MPC and 2 soundmodules???(format where u at??)

[classic]

OK i know this can be done its just a matter of figureing it out logically. THis is complicated MIDI ish

I currently have a MPC 2000xl a MIDI controller and a motif sound module. And this set up is workin fine. I can controll sounds in my MPC as well as sounds in the motif from my MIDI controller. I use the MPC as the brains of the set up and sequence and record MIDI data.

Hear is the thing I am thinking about adding a fantom XRto the Mix and doint the exact same thing. I know it can be done casue the MPC has to MIDI outs And 2 MIDI ins

How would i set it up so i could control both sound modules and the samples in the MPC from the same MIDI controller. One soundmodule will be on the MPC's MIDI track A and the second one on the MPC's MIDI track B

can you explain the process

 

[Formant024]

You make a midi chain using only one output of the mpc. What you do is hook up a midicable on the midi thru port of your MOtif Module which goes into the Midi input of the other soundmodule. The midi-out which is still in the MOtif's midi-out should then be put on the other module's midi out which goes to the mpc's input ( matching the I/O ( ab12) used for hooking up the first module).

So,

MPC port 1/a = midikeyboard.

MPC Port 2/b = MPC out-> MOtif In / Motif Thru -> Fantom In / Fantom out -> MPC in.

Considering that both modules dont have realtime parameters assigned to knobs for you to tweak ( midimessages for filters and such ) you dont need the Midi output for each device, only use Midi out on the last device in the midichain( if you do need it, buy a midi out merger. The rest in between are linked by midi thru -> midi in next device.
The only thing you further need to think of is how to set up the module's settings. Because you have 16 chnls available, but a total of 32 chnls you can use ( which I wouldn't recommend due to limited polyphony and decrease of the machine's performance ). So I'd splitt it in half, 8 midichannels on the Motif, then 9 to 16 on the fantom and mute all the unused channels. You need to mute these because in the chain, midimessages sent to midichnls 1 to 8 also trigger the other unit costing you voices/polyphony. If, in the future you become an addict to purchasing more midigear, like me, you'll runn out of available midi I/O's, because you want to hook it all up. In such a case you look into a midi patchbay like a roland A-880 which are pretty cheap these days.

That should help.

 

[classic]

You make a midi chain using only one output of the mpc. What you do is hook up a midicable on the midi thru port of your MOtif Module which goes into the Midi input of the other soundmodule. The midi-out which is still in the MOtif's midi-out should then be put on the other module's midi out which goes to the mpc's input ( matching the I/O ( ab12) used for hooking up the first module).

So,

MPC port 1/a = midikeyboard.

MPC Port 2/b = MPC out-> MOtif In / Motif Thru -> Fantom In / Fantom out -> MPC in.

Considering that both modules dont have realtime parameters assigned to knobs for you to tweak ( midimessages for filters and such ) you dont need the Midi output for each device, only use Midi out on the last device in the midichain( if you do need it, buy a midi out merger. The rest in between are linked by midi thru -> midi in next device.
The only thing you further need to think of is how to set up the module's settings. Because you have 16 chnls available, but a total of 32 chnls you can use ( which I wouldn't recommend due to limited polyphony and decrease of the machine's performance ). So I'd splitt it in half, 8 midichannels on the Motif, then 9 to 16 on the fantom and mute all the unused channels. You need to mute these because in the chain, midimessages sent to midichnls 1 to 8 also trigger the other unit costing you voices/polyphony. If, in the future you become an addict to purchasing more midigear, like me, you'll runn out of available midi I/O's, because you want to hook it all up. In such a case you look into a midi patchbay like a roland A-880 which are pretty cheap these days.

That should help.

Hey good stuff ass usual format.

So you wouldent recommend haveing one module on portA(motif) and on portB(fantom.

IF i were to do it that way how would the MIDI controller come in to play. (im just curious). WHere would i plug in the controller so i could controll the modules and the MPC(1a -16a = motif)( 1b-16B fantom). (DRUM1 - DRUM4 = MIDI controlled sampels in MPC)

ALso on a controller for this daisy chain i would only need a MIDI out right. Casue im thinking about buying an M-audio MIDI controller and it only has a MIDI out. (it has a USB in and out)

Again thanks for the help Dr. formant

class...

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Being an old skooler to setups like this, and not from the theoretical standpoint but many hours of headaches to final success...LOL
I would use the MPC as the main, or Master Sequencer.....then you have to make each channel a midi channel instead of a drum channel on the MPC that you want to have trigger each module.
are you using protools or some other software to record ?
I would set up everything like this
midi out from the digi or the computer (if you dont have protools) to the midi in A of the MPC
Midi out from MPC to In of the MotiF
Midi thru (not out) from the Motif to in of the Fantom
Then Thru from the Fantom to the midi in of your digi or the midi controller in your PC

This way you just press record/play on the MPC and then play your riff on the controller and it records to the mpc....your timing will be on....also when you are ready to record the audio you just switch the mpc to sequence after you finished your track and then use the transport in protools or whatever you are using to record and it will playback the MPC and all of the tracks you recorded from your racks....I just corrected this flaw in my setup the other day...too many people were telling me my samples were off.....(i was sequencing on the tritons sequencer and also using the mpc...they were slightly off- settle on which sequencer you want to have as the MASTER to avoid this)

The main thing to remember is you should think of your setup like a loop, the chain no matter how you hook it up needs to be a complete loop and terminated (midi in to midi out throughout)

then you need to have all of your patches set up accordingly when you dial a program in on the MPC it should change the bank to whatever sound you want off of either of your racks...oh and each rack should be assigned to an appropriate midi channel to receive too......

