I like videos like this to open up discussion. Firstly, I am still learning how to use the MPC LIVE and audio tracks, just want to make that disclaimer. . . But, I know it is possible to erase or cut audio out of a sequence. So if you copy a sequence, you can go to your copied sequence and erase the audio from the audio track of that sequence (do not erase the audio track, just the waveform in that sequence). The audio will still be in the original sequence, but not in the copied sequence. This can act as a mute. If you want to put the audio back, just go to the original waveform, press the shift button, press copy, then go to the new sequence's audio track and press shift, and press paste to put the waveform back onto the audio track. The MPC LIVE is powerful. The more I learn about it, the more of a fan I become. I really like the addition of audio tracks to the MPC, a very welcomed addition 🙂
This comment is extremely helpful, Matthew. Thanks for bringing it up, as I wouldn't have thought to delete the waveform inside the track, after having already deleting the track itself and losing it in every sequence. Thanks again, man.
R3N5HAW they haven't fixed it, because it's not actually a fault, it's more so just odd design. You can put your own audio into tracks by using the sampler, and it's also very easy to do. So, it's not a game breaking issue for the device, just not expected behavior is all.
R3N5HAW If you want to use our you like this there’s a feature called the looper for that purpose audio tracks or after you’ve completed an arrangement and want to play something completely over that arrangement
Its 2020 Akai is sill not listening. It sucks for live performance. There also a way to mute tracks using the Channel Mixer instead, But its still strange.
I don't own the MPC Live but I have a 2500, so I'm familiar with the MPC concept. The guy from the support team should have given you a better explanation on the difference between MIDI and audio tracks and what these two types of recording functions are used for. The MIDI tracks are used to control external MIDI instruments or samples and since samples are basically just more or less short audio files it's easy to mix up these two categories but they are used for different purposes. MIDI tracks don't actually contain audio data, only control messages like note on or off, control changes that are transmitted to the sequencer by pushing buttons, turning knobs and so on. You're not actually recording sound, the control messages can be applied to a whole new MIDI instrument, sample or even sets of samples like drum kits. The audio tracks are basically used like a tape machine to record one long audio file across the whole song, for example when someone wants to plug in a mic to record a guitar or a vocal track over a previously written arrangement. So that's basically just one long static sample with only one trigger command for the start point of the entire track, there is no way to switch off note trigger commands in the middle of an audio track because note on or off info doesn't exist for each of the notes recorded by a guitar player. That's why mutes can't be applied to audio tracks because it's missing all the control information that a MIDI track consists of. So if you want to keep all this flexibility, simply don't use the audio tracks, there is no need to anyway. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the reply. I've since started to look at the audio tracks the way you've explained them. I still wish they could be muted between sequences. :P I feel like it would be the best of both worlds if they behaved the way you mentioned (able to play through an entire song, regardless of sequence) as well as the way midi tracks do, (able to be muted by sequence). I understand that they can run concurrent to the entire song, and that's pretty neat, but there are a LOT of complaints online, by a lot of people, who have experienced the same misunderstanding that I have, expecting them to behave one way, but they behave another. I have since come to accept this as "just the way it works" with the MPC Live, now. :P Thanks again for replying and explaining it to me.
Caid Johnson you have to to record the audio like you do it on audio tape. For example on a chorus just record chorus part and on verse similar. If you view it that way it's still powerful.. the problem is you want the audio tracks to function like the sampler section. If you view the audio tracks like a slightly lot more powerful adat tape with cut and paste the features you get it.
hector godoy-torres That's not what I said. I tried to explain that audio tracks cannot be handled like MIDI tracks because they don't contain the same kind of data. Older version MPCs don't offer audio tracks at all. They are not needed for writing sample based arrangements. Audio tracks give you the possibility to make full length live recordings on top of a MIDI arrangement and you can still edit them in many different ways, so to be honest, I don't think not getting a mute function for audio tracks is a serious issue.
Hey Guys, MPC 2500 with jjos xl user here... so, after watching this vid, I was curious if this was an issue on my mpc... and nope, audio tracks stay the way you put them from sequence to sequence. I am bummed that the new mpc's are not what I had hoped. I spent a weekend with an mpc x and it was a seriously frustrating experience. But, like anything, I would imagine that once you get to know the new mpc OS, it would be fine, but daaamn. I hope Akai steps up on this one... but I wouldn't hold my breath. Peace
"Track" and "Sequence" on Mpc is confusing to me, I just use Sequence and duplicate sequences and erase versus muting. I just like old school way of hip hop on the Mpc samples and drums simple beat making.
I wonder if the MPC was designed as a Performance device and not as a Production device. There's always a step that I miss when using the MPC, but have no issue when using Ableton and a Launchpad.
@@CaidicusProductions Then maybe you should write an update on this info (ABOVE), so that what you learned is shared with everyone in a common easily seen area, like where you put your "full disclosure" (& no one has to fish for your update in the comments section).. you present a frustrating problem (in THIS VIDEO), & have the fix ("trick") posted in your "later vids". that's not helpful..
Hey I have a question. Have you tried making all of your sequences first then go back and only record the audio that you want on the sequence you want it on then there is no need to mute?
I'm sorry I never replied to this question, it's a very good question. In fact, this would probably work, though I've never tried it this way. The best way to do it is to make the whole song (all of the sequences), then use the convert function in the song panel of the options. That'll turn all of your sequences into one very long sequence which you can record audio tracks to your heart's content.
I have the mpc bible and it said that one should make a full song and convert it then you can record vocals with audio track along with doing your mixes
not being able to zoom out is also just crazy . also I cant get mpc as a plugin to playback its audio tracks from positions in a reliable way . it may start at a bar other than bar 1 from start , rewind play etc . I dont mind the audio track just being an audio track by itself , but the start of the host does not play back from start . ? or it changes .
Honestly, that sounds above my paygrade (more technical than I'm used to, myself). For what it's worth, I've long since learned to LOVE my MPC Live since this video. For any of its faults (of which there are almost always workarouds) it has been the center of my dawless setup and just such a pleasure to use. I hope whatever issues you have, you're also able to find ways around them and find your love for the MPC Live. Thanks for the comment!
@@CaidicusProductions yeah I found the start cue , sync issue in the host , fixed , still the MPC zoom time line issue is a crazy one. I need to arrange large files of over 20mins each cut . Just cant zoom out to any reasonable view .
It's a shame only the non portable MPC X has powered xlr inputs. I also have a zoom h6, which does have powered xlr inputs, and it's not terrible having to plug right into the live, or just use the samples from the zoom by treating it as a USB drive on the Live. But, it would've been nicer if the jacks were there. The Force has powered xlr, but it doesn't have a battery. This seems to be an Akai trait, putting every feature spread out on multiple devices so there's no one single perfect solution.
Oh wow, that is a VERY odd, and very frustrating issue. I can record unlimited bars into the audio tracks, so it makes me wonder what's going on with your live. If you add me to Discord, username is also caidicus (all small letters), perhaps I can help you get it sorted out. I hope you can find a solution.
It seems Akai have implemented the audio tracks as a global feature, accompaniment like you see on keyboards. Maybe you can assign an audio track to a specific bar in a sequence to work around this.
I don't own a Live, but I think this is normal behaviour from the Live. Seeing that the standalones are limited to 8 audio tracks I guess they decided to share all the 8 tracks for all the sequences?! And know I finally understand why they separated them instead of creating a new icon for audio tracks like program or keygroups. Your workaround is good but it can be annoying because a midi trigger is different from audio tracks. Question, can you make the lenght of an audio track different from the drum programs? And just for information, this behaviour doesn't happen in the software and with the controllers. It's just in standalone.
Sorry I'm taking so long to reply to you. I can finally answer your question about audio track length vs sequence length. I had originally been told that an audio tracks' length could run longer than a single sequence, and this was why they worked independently from midi tracks. After trying it for myself, I've found no way to make an audio track run (or record) longer than the sequence length. It'll stop recording, and start again with each sequence. So, for all of the "this is the way they're supposed to work" comments I've seen about the audio tracks, I still think the implementation is extremely unintuitive.
I know I'm 5 years late, but you have to click on the "Audio" tab, then enter "Audio Edit Mode" and mute the audio from within there. You can't mute it from the main audio window (like I was attempting to do in the past), or it won't work in "Song Mode". If you follow the steps I mentioned above, it'll work like any other track mute in "Song Mode."
Hey bro, The MPC X has issues as well. I had mine for 2 months and it’s been confirmed that I have a defective unit. I have a new replacement unit on the way. I called akai directly. Problem I was having with the X is the screen was taking too much time to load up”see video on my page” there’s a lot of people having the same issue that I was having with this boot up screen. I recommend you call them directly during normal business hours if you want faster results!! AS FAR AS YOUR AUDIO PROBLEM. It’s not a glitch I thought the same when I was using it! But your problem is your INPUTS . You’re not changing your inputs on your audio. Each audio sample needs to have a Separate input level. Then put it into next sequence mode/song mode MUTE out the parts you want. From your video I see you’re on and input 1,2 ON ALL YOUR Sequences,,so when your mute INPUT 1,2 it mutes all!! I recorded a whole song using my Yamaha motif in standalone mode with parts muted out using audio! Try playing input levels and see what happens. !!!
The only problem i have with the "Audio" files is when loading a recent project the Audio files sometimes dont load automatically into the sequences!!!! That shit be a pain in the A**!! If anyone knows why this is happening or a fix id appreciate it..
take your audio track file, load it in a kit and trigger it with a midi track. your talking about 8 bar samples. I've been doing that since pro tools 6 and a mpc60.
