Noisetheorem

Another weekend approaches and I feel like I am getting another cold…or maybe the last one never left me. I dont know, but either way this is not the time for it. Way to much to do right now. Ugh.

The studio has been through another transformation.  The setup I had done specifically for practicing did not work at all for writing as I had hoped.   Oh well.  Moving gear around seems to be what I do with it mostly these days, simply because I am short on time and energy. But that is not what I am posting to talk about today.

No, I want to talk about my new friend, the MPC2500.  I have one in the studio to take for an extended ride, and setting everything up around that instead of around the computer has been an idea I toyed with since I owned my MPC1000 a year or so ago (was it two years?  Jesus time flys).  The MPC was nice, but if you are going to drive an entire MIDI rig, having only 2 MIDI I/O sets was going to be a bit limiting (particularly with my sprawling rig).  Also, and this is not to slight the 1k in any way, it just didnt *feel* like the master of a large outboard rig. It felt like a compact sampling drum machine, and not the center of the universe.

The 2500 feels different on both counts.  First off, it has two MIDI inputs and four outputs, each separately addressable, and each having its own set of 16 MIDI channels giving you 64 total channels of data you can access.   In addition to the expanded MIDI I/O, the audio I/O is doubled giving you 8 sub outputs and a stereo master.   Also improved on the 2500 is the inclusion of the HD10 hard drive bracket which allows for a laptop hard drive to be installed internally.  I installed an old 80gb laptop hard drive that was laying around and loaded it with a gigantic library of custom drum samples I have amassed over the years. 

On the second point, feel is where the 2500 really outshines its little brother.  Everything about it is BIGGER and BADDER.  The pads are bigger and more robust feeling.  The display tilts forward to give you a better viewing angle.  The physical foot print of the the unit is almost twice that of the 1k.  Its heavy and it feels like it could be used as a bludgeoning weapon should the need arise (band practices can sometime get very tense…).  It feels heavy and mean, with a very commanding “I am the center of your studio..you shall have no sequencer before me” attitude about it.   So much so that I almost immediately felt the need to move the whole studio around it.  And so I have…

As you can see in the picture, I moved everything to within striking distance of myself sitting (or standing) at the MPC.  I have the outputs going to a number of MIDI chains setup for specific purposes:  Chain one is the M3 and Blofeld (live rig), Chain two is the PEK and 999 (analog rig), Chain 3 goes to the TG33, TG500, E64, XD5 and Prophecy (the old shit rig) and the final output goes to the ‘Wall of Korg’ electribe love fest (EA1, ER1, ESX1 and EMX1).  For right now, the only midi INPUT is coming from my M-audio Axiom controller.  Really, I kinda want to get something with 61 or 76 keys on it to run this rig.  I’d like to move the PEK somewhere else (but where??) and put the controller above the MPC.  Thats the one part of this setup I dont like (always room for improvement).   I think at some point ill find a different spot for the PEK and maybe put something like a K2000 keyboard up there on the top rack (I dont know why, but I think the K2k would be a great partner to the Akai.). 

On the audio side, I reworked things as well.  I have been very disillusioned by the ‘mix through your DAW’ setup i had working.  24 analog inputs into the computer sounds great in theory – you have instant recall of your mix with the associated sequence and all the effects and routing are being done with whatever software DAW your running.  In practice, the old evils of latency, drop outs, audio level matching and just plain PC weirdness gets in the way and spoil the experience. 

To remedy this, I put the Yamaha analog mixer I have back into service.  I think its called an MG16.  I just call it ‘the yamaha’.  Its not a bad mixer – I know a few of you who will cringe at the thought of my wonderful rig going through such a shit signal path but..honestly…I dont have the hearing left to notice.  And lets face it – I am not exactly producing platinum hits down here.  If any of you want to donate a Toft Audio or a Speck Xtramix, I wont say no…but I am also not spending 5k so that I can not hear something I dont hear anyway.

As part of this switch, I also had to go back to using patch bays.  Yeah, eww..  I hate patch bays.  But like all those psycho ex girlfriends that burned your couch and stole your smiths t-shirts, they are a necessary evil to get you where you need to go.  I have 4 of them setup, and just about everything is plugged in with a little room left in case I get any more signal processing gear  (which, yes, I intend to do). 

So that is the new rig.  It took me a few weekends to set up, and so far this rig feels great.  The MPC is super easy to use (at least, it is for jaded old sequencer jockey who got his start sequencing on an SY85 and often misses it).  Want to sample something?  just do it.  Want to sequence something?  just do it.  Want to route MIDI from controller to sound module?  just do it.   Its all very easy to do, and almost painlessly so.   The patch bays are setup logically and I am getting pretty good at remembering what I put where (I have a google docs cheat sheet I put together to help).  I like that I can get a beat going off the ER1 and go muck with the prophecy, and sample it all and crunch audio anywhere I want to with very little trouble (and very very little mucking with the PC).  Its fun, and fun is always just a hair shy of productive.  Now If I can just manage to get a month off work…