Put it like this Class, not to knock your newness to the hardware but I have spent MANY a night with a big headache hooking up gear, best thing is to start with that one piece then add on....


Hopefully your controller has USB that will make things easy for you too, otherwise you have to find out where you want it to be in your particular chain......I would plug the midi controller in so it triggers from protools or if that didn't work the next piece I would plug into would be the MPC and try the triggering, there is an amount of deduction and trial and error where gear is concerned and particularly a midi chain with more than 2 devices.

also its not a simplistic as you think, each one of those pieces of gear needs to be setup up within their midi menu section for the Thru's and other midi settings like the program, for sustain etc as well and also whatever software you are using needs to have the midi setup correctly configured for external midi clock and MMC etc.....your clock source is important too.....when I make a track I just use the MPC as the master...but when I record I make protools the master and switch the MPC to (sequence= external clock) so it will playback everything.......

 

[Formant024]

No, both modules are on the same port, I usualy take Port B and leave port A midi In free for the midi out of the controllerboard/masterboard. Meaning you have an output on the mpc left, with this out you could sync your daw for example, if you have midi I/O on the pc... or hook up a single module that needs no return ( out to in ).

If you have a dual midi I/O on the pc you can switch the mpc in midi thru. One port of pc's midi I/O is used to hook up the the controller, the other port I/O's to the MPC's I/O (A/1) which is set to receive clock from the pc, the B port makes a chain to both your modules. What this does is actually make a daw setup as if you mpc isnt there, the midi messages go straight through the mpc ( thru-mode) towards the modules. This normally means you are composing from the software you are using and not the mpc. However, the mpc is chained in between midi traffic between pc sequencer and your midi modules, which means that you can still use the mpc standalone, as a controller, even with the pc turned off. In this way you can still use the intuitive programming with the mpc, but you can adjust your scores/compositions on software, to tailor the details so to say on the monitor instead of the lcdscreen on the mpc. It's a highly flexible setup because you can also use vsti's , work from either the software sequencer or mpc, save midi filetype-1 on both mediums and load them in both mediums to work stuff out in detail ( drums are oke editing on the mpc, but chords etc are a pain ). What it takes is a template made in the pc sequencers that make dedicated midichannel assignments, that template is also loaded into the mpc to make you save files ( midifiles ) work on both machines ( i.e. Fantom midichnl 1 is set to track 1 on the software, but also set in the song/sequence in the mpc ).

Above might not be directly usefull, I dunno, because I dont know what deal your pc has in your setup, but if expanding in the future to more gear than I might suggest looking into this.

additional info on the controller
http://www.mpc2000xl.com/controller_set.htm

about the mpc+pc setup
http://www.mpc2000xl.com/mpc_computer.htm

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Yeah Formant you're on point there's a few solutions but most people don't have the dual ports on their PC, (maybe a soft yoke) and they don't have a patchbay....but the other thing I can add is what's important if you are using the Software to control all of your gear are the instrument definition files for the modules and what software he is using....that's gonna help out big time too...program #'s and having them correspond to patches are going to be key..it's like anything else you are going to have to find the best setup that works for you Class......
overall my best solution when I use 2 or 3 pieces in my chain and I strictly want to use software to control everything......but you can still use the MPC and still play chords and your piano riffs etc on the controller just like a keyboard.....I had a Radium controller and had MPC2K, MOTIF, SP1200 and and S950 all on the same chain with absolutely no problems.
but if you want to control everything from your software which I never do I like to use the MPC to compose and record from the controller or keyboard to the mpc channel, get everything right then dump thru the software but he's right if you have VST's etc and want to use soft synths which I rarely do...Except maybe the EXS24....Formants setup would more than likely work for that situation
USE LOGIC 5.5 and up.....
but like I said there's a few possible solutions to get you up and running.

 

[classic]

Good shit form both of yalll, This is the reason why i love this site so much.

Anyway FYI I plan on keeping my MPC as my master sequncer. I only use sofware to multitrack and ( i use MTC and cubase). formantYou did bring up some good points though about sofware intergration epsically dealing with those VST's(which is down the road). I will look into both options,.

Yall should make this into a tutorial. MIDI can get pretty compilicated even for a technical person. Im about to graduate with my masters degree in Computer science and i still get confused sometimes. LOL


class....

 

[Formant024]

@ BIg, word, but in my case I dont use vsti's. It's due to my techno livesets, in which my mpc is the main sequencer on stage, but composing it in the studio is mostly pc and sometimes the mpc.

Although I said dual midi out refering to the midi thru setup, you can simply use either the serial port/gameport or the midi port with your "profi" soundcard. You'll use that to chain the mpc to the pc, the midi controller, like Class mentioned before is via USB.

Midi is actually pretty simple, it's basic and there are limits, but hey, that me talking lol!

 

[x-squizet]

Wow I have just learned alot from reading all of this i think this should be a sticky cuz this is very helpfull,

 

[DJ Dro]

Yo classic where in T-town you at fam?

 

[classic]

Sup man Im from all over the bay, I was acutally born in st Petersburg(jordan park), then i moved out by Dale Mabry when i was in middle school. now my family lives off of hillsborough ave(west side).


class....

 

[DJ Dro]

Im sorry was that considered advertisement or somethin ? b/c we arent making any money off of that stuff ... its all good though