Is there any way to mute the audio tracks while recording into song mode, so it plays back how you muted the audio tracks in the sequences?...SBN RESONATE
It's a great machine. I wouldn't let this vid put you off. The original poster seems to understand now, but he was approaching things in an incorrect manner. If you are going to repeat sections of audio throughout a track, using the audio tracks is an inefficient use of re-sources, that is what a sampler is for. I've not touched the audio tracks on mine, but I'd use them for recording long sections of instruments and vocals that run through whole sections of the track.
I'm with you. I wish there was a way to use audio tracks the same way as MIDI tracks. Why would AKAI not make this an option? I use the audio tracks for time stretching. And it would be really cool if I could use that audio track in certain sequences. Come on AKAI! Listen to your users. We are the ones buying your products.
I wonder if they fixed this on the MPC One? I thought that you could go into the sequence and just delete the audio track for that sequence? Does anybody know if there was some kind of fix for this, because I just now today learned how to record audio tracks into the MPC One, and it was very confusing and hard to figure out, now I understand what your talking about. It's basically unusable if you can't delete it or mute it in seperate sequences? This is one of the main reasons why I got the MPC One? Please, let me know something y'all?...SBN RESONATE
P.S. to delete the audio track from that sequence, just go to the audio track you want to delete and hit "Erase" at the top of the device (the physical button) and it'll give you the option to erase that audio track from that sequence.
@@CaidicusProductions Oh, ok, that's cool Caid, thanks for letting me know, because I know that it was a pain in the butt just to figure out how to record an audio track. Hey, quick question. I'm having an issue with the monitor auto and monitor. When I go to overdub another track overtop of one I recorded, I can only hear the volume coming from my synth and not the audio track that I recorded. If I can hear the synth playing, then I can't hear my audio track? I don't know how to prevent this, because I want to hear my audio track that I recorded, while I'm playing my synth, but I have to press monitor auto to hear my audio track, and just monitor to hear my synth volume? If you understand tge question? It's really confusing? I can't find a way around it...SBN RESONATE
Hey Caid, I have asked you a question about thos before, and I will try to explain as best as I can with my question. Say I want to beatbox 8 tracks, one being me humming a melody, 2...snapping my finger, 3...clapping my hand, etc, etc...the whole way to 8. How are those recorded into the machine itself, would I have to sample it in to record it in, or record it in going by the metronome, is that how an audio track is recorded, and then can it be sliced up or put in the sequence where you want it to be. I'm having trouble understanding what people are saying about the audio tracks. So what your saying is that the audio tracks have to be taken out of the sequence, or put into a squence in order for it to play, your saying that they cannot be muted while playing an entire song? So if I have a snapping my finger sound as audio track 2, and I have that snap in sequence one and four let's just say, that means if I mute it out in sequence one, it will also be muted in sequence four? Can't you just go in and delete the snap from the fourth or the first sequence if you don't want it your in your song, in that specific sequence? Thanks, I know this is annoying, but I'm having trouble understanding the audio tracks and how they are recorded in and used? Thanks
To do what you're saying it's possible. I think my issue was happening because I'd write the whole song in one sequence, then copy that sequence multiple times to create a full length song, muting and unmuting midi tracks in different sections to create variance. For the actual audio tracks, you could record up to 8 tracks in a sequence, though I don't know if they work independently or if they'll be there for every sequence. It's something I haven't tried. One thing I do know, however, is that if you were to copy all the audio tracks to all of the sequences, you can ERASE, not delete the tracks from any sequence you want. Select the track, then hit the erase button and erase that track from that sequence. If you delete the track, it'll delete it entirely, but if you erase it, it'll just erase it for that sequence. I hope that helps! I would love to know if audio tracks were limited to sequences they're created in though, something I'll try tomorrow. Write the whole song in the midi tracks, then go through each sequence and create audio tracks to see if those tracks stay in a single sequence or if they're then in every sequence. It'd be nice to learn that they're sequence specific to the sequences they're created in. That'd make a lot more sense, anyway. Anyhow, thanks for the question!
@@CaidicusProductions Thanks, yeah because I'm having trouble on whether to buy a sampler stand alone box, or a multitrack recorder and what I'll need for that. I know it's probably much quicker with a looper like the roland rc505 or a multi track recorder, but the akai live and one has other sounds that I can put in with my beatboxed tracks, so that's where I am more driven towards the mpc, but it's a hard choice because the one is way easier, but doesn't have strings, drums and other sounds that I would like to put with my song, so I'm just trying to figure out a way to do what I need to do with less as possible. I don't want too much gear to create with. I just want to be able to record my voice and sounds with my voice, and then add some strings, drums or bass sound, so I'll probably have to go with an akai live or one with this. It's just confusing with trying to figure out the workflow for each of these and what they are capable of. Thanks again.
@@natanmandala Well hey, if you have the time to watch a longer video, I've made a 2019 review of the MPC Live. It also has a pretty in depth tutorial to get you started on making music with the Live. For what it's worth, I absolutely LOVE my MPC Live, it's such a versatile and powerful piece of gear. In fact, it's the heart of my entire hardware setup and I do all of my recording and songmaking in the Live. The One looks cool, but it also kind of looks like a cheaper version of the Live, which might mean it's missing some functionality that the Live has. If you can afford the price of the Live, I'd say just go with that and you'll probably be really happy with it. Good luck with whatever you do choose.
@@CaidicusProductions Yeah, I watched it, and thanks, I'm just waiting to get the money together to either get this or the mpc one. I appreciate the feedback and the effort to actually answer questions. Thanks again Caid.
What exactly is the difference between sampling and audio tracks? I can't distinguish between the two, because I never had a sampling machine or used audio tracks. Why can't you just sample a sound instead of making it an audio track, or is that wrong or doesn't make sense. Please, if anyone can explain the difference in plain easy terms to understand. Thank you.
I know this is a year later but i just stumbled upon your video. I have the MPCX and I am having serious easily repeatable issues with my MPCX and recording audio. I will be recording my bass and when I play it back , if my song is longer than 5 minutes (audio recording), it stops recording! It does not tell you it has stopped recording, and you only realise when you listen back. As a jazz player, playing improvised music, this is most annoying. I have reported this to Akai, but as you have found out , their customer service is disgusting and patronising. I really wish that I had never bought this unit as there is no sign that Akai have even acknowledged this problem never mind fixing it. I am shocked that a unit with this high specification does not do direct to disc recording!!! I am very disappointed in this unit as far as audio recording is concerned. I won't be rushing to get anymore of their products.
What are you using to record? Direct to audio track or the sampler? The audio tracks won't be any longer than the sequence they're in, and the sampler length needs to be set by the user. If you make a TH-cam video of your issue and link it here, I'll definitely watch it and see if I can help. Also, have you updated the firmware to the latest version?
I know this is a really late question being February 20th of 2022 but was this audio problem solved with the 2.10 update? I tried to go to your channel to find out but I didn't see any follow-up on it but I did subscribe and give a thumbs up to this video 👍
To be honest, the issue was largely on account of my using the audio tracks incorrectly. I would write basically a whole song in one sequence, copy and past it a bunch, mute and unmute tracks, and use that as a song. This doesn't work well with audio tracks because they don't mute and unmute the way midi tracks do. That said, you can erase audio tracks per sequence, which does basically the same thing. Also, if you write a song sequence by sequence, you won't have the same audio track exist in every sequence, only in the ones you create that specific audio track in. In other words, it's an EXTREMELY easy thing to work around, making it basically a non-issue. :)
You can mute and unmute audio tracks per sequence? If they made that possible, one of my biggest gripes with the system would be a thing of the past. I'm going to update my MPC and see how it goes. Thanks for the heads up!
I installed the latest update on the MPC Live, it still does the same thing. If I make each sequence 8 bars, record an audio track, it'll still treat the audio track as if they're a global thing. So, still, if I mute the audio track in sequence 1, it mutes it in all sequences. I guess the only way to use the audio tracks is to create an entire song in only one sequence, then record and let the audio track play for the length of the sequence. It's not an ideal system for someone who uses multiple sequences per song.
@@CaidicusProductions that doesn't happen to me, if u want to delete a audio track just use erase track , it will not delete the other track in other sequance
Man, I don't know what's up with it, to be honest. Audio tracks don't seem to be sequence based for me on the MPC Live. If I delete the track in sequence 1, it's deleted from the project altogether. Basically, the audio tracks are not within the sequence framework, but a global thing. It's really odd. You're the second person to mention that you can delete/mute audio tracks per sequence, and now I'm wondering if it's an MPC X thing.
@@CaidicusProductions dont u have a erase button on the LIVE? Cuz all i do is erase the audio on seq 2 and it will not erase it from seq1 , is there any way we can do a video chat, i will show you
at least yours worked mine didnt I had to send it back to get a replacement unit today. I'm super bummed cause it was essentially a 1000 dollar paperweight
who can s recordet only the right side on my mpc , when i go on resample R , there is no singnal !!!!! but in resample R plus L is ok , what is goning on !!! why there is only the resample L ,,
I personally don't have the Live. I have the Touch. But I think I know the problem and the way to fix it isn't pretty. Akai expects anyone recording audio to first do your sequencing, put that in song mode, convert the song to a sequence, THEN record your audio over that. Hope that sheds some light on it. Not the way I would have approached it.
