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Akai MPC beats is what iMPC Pro should have been

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Comments

  • On first try it doesn’t Midi map the akai mpd218 properly which is somewhat ironic. Need to spend more time with it when the chance arises

  • @Samu said:

    @Proppa said:
    Suuuper basic question about ‘Beats’: can users load their own samples and bypass the factory packs entirely?

    Yepp, you can both load and record your own samples :)

    Only thing I've not yet figured out is how to open the built-in instrument plug-ins, I can only see a list of parameters that can be adjusted. (I've intentionally tried to stay away from reading the manual).

    If you also download the additional content (linked in the e-mail) it's around 4GB of samples.

    I'll see if I can find a way to 'zoom' the UI as some fonts are too small for me to be readable...

    Create an empty track, select plugin icon 3rd from left ( looks like an AC plug 🔌 ) you will see from the little window below then select plugin from list

  • edited July 2020

    @SheffieldBleep said:
    On first try it doesn’t Midi map the akai mpd218 properly which is somewhat ironic. Need to spend more time with it when the chance arises

    I'm using the same thing. The pads are not in order. But then I used PROG SELECT: 4 and it's now fixed. Each bank of Macros 1-4 control each row of Q controls... except the the last (top row).

    I'm still mulling around hoping to get the MPD to really work as a seamless controller. There is also MIDI learn (shift+command+L) bottom right set of icons, second icon from your left.

  • edited July 2020

    @hansjbs said:

    @Samu said:

    @Proppa said:
    Suuuper basic question about ‘Beats’: can users load their own samples and bypass the factory packs entirely?

    Yepp, you can both load and record your own samples :)

    Only thing I've not yet figured out is how to open the built-in instrument plug-ins, I can only see a list of parameters that can be adjusted. (I've intentionally tried to stay away from reading the manual).

    If you also download the additional content (linked in the e-mail) it's around 4GB of samples.

    I'll see if I can find a way to 'zoom' the UI as some fonts are too small for me to be readable...

    Create an empty track, select plugin icon 3rd from left ( looks like an AC plug 🔌 ) you will see from the little window below then select plugin from list

    Ok, so the small pop up next to the plug-in name is the parameter list...

    I had the 'bottom half' hidden and thought if this was it, but it's all there, don't know if it can be shown in a separate window but I'll continue to journey to learn MPB Beats although I somehow feel it would be easier on the actual hardware :D

  • wimwim
    edited July 2020

    Geeze it’s a complicated li’l booger. Pretty amazing it’s free, but if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t buy it. (Not complaining ... just saying.)

  • @Samu said:

    @IOSSOS said:

    >

    Yet to be found on an iOS app if I’m not mistaken?

    sEGments can 'lazy chop' an imported sample...
    ...but no 'lazy chop' while recording yet...

    Thanks Samu....didn’t know that...that’s a newer app...

  • Hmm, starting to get hang if the MPC Beats now but I can't find anyway to automate sample-start, it's simply not there in the parameter list of modulation destinations?! (Classic use case would be scaled velocity to sample-start).

    Ok, so not even BM3 does this at the moment but I'm starting to get really spoiled by Drambo and Logic's Quick Sampler.
    And well, the NS2 sampler also allows routing velocity to offset...

    Maybe the this feature is just not there?!
    (It could be as the audio engine reacts instantly to changes to loop markers, sample start & end etc so they could be 'modulation targets').

    No biggie, I'll dig deeper later...

  • @Samu said:
    Hmm, starting to get hang if the MPC Beats now but I can't find anyway to automate sample-start, it's simply not there in the parameter list of modulation destinations?! (Classic use case would be scaled velocity to sample-start).

    Ok, so not even BM3 does this at the moment but I'm starting to get really spoiled by Drambo and Logic's Quick Sampler.
    And well, the NS2 sampler also allows routing velocity to offset...

    Maybe the this feature is just not there?!
    (It could be as the audio engine reacts instantly to changes to loop markers, sample start & end etc so they could be 'modulation targets').

    No biggie, I'll dig deeper later...

    Nope it isn’t . It’s one of the main missing features (same with hardware) , plus no pitch envelope , no portamento.
    At least there is velocity to start point .
    Lowering to zero vel2volume , assigning vel2start , soften attack and using note repeat can lead to granular like sounds ;)

  • @Korakios said:

    >

    At least there is velocity to start point .
    Lowering to zero vel2volume , assigning vel2start , soften attack and using note repeat can lead to granular like sounds ;)

    I'll see if I can find 'Velocity To Start Point' somewhere...

