Is a MPC the answer?

spence52490

New member
Hey everyone I have a dilemma I was wondering if you guys could help me out with. Right now my group and I record at my home studio and content wise we are fine but we never have beats. We have also decided that since we don't have to pay for studio time we shouldn't have to pay for beats. Now we have all tried our hands at making beats but I have taken it the furthest. I currently use Fl studio and right now my beats are bland and lack luster. Now my issue is I always have great ideas for beats but they never come out when I use FL studio, but when im just sitting around i bang out hot beats on the table with my knuckles. So i'm thinking why dont i just buy a MPC so i can put these table beats to go work. Do you think this would be a good investment?
 
an mpc is allways a good investment,especially if you just looking to make beats,just make sure you get one with all the individual outputs for tracking out.i got a 2000 classic myself and love it!
 
Hey everyone I have a dilemma I was wondering if you guys could help me out with. Right now my group and I record at my home studio and content wise we are fine but we never have beats. We have also decided that since we don't have to pay for studio time we shouldn't have to pay for beats. Now we have all tried our hands at making beats but I have taken it the furthest. I currently use Fl studio and right now my beats are bland and lack luster. Now my issue is I always have great ideas for beats but they never come out when I use FL studio, but when im just sitting around i bang out hot beats on the table with my knuckles. So i'm thinking why dont i just buy a MPC so i can put these table beats to go work. Do you think this would be a good investment?

It is not that simple. Buying an MPC doesn't guarantee that your beats get any hotter. If your beats are "bland and lack luster", it probably has more to do with lack of experince.

You could also get an mpd midi controller. That way you could use pads with your fl.

But an mpc is a good investment if you like working with it and can afford it. Maybe you could head to your local music store, check out if they got one and try it out?
 
It is not that simple. Buying an MPC doesn't guarantee that your beats get any hotter. If your beats are "bland and lack luster", it probably has more to do with lack of experince.

You could also get an mpd midi controller. That way you could use pads with your fl.

But an mpc is a good investment if you like working with it and can afford it. Maybe you could head to your local music store, check out if they got one and try it out?

see I was thinking that too, and as soon as I got my midi controller (m-audio keystation) my beats DID improve, now I just feel like i'd be taking it to a song making level with a mpc. And also FL's sampling is to confusing for me and the mpc just looks so easy to understand.

you ever have that feeling like if you just got this certain piece of equipment that you'd know your stuff would be better even though your experience level is the same. Thats how I feel about the MPC, it would make me want to do better.
 
an mpc is allways a good investment
Statement of the year! My reasoning...you may buy one to make better music. It may help you to do so which means good for you. You may also buy one, which makes you hate it, which makes you sell it on ebay for a $100 bucks cheaper, considering you're a stand up dude. Then the next guy comes around in the same situation as above and develops the same hatred and sells it for $50 less...this then gets bought up by the MP lover who had gains in the bigger picture without even knowing. MPC 60 on craigslist for $350...golden!
 
see I was thinking that too, and as soon as I got my midi controller (m-audio keystation) my beats DID improve, now I just feel like i'd be taking it to a song making level with a mpc. And also FL's sampling is to confusing for me and the mpc just looks so easy to understand.

you ever have that feeling like if you just got this certain piece of equipment that you'd know your stuff would be better even though your experience level is the same. Thats how I feel about the MPC, it would make me want to do better.

Mpc isn't easier to understand than FL imho. They both need studying and work to master them. So if you get an mpc be sure to read your manual until you know it by heart. I guarantee it pays off.
 
Pound for Pound the MPC is the best piece of beat making gear out there. As stated earlier you can find a good deal on Craigslist or eBay and the value is incredible. It is almost guaranteed that your beat making skills will improve if you pick up the machine...not because of the gear necessarily, but more for how it forces you to approach music. Fruity Loops, and like software, push you towards a visually representation of music and the MPC takes it back to the basics...you can literally get busy with an MPC, some samples and a pair of headphones....and get real serious about the quality of your beats rather then the bells and whistles software offers. Don't get me wrong, software is amazing...but the MPC practice will take your software skills to an even greater level. GET ONE!
 
Hey everyone I have a dilemma I was wondering if you guys could help me out with. Right now my group and I record at my home studio and content wise we are fine but we never have beats. We have also decided that since we don't have to pay for studio time we shouldn't have to pay for beats. Now we have all tried our hands at making beats but I have taken it the furthest. I currently use Fl studio and right now my beats are bland and lack luster. Now my issue is I always have great ideas for beats but they never come out when I use FL studio, but when im just sitting around i bang out hot beats on the table with my knuckles. So i'm thinking why dont i just buy a MPC so i can put these table beats to go work. Do you think this would be a good investment?

A MPC is a good investment, but if your beats suck, then they suck.
 
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A MPC is a good investment, but if your beats suck, then they suck.


I doubt it man, cuz at one point everyone's beats sucked. Just like back when i sucked at rapping I had sucky equipment, and it took me wanting to do better for me to buy better equipment and to also rap better. No one stays at the same level unless they don't try.
 