It is NOT an ISSUE! Read the Manual! It is all easily done! Beginners will get confused because of your Video because it is wrong in so many ways. You want something a machine is not supposed to do! If you would have taken your time and read the manual you would get the concept of audio tracks and figure out how they work. Sure you can MUTE audio Tracks per sequence that is done in the AUDIO EDITOR! or buy recording/programning MUTES with the AUTOMATION feature of the audio tracks! So it is already there in two different ways which correspond with the concept of AUDIO Tracks... you just have to learn the difference between an audio track and a MIDI track! Then you can easily achieve what you are looking for.
Great video. Trad guitarist here, Cubase, Zoom R16 track recorder etc. but bought to investigate use of MPC Live as dawless and portable production tool. There's a steep learning curve your vIdeo was interesting and useful. Contextually as a non beatmaker I fully understand, and yes think your observation is correct. I would not expect un/muting "all" audio tracks either - it's treating the audio as a type of fixed sample not an independent track. Your request is left field to MPC workflow. Algorithmically though, I'd expect very simple SW switch to overcome this is relatively easy - I'm thinking shouldn't use more memory per track (which appears a limitation anyway), but who knows what architectural issues AKAI see or want to divulge. Agree a more interested acknowledgement would have been nice. Good one kudos from Sydney Australia
i have another problem with audio trakcs and i thought that you would tell something about it in this video. I have a nord electro 5d piano and when i plug it in my mpc live the sound is very deteriorated, i don't understand why maybe there is a simple solution, tell me if you know :)
Also, make sure the volume isn't set too high on the Nord, and make sure it's not set too high on the back of the MPC Live, the record volume knob is on the back of the MPC Live and will make everything sound terrible if it's set too high.
@@CaidicusProductions my cables are good and both of my volumes are ok i don't understand why it is still deteriorated ... but thanks for your answer :)
It’s the same as every Mpc predating the mpc Renn lol. You have to either record live completely or create individual samples from the audio as to trigger them at certain times. I have the 4000 and now the x. It’s funny because it’s been addressed by every producer since ever.
So when it says that you can only have 8 audio tracks, is that for one song/project, or in the whole mpc live, and what do you have to do when you get to 8, save them into an sd card, computer or other kind of device that saves it? How does that work?
The 8 tracks are per song and sequence. A single sequence can have 8 active tracks recorded. If you make a new sequence, you can erase tracks from it and record new stuff into the freed tracks. This plays into how songs are built as combinations of sequences. A single song with 8 bar sequences would consist of about 12 sequences and be about 3:12 (three minutes and twelve seconds) long. If you recorded 8 audio tracks in one of the sequences, and copied and pasted a sequence to extend the length of the song, the audio tracks would also be copied and pasted to the next sequence. In the new sequence, you could have those tracks play, or you could erase them from that sequence and then record new audio tracks for that sequence. All this said, the MPC Live also has a built in sampler, so you can record limitless samples and assign them to the pads. In that scenario, you can play unlimited audio tracks in your songs. Anyhow, the audio track limitation is only per project, not per the whole device. :)
I have been looking for a DAW controller just took back the Machine MK3 because it failed after 8 days. I started looking at this unit and see issues here as well. I don't understand why none of these company's have actual phone support. I would even pay extra just to have it so if I had questions I didn't have to take a few years just to learn how to use my piece of hardware but could enjoy using it. Akai and all other company's that make these types of controllers should at least be making videos on step by step processes so nobody would be confused about what everything does and how to properly use it.
Don't let this video stop you from getting an awesome device. The MPC Live is now one of my favourite music devices ever. Since I learned to delete audio tracks from specific sequences, I fell in love with it. Then they added VSTs, side chaining, professional effects, etc etc. Also, the MPC Live isn't really a DAW controller, it's a DAW on its own. You CAN use it to control MPC software on your computer, but it's really made to be a take anywhere DAW in a box, as it can be used entirely on its own. Check out this video I made th-cam.com/video/35uKRiJLw7I/w-d-xo.html if you want to get an updated opinion on it, and this video was even made before launched a MASSIVE update to the Live. Ignore my audio track issue video and take a serious look at the MPC Live for yourself, it is really awesome to use.
Caid, I hope that you were able to get this issue resolved. Though I don't own the product myself, I have seen a work around for this issue on another users channel. From what I understand, they sequence all of their midi tracks first, building tracks into a sequence just as you do. Then they copy and paste creating multiple sequences just as you do. Here is the workaround: They then use the convert feature converting all of those sequences into one track in one sequence after which they record audio tracks. This way, even when copying and creating new sequences the audio tracks per sequence work independently and muting an audio track in one sequence will not mute the same track in other sequences. I don't know why it works this way but it does. Hopefully this helps if you haven't already found a solution.
Nope, as far as they're concerned, it's working the way it's supposed to. There are workarounds, but this is and will continue to be the way the system works.
That's a tough one to tell. I think there've managed to grab a lot of new market share with the MPC Live, and to a lesser degree (because it's so much more expensive) the MPC X. I think we'll keep seeing MPC's, but I don't think we can expect Akai to stop being Akai, that is to say, releasing a device and then just basically moving onto the next thing. I've been told the audio tracks are supposed to function like this, and one person mentioned that it's so that they can run independently of the track lengths or whatever. To be honest, I put that to the test, recording an audio track while the sequence played, and when the sequence finished, the audio track just stopped recording as well. So, for whatever purpose people claim the audio tracks behave like they do, I can't seem to find a single reason why, myself.
Jim Shannon on Sounds hey Jim. It's worth noting, I posted this on Reddit, and some users believe this is actually supposed to be how the audio tracks work, and it has a purpose for working this way. It's not how I expected the audio tracks work, and that's probably why I have such a huge problem with it. One other guy spoke about a benefit of this, that you can make the audio track as long as the whole song and do stuff like sing to the whole song or play a guitar riff along it, or something. Until others had disagreed with my opinion on here, I couldn't see a single reason why the audio tracks would behave like this, now I kind of want to see a video tutorial that explains why it works this way and why it can actually be a good thing. So, in other words, I'm no longer so sure this was an accident on Akai's part, or an intentional UI design decision. I would say, look into it for yourself, and you might find that the audio tracks are better than my angry rant painted them out to be. Thanks for commenting on the video man, and be sure to check out a few different videos about the MPC Live before truly making up your mind about it, as there are far more extensive videos (professional) that show how powerful of a device it really can be.
Quick question, so when I go to browser, then go to sample assign and try to load an instrument that I selected it says the (sample assign not available for keygroup program) and when I try to press program edit, sample assign, pad mixer, pad mute, pad perform it says (not available for audio track) do you know what this means if so please let me know..thanks
Interesting video but this is what the manual says : Audio tracks consist of a recorded audio signal, like a traditional DAW. These tracks do not use programs because the audio is already contained in the track. Also, unlike MIDI tracks, audio tracks are present in every sequence in the project, even if the tracks themselves are empty. (A sequence on your MPC hardware can contain 8 audio tracks. A sequence in the MPC software can contain 128 audio tracks.) Taking it from a daw I’d say you’d need to chop and mute the areas you’d want to mute - coming from a DAW - see it like a tape on top of you midi sequence
Yeah, I've long since been taught the work-around of deleting the audio from a track for any sequences I don't need it in. For what it's worth, I also made a more recent MPC Live video where I praised the MPC Live, and this is before the latest updates which added VSTs and AIR effects, and have basically blown the MPC Live into stellar orbit. In other words, my opinions about the Live are so much better than they used to be.
Caid Johnson just watched it - didnt think of that either so good tip but I use it more in a sense of a true DAW and audio clips alternatively I use stems in the sequence - keep enjoying it
Bros.. Why not just copy the dang sequence one, add audio and save it as sequence two? Then you got 2 separate things to use as you wish. Then if you had something cool like a midi fighter 3D or somethin, you can live perform jumps and sequence and program changes and anything else.
I don't know what you mean by midi fighter 3D. It seems to me you might have a much deeper understanding of the MPC Live than me. As for the audio tracks, I learned that putting the whole project (multiple sequences) into song mode, then pressing "Convert>seq", you can make all your sequences into one long single sequence. At this point, you can record an entire audio track the length of the entire project, instead of being limited to how many bars a sequence in. I learned this little trick this week... A whole year after owning the device. :D I'm still learning.
@@CaidicusProductions i feel ya, and na i dont have one, im doin research, debating getting one. Your the one helpin me ha! I just thought that might work from the basis of how everything looked and sounded. That midi fighter btw is just a little midi controller, but its off the charts wylde all it can do. u aught to check it out. ill gates does a sick demo vid, and some of the other vids by midi fighter r just insane. we're talkin gyroscopic sensors and crap. seriously, check it out. midi fighter 3D. midi fighter is the company. nothing can do what this thing does
@@JohnSmith-ut9ti If you get the chance, check out my later video called "MPC Live, better than I thought" or something like that. I gush about it in that video, and that's even before the 2.3 update was released. 2.3 was absolutely amazing, and the MPC Live has become the coolest hardware I've ever used.
Caid Johnson this is not a glich, it is an architecture problem. I have the MPC 5000 and it has the same problem. Having said that I think the MPC X handles audio much better.
Once you build your song with samples and tracks, can you sing into the live unit and have that recorded as well and be able to play throughout your song? I hope that makes sense, if you wanted to Sing lyrics is that a totally different process or can this unit accommodate that part of the song?
Yes, you can totally do that. In fact, the way the audio tracks work, being independent of sequences, it's actually a bit more ideal for singing to a song. You can record a single audio track the entire length of the song, as opposed to having to sing sequence by sequence. This is the strength of the audio tracks working the way they do.
