User Manual

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X To create a simple drum set, we repeat the steps described above for other pads. We
recommend to load a snare drum on Pad 2, a closed hi-hat on Pad 3 and an open hi-hat on
Pad 4. Feel free to add a crash sample to Pad 5.
Now you're ready to record a simple drum pattern!
4.3 RECORDING A DRUM PATTERN
Let's start to record a drum pattern.
X Press the REC button of your MPC hardware to activate the recording mode. To start the
actual recording, press the PLAY button. The precount starts to count one measure. We
recommend recording the drum sounds one after the other, especially if you are not familiar
with playing on the pads.
X Play a simple bass drum pattern. The initial measure length is 2 bars. After the two bars, the
pattern plays again from the beginning and keeps looping. Don't stop the recording!
X Play a snare drum pattern, then a hi-hat pattern.
X Press the STOP button to finish the recording.
X The note events you just recorded will automatically be placed in the grid, in this case, on 16th
notes.
X If you want to repeat the recording, keep in mind that the pads you play in your new recording
will automatically replace existing notes played with the same pads. To prevent this, you can
use the OVERDUB function, which enables you to record additional note events to an existing
pattern. When the sequence loops around, the MPC is automatically placed in OVERDUB
mode.
X The MPC hardware's UNDO button can be used differently while in Record Mode. Normally,
pressing UNDO will undo just the last event. When there is an event to undo, the UNDO
button will be lit solid. While recording, the UNDO button will flash. In this case, pressing
UNDO will erase all events from that recording (i.e., since the PLAY or PLAY START was
pressed).
X How about a crash cymbal? Let's create it directly in the MPC software by clicking on the
desired position in the grid, in the same row as the crash sample.
Does your drum pattern sound OK? If not, keep on reading!
4.4 ORGANIZATION & EDITING
We recommend doing some naming and editing before recording other patterns.
X Click on the MAIN button of your MPC hardware to enter Main Mode.
Let’s use the MPC software, which is much better for editing.
The pad assignment of your drum sounds is arranged in a Program. Let’s rename the exisiting
Program as we will want to create more Programs later on. Right-click on the Program 01 in the
PROJECT INFORMATION in the right section of the Main area and select the Rename option.
Name the program (e.g. Drums) and click OK.
Right-click on the name of a sample (e.g. the bass drum), and select Rename. Enter a suitable
name for the sample (e.g., "Bass Drum 1" or "Kick1"). Repeat this for the other samples in the
Program. This will help keep your Program organized as you add more and more sounds to it.
In the Grid, you can see your recorded note events. Click and hold on a note to move it to a
different position. By default, you can only position notes by quantization values, defined by the
previously set TIME CORRECT value. You may change the value by clicking on the TIME