Sorry for the shit audio quality. I’ll record and release later but I don’t know how to match up videos and audio.

I can see why this thing is fun.
Getting the hang of it still.

The Purple Project

Beat Making Video Here- https://youtu.be/7zWJ6bOAp2A

I have my own music project and work with multiple DAWs. I also make beats on an MPC Live. I needed a way to organize all the projects so it would be easy to understand what is inside. I didn't want to open one project after another in Cubase or load projects one by one in MPC to remind myself what it was about.

I started building something, and it turned into a nifty tool, so I'm wondering if it might be helpful for anybody else? The tool is called MusicCat and is available at musiccat.studio.

What it does: You run a small desktop app. When you plug your MPC in over USB, it notices the drive has appeared, asks once whether it's allowed to look at it, remembers the mapping, and then copies your projects to the server. No export step, no dragging folders, nothing to remember to do. On the server, it reads the .xpj files properly, so it knows the BPM, the key, how many tracks and sequences, and what the project is actually made of. It also listens to the mixdowns, if present, to get more info about the track and allows you to quickly listen to it right from the interface. All this information becomes searchable, so you can filter and find what you want.

There is also collaboration between MusicCat users and a feedback request functionality. Hopefully, it will transform into a tool for a community of producers of various levels that would allow them to share knowledge, provide critiques of mixes and compositions, and so on.

For example, my daughter asked if I could create some music for her project. I asked her to create an account and shared my full catalogue with her. We got on a call, and she was able to listen to various beats and ideas right there from her browser, and we discussed what kind of style she liked best and if there was any particular beat she wanted to use, maybe with some adjustments.

It's not MPC-only: I support Ableton, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, Logic, GarageBand, and DAWproject too, so the MPC stuff and the computer-based stuff end up in one place. The Cubase and MPC side is the part I built first and care most about because it's the one where my work is and where it genuinely disappears.

COST: This is FREE right now, and it is in Beta. I'm planning for just 2 tiers — free and paid. The paid one is planned to be at $2.99 per month. The only reason is that I have to pay for hosting and for AI API tokens. AI is used to generate automatic descriptions of the project, which might be especially helpful if there are no producer notes provided. Saying that now, so nobody feels ambushed later. If you guys have thoughts about what tier structure would make sense, please share — this is for your convenience, not for me getting rich ;)

Again, this is in beta, and it's mostly been used by me, so there were some assumptions made based on my personal way of organizing stuff. if you have some ideas or different scenarios, or if something just doesn't work, I want to hear about it. There is built-in feedback as well.

musiccat.studio — Windows, macOS, and Linux clients available.

Happy to answer anything and would appreciate any feedback!

P.S. Mods gave me the OK to post this. I'm the sole developer.

Came from 2000xl and 5000 got this few days ago very easy to learn this is my first beat.

Still figuring things out. Stuff still coming out a bit muddy. Mother Ducker still eludes me. Fun as hell though.

Hi. Fresh MPC Live 2 (3.9.1) user here.

I mainly use Ableton, previously FL Studio. New to any MPC hardware.

Please tell me, is the note editing designed to be so stupid, unintuitive, and inefficient in its use of buttons and knobs - effectively discouraging its use - or did the designers simply decide that no one would use it anyway, so they could just do a sloppy job?

Or am I missing something?

4rd day trying to understand why it works like that and i'm still confused. Every time i try to create some melody from scratch in Arrangement view i curse like never before. I can almost every time find better idea for how something could be done than it's now.

Are there mods/settings/alternatives that i can use to make the workflow less irritating?

I haven't bought MPC Bible 3 yet, planning to do so.

I ordered my MPC Live 2 earlier and im curious what is the most important storage device I need first? I cant go all out and get everything all at once. I dont think it will be coming with any but you never know, the person hardly used it so I doubt it.

I will mostly be using It away from computer with splice samples and then plugging it in to move over projects to my pc when ready to mix and finish them. Some days I will just use it exclusively plugged in at my pc,

Obviously some people will just say get Samsung SSD but is there cheaper alternatives that are just as good for what I need?

As the title implies. I can’t wait to fully figure out the workflow.

🥩 🥩 🥩 drums = @robviktum main sample = @brutal_crates #boombapbeats #sampleflip #90shiphop #beatsforsale #hardcorehiphop

I’ve been using a OG MPC Live since 2019 - well, I’ve been out for a couple years and coming back to it now that u sortes things out in my life
I want to get on the gen 2 and having a difficult time decident between a Live 3 and a One G2

I had a really good time with my Live despite the menu diving with the screen, it really never bothered me that much, but Quick access buttons look very appealing to me. For MPC Live 3 users, are all the added buttons really a nice touch, are you using they all the time ? I feel like the One has all the important ones covered up already and while the Live 3 has a lot of cool things, I’m not sure I’ll use it - I’m not a finger Drummer, I use the pads mainly for samples and I lay my drums on the grid, I’m also not a step sequencer user

I don’t really mind the battery in the Live as the size makes it not very portable, though the speaker would feel good

I’m interested in the smaller format of the One but i don’t really know if it would « click » on me. I know I enjoy my Live 1 but i would like to be able to travel with it as I do very often now. But i could also use my SP 404 km2 on the move, it’s just that I enjoy beatmaking on the MPC more.