Yes, this is the way they should be looked at and the purpose to use them for. I'd be intrigued to know if this is covered in the manual. I haven't read it as I'm pretty well versed in the MPC workflow. To be fair to you Caid, I think Akai support should learn from these repeated requests and rather than giving you a cut and paste platitude, send you a cut and paste explanation on the way they envisage the tracks being utilised.
Sounds like an intellectual property issue. When a manufacturer does that it is because they can not make it work right without either paying royalties to the IP holder or the hardware requires a more powerful SOC which costs more for it's IP
If you check out any of my later videos on the MPC Live, you'll find I absolutely love using it and have found some really good workarounds for the issue I was having. Thanks for commenting on the video! :D
I wouldn't work in this way anyway so don't see this as an issue for me. I certainly wouldn't call it a bug as a bug suggests that the unit is not functioning in the way the developers intended which is not the case here. I agree with Akai that this is a change request.
the mute issue is moot. you wouldn't make a whole song here. you take the important pieces (minus mutes) and send them to another daw to be mastered. this isn't a thing. if you do it the way I stated you have a better master and you save HDD space on the computer you mastered on. the MPC Live never claimed to be a DAW... I don't think.
Someone suggested to me that converting .wav files to midi might work. Then the MPC will treat your converted sound files as any other midi (thus allowing you to avoid the problems of "tracks" that handle the sound files). I have not tried this yet but it made sense.
Hey there. I've since made a couple new videos, one of them which demos my newfound appreciation for the MPC Live. Another youtuber by the name of Mozes7 helped me understand how to remove audio tracks from single sequences, and that was a big help. The easiest way to use sampling in tracks is still with the built in sampler, however. Just record something, assign it to a pad, and put it in a song. ;P
+Caid Johnson Sweet! I'm loving this machine more and more. I still love the fact that it's basically a touch screen Daw with tons of ways to tackle song writing.
I don't want to break your balls comment it on a previews video but man you seem the only honest guy reviewing that thing. Can you talk about the stereo line in thing like as a standalone device and as an interface? it's the most important aspect and nobody talks about. Like can the inputs split to two mono? Can you pan them in the center and can you treat them as two different mono mics like two separate audio channels or it would be always an stereo in channel? One guy said to me that you the amps of the inputs are great etc I don't buy any of that. Throw some words if you wish. Also did you resolve the audio mute/sequence thing? Cause a guy above said that he had the solution etc.
Hey Pau, hmm, I think it's possible to record the L/R as two separate mono sources. I haven't tried doing it before, but they record stereo, so I'd imagine there'd be a way to mute/separate/pan the two channels. Either way, even if there isn't, the recording and sampling into the MPC Live is ridiculously easy to do, so it's not much of a hassle to do one device, then another. As for the audio mute, there is a way and I covered it in a later MPC Live video. I think it's titled "MPC Live is better than I thought." I've really been falling in love with the MPC Live, these last couple of months.
It's misinformation like this that clogs up the Internet like a sewer drain. There's nothing wrong with the way Audio Tracks function in the MPC Live. They work like the audio tracks in any DAW or hardware recorder, and serve the same purpose. Not to be confused with Samples, Clips, and MIDI tracks.
While I respect your opinion, I still see no point in them behaving the way they do. The other thing is, how is this misinformation? I've only stated how they behave, not created some behavior that doesn't exist. In that vein, this is information that you disagree with (perhaps even for valid reasons), and not "misinformation" as you call it. If I can mute all tracks per sequence, in the case of midi tracks, but not audio tracks, I'd love to hear your reason for why this is a good thing. Honestly, if there is a single good argument as to why this is a good thing, I'd be so happy to hear it so I can have that "AH! So THAT'S why it works that way!" feeling. Considering that each audio track is limited to the length of the sequence it's in, I can't see a single benefit to having it simply need to be erased from a track/sequence instead of just muted per sequence. As I said, I'm all ears, tell me why I'm getting it all wrong and why this is good, and I might just even create a retraction video about it.
@@CaidicusProductions First of all, it constitutes "misinformation" because you would have people believe that it's a bug, and made an 18-minute-long video citing this behavior as a fundamental "issue" with the implementation of the audio tracks, when in fact there's nothing wrong with the way they function at all. A bug, by definition, is a malfunction that yields unintended or unpredictable results; yet the Audio Tracks in the MPC work exactly as they're meant to, and for any mix-savvy engineer, they behave as one might expect. As for why Audio Tracks work the way they do, this is perhaps a conversation too long for the comments section on TH-cam; but to oversimplify the matter, you could think of them as being dedicated to continuous, organic performance elements: i.e. singing, playing the guitar, and other quintessentially 'human' aspects that you would not otherwise want locked-to-the-grid per se. Whenever I don't want to hear my vocal at a particular point in a song, for instance, I simply don't sing there (wink). Never mind that there are literally countless other scenarios wherein Audio Tracks, as they currently function, are uniquely beneficial, if necessary. To that end, there are many ways for you to accomplish what you want to accomplish, using Clips, automation, track editing, song arrangement, *manual mixing (you know, actually touching the instrument at hand, and doing something for yourself, instead of expecting the machine to do it all for you), etc. Honestly, I don't know why you aspire to use Audio Tracks at all, if muting the tracks with the sequencer is your primary objective. That's what Samples and Clips are for. Regardless, the point remains that Audio Tracks are designed with specific applications in mind, and everything else can be done with MIDI tracks. Now, are there bugs in the MPC? Sure. Hell, I'm no advocate for Akai. But this particular functionality, that you would have them change, is simply not one of its shortcomings, and certainly not a bug. The bottom line is, there are real bugs to deal with, and promised features yet to implement; meanwhile, Akai's customer service reps, software engineers, and people like myself who are looking for answers, have to wade through this nonsense. It holds everybody up. More importantly, there is a long lineage of smart and informed artist and engineers who have ultimately arrived at this workflow, through decades of real-world application; and as such, you would be well-advised to do more reading, more listening, and make an effort to better understand the reasons behind the design, before pontificating about it online and confusing the kids. And if you do come to see the error of your ways, the responsible thing to do would be to remove or replace this video altogether, not "create a retraction video about it", which only stands to add to the already deafening noise online...
@@SandcastleTheory I appreciate the time it took you to create a response like this, but your attitude throughout was entirely condescending, inappropriately so. How can you expect anyone to follow your advice when you're doing nothing to mask your contempt for their actions? Your brilliance is apparent, but your entire lack of social tack is also overwhelmingly on display. Sadly, you live in a world where most people will know less than you (or so it would seem from your perspective), and people are going to do what people are going to do. Not all things that people do will please you, including their right to have opinions that differ from yours and sharing them on TH-cam. That you're telling me to take down my video and basically leave these things to the pros shows how woefully ignorant you are of the way human beings share information, and more so how we learn from each other. If only the scholars were the teachers, if no one listened to someone while that someone shared THEIR perspective of their journey, the process of coming to understanding would be lost. We would simply be expected to know. You wasted so much time waxing poetic about the ethical value of letting my superiors be the only ones to make TH-cam videos about the features and functionality of a daw that you failed to make one single counterpoint about why the audio track functionality is good this way. You stated "Whenever I don't want to hear my vocal at a particular point in a song, for instance, I simply don't sing there (wink)." This doesn't make any sense. You could do that in any point of any recording you did of yourself, why would the ability to mute the audio tracks per sequence make any difference to that ability? Also, considering that an audio track can't be any longer than the sequence it's in, you're still limited to the length of the sequence it's in. I digress, the reason I even encountered this issue was because I was building songs by writing many tracks in one sequence, then copying pasting through multiple sequences, after which I'd mute different tracks from sequence one to the last sequence in order to build diversity. This approach is complicated if audio tracks are used. The same thing can be done, but instead of muting the audio track in that sequence, you must actually erase it from that sequence. So, same thing, just more button presses and different from the process of making midi tracks silent in a sequence, also less reversible.
@@CaidicusProductions You can interpret my tone of voice as condescending if that suits you. Much gets lost in translation when attempting to communicate online; especially when someone is speaking out of frustration or otherwise expressing an opposing opinion or grievance. Not that I'm denying my tone. Sure, I'm in a bad mood, and made a few sarcastic cracks. I'd have said the same things in person though, simply as a matter of fact. But whatever. You absolutely have the right to express your point of view here. And you could argue that I don't have to listen to it either. However, you did step into this public forum with a bone to pick, and obviously the title of your video did catch my attention. Why? Because, like you, I am also a member of this niche community, and I happen to rely heavily on these boxes to make my living. As such, I make every effort to stay informed, and I'm keenly interested in how Akai (and other tech companies) spend their time and resources when it comes to fixing bugs and making improvements to overall functionality. So, when I see your video in my feed claiming there's an "issue" with the Audio Tracks, I think "Oh $hit! Really? Better find out..." But no, not only is there nothing wrong with the Audio Tracks, evidently, you're one of those people who likes to bog-down the forums and Akai Product Support, asking for arbitrary changes and fixes for things that aren't broken. That's irritating to me. And when you add that to the grind of having to wade through endless pages of misinformation online every day, ya... You end up the brunt of an accusatory rant. I honestly don't care how that makes me look. I'm sure, at very least, I've spared someone 18 minutes and got a few laughs. Regardless, I was not offering you any advice... You asked. And for the record, the workflow you've chosen, as described above, is the only reason why you're dealing with "more button presses". Don't get me wrong, I get what you're trying to do; but as several people have now pointed out to you in the comments (both here and on Reddit), if you want to MUTE tracks from sequence to sequence, there are other ways to do that. But it seems that you're bent on shoehorning Audio Tracks into your personal workflow, even though they were never designed to do what you want them to do. As I see it, the diplomatic, if dismissive, reply you got from Akai (or whomever) seems appropriate to me, considering the subjectivity of your complaint. The expression "we've got bigger fish to fry" comes to mind. The bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with the current implementation of Audio Tracks in the MPC Live.
