Beat Making On The MPC2500 – Contents In Brief
Preface i How to use this book
Section A - Fundamental Skills 16
001 Audio Connections 17 002 Understanding MIDI 23 003 Memory & Storage 29 004 Loading Part 1 35 005 Loading Part 2 40 006 Saving 45 007 Naming Samples 55 008 Sampling Sounds 56 009 Understanding Mono & Stereo 61 010 Editing Samples Part 1 62 011 Editing Samples Part 2 67 012 Looping Samples 71 013 Programs 77 014 The Internal Mixer 86 015 Recording Sequences 89 016 Editing Sequences Part 1 99 017 Editing Sequences Part 2 111
Section B – Manipulating Drums & Break Beats 119
018 Filtering & Tuning Samples 120 019 Chopping Samples Part 1 122 020 Chopping Samples Part 2 127 021 Chopping Part 3 – Patched Phrase 137 022 Chopping Part 4 – Stutter Chopping 141 023 Layering Drum Sounds 143 024 Rebuilding Decay Tails on Snares 147
Section C – Building Drum Kits & Breaks 149
025 Emulating Timbre Changes 150 026 Building Drum Kits - Pure Kits 156 027 Building Performance & GM Kits 161 028 Creating Realistic Drum Performances 167 029 Basics of Laying Down a Drum Beat Part 1 169 030 Laying Down a Drum Beat Part 2 173
Section D – Advanced Techniques 176
031 Fitting an Instrument Loop to a Beat 177 032 Understanding Effects 183 033 Effects & Settings 186 034 Sequencing Tricks Part 1 196 035 Sequencing Tricks Part 2 202 036 Multisampling Part 1 206 037 Multisampling Part 2 212 038 Looping Instrument Samples 215 039 16 Levels & Autochromatic Assign 218 040 Using Blue Box 223 041 LFO, Slider & External Sound Manipulation 228
Section E – Building Songs 238
042 Building Songs From Sequences 239 043 Song Arrangement Ideas 247 044 Recording Your Beats 252 045 Compression Part 1 261 046 Compression Part 2 264
Section F – MPC2500 Studio Environments 268
047 Looping Multisamples in Soundforge 269 048 Using Recycle with your MPC2500 Part 1 276 049 Using Recycle with your MPC2500 Part 2 282 Beat Making on the MPC2500 – Contents In Full
Preface i How to use this book
Section A - Fundamental Skills 16
001 Audio Connections 17 • Outgoing audio connections 17 • Connecting to a hi-fi system 17 • Connecting to a studio mixer 18 • Connecting to a DJ mixer 19 • Incoming Audio Connections 20 • Sampling Directly From a CD player 20 • Sampling from a turntable 20 • Sampling from a microphone 21
002 Understanding MIDI 23 • What is MIDI? 23 • Controlling MPC pads with a keyboard 24 • Connecting Synthesisers 25 • Adding Sound Modules 26
003 Memory & Storage 29 • What is Memory? 29 • What is Storage? 29 • Which Memory Card? 30 • Upgrading Ram 31
004 Loading Part 1 35 • Overview 35 • Manual Disk Transfer 35 • Direct USB Transfer 36 • The LOAD screen 37
005 Loading Part 2 40 • Loading 40 • Emptying Memory Cards 43 • Preparing Your Card 43 • Updating the OS 44
006 Saving 45 • Saving to memory card and hard drive 45 • How to name files and folders 47 • Creating Backups 52 • Saving to internal memory 52
007 Naming Samples 55 • How to name sounds 55 • File naming conventions 55
008 Sampling Sounds 56 • The sample screen and settings 56 • Signal to Noise Ratio 57 • Should I add Effects While Sampling? 59 • Sampling Your Sound 59
009 Understanding Mono & Stereo 61 • Mono rules? 61 • Creating Stereo 61
010 Editing Samples Part 1 62 • The TRIM screen 62 • Setting Start & End Points 63 • Trimming Your Samples 63 • How Good is the MPC Waveform Display? 65
011 Editing Samples Part 2 67 • The DISCARD function 67 • EXTRACT 68 • DELETE 68 • SILENCE 68 • NORMALIZE 68 • REVERSE 69 • The Sample Screen Functions 69