    If I would find it would it be available for both 'key groups' and 'regular pads'?
    (With multiple layers it becomes 'interesting' hehe).

    The lack of pitch-envelopes (even a simple AD) feels kinda weird?!

    But hey, it's a free app so I'm not complaining :)

  • @Samu definitely easier on hardware and no this feature is missing but has been requested.

  • @hansjbs In case you have a tip here I'm getting very annoyed by the f-ked up default pad mapping in MPC Beats...

    The factory pad programs map nicely to any chromatic keyboard controller but when I create a new empty pad program the mapping is all over the place with no sensible logic at all!?! Creating a new key group program works as expected.

    Oh well, It's free and maybe my logic fails to see where the issue lies, but it ain't logical at all...
    (I mean If I could set the midi note for each pad I could live with it but it seems to be the other way around).

    Also 'Midi Learn' seems to be broken. In learn mode it doesn't respond to any incoming midi at all?!

    If this is what MPC is all about I very much prefer BM3 even in it's current state :D

  • @Samu said:
    @hansjbs In case you have a tip here I'm getting very annoyed by the f-ked up default pad mapping in MPC Beats...

    The factory pad programs map nicely to any chromatic keyboard controller but when I create a new empty pad program the mapping is all over the place with no sensible logic at all!?! Creating a new key group program works as expected.

    Oh well, It's free and maybe my logic fails to see where the issue lies, but it ain't logical at all...
    (I mean If I could set the midi note for each pad I could live with it but it seems to be the other way around).

    Also 'Midi Learn' seems to be broken. In learn mode it doesn't respond to any incoming midi at all?!

    If this is what MPC is all about I very much prefer BM3 even in it's current state :D

    I'll have to check that out. I usually have the MPC hardware hooked up and rarely us the software. It does seem strange.

  • edited July 2020

    @hansjbs said:

    I'll have to check that out. I usually have the MPC hardware hooked up and rarely us the software. It does seem strange.

    I could 'deal' with the situation it if midi learn worked properly in MPC Beats...
    I do have the MPK Mini MkII as well but I seldom use it since I prefer my nanoKey Studio.

    I would not be surprised if theMPK Mini MkII was 'auto configured' :D
    (I need to do a factory reset on it first though since my custom mapping doesn't agree with the MPC defaults).

  • @Samu said:

    @hansjbs said:

    I'll have to check that out. I usually have the MPC hardware hooked up and rarely us the software. It does seem strange.

    I could 'deal' with the situation it if midi learn worked properly in MPC Beats...
    I do have the MPK Mini MkII as well but I seldom use it since I prefer my nanoKey Studio.

    I would not be surprised if theMPK Mini MkII was 'auto configured' :D
    (I need to do a factory reset on it first though since my custom mapping doesn't agree with the MPC defaults).

    Did you try setting programs to chromatic
    go to ‘burger>edit>program>note mapping>chromatic’... that’ll make the 16 pad’s play as expected.

    Akai's mapping always been like that since early MPCs. Lol

  • edited July 2020

    @hansjbs said:

    Did you try setting programs to chromatic
    go to ‘burger>edit>program>note mapping>chromatic’... that’ll make the 16 pad’s play as expected.

    Thanks, I knew it was something I had somehow missed...

    Kinda weird that most of the supplied 'Factory Drum Programs' use the C1 mapping while a default empty program uses the Classic MPC mapping which is kinda weird, but thanks, that solved the annoyance :)

    Most of the other stuff I've already figured out but this one somehow slipped by.

    I may end up connecting the MPK Mini MkII at some point, need to do a factory reset (ie. re-flash the firmware) on it to get default mapping to work but first I need to troubleshoot why I can't midi map the nanoKey Studio...
    (If I load one of the 'templates' all parameters can be remapped, but when I try to create a 'new' mapping everything is 'dimmed down' and can't be mapped).

    Sampling is kinda fun and I'm happy the app doesn't litter files everywhere on the hard drive :D
    I sometimes forget to turn of the monitoring so an option to 'monitor while armed for sampling' could have been handy.

    Considering that there's no obvious limitations apart from the 8 tracks + 2 audio it's a pretty nice package!

    Cheers and thanks once again!

    DOH! Control was disabled in the Midi Settings, wonder why that was 'default' for the nanoKey?!?!?!
    Now things work fine...

  • @Samu yeah I don't know why Akai do things like that but I'm glad to hear it's working. I'm going to install this on my other rig and see how it goes not sure it will be worth it since i have the full software which I don't really use (standalone is great!) but hey it's free.

