Hi! someone use this two togheter? Can they coexist? Impressions?
i’m thinking about buy an mpc for the sampler utility and for use my own drum machine samples.
with the pyramid usually i sequence my synthesizers.
thanks for your time,
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hi - i have the pyramid slaved to the MPClive. the other way around didn’t go too well. I do blame the MPC for any shortcomings here though. the only thing I’m using is transport control as I have little interest in anything beyond transport, so I couldn’t comment on pattern changes or the like. no problems here…
I did run into issues when syncing the MPC to ableton link though. when pressing start on the MPC, it would patiently wait for the Link signal to reach another bar before starting where the midi signal on the pyramid starts right away. again, I suppose this is MPC related.
So, When you press start on the mpc the pyramid start,stop and Record… right? How them are connected? Through Usb or midi?
whao…hold up …ableton link
“I did run into issues when syncing the MPC to ableton link though.”
what does ableton link have to do with Akai live?
did the squarp have probs with ableton link? or did you have with your mpc have probs with ableton link?
seems the later
who care’s call akai.
same here .so as i can carry my samples and sequences around with out a ton of gear.
without some dumass inquiry on how it doesn’t work with a computer.
please elaborate a little more?
yes - start and stop works well connected via midi. record I haven’t tested. don’t think it works though
Sry …I don’t want to carry around a computer so ableton link …nah but MPC live with squarp .ok now we talking.small mobile unit.In theory with MPC live I can truncate my samples,play them …8 tracks? without dragging ,setting up a ton of gear.to say a studio…pretty much a small suitacase 5 minutes and i’m ready to rock.
Hopefully. the MPC cost$1500 plus 13% tax…ouch
more edits
MPClive in theory I open a project(song) preloaded with my 8 samples (1 per track)
record a track (1)
loop it
record track (2)
loop it
etc…
squarp plays prerecorded midi tracks (drums,percussion,noize …whatever (lol it’s all noize in my case)but…sycn’d and program changes etc…from the (big question )…the MPClive or the squarp?
Holy shit. This new 2.8 firmware revolutionises how you use the Pyramid with the MPC
They work SO well together now.
For those of us not following the MPC world…
What’s changed that make it such a useful combo?
How do you use them together?
Until yesterday, the MPC Live had 3 x USB ports, and couldn’t receive midi via any of them in any useful way (imho)
It also had 2 in and 2 outs (5 pin), but could only send out midi… it didn’t really receive midi. other than on the ‘active’ track… given you can have I think 128 tracks… something of a hindrance…
They’ve now introduced full midi multi-timbrality (that may not be the perfect description technically but suffices to explain broadly) as well as midi via USB…
So, as it is battery powered, I can connect my Pyramid to the MPC and it is powered by the MPC’s internal battery, and can control each of the MPC tracks on a seperate midi channel…
So I can use the MPC as a sample player, and the Pyramid as it’s sequencer. A very nice portable and compact setup.
I can also connect the rest of the studio to the MPC ports (either via USB or via 5 pin din) and use the Pyramid to drive them… it’s now a very well conceived midi workstation, wheras previously it just didn’t play nicely with midi at all.
More surprisingly Akai gave no clue that it was coming really… so they’ve just made a lot of MPC owners very happy )It was looking for a minute as if they may retire support for the MPC Live as they were introducing a new model MPC Live II.
In fact they all run on the same OS (and share the same internal architecture)… so there may even be further updates ahead - a drum synth is mooted for example.
All in all, I am very happy as I can now use the MPC as I had hoped to from the outset… as a sample payer, driven by my main sequencer (Pyramid) and integrated with the rest of my studio.
They also implemented a useful shortcut for flipping between tracks, and included a new, much improved timerstretch algorithmn. Oh and Bluetooth midi now works too…
@Bambrose - Couple of questions, if you still have an MPC…
Do you use the MPC as a controller back into the Pyramid? If so, I’m assuming you are swapping in and out of MPC’s controller mode as needed? I find that a bit annoying if I want to sequence from the pads into the Pyramid.
Regarding using the MPC as your MIDI hub/router for your other synths… when you are playing one of your other synths are you also routing that MIDI to the the Pyramid for recording? If so, any best practices to share?
I tried integrating the Pyramid into my MPC Live early on and then put it aside realizing they didn’t play well together. I’ve recently started digging back into the Pyramid and thought it would be a great way to avoid the MPCs sequencer and workflow, which I never really got into.
I sold the mpc in the end. It a great box and I miss some aspects of functionality… but I bought a polyend tracker which I loved more and I already had an octatrack… 3 samples was excessive and one had to go.
In answer to your questions.
No I never used the mpc as a controller/input device for the pyramid. Didn’t occur to me to be honest.
I didn’t use it as the hub either. I kept the pyramid as the central controller as it was much better setup to switch between instruments… I got annoyed with the mpc midi setup… and only daisy chained a couple of devices off it in the end.
The mpc worked well triggered from pyramid.
And that was how I used it basically.
Thanks for the reply, and I totally understand.
I’m looking for the cleanest (least cables) portable/battery-powered solution. After my reply, I did make some decent progress with a template on the MPC (16 tracks, each listening for respective Pyra USB channels), so I think I’m on a good path to my goal.
Oh and enjoy the Tracker! Grabbing samples from thin air, mangling, and running through the in-built synthesis is pretty damn cool, not to mention immediate access to GB’s of your sample collection. After using it for a couple months, the only nits I have are lack of space in the enclosure (to add some internal battery capacity), and that slice # did not require using one of the step’s FXs. In any case, it’s certainly a fun piece of gear!
Peace.
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Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I slave the MPC to the Pyramid. The MPC is an excellent usb & din midi hub (Thank God for their OS Updates). It’s extremely flexible, and a lot of fun. Granted, I made sure to go through the mpc’s manual pretty hardcore in order to optimize my workflow.
I made the mpc have a major brain fart by mapping a bunch of efx cc’s to the pyramid, drawing lfo’s and running @ a crazy bpm. Good times lol. Glad to see other people using the combo
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Yeah that sounds like a pretty powerful portable setup.
And yeah have had the tracker for nearly a year now (had one the first batch)
Reminds me of the happiness I experienced when I first got the pyramid (which is still the core of my studio) another device that “just clicked “ with me.
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