@@SandcastleTheory I can accept that, (not that you need my acceptance((setting the tone of my reply to you))) I will give the audio tracks another good go and see if I can figure out how to use them as they were intended to be used. It'll take some getting used to.
This is the main reason I'm not going to buy this, as soon as you are into the idea of conditional and parameter locking workflows, like Elektron & Synthstrom for example, there is no going back. A sequence should contain data completely exclusively, as soon as you make a NEW sequence, all the data should be NEW as well, unless of course youi desire it to be the same. Synthstroms Deluge is going to show the big boys whats up, trust!
@KALLPAKK I'm certain you are misinterpreting what I said there. I said it is possible to build an entire song in a single sequence, then copy and paste that sequence as many times as one needs to build the length of the song, then mute and unmute tracks in each sequence, to build complexity. That's a heck of a lot different from "building a complete 8 bar song in one sequence", no?
Synct, For what it's worth, it's possible to get around the audio track behavior by using the sampler to record stuff, then assigning the samples to pads. I just find it cumbersome because it's in an entirely different menu and requires a lot more steps than simply recording audio tracks, and muting and unmuting them in each sequence. The benefit to how the audio tracks work is that, you can compose an entire song, then sing to the whole thing or play guitar to the whole thing, and record it as a single audio track. The difficult thing about that is that the device will only play a single sequence, over and over again, while you're doing this. So, you kind of need to judge the song length for yourself to make sure you don't go over the intended length of your song. You're also not going to hear the changes in the song (sequence by sequence), so you're going to miss the rises and falls of the song, while a single sequence is playing over and over again. Honestly, it's really possible that there is a definite reason why the audio tracks work this way, it just doesn't feel right to me, after using the midi tracks mute and unmute for the last six months.
Eh? When I say "a sequence should contain data completely exclusively", I mean the mute states too. Have you ever used an Elektron or Synthstrom box? You may not understand what I mean by parameter locking if you haven't... Also, you have used quotation marks to quote me saying something I clearly never did... I'm more than a little confused by your response...
Hahaha, all good bro, I was pretty confused there! :'D For straight up sampling, I don't think it comes much better than this box all things considered. But its a shame its live performance features aren't as strong as other boxes, otherwise it would be the end game for mobile production/performance right now. Peace
I like videos like this to open up discussion. Firstly, I am still learning how to use the MPC LIVE and audio tracks, just want to make that disclaimer. . . But, I know it is possible to erase or cut audio out of a sequence. So if you copy a sequence, you can go to your copied sequence and erase the audio from the audio track of that sequence (do not erase the audio track, just the waveform in that sequence). The audio will still be in the original sequence, but not in the copied sequence. This can act as a mute. If you want to put the audio back, just go to the original waveform, press the shift button, press copy, then go to the new sequence's audio track and press shift, and press paste to put the waveform back onto the audio track.
The MPC LIVE is powerful. The more I learn about it, the more of a fan I become. I really like the addition of audio tracks to the MPC, a very welcomed addition 🙂
Matthew Stratton well said.
This comment is extremely helpful, Matthew. Thanks for bringing it up, as I wouldn't have thought to delete the waveform inside the track, after having already deleting the track itself and losing it in every sequence.
Thanks again, man.
+Caid Johnson Have they fixed it yet... I want to get the live but I dont want that issue
R3N5HAW they haven't fixed it, because it's not actually a fault, it's more so just odd design. You can put your own audio into tracks by using the sampler, and it's also very easy to do. So, it's not a game breaking issue for the device, just not expected behavior is all.
R3N5HAW If you want to use our you like this there’s a feature called the looper for that purpose audio tracks or after you’ve completed an arrangement and want to play something completely over that arrangement
Its 2020 Akai is sill not listening. It sucks for live performance.
There also a way to mute tracks using the Channel Mixer instead, But its still strange.
I don't own the MPC Live but I have a 2500, so I'm familiar with the MPC concept. The guy from the support team should have given you a better explanation on the difference between MIDI and audio tracks and what these two types of recording functions are used for. The MIDI tracks are used to control external MIDI instruments or samples and since samples are basically just more or less short audio files it's easy to mix up these two categories but they are used for different purposes. MIDI tracks don't actually contain audio data, only control messages like note on or off, control changes that are transmitted to the sequencer by pushing buttons, turning knobs and so on. You're not actually recording sound, the control messages can be applied to a whole new MIDI instrument, sample or even sets of samples like drum kits. The audio tracks are basically used like a tape machine to record one long audio file across the whole song, for example when someone wants to plug in a mic to record a guitar or a vocal track over a previously written arrangement. So that's basically just one long static sample with only one trigger command for the start point of the entire track, there is no way to switch off note trigger commands in the middle of an audio track because note on or off info doesn't exist for each of the notes recorded by a guitar player. That's why mutes can't be applied to audio tracks because it's missing all the control information that a MIDI track consists of. So if you want to keep all this flexibility, simply don't use the audio tracks, there is no need to anyway. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the reply. I've since started to look at the audio tracks the way you've explained them.
I still wish they could be muted between sequences. :P I feel like it would be the best of both worlds if they behaved the way you mentioned (able to play through an entire song, regardless of sequence) as well as the way midi tracks do, (able to be muted by sequence).
I understand that they can run concurrent to the entire song, and that's pretty neat, but there are a LOT of complaints online, by a lot of people, who have experienced the same misunderstanding that I have, expecting them to behave one way, but they behave another.
I have since come to accept this as "just the way it works" with the MPC Live, now. :P
Thanks again for replying and explaining it to me.
Caid Johnson you have to to record the audio like you do it on audio tape. For example on a chorus just record chorus part and on verse similar. If you view it that way it's still powerful.. the problem is you want the audio tracks to function like the sampler section. If you view the audio tracks like a slightly lot more powerful adat tape with cut and paste the features you get it.
Yeah, I just want to be able to mute the audio tracks between sequences. :P
Hey dude, why is there no need to use Audio tracks? What is the alternative for recording my own vocals, bass etc into the MPC? Genuine question.
hector godoy-torres That's not what I said. I tried to explain that audio tracks cannot be handled like MIDI tracks because they don't contain the same kind of data. Older version MPCs don't offer audio tracks at all. They are not needed for writing sample based arrangements. Audio tracks give you the possibility to make full length live recordings on top of a MIDI arrangement and you can still edit them in many different ways, so to be honest, I don't think not getting a mute function for audio tracks is a serious issue.
Hey Guys, MPC 2500 with jjos xl user here... so, after watching this vid, I was curious if this was an issue on my mpc... and nope, audio tracks stay the way you put them from sequence to sequence. I am bummed that the new mpc's are not what I had hoped. I spent a weekend with an mpc x and it was a seriously frustrating experience. But, like anything, I would imagine that once you get to know the new mpc OS, it would be fine, but daaamn. I hope Akai steps up on this one... but I wouldn't hold my breath. Peace
"Track" and "Sequence" on Mpc is confusing to me, I just use Sequence and duplicate sequences and erase versus muting. I just like old school way of hip hop on the Mpc samples and drums simple beat making.
I wonder if the MPC was designed as a Performance device and not as a Production device. There's always a step that I miss when using the MPC, but have no issue when using Ableton and a Launchpad.
Just use erase instead of mute. i just tried it. it works
Yep, if you look at my later vids about the MPC Live, you'll see my opinions have changed and was also taught this trick. Thanks for the comment! :)
@@CaidicusProductions Then maybe you should write an update on this info (ABOVE), so that what you learned is shared with everyone in a common easily seen area, like where you put your "full disclosure" (& no one has to fish for your update in the comments section).. you present a frustrating problem (in THIS VIDEO), & have the fix ("trick") posted in your "later vids". that's not helpful..
Hey I have a question. Have you tried making all of your sequences first then go back and only record the audio that you want on the sequence you want it on then there is no need to mute?
I'm sorry I never replied to this question, it's a very good question. In fact, this would probably work, though I've never tried it this way. The best way to do it is to make the whole song (all of the sequences), then use the convert function in the song panel of the options. That'll turn all of your sequences into one very long sequence which you can record audio tracks to your heart's content.
I have the mpc bible and it said that one should make a full song and convert it then you can record vocals with audio track along with doing your mixes
I see this was 4 yrs ago so how about now ? I’m asking because I’m still new to the audio section.
not being able to zoom out is also just crazy . also I cant get mpc as a plugin to playback its audio tracks from positions in a reliable way . it may start at a bar other than bar 1 from start , rewind play etc . I dont mind the audio track just being an audio track by itself , but the start of the host does not play back from start . ? or it changes .
Honestly, that sounds above my paygrade (more technical than I'm used to, myself). For what it's worth, I've long since learned to LOVE my MPC Live since this video.
For any of its faults (of which there are almost always workarouds) it has been the center of my dawless setup and just such a pleasure to use.
I hope whatever issues you have, you're also able to find ways around them and find your love for the MPC Live.
Thanks for the comment!