012 Looping Samples 71 • Understanding Loop Points 71 • Looping Drum Breaks 71 • The Loop Screen 72 • Setting Start and End Loop Points 73 • Checking For Clicks 74 • Locking the Loop Points 75 • Auto Loop 75
013 Programs 77 • Understanding Programs 77 • Assigning Sounds to A Program 78 • What Are Banks? 78 • Changing Program Parameters 79 • Changing Global Pad Sensitivity 81 • Filters 82 • Voice Overlap 83 • Play Mode 84 • Copying pad parameters 85
014 The Internal Mixer 86 • Using the Internal Mixer 86 • Controlling Multiple Sounds 87 • Changing Outputs 87
015 Recording Sequences 89 • Overview 88 • Changing Tempo With Tap Tempo 90 • Sequencer Parameters 91 • Recording a Drum Performance 92 • Endless Recording 93 • Erasing Notes 93 • Note Repeat 94 • Adding Another Track 94 • Recording MIDI tracks 95 • Why Don’t The Pad notes run in musical order? 96 • Recording Mixer Changes 97 • One Sequence or Many? 98
016 Editing Sequences Part 1 99 • Changing Notes in Step Edit 99 • Navigating In Step Edit 101 • Step Edit Options 102 • Note Parameters 103 • Editing Recorded Mixer Settings 104 • Grid Editing 104
017 Editing Sequences Part 2 111 • Copy & Paste 111 • Events 111 • Bars 113 • Track Move 115 • Copying & Deleting 116 • Inserting Program Changes 117
Section B – Manipulating Drums & Break Beats 119
018 Filtering & Tuning Samples 120 • Filtering Kicks 120 • Tuning Breaks 121 • Tuning Down Without Dropping Pitch – Vinyl 121
019 Chopping Samples Part 1 122 • Methods For Chopping Breaks 122 • ChopShop Function Overview 123 • Adjusting Regions 125 • Slicing 126
020 Chopping Samples Part 2 130 • Rearranging Your Break 130 • Chopping It Further 131 • A Quick Look at Auto Chopping 131 • Making a New Break 134 • Using Only Your Best Samples 135 • Using Extract To Create Slices 135
021 Chopping Part 3 – Patched Phrase 137 • Overview 137 • Calculating BPM 138 • Patched Phrase In Action 140 • Patched Phrase Editing 140
022 Chopping Part 4 – Stutter Chopping 141 • Overview 141 • Creating Stuttered Chops 142
023 Layering Drum Sounds 143 • Layering Drum Sounds 143 • Changing Parameters 144 • Resampling Your Outputs 145 • Filtered & Tuned Layering 146
024 Rebuilding Decay Tails on Snares 147 • Re-building reverb/decay tails on snares 147
Section C – Building Drum Kits & Breaks 149
025 Emulating Timbre Changes 150 • Dynamic Sample Variation 150 • Using multiple samples 150 • Creating your own variations 151 • Timbre variations on one pad 152 • Utilising Layers 153 • Using Q-Link sliders 155
026 Building Drum Kits - Pure Kits 156 Why build kits in a standard layout? 156 ‘Pure’ Drum Kits 156 Building the Kit 157 Filling the Gaps 158 Making It Stereo 159
027 Building Performance & GM Kits 161 • Overview 161 • Building The Kit 162 • GM Kits 163
028 Creating Realistic Drum Performances 167 • Real time or step edit? 167 • Turn Off Full Level 167 • Using Quantise 167 • Keep it varied 167 • Lining Up Samples (or not) 168 • Drummers and Limbs 168
029 Basics of Laying Down a Drum Beat Part 1 169 • Overview 169 • Steps in laying down a beat 169
030 Laying Down a Drum Beat Part 2 173 • Creating Drum Rolls 173 • Ghost Notes 173 • Recreating Grooves From Other Records 175
Section D – Advanced Techniques 176
031 Fitting an Instrument Loop to a Beat 177 • Overview 177 • Matching up Grooves 177 • Matching Tempo by Tuning 178 • Pitch Shifting 178 • Time Stretching 179 • Finding Pitch/Key 180 • Major or Minor? 181 • Patched Phrase 181 • Chopping both Loops 182 • Hints on Improving Tempo Matching 182