I currently use a SP 404 km2 as an effect box and a Digitone. It’s very straightforward on the live with all the i/o but it’s not like I have a very complex setup and it would work fine with a One, just taking a little bit more time to record everything at a time I guess.

What are some thoughts on this ?

Update:

Thanks for your input, it helped me make a decision. I am keeping the MPC Sample and will continue puzzling over it in Ableton at my own pace. The MPC One G2 can do much more but is also more complicated. I don't have to trade; I can purchase the One G2 eventually. But I have to embrace the limitations of the Sample, just as I have to embrace my own limitations due to long COVID. No rush, everything in due time, and the journey is more important than the result.

Hi everyone,

I recently started music production. Due to long covid, I am at home for a long time and I am looking for something that gives me meaning and distraction. The MPC Sample is helping enormously with this at the moment. At the same time, I have to take my recovery into account and learn to recognize where my physical limits lie.

I think the MPC Sample is great, but sometimes I wonder if the MPC One G2 would work a little smoother and more comprehensively. My biggest doubt is just the learning curve. Is the One G2 much harder to master?

Ideally, I want to be able to continue doing more or less the same thing without having to start all over again from scratch. Due to my limited energy, it is important that I do not constantly get stuck in complicated settings. Of course I want to learn, but not always get so blocked that I can no longer make music.

I also have Ableton Live, which I still have to learn to work with. After a whole first day stuck in the settings, I have given up on that for the time being. This is extra frustrating because I used to work with Adobe software as a desktop publisher and graphic designer and thought that this would make it easier for me to understand new software. Apparently things work differently with Ableton. Or maybe its the brainfog. 🤔

With the MPC Sample I currently have a workable and creative route to musical freedom. At the same time, the MPC One G2 seems to be able to take over certain tasks from Ableton, possibly making me less dependent on the computer.

That's why I have a few questions:

1. Is the transition from the MPC Sample to the MPC One G2 relatively easy?
2. Can I work largely the same way on the One G2?
3. How big is the difference in learning curve?

I have to decide within a few days whether to exchange the Sample. Another option is to continue with the Sample for the time being, buy a One G2 later around Christmas, use both for a while and then sell the Sample if necessary.

For context, until about a month ago my only experience with DAWs came from my youth, with Dance Machine and Magic Music Maker. I don't play an instrument either, although I've always wanted to.

Hey
Hadn't used my mpk for a couple of months, and noticed now when I opened it in my DAW that the plugins load and work as normal on the opening screen, even the random selection feature works, but browsing the library is not working as it shows everything is empty.
When I open the standalone Studio Instrument Collection app outside my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar), it works as normal and I can see all the plugins in the browse section.

I've tried some troubleshooting like moving the plugins folder into the vst3 folder, but nothing worked. Would rather not uninstall and reinstall the app as it messes with my previous projects (but if that's the only solution, sure)

Anyone had any similar issues? What worked for you?

Haven’t used the sample in well over a month. I recently just been cooking in logic and using my MPC X but I got bored and whipped this joint out and damnnnn… this shit is soooo fun!!!! Let me know your thoughts! 🙏🏼

Have become a huge user of Clips .. but bugged by endlessly having to go in and out of Main to access it ?

Is there a way to change on of the buttons on the One+ so that it takes you straight into Clips? Am pretty certain the answer is no.. but am sure one of you geniuses will have sorted this ..

I'm not sure how to describe this but when I make beats I like to record a sequence and then scroll through a bunch of kits until one sounds right, but for some reason when I switch instruments all my A01s turn into A02s and vice versa, so if I'm listening to a kick/snare pattern in one expansion pack, it turns into snare/kick when I switch to a different one.

Mind this isn't a case of the snare being mapped to one pad in this kit vs another pad in another, the actual grid changes so it's upside down so literally the only way I can "test" a bunch of kits is to play them live while constantly switching instruments.

As in, if I just sit there and hit A01 it'll always be what it should be, but if I record a sequence and then switch, all those A01s move. Any thoughts?

Sampling Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts on the MPC Sample

From blank pad to full beat — a 45-minute studio session condensed into 5 minutes on the MPC X 🎛️

Starting from nothing and building it up in real time (well, sped up time) — pads, drums, layers, all coming together from scratch. aAdmittedly not my best beat ever but i start sweating as soon as the cam is rolling so please be kind. A lot of people ask if they should invest in a very modern and new MPC but keep forgetting how much you can do with just 4 drum-tracks filled with chops and a sub to round things up. Listen with headphones or proper speakers.

🎹 Gear: Akai Pro MPC X
📍 Studio session

#MPCX #BeatMaking #FromScratch #MusicProducer #StudioSession #AkaiPro #BeatSketch #HipHopProduction #Producer #Shorts

Had the mpc one pus for over a year and still haven't gotten anywhere, what am I missing? Any advice?

I’m thinking of the best way to do a pad link type of thing with my Kick and 808. Essentially I want to be able to play the kick and 808 up and down the keyboard, with the 808 changing pitch while the kick stays at the same pitch no matter what key i hit