@@CaidicusProductions yeah I found the start cue , sync issue in the host , fixed , still the MPC zoom time line issue is a crazy one. I need to arrange large files of over 20mins each cut . Just cant zoom out to any reasonable view .
wish this damn mpc had phantom power too. I want it to sample sounds from nature and stuff. hard to get loud sounds with dynamic mics
It's a shame only the non portable MPC X has powered xlr inputs. I also have a zoom h6, which does have powered xlr inputs, and it's not terrible having to plug right into the live, or just use the samples from the zoom by treating it as a USB drive on the Live.
But, it would've been nicer if the jacks were there. The Force has powered xlr, but it doesn't have a battery. This seems to be an Akai trait, putting every feature spread out on multiple devices so there's no one single perfect solution.
@@CaidicusProductions Right, figures. Okay ima check it out. Thanks a lot man
My issue with my Live2 is my Audio tracks just cutting off on playback after 9-10 bars. The screen shows the recording took but no sound.
Oh wow, that is a VERY odd, and very frustrating issue. I can record unlimited bars into the audio tracks, so it makes me wonder what's going on with your live.
If you add me to Discord, username is also caidicus (all small letters), perhaps I can help you get it sorted out. I hope you can find a solution.
It seems Akai have implemented the audio tracks as a global feature, accompaniment like you see on keyboards.
Maybe you can assign an audio track to a specific bar in a sequence to work around this.
I don't own a Live, but I think this is normal behaviour from the Live. Seeing that the standalones are limited to 8 audio tracks I guess they decided to share all the 8 tracks for all the sequences?! And know I finally understand why they separated them instead of creating a new icon for audio tracks like program or keygroups. Your workaround is good but it can be annoying because a midi trigger is different from audio tracks. Question, can you make the lenght of an audio track different from the drum programs?
And just for information, this behaviour doesn't happen in the software and with the controllers. It's just in standalone.
Sorry I'm taking so long to reply to you. I can finally answer your question about audio track length vs sequence length. I had originally been told that an audio tracks' length could run longer than a single sequence, and this was why they worked independently from midi tracks. After trying it for myself, I've found no way to make an audio track run (or record) longer than the sequence length. It'll stop recording, and start again with each sequence.
So, for all of the "this is the way they're supposed to work" comments I've seen about the audio tracks, I still think the implementation is extremely unintuitive.
I know I'm 5 years late, but you have to click on the "Audio" tab, then enter "Audio Edit Mode" and mute the audio from within there. You can't mute it from the main audio window (like I was attempting to do in the past), or it won't work in "Song Mode". If you follow the steps I mentioned above, it'll work like any other track mute in "Song Mode."
Hey bro, The MPC X has issues as well. I had mine for 2 months and it’s been confirmed that I have a defective unit. I have a new replacement unit on the way. I called akai directly. Problem I was having with the X is the screen was taking too much time to load up”see video on my page” there’s a lot of people having the same issue that I was having with this boot up screen. I recommend you call them directly during normal business hours if you want faster results!! AS FAR AS YOUR AUDIO PROBLEM. It’s not a glitch I thought the same when I was using it! But your problem is your INPUTS . You’re not changing your inputs on your audio. Each audio sample needs to have a Separate input level. Then put it into next sequence mode/song mode MUTE out the parts you want. From your video I see you’re on and input 1,2 ON ALL YOUR Sequences,,so when your mute INPUT 1,2 it mutes all!! I recorded a whole song using my Yamaha motif in standalone mode with parts muted out using audio! Try playing input levels and see what happens. !!!
The only problem i have with the "Audio" files is when loading a recent project the Audio files sometimes dont load automatically into the sequences!!!! That shit be a pain in the A**!! If anyone knows why this is happening or a fix id appreciate it..
That looks like a bug system, but can we alternatively make that audio as a midi sample? i never have mpc, but i interest to buy it someday
take your audio track file, load it in a kit and trigger it with a midi track. your talking about 8 bar samples. I've been doing that since pro tools 6 and a mpc60.
To quick to drop a video instead of learning. I been doing this since 3000 and since the MPC 5000 it's been that way.
Is there any way to mute the audio tracks while recording into song mode, so it plays back how you muted the audio tracks in the sequences?...SBN RESONATE
I got one in my cart but now ive moved it to my list instead. Damn, I was about to order it, ASAP.
It's a great machine. I wouldn't let this vid put you off. The original poster seems to understand now, but he was approaching things in an incorrect manner. If you are going to repeat sections of audio throughout a track, using the audio tracks is an inefficient use of re-sources, that is what a sampler is for. I've not touched the audio tracks on mine, but I'd use them for recording long sections of instruments and vocals that run through whole sections of the track.
I'm with you. I wish there was a way to use audio tracks the same way as MIDI tracks. Why would AKAI not make this an option? I use the audio tracks for time stretching. And it would be really cool if I could use that audio track in certain sequences. Come on AKAI! Listen to your users. We are the ones buying your products.
Sounds like we need a jjos for the new mpcs lmao
Joseph Gomez FACTS!
I wonder if they fixed this on the MPC One? I thought that you could go into the sequence and just delete the audio track for that sequence? Does anybody know if there was some kind of fix for this, because I just now today learned how to record audio tracks into the MPC One, and it was very confusing and hard to figure out, now I understand what your talking about. It's basically unusable if you can't delete it or mute it in seperate sequences? This is one of the main reasons why I got the MPC One? Please, let me know something y'all?...SBN RESONATE
You absolutely CAN delete it per sequence. Disregard this video, I've moved way past it. :D
P.S. to delete the audio track from that sequence, just go to the audio track you want to delete and hit "Erase" at the top of the device (the physical button) and it'll give you the option to erase that audio track from that sequence.
@@CaidicusProductions Oh, ok, that's cool Caid, thanks for letting me know, because I know that it was a pain in the butt just to figure out how to record an audio track.
Hey, quick question. I'm having an issue with the monitor auto and monitor. When I go to overdub another track overtop of one I recorded, I can only hear the volume coming from my synth and not the audio track that I recorded. If I can hear the synth playing, then I can't hear my audio track? I don't know how to prevent this, because I want to hear my audio track that I recorded, while I'm playing my synth, but I have to press monitor auto to hear my audio track, and just monitor to hear my synth volume? If you understand tge question? It's really confusing? I can't find a way around it...SBN RESONATE
I have the MPC X and it has the same issue.
Hey Caid, I have asked you a question about thos before, and I will try to explain as best as I can with my question. Say I want to beatbox 8 tracks, one being me humming a melody, 2...snapping my finger, 3...clapping my hand, etc, etc...the whole way to 8. How are those recorded into the machine itself, would I have to sample it in to record it in, or record it in going by the metronome, is that how an audio track is recorded, and then can it be sliced up or put in the sequence where you want it to be. I'm having trouble understanding what people are saying about the audio tracks. So what your saying is that the audio tracks have to be taken out of the sequence, or put into a squence in order for it to play, your saying that they cannot be muted while playing an entire song? So if I have a snapping my finger sound as audio track 2, and I have that snap in sequence one and four let's just say, that means if I mute it out in sequence one, it will also be muted in sequence four? Can't you just go in and delete the snap from the fourth or the first sequence if you don't want it your in your song, in that specific sequence? Thanks, I know this is annoying, but I'm having trouble understanding the audio tracks and how they are recorded in and used? Thanks
To do what you're saying it's possible. I think my issue was happening because I'd write the whole song in one sequence, then copy that sequence multiple times to create a full length song, muting and unmuting midi tracks in different sections to create variance.
For the actual audio tracks, you could record up to 8 tracks in a sequence, though I don't know if they work independently or if they'll be there for every sequence. It's something I haven't tried. One thing I do know, however, is that if you were to copy all the audio tracks to all of the sequences, you can ERASE, not delete the tracks from any sequence you want. Select the track, then hit the erase button and erase that track from that sequence. If you delete the track, it'll delete it entirely, but if you erase it, it'll just erase it for that sequence.
I hope that helps! I would love to know if audio tracks were limited to sequences they're created in though, something I'll try tomorrow. Write the whole song in the midi tracks, then go through each sequence and create audio tracks to see if those tracks stay in a single sequence or if they're then in every sequence. It'd be nice to learn that they're sequence specific to the sequences they're created in. That'd make a lot more sense, anyway.
Anyhow, thanks for the question!
@@CaidicusProductions Thanks, yeah because I'm having trouble on whether to buy a sampler stand alone box, or a multitrack recorder and what I'll need for that. I know it's probably much quicker with a looper like the roland rc505 or a multi track recorder, but the akai live and one has other sounds that I can put in with my beatboxed tracks, so that's where I am more driven towards the mpc, but it's a hard choice because the one is way easier, but doesn't have strings, drums and other sounds that I would like to put with my song, so I'm just trying to figure out a way to do what I need to do with less as possible. I don't want too much gear to create with. I just want to be able to record my voice and sounds with my voice, and then add some strings, drums or bass sound, so I'll probably have to go with an akai live or one with this. It's just confusing with trying to figure out the workflow for each of these and what they are capable of. Thanks again.
@@natanmandala Well hey, if you have the time to watch a longer video, I've made a 2019 review of the MPC Live. It also has a pretty in depth tutorial to get you started on making music with the Live. For what it's worth, I absolutely LOVE my MPC Live, it's such a versatile and powerful piece of gear. In fact, it's the heart of my entire hardware setup and I do all of my recording and songmaking in the Live.
The One looks cool, but it also kind of looks like a cheaper version of the Live, which might mean it's missing some functionality that the Live has. If you can afford the price of the Live, I'd say just go with that and you'll probably be really happy with it.
