What equipment to use to start? (MPC1000)

[Jynks]

Hello…


After a long and hard decision, i've decided to invest into some beat-making equipment, as my dream is to become a hip-hop producer..


I currently have this array of equipment:


Macbook 13inch Laptop
Akai LPK25 MIDI controller keyboard
Logic Pro 8
Turntable (not sure of exact model)


I have decided to start off with purchasing an MPC1000, yet I am not going to buy it until I learn every single little detail about the equipment and what I will need to successfully and efficiently make beats..


I have been told that I will need an audio interface, and a fair amount of cables to connect all my equipment together, plus, I would like to know how to transfer samples from my macbook onto my mpc?


I'd appreciate it if anyone could help me out with this, what Audio Interface I would need, what cables I would need, etc, as I am very eager to start as have been saving for this equipment for months!


Thanks very much :-D


Jynks

[seveneleven247]

It's interesting to see someone so new starting on hardware, typically i'll see newer producers start on software these days.

[Xabiton]

You'll want an audio interface before that mpc or you'll be pissed when it don't make sound. Personally I'd skip it and go with a software solution like Maschine. Mpcs are great but the prices are not.

[CPhoenix]

^I second that notion.

Honestly... this probably isn't what you want to hear, but it's the truth... if you're going to be recording into software, it might be a better idea to just go the software route and get a good software to control, like Maschine... or a Korg PadKontrol + Native Instruments Battery, etc.

Ultimately it's your choice... but we're just giving you alternatives. You aren't missing out on any quality with software. Only get the MPC if you want to be able to create music without turning on your computer. At this point in time, that's the biggest benefit. Also... it looks & feels cooler drumming on an MPC than it does on a controller.

Don't get me wrong.. looks and feels can actually make a difference in your music in my opinion... but whether or not the price tag associated with it is worth that is the question. Your money could instead be spent on a good pad controller and some good monitors. The monitors are much more necessary than the MPC.

[fataltone]

why not buy a Akai MPD24 or (32)
go with being able to turn real knobs and use faders(because no matter what you'll have to use the computer for something might as well have a hybrid setup(best way to go hands on approach with the power of itb tools)

cheaper and you already have logic,maybe upgrade your RAM,etc on you Macbook




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[troublemaker$]

Ive had it all, all i need now is my trusty Axiom 49 and my NI Mikro Maschine. Of course everyone has they're preferences but..

[Nasir33149]

When I first started my dream was to make beats just with hardware, MPC, turntable, mixer, synth etc. I didnt like software, looking all day in the computer n stuff like that. So Ive bought the MPC2000xl and didnt even tried it out and I didnt know what to use to transfer my sounds into it. Nobody was selling those zip drives in my place, floppys were too small, didnt have enough money for a soundcard and cables etc. Ive decided to sell the MPC and go with FL studio and my MIDI keyboard. Sold it and bought the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 soundcard and KRK KNS 6400 headphones. Anyway the point is that hardware costs much more, you pay for stuff that you can much easier do on your software and with a lower price. And I think for a begginer I think that its much easier to start off with softwares and later do just with hardware if you want.

[troublemaker$]

Both have advantages but i also didn't have the room for all the hardware i had, then i noticed it started collecting dust because i was working with software all the time..

[Xabiton]

^I second that notion.

Honestly... this probably isn't what you want to hear, but it's the truth... if you're going to be recording into software, it might be a better idea to just go the software route and get a good software to control, like Maschine... or a Korg PadKontrol + Native Instruments Battery, etc.

Ultimately it's your choice... but we're just giving you alternatives. You aren't missing out on any quality with software. Only get the MPC if you want to be able to create music without turning on your computer. At this point in time, that's the biggest benefit. Also... it looks & feels cooler drumming on an MPC than it does on a controller.

Don't get me wrong.. looks and feels can actually make a difference in your music in my opinion... but whether or not the price tag associated with it is worth that is the question. Your money could instead be spent on a good pad controller and some good monitors. The monitors are much more necessary than the MPC.

Not to mention things like being able to recall a beat the exact way you left it by opening a file rather than having to reset up the mpc to work with your software and load stuff on the mpc. No tracking issues with software. Its getting harder and harder to get sounds for a mpc unless u plan on sampling your own from vinyl or buying packs and converting them to 16/44.1 since most sample libraries these days are 24 bit ect. Mpcs are a thing of the past and while they are really cool they just do not intergrate well into studios like they did 10-15 years ago due to the best part about a mpc being the fact that it was an amazing sequencer/center piece to a studio before it was a sampler. The mpc samplers are actually quite limited in terms of sampling even for its hey day in terms of sampling power I would have given the power to the S series racks or the Ensoniq samplers.