I was thinking maybe I should get a mpd32, just to try my hand at the pad world. Would that be a better decision? and just use i with FL studio
 
I was thinking maybe I should get a mpd32, just to try my hand at the pad world. Would that be a better decision? and just use i with FL studio
 
A MPC is a good investment, but if your beats suck, then they suck.

Obviously the MPC is not magically going to turn your music into gold, but it will push you to learn and think about your beats from a different perspective. It forced me to spend more time listening and thinking about my music and less on computing parameters. Net net, you will be a better beat maker by learning how to use the MPC, maybe not at first, but eventually you will grow from the experience.

Regarding the MPD, I picked up a pad controller before an MPC, I got much more out of the MPC. I would encourage you to heavily consider the MPC if you have the available resources.
 
if your beats are bland and lack luster its cause YOUR bland and lack luster, dont blame fruity loops. just put the time in and step it up.
 
if your beats are bland and lack luster its cause YOUR bland and lack luster, dont blame fruity loops. just put the time in and step it up.

So its never the software/hardwares fault for not allowing the type of ease and flexibility one may need to do better? Most of you people say "if your beats are blah blah then they'll always be blah blah" So I'm assuming that none of you have upgraded to anything better because your beats have been great from the jump right? Negative. If this was the case then none of you would have made the switch to what your using now. I started making beats on reason, they sucked I moved to FL studio they got better, and now I want a MPC the chain can only move up. You sound foolish for not understanding how basic human learning works.
 
I started making beats on reason, they sucked I moved to FL studio they got better, and now I want a MPC the chain can only move up. You sound foolish for not understanding how basic human learning works.


I'm not trying to argue with you, but you are the one who sounds foolish. There are some producers who use Reason, and are very good. Reason is fully capable of making professional beats:

http://www.propellerheads.se/substa....cfm?fuseaction=get_article&article=dj-khalil

FL is also fully capable of making pro beats. I don't have to even give a link to 9th Wonder commenting on it.

The bottom line is this, YOU make beats, not the equipment or the software that you use. If you are good at making beats, then it doesn't matter if you are using Reason, FL, or a MPC. Any one of those are tools worthy of production.


First, you have to have some talent. The next thing is learning to master whatever platform you are using. If you don't like the beats that you are making in FL or Reason, then you are probably not gonna like the beats that you make on a MPC. A MPC isn't magically going to make your beats sound better.

Is it a different approach? Yes.

But, it's not magic. If you want to switch to a MPC to increase your workflow, that's different because Reason, FL, and a MPC all have different workflows.

As far as making your beats better???????


I don't think so.
 
You guys keep missing the point of me wanting to switch to a MPC. My beats are not the best they can be because I don't like the way Reason and FL studio go about putting the beats together. The reason I want an MPC is because with it I can just bang out a beat thats in my head on the fly. With FL or Reason I have to sequence the drum pattern, find some backing instruments, and after all that is done I've lost the groove of what I was trying to do. I already know you can make fantastic beats with FL and pretty much any program but its just not feasible for me because of how I want to go about doing it. If you read my first post you would understand this. I didn't say FL studio sucks at beats I said that The beats "I" tried to make sucked. Do you see where I'm coming from? Its not a matter of lack of a good beat making structure its the ease of making the beats and getting my ideas out quicker.
 
The MPC is a great tool, but with any tool you need to learn it inside and out. In addition preparation is key. For example, you can quickly get rolling with FL or reason if you spend a little time creating templates that you value. In many ways this can actually be quicker than working with an MPC, and much less of a headache from a file management perspective. I highly recommend templates for all applications/hardware.

Also, there will be a learning curve with the MPC. It's a great machine, but people spend years mastering it. Set realistic expectations...it will take some time to learn.
 
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Hey everyone I have a dilemma I was wondering if you guys could help me out with. Right now my group and I record at my home studio and content wise we are fine but we never have beats. We have also decided that since we don't have to pay for studio time we shouldn't have to pay for beats. Now we have all tried our hands at making beats but I have taken it the furthest. I currently use Fl studio and right now my beats are bland and lack luster. Now my issue is I always have great ideas for beats but they never come out when I use FL studio, but when im just sitting around i bang out hot beats on the table with my knuckles. So i'm thinking why dont i just buy a MPC so i can put these table beats to go work. Do you think this would be a good investment?

Well, the MPC is never a bad investment. But it's not that you ABSOLUTELY need it. I think it's even better for you if you just pick up a copy of Reason, MPD and some refills. That would be way better actually because you dont only get a drum controller but you also get alot of synths and various other instruments.
 
Well, the MPC is never a bad investment. But it's not that you ABSOLUTELY need it. I think it's even better for you if you just pick up a copy of Reason, MPD and some refills. That would be way better actually because you dont only get a drum controller but you also get alot of synths and various other instruments.

He already said he had Reason and FL.

I started making beats on reason, they sucked I moved to FL studio they got better, and now I want a MPC the chain can only move up. You sound foolish for not understanding how basic human learning works.
 
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