Good luck with whatever you do choose.
@@CaidicusProductions Yeah, I watched it, and thanks, I'm just waiting to get the money together to either get this or the mpc one. I appreciate the feedback and the effort to actually answer questions. Thanks again Caid.
What exactly is the difference between sampling and audio tracks? I can't distinguish between the two, because I never had a sampling machine or used audio tracks. Why can't you just sample a sound instead of making it an audio track, or is that wrong or doesn't make sense. Please, if anyone can explain the difference in plain easy terms to understand. Thank you.
I know this is a year later but i just stumbled upon your video. I have the MPCX and I am having serious easily repeatable issues with my MPCX and recording audio. I will be recording my bass and when I play it back , if my song is longer than 5 minutes (audio recording), it stops recording! It does not tell you it has stopped recording, and you only realise when you listen back. As a jazz player, playing improvised music, this is most annoying. I have reported this to Akai, but as you have found out , their customer service is disgusting and patronising. I really wish that I had never bought this unit as there is no sign that Akai have even acknowledged this problem never mind fixing it. I am shocked that a unit with this high specification does not do direct to disc recording!!! I am very disappointed in this unit as far as audio recording is concerned. I won't be rushing to get anymore of their products.
What are you using to record? Direct to audio track or the sampler?
The audio tracks won't be any longer than the sequence they're in, and the sampler length needs to be set by the user.
If you make a TH-cam video of your issue and link it here, I'll definitely watch it and see if I can help.
Also, have you updated the firmware to the latest version?
I know this is a really late question being February 20th of 2022 but was this audio problem solved with the 2.10 update? I tried to go to your channel to find out but I didn't see any follow-up on it but I did subscribe and give a thumbs up to this video 👍
To be honest, the issue was largely on account of my using the audio tracks incorrectly. I would write basically a whole song in one sequence, copy and past it a bunch, mute and unmute tracks, and use that as a song. This doesn't work well with audio tracks because they don't mute and unmute the way midi tracks do.
That said, you can erase audio tracks per sequence, which does basically the same thing.
Also, if you write a song sequence by sequence, you won't have the same audio track exist in every sequence, only in the ones you create that specific audio track in.
In other words, it's an EXTREMELY easy thing to work around, making it basically a non-issue.
:)
Bro i just tested this on my mpc x and i dont have this problem, im on firmware 2.2.2.1
You can mute and unmute audio tracks per sequence? If they made that possible, one of my biggest gripes with the system would be a thing of the past. I'm going to update my MPC and see how it goes. Thanks for the heads up!
I installed the latest update on the MPC Live, it still does the same thing. If I make each sequence 8 bars, record an audio track, it'll still treat the audio track as if they're a global thing. So, still, if I mute the audio track in sequence 1, it mutes it in all sequences.
I guess the only way to use the audio tracks is to create an entire song in only one sequence, then record and let the audio track play for the length of the sequence.
It's not an ideal system for someone who uses multiple sequences per song.
@@CaidicusProductions that doesn't happen to me, if u want to delete a audio track just use erase track , it will not delete the other track in other sequance
Man, I don't know what's up with it, to be honest. Audio tracks don't seem to be sequence based for me on the MPC Live. If I delete the track in sequence 1, it's deleted from the project altogether. Basically, the audio tracks are not within the sequence framework, but a global thing. It's really odd. You're the second person to mention that you can delete/mute audio tracks per sequence, and now I'm wondering if it's an MPC X thing.
@@CaidicusProductions dont u have a erase button on the LIVE? Cuz all i do is erase the audio on seq 2 and it will not erase it from seq1 , is there any way we can do a video chat, i will show you
at least yours worked mine didnt I had to send it back to get a replacement unit today. I'm super bummed cause it was essentially a 1000 dollar paperweight
Caid, InMusic is the parent company of AKAI Pro.
Cheers mate, I've since learned that. :P
who can s recordet only the right side on my mpc , when i go on resample R , there is no singnal !!!!! but in resample R plus L is ok , what is goning on !!! why there is only the resample L ,,
MPC LIE! InMusic Brands owns all the companies you mentioned, including Akai.
I personally don't have the Live. I have the Touch. But I think I know the problem and the way to fix it isn't pretty. Akai expects anyone recording audio to first do your sequencing, put that in song mode, convert the song to a sequence, THEN record your audio over that. Hope that sheds some light on it. Not the way I would have approached it.
It is NOT an ISSUE! Read the Manual! It is all easily done! Beginners will get confused because of your Video because it is wrong in so many ways. You want something a machine is not supposed to do! If you would have taken your time and read the manual you would get the concept of audio tracks and figure out how they work. Sure you can MUTE audio Tracks per sequence that is done in the AUDIO EDITOR! or buy recording/programning MUTES with the AUTOMATION feature of the audio tracks! So it is already there in two different ways which correspond with the concept of AUDIO Tracks... you just have to learn the difference between an audio track and a MIDI track! Then you can easily achieve what you are looking for.
th-cam.com/video/35uKRiJLw7I/w-d-xo.html
Great video. Trad guitarist here, Cubase, Zoom R16 track recorder etc. but bought to investigate use of MPC Live as dawless and portable production tool.
There's a steep learning curve your vIdeo was interesting and useful. Contextually as a non beatmaker I fully understand, and yes think your observation is correct.
I would not expect un/muting "all" audio tracks either - it's treating the audio as a type of fixed sample not an independent track. Your request is left field to MPC workflow.
Algorithmically though, I'd expect very simple SW switch to overcome this is relatively easy - I'm thinking shouldn't use more memory per track (which appears a limitation anyway), but who knows what architectural issues AKAI see or want to divulge. Agree a more interested acknowledgement would have been nice. Good one kudos from Sydney Australia
i have another problem with audio trakcs and i thought that you would tell something about it in this video. I have a nord electro 5d piano and when i plug it in my mpc live the sound is very deteriorated, i don't understand why maybe there is a simple solution, tell me if you know :)
I'm not really sure, it should be clear. Have you tried other cables?
Also, make sure the volume isn't set too high on the Nord, and make sure it's not set too high on the back of the MPC Live, the record volume knob is on the back of the MPC Live and will make everything sound terrible if it's set too high.
@@CaidicusProductions my cables are good and both of my volumes are ok i don't understand why it is still deteriorated ... but thanks for your answer :)
Hi, you could clear the region instead of muting the entire audio track...
Yeah, this was years ago. I've since learned how to work around it. Thanks, brotherman.
i think its beacuse audio is linear and mid is non linear?
Is this issue resolved in the updates?
Nope, still works exactly the same. :P
It’s the same as every Mpc predating the mpc Renn lol. You have to either record live completely or create individual samples from the audio as to trigger them at certain times. I have the 4000 and now the x. It’s funny because it’s been addressed by every producer since ever.
So when it says that you can only have 8 audio tracks, is that for one song/project, or in the whole mpc live, and what do you have to do when you get to 8, save them into an sd card, computer or other kind of device that saves it? How does that work?
The 8 tracks are per song and sequence.
A single sequence can have 8 active tracks recorded. If you make a new sequence, you can erase tracks from it and record new stuff into the freed tracks.
This plays into how songs are built as combinations of sequences. A single song with 8 bar sequences would consist of about 12 sequences and be about 3:12 (three minutes and twelve seconds) long.
If you recorded 8 audio tracks in one of the sequences, and copied and pasted a sequence to extend the length of the song, the audio tracks would also be copied and pasted to the next sequence. In the new sequence, you could have those tracks play, or you could erase them from that sequence and then record new audio tracks for that sequence.
All this said, the MPC Live also has a built in sampler, so you can record limitless samples and assign them to the pads. In that scenario, you can play unlimited audio tracks in your songs.
Anyhow, the audio track limitation is only per project, not per the whole device. :)
I have been looking for a DAW controller just took back the Machine MK3 because it failed after 8 days. I started looking at this unit and see issues here as well. I don't understand why none of these company's have actual phone support. I would even pay extra just to have it so if I had questions I didn't have to take a few years just to learn how to use my piece of hardware but could enjoy using it. Akai and all other company's that make these types of controllers should at least be making videos on step by step processes so nobody would be confused about what everything does and how to properly use it.
Don't let this video stop you from getting an awesome device. The MPC Live is now one of my favourite music devices ever. Since I learned to delete audio tracks from specific sequences, I fell in love with it. Then they added VSTs, side chaining, professional effects, etc etc.
Also, the MPC Live isn't really a DAW controller, it's a DAW on its own. You CAN use it to control MPC software on your computer, but it's really made to be a take anywhere DAW in a box, as it can be used entirely on its own.
Check out this video I made th-cam.com/video/35uKRiJLw7I/w-d-xo.html if you want to get an updated opinion on it, and this video was even made before launched a MASSIVE update to the Live.
Ignore my audio track issue video and take a serious look at the MPC Live for yourself, it is really awesome to use.
Caid, I hope that you were able to get this issue resolved. Though I don't own the product myself, I have seen a work around for this issue on another users channel. From what I understand, they sequence all of their midi tracks first, building tracks into a sequence just as you do. Then they copy and paste creating multiple sequences just as you do. Here is the workaround: They then use the convert feature converting all of those sequences into one track in one sequence after which they record audio tracks. This way, even when copying and creating new sequences the audio tracks per sequence work independently and muting an audio track in one sequence will not mute the same track in other sequences. I don't know why it works this way but it does. Hopefully this helps if you haven't already found a solution.
Did they ever fix this issue?
