MPC 500 instead of a laptop? Huh?

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hungry ghost
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MPC 500 instead of a laptop? Huh?

Post by hungry ghost » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:05 pm

Hi,
I make most of my music using vocals, drums and Live. I want to start playing a few gigs but would rather do so without a laptop (I often hear the non-musical saying that they're suspicious of laptop music, as the performer could just be pressing 'play' once for the whole gig, and also I'd like to present something a little more visually interesting).
So I was thinking of a CD player for the longer beats, an MPC 500 (the new one) with vocal loops, guitar loops and shorter beats, a mic going through the new Kaoss pad, my delay pedal and my EHX micro synthesizer, all going into a mixer. The other guy I play with isn't very tech so he'll just paint his face and have a mic and a few drums and cymbals to hit/set fire to.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? And does anyone know of a good basic synth I could use, one with actual sliders etc instead of little LCD screens? I love Operator but again, would rather do without the laptop.
Cheers!

www.myspace.com/sunyatamusic

formatk
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Post by formatk » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:15 pm

I've seen numerous artists play at our nights with laptops and mpc's and full bands. All about the music at the end of the day. If you don't use a laptop, you're still gonna be pressing buttons and the crowd won't see a difference. Get a cheaper gimmick and perform out of a cardboard box or something, I don't think they'll be fussed what you're using to play the music back on. Goldie looking chain performed with a Sanyo portable CD player and that didn't stop them from being successful! Seriously though, might be worth looking at using some midi controllers for triggering and controlling your computer so you don't have to look at your screen so much.

sweetjesus
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Re: MPC 500 instead of a laptop? Huh?

Post by sweetjesus » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:18 pm

hungry ghost wrote:Hi,
I make most of my music using vocals, drums and Live. I want to start playing a few gigs but would rather do so without a laptop (I often hear the non-musical saying that they're suspicious of laptop music, as the performer could just be pressing 'play' once for the whole gig, and also I'd like to present something a little more visually interesting).
So I was thinking of a CD player for the longer beats, an MPC 500 (the new one) with vocal loops, guitar loops and shorter beats, a mic going through the new Kaoss pad, my delay pedal and my EHX micro synthesizer, all going into a mixer. The other guy I play with isn't very tech so he'll just paint his face and have a mic and a few drums and cymbals to hit/set fire to.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? And does anyone know of a good basic synth I could use, one with actual sliders etc instead of little LCD screens? I love Operator but again, would rather do without the laptop.
Cheers!

www.myspace.com/sunyatamusic
hand's down, Roland JP-8000 is the synth for you, especially if you have some stomp boxes. I often run mine with a BOSS DS-1 on one channel and a Metal Zone on the other channel. Pretty much every parameter has a controller and it's a very very expressive machine to use on stage and looks awesome to boot.

i hear ya with the laptop music thing. you can use live without needing to look at the screen. Perhaps a mac mini + 7" portable screen will not give off the same vibes as a laptop does.

ive seen video footage of me using a laptop and my controllers and you just can't help but to look at the screen it's really hard.

I think for what you are doing, perhaps using an MPC500 on stage and using Live in the studio to make material for the MPC500 would be the best configuration.

djadonis206
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Post by djadonis206 » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:32 pm

I'd say get the MPC YO - for straight up LIVE performance

Laptops are cool but you can beat the button like you can the pads - get that 500

word

and peace


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STRATEGY_510
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Post by STRATEGY_510 » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:44 pm

djadonis206 wrote:I'd say get the MPC YO - for straight up LIVE performance

Laptops are cool but you can beat the button like you can the pads - get that 500

word

and peace


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Aren't tbey like 800 bucks?

Can't a 1000 be had for that price or close to it??


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Dr. Zoiberg
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Re: MPC 500 instead of a laptop? Huh?

Post by Dr. Zoiberg » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:46 pm

Why not use a Monomachine, or maybe the Machinedrum UW (with sampling) to sequence everythig?

With the Mono you would have a great live synth, an intuitive sequencer and some drum samples.

They are both great instruments, but quite expensive.

djadonis206
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Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 4:23 pm
Location: Seattle, WA.

Post by djadonis206 » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:56 pm

STRATEGY_510 wrote:
djadonis206 wrote:I'd say get the MPC YO - for straight up LIVE performance

Laptops are cool but you can beat the button like you can the pads - get that 500

word

and peace


Ad

Aren't tbey like 800 bucks?

Can't a 1000 be had for that price or close to it??


STRATEGY
technically the 1000 is $999 but you can find them on EBAY and Craigslist for anywhere between $600 and $800

I'm not an economist but I bet the resale value of the 1000 will go up now the 500 is out at $799

but I'd get a 1000 - used
I had my hands on a 500 and it's aight...
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kuniklo
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Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:02 pm

Post by kuniklo » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:00 pm

Spend a little extra for the 1000. Or get a good used one for even less. Unless you really need to be able to play on battery power, I don't see the point of the 500.

The new third party "JJ" os breathes a lot of new life into the 1000 too.

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