Daisy chain or MIDI Thru Box? / The MPC - DAW Epiphany

[plaid_emu]

For the past four years or so I've been learning how to record and sequence on a computer and use plug-ins. It's been a big struggle for me and has hindered my production radically. For 8 years before that I was performing with an XP-50 / SP-202, then later an XL-7 / CDX-1 and getting a whole helluva lot more done.

 

Ableton Live is great, but it seemed much more natural and enjoyable to sequence my compositions with hardware yet the appeal of sample editing and the awesome sounds I was getting with Reaktor were drawing me towards the software. Also, some of the excellent software editors for hardware are just too good to pass up (ie Virus TI, Soundtower's Evolver editor).

 

I bought an MPC1000 4 years ago and sold it early this year to buy an MPC500 because I was only using it mostly as a slaved drum machine/sampler and using the sequencer very little for live use.

 

I've been learning a great deal about MIDI and synth programming but ultimately getting nowhere in terms of a decent live set. But recently I had an epiphany that should've had years ago:

 

I should use the MPC to sequence EVERYTHING in my setup directly through Ableton Live! This way I can get the comfortable feel of sequencing my compositions with hardware while still using Virus Control etc. Then chop up and process any audio directly from the computer to dump into the MPC so everything is ready to go in a live situation.

 

Can you tell this dork is really excited?!?! It's been working out fantastically for me.

 

So this leads me to a question about using the MPC's single MIDI output to sequence 3 pieces of hardware in a live situation: Virus, Mopho and Eclipse.

 

I'm going to be sending control changes, program changes etc. in addition to note data and timing. Is all this going to be too much for daisy chaining to handle? I've read some people have issues with this and it isn't always apparent at first or it's intermittent.

 

Would it help to buy one of these MIDI thru boxes I've read about to reduce the chances of any potential lag or data corruption that might impede stability? Some folks talk about them "cleaning up" data or something......sounds kind of like snake oil to me but I could be wrong.

[Yoozer]

Why were you using the MPC when Ableton's got a pretty good sampler built in?

 

Anyway, if you want to continue with the MPC, I'd get a secondhand 2000XL or 2500. They'll give you 2 or 4 MIDI outputs respectively and are less of a pain to work with thanks to the bigger screen. Skip Live completely in that case and use your computer purely as a luxurious MIDI module, it's going to be far more straightforward.

[plaid_emu]

 

Skip Live completely in that case and use your computer purely as a luxurious MIDI module, it's going to be far more straightforward.

 

 

Actually I'm thoroughly enjoying Ableton, now that the MPC has made it my bitch.

 

I've got templates in Live and the MPC for all 16 MIDI channels controlling my whole setup. This way I can capture audio loops of synths I leave at home and load them into the MPC for gigs.

[bruto]

It's not too much for daisy chaining, but I'd go with a midi patchbay.

 

I have two of these:

Kawai MAV-8

 

It's straightforward and quite simple to use. It sends signal A-D to any one of 8 output channels.

 

However, this Kawai does not block or merge channels, so if you need to do that, look for something like a Roland A-880 or an Akai ME-30.