  • @hansjbs said:
    @Samu yeah I don't know why Akai do things like that but I'm glad to hear it's working. I'm going to install this on my other rig and see how it goes not sure it will be worth it since i have the full software which I don't really use (standalone is great!) but hey it's free.

    Apparently it is the full version of the program with the track count being a limitation and a bunch of samples...
    ...the included samples will surely please wannabe trap-headz :D

    The way I use samples both the QuickSampler in Logic and Renoise are much faster to work with.
    Then again I'm not a 'preset abuser'.

    Oh well, it's free so I won't complain hehe...

  • I’m starting to get the hang of this a bit better now. Once you get to grips with the different workflow it looks like it’ll be really useful. Some great included sounds too. A really generous gift.

  • Where am I going wrong
    Can't get this to load in ableton
    Feels like my download is stand alone
    Any help would be appreciated
    It must be me
    Dropped file in vst folder etc
    Doesnt showing ableton

  • Did you rescan for plugins in Live?

  • @wim rescanned, rebooted, and scanned again via the preference menu
    Even installed it again
    Am at a loss with this
    Any more advice would be appreciated

  • Don't know about Windows but I had no problems with getting the MPC Beats Plug-In to work with Live Lite, Renoise & Logic Pro X and all my Plug-Ins popped up in MPC Beats too (after enabling and scanning for Audio Units).

    It could be that the VST plug-in on Windows has to be manually copied to the hosts VST folder or something...

  • @Samu
    Thanks for reply
    It runs standalone fine
    I have tried copying the folder, just the. Dll extension etc to my ableton vst folder etc.
    All my other vsts work fine, I am on Windows
    This is the first time having problems getting a vst to work

  • @Nicebutfun said:
    @Samu
    Thanks for reply
    It runs standalone fine
    I have tried copying the folder, just the. Dll extension etc to my ableton vst folder etc.
    All my other vsts work fine, I am on Windows
    This is the first time having problems getting a vst to work

    Another option worth trying is to leave the main app and all files in the location they were installed in and add the plug-in path to Ableton and see if it works.

    I actually dug out my MPK Mini Mk2 and the integration is working quite well (after I found the factory reset programs for the MPK since it doesn't have a 'factory reset' feature). But a fixed knob range will never replace continuous encoders for sample-editing :)

    The 'factory content' is kinda 'cheesy' and contains a lot of overused sounds in certain genres that make me want to vomit...

    It's pretty solid and I guess the purpose is to make people want to get MPC hardware at some point :D
    (Or get them to buy cut down sample-packs for the price of a few iPad apps).

    Hope you'll get it to work, it's a nice addition for sure!

  • @Samu
    Good idea
    Will fire up the laptop later tonight
    It's certainly worth trying. Hopefully a new file path might work
    Am sure I saw in one of their videos the midi file, they dragged it in to ableton

  • @Nicebutfun said:
    @Samu
    Good idea
    Will fire up the laptop later tonight
    It's certainly worth trying. Hopefully a new file path might work
    Am sure I saw in one of their videos the midi file, they dragged it in to ableton

    Drag'n'Drop of both Audio and Midi works from MPC Beats Plug-In to Host...
    (You just need to tap the 'export' buttons for Audio & Midi first before you can drag it).

    It is it's own 'thing' and get some time to get used to...
    ...still trying to figure out how to use multiple loop & slice points on one sample as editing them always seems to affect the other. So I guess I need to duplicate the samples or something...

    Also looping a slices is tricky, there are two places to do it from (wave view) and (sample edit).
    One can change the loop parameter in 'wave view' but it won't take effect if it's not enabled first in 'sample edit'.

    I'll just try to get to the bottom if this so I don't need to duplicate samples too often.

  • edited July 2020

    I hope they bring this to iOS . I have 100% given up with Retronyms iMPC PRO2 bug fest.

  • @Samu
    not sure if this is what you're after...try setting the slice type to Pad. if it's non-destructive, any changes to the loop points will be reflected in other programs

  • @mrcanister said:
    @Samu
    not sure if this is what you're after...try setting the slice type to Pad. if it's non-destructive, any changes to the loop points will be reflected in other programs

    I tried that I can't get the 'loop' to work in Pad mode as it only seems to work work in All mode?!? :(

    Part of the problem with loops may be that I want to use the same sample in both Drum and Keygroup programs with loop settings in key group program, and slices in drum program.

    I guess sooner or later it will 'click' and I've only had the program for what, 3 days so far :D

  • edited July 2020

    How do you get the Native Instruments Control Editor’s Templates to make a Maschine controller work with this?

    Edit.. maybe someone can zip it and post it here... They say it’s downloadable in your Akai account... but...

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