullfuck
Can you explain the merits of the MPC? Is it just that it offers a more hands-on feel, or is there more to it than that?

The things I love about it...

Your drum sequences are in the same place as your drum samples. So you don't lose beats through samples getting lost, paths getting corrupted etc.

The operating system is 20 years old, and every bug, inconsistency and niggle has been ironed out. It is the most intuitive machine I have ever used.

But the main one is that it forces you to compose with your ears, not your eyes.

The beatmaking process basically goes like this: you start the sequencer running and get a metronome output. You hit pads with different sounds assigned to them, and the sequencer grabs the hits and quantises them. If you listen back to it and don't like what you did, you can scrub it off without stopping the sequencer by holding Delete down with the pad you hit to input the sound originally. What this means in practice is that the loop goes round and round, and you chuck different stuff in and out, seeing what works. It the most natural way to make beats I've ever come across.

There's other stuff like the rock-solid timing and the songlist function, which I use to structure tracks, but the main one is just the pleasure of using it. The only thing it can't do well is audio editing, but the newer ones have USB anyway so you can edit and catalogue samples on the PC.

MPCs are legendary. Everyone should try one. Get it 2nd hand, then you lose nothing if you do decide to sell it on.
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
But the main one is that it forces you to compose with your ears, not your eyes.

The beatmaking process basically goes like this: you start the sequencer running and get a metronome output. You hit pads with different sounds assigned to them, and the sequencer grabs the hits and quantises them. If you listen back to it and don't like what you did, you can scrub it off without stopping the sequencer by holding Delete down with the pad you hit to input the sound originally. What this means in practice is that the loop goes round and round, and you chuck different stuff in and out, seeing what works.

I'm sure MPCs are great and i'd love to have one, but editing beats live, with the sequencer running is certainly possible in logic, whether you use ultrabeat, the matrix editor or the piano roll.
 

hurricane run

Well-known member
I like the sound of the mpc esp. for drums (though the sp sounds better). Though why one would spend nearly a thousand pounds on old technology is beyond me (see also analogue synths).
Have a mac and a korg microkontrol.
Would recomend getting decent audio editing software. I find single hit sampling
off records really limiting in a positive way. Very easy to just use slightly altered presets on soft synths. Means you just sound like everyone else.
I'm a hobbyist so don't give a shit about sound quality and clean 'professional' mixes, but to get these with a computer setup, you have to spend a lot on a soundcard and monitors (mic pre stages esp important). Read soundonsound every month for the proper way to do things. Or laugh at the never ending parade of gear. Or dump all this crap and buy a guitar.
 

barry_abs

lil' beyutch
I'm sure MPCs are great and i'd love to have one, but editing beats live, with the sequencer running is certainly possible in logic
there are loads of options for 'cycle record' in logic.. i generally use the 'create new track per take' feature.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I like the MPC mainly because it's a stand alone machine, rather than a software package...I find it very hard to love, or to carry a piece of software around inside my head, with stand alones, I find myself going through the patterns, the layers, on the bus, on the tube, I find myself thinking about the machine itself. I almost never do this with any music or video software package, and is why I'd recommend a stand-alone machine every time. I don't know whether that's just me, but I know it's a definite difference.
 
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