032 Understanding Effects 183 • Understanding Effect Controls 183 • Master Effects 185 • Saving Effect Sets 185
033 Effects & Settings 186 • ‘Jazzing Up’ Rhodes 186 • Tremolo 187 • Flying Pan 188 • Combining Effects 188 • Chorus 189 • Flanger 189 • Delay 190 • Reverb 191 • Bit Grunger 191 • 4 Band EQ 192 • Compressor 193 • Changing Effects Via Step Edit 194 • Getting Around Limitations 194 • Master Effects 195
034 Sequencing Tricks Part 1 196 • Boosting The Bottom End of a Loop 196 • Filter Sweeps 196 • Changing Sequencer Resolution 200 • Creating Delay Effects With Your Sequencer 200
035 Sequencing Tricks Part 2 202 • Echoes 202 • Turntable Stops 202 • Fade Back 203 • Putting It All Together 203
036 Multisampling Part 1 206 • How Do We Multisamples 206 • A Sub Bass Program 206 • MIDI notes and the MPC 208 • Tuning 209 • Controlling Note Length 209 • Controlling Decay 210
037 Multisampling Part 2 212 • Overview 212 • Converting a loop into a multisample program 212 • Monophonic Multisampling 213
038 Looping Instrument Samples 215 • Overview 215 • Extending note length with looping 216 • Creating a drone 217
039 16 Levels & Autochromatic Assign 218 • Overview 218 • Practical usage of 16 levels 218 • 16 levels & Patched Phrase 220 • Autochromatic Assign 220
040 Using Blue Box 223 • Downloading 223 • First Steps 223 • Musical samples 225 • Chromatic Programs 225
041 LFO, Slider & External Sound Manipulation 228 • LFO Overview 228 • Tremolo Effect 228 • Mimicking Vibrato 228 • Creating Bass Lines with LFO 229 • Real Time Controls 231 • Q Link Sliders 231 • Manipulation of External Sounds – Input Thru 232 • Direct Recording 233
Section E – Building Songs 238
042 Building Songs From Sequences 239 • Track Mutes 239 • Recording Track Mutes 240 • Sequence Experimentation 241 • Continuous Sample Track 242 • Song Mode 243 • Converting Songs to Sequences 245
043 Song Arrangement Ideas 247 • Overview 247 • A List of Arrangement Ideas and Techniques 247
044 Recording Your Beats 252 • Overview 252 • Tracking your Beats 252 • Tracking One Instrument at a Time 253 • Tracking multiple instruments simultaneously 254 • Syncing & MIDI 255 • MIDI Handshake 256 • MPC MIDI Sync Setup 257 • Setting Up Your DAW 258 • MIDI Devices Controlled By Your MPC 258 • Adding Effects While Tracking 259
045 Compression Part 1 261 • What is a Compressor? 261 • Types of Compressor 261 • Compressor Controls 262 • Graphical Representation 263 • What Can Compression Do For My Music? 264
046 Compression Part 2 264 • Hooking it up 264 • Limiting a Signal 264 • Compressing a Vocal 265 • Smoothing Out a Bass Line 265 • Adding Punch to Guitars 265 • Increasing Guitar Sustain 265 • Compressing Snares 265 • Cymbals 265 • Compression as an Aux Effect 265 • Suggested Settings 265
Section F – MPC2500 Studio Environments 268
047 Looping Multisamples in Soundforge 269 • Background 269 • Getting Started 269 • Setting the Loop 271 • Adding Loop Markers 273 • Crossfade Looping 274 • Limitations 275
048 Using Recycle with your MPC2500 Part 1 276 • Overview 276 • Getting Started 276 • Slicing Your Beat 276 • Previewing Your Slices 277 • Adding a Slice Point 277 • Envelope Settings 277 • Exporting Your Slices 278
049 Using Recycle with your MPC2500 Part 2 282 • Background 282 • Blank.pgm – a recap 283 • Assigning Slices – Method 1 284 • Fixing the Open Hat 284 • Assigning Slices – Method 2 284 • Changing the Tempo 285
Final Word & MPC Resources 286
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