Nope, as far as they're concerned, it's working the way it's supposed to. There are workarounds, but this is and will continue to be the way the system works.
@@CaidicusProductions i think akai is just stopping with the mpcs and moving to just controllers
That's a tough one to tell. I think there've managed to grab a lot of new market share with the MPC Live, and to a lesser degree (because it's so much more expensive) the MPC X. I think we'll keep seeing MPC's, but I don't think we can expect Akai to stop being Akai, that is to say, releasing a device and then just basically moving onto the next thing.
I've been told the audio tracks are supposed to function like this, and one person mentioned that it's so that they can run independently of the track lengths or whatever. To be honest, I put that to the test, recording an audio track while the sequence played, and when the sequence finished, the audio track just stopped recording as well. So, for whatever purpose people claim the audio tracks behave like they do, I can't seem to find a single reason why, myself.
Thanks for the heads up, I'll pass on the MPC Live.
Jim Shannon on Sounds hey Jim. It's worth noting, I posted this on Reddit, and some users believe this is actually supposed to be how the audio tracks work, and it has a purpose for working this way.
It's not how I expected the audio tracks work, and that's probably why I have such a huge problem with it. One other guy spoke about a benefit of this, that you can make the audio track as long as the whole song and do stuff like sing to the whole song or play a guitar riff along it, or something.
Until others had disagreed with my opinion on here, I couldn't see a single reason why the audio tracks would behave like this, now I kind of want to see a video tutorial that explains why it works this way and why it can actually be a good thing.
So, in other words, I'm no longer so sure this was an accident on Akai's part, or an intentional UI design decision. I would say, look into it for yourself, and you might find that the audio tracks are better than my angry rant painted them out to be.
Thanks for commenting on the video man, and be sure to check out a few different videos about the MPC Live before truly making up your mind about it, as there are far more extensive videos (professional) that show how powerful of a device it really can be.
Thanks for the comment :-)
Tube Digga
Did u get a reply???? Reply!!
What is the difference between sampling your own voice and audio tracks? I don't get it...
Quick question, so when I go to browser, then go to sample assign and try to load an instrument that I selected it says the (sample assign not available for keygroup program) and when I try to press program edit, sample assign, pad mixer, pad mute, pad perform it says (not available for audio track) do you know what this means if so please let me know..thanks
Have you tried using song mode instead of automating mutes in each sequence ?
Interesting video but this is what the manual says : Audio tracks consist of a recorded audio signal, like a traditional DAW. These tracks do not use programs because the audio is already contained in the track. Also, unlike MIDI tracks, audio tracks are present in every sequence in the project, even if the tracks themselves are empty. (A sequence on your MPC hardware can contain 8 audio tracks. A sequence in the MPC software can contain 128 audio tracks.)
Taking it from a daw I’d say you’d need to chop and mute the areas you’d want to mute - coming from a DAW - see it like a tape on top of you midi sequence
Yeah, I've long since been taught the work-around of deleting the audio from a track for any sequences I don't need it in.
For what it's worth, I also made a more recent MPC Live video where I praised the MPC Live, and this is before the latest updates which added VSTs and AIR effects, and have basically blown the MPC Live into stellar orbit.
In other words, my opinions about the Live are so much better than they used to be.
Caid Johnson just watched it - didnt think of that either so good tip but I use it more in a sense of a true DAW and audio clips alternatively I use stems in the sequence - keep enjoying it
Bros.. Why not just copy the dang sequence one, add audio and save it as sequence two? Then you got 2 separate things to use as you wish. Then if you had something cool like a midi fighter 3D or somethin, you can live perform jumps and sequence and program changes and anything else.
I don't know what you mean by midi fighter 3D. It seems to me you might have a much deeper understanding of the MPC Live than me.
As for the audio tracks, I learned that putting the whole project (multiple sequences) into song mode, then pressing "Convert>seq", you can make all your sequences into one long single sequence. At this point, you can record an entire audio track the length of the entire project, instead of being limited to how many bars a sequence in.
I learned this little trick this week... A whole year after owning the device. :D I'm still learning.
@@CaidicusProductions i feel ya, and na i dont have one, im doin research, debating getting one. Your the one helpin me ha! I just thought that might work from the basis of how everything looked and sounded. That midi fighter btw is just a little midi controller, but its off the charts wylde all it can do. u aught to check it out. ill gates does a sick demo vid, and some of the other vids by midi fighter r just insane. we're talkin gyroscopic sensors and crap. seriously, check it out. midi fighter 3D. midi fighter is the company. nothing can do what this thing does
@@JohnSmith-ut9ti If you get the chance, check out my later video called "MPC Live, better than I thought" or something like that. I gush about it in that video, and that's even before the 2.3 update was released. 2.3 was absolutely amazing, and the MPC Live has become the coolest hardware I've ever used.
Nice video. And great audio from that mic! Red Sox- my wife would be so excited!
Thanks Sanjay! Yeah, I love Red Sox hats... :D I don't watch baseball anymore, but the Boston hat has stuck with me from my baseball fan days.
Caid Johnson this is not a glich, it is an architecture problem. I have the MPC 5000 and it has the same problem. Having said that I think the MPC X handles audio much better.
Once you build your song with samples and tracks, can you sing into the live unit and have that recorded as well and be able to play throughout your song? I hope that makes sense, if you wanted to Sing lyrics is that a totally different process or can this unit accommodate that part of the song?
Yes, you can totally do that. In fact, the way the audio tracks work, being independent of sequences, it's actually a bit more ideal for singing to a song. You can record a single audio track the entire length of the song, as opposed to having to sing sequence by sequence. This is the strength of the audio tracks working the way they do.
Yes, this is the way they should be looked at and the purpose to use them for. I'd be intrigued to know if this is covered in the manual. I haven't read it as I'm pretty well versed in the MPC workflow. To be fair to you Caid, I think Akai support should learn from these repeated requests and rather than giving you a cut and paste platitude, send you a cut and paste explanation on the way they envisage the tracks being utilised.
Sounds like an intellectual property issue. When a manufacturer does that it is because they can not make it work right without either paying royalties to the IP holder or the hardware requires a more powerful SOC which costs more for it's IP
If you check out any of my later videos on the MPC Live, you'll find I absolutely love using it and have found some really good workarounds for the issue I was having.
Thanks for commenting on the video! :D
I wouldn't work in this way anyway so don't see this as an issue for me. I certainly wouldn't call it a bug as a bug suggests that the unit is not functioning in the way the developers intended which is not the case here. I agree with Akai that this is a change request.
the mute issue is moot. you wouldn't make a whole song here. you take the important pieces (minus mutes) and send them to another daw to be mastered. this isn't a thing. if you do it the way I stated you have a better master and you save HDD space on the computer you mastered on. the MPC Live never claimed to be a DAW... I don't think.
LEYKIS 101
Someone suggested to me that converting .wav files to midi might work. Then the MPC will treat your converted sound files as any other midi (thus allowing you to avoid the problems of "tracks" that handle the sound files). I have not tried this yet but it made sense.
Hey there. I've since made a couple new videos, one of them which demos my newfound appreciation for the MPC Live. Another youtuber by the name of Mozes7 helped me understand how to remove audio tracks from single sequences, and that was a big help.
The easiest way to use sampling in tracks is still with the built in sampler, however. Just record something, assign it to a pad, and put it in a song. ;P
+Caid Johnson Sweet! I'm loving this machine more and more. I still love the fact that it's basically a touch screen Daw with tons of ways to tackle song writing.
just use the sample for your audio needs problem-solve
I don't want to break your balls comment it on a previews video but man you seem the only honest guy reviewing that thing. Can you talk about the stereo line in thing like as a standalone device and as an interface? it's the most important aspect and nobody talks about. Like can the inputs split to two mono? Can you pan them in the center and can you treat them as two different mono mics like two separate audio channels or it would be always an stereo in channel? One guy said to me that you the amps of the inputs are great etc I don't buy any of that. Throw some words if you wish. Also did you resolve the audio mute/sequence thing? Cause a guy above said that he had the solution etc.
Hey Pau, hmm, I think it's possible to record the L/R as two separate mono sources. I haven't tried doing it before, but they record stereo, so I'd imagine there'd be a way to mute/separate/pan the two channels.
Either way, even if there isn't, the recording and sampling into the MPC Live is ridiculously easy to do, so it's not much of a hassle to do one device, then another.
As for the audio mute, there is a way and I covered it in a later MPC Live video. I think it's titled "MPC Live is better than I thought."
I've really been falling in love with the MPC Live, these last couple of months.
I came across this today
What microphone are you using?
Hey Jerry, I'm sorry I never replied to your comment. For the video, I was using the Zoom H6.
Bounce it to sample!
Was this in stand alone or in the OS?
Cant believe i paid for this >_
It's misinformation like this that clogs up the Internet like a sewer drain. There's nothing wrong with the way Audio Tracks function in the MPC Live. They work like the audio tracks in any DAW or hardware recorder, and serve the same purpose. Not to be confused with Samples, Clips, and MIDI tracks.
While I respect your opinion, I still see no point in them behaving the way they do. The other thing is, how is this misinformation? I've only stated how they behave, not created some behavior that doesn't exist. In that vein, this is information that you disagree with (perhaps even for valid reasons), and not "misinformation" as you call it.
If I can mute all tracks per sequence, in the case of midi tracks, but not audio tracks, I'd love to hear your reason for why this is a good thing.
Honestly, if there is a single good argument as to why this is a good thing, I'd be so happy to hear it so I can have that "AH! So THAT'S why it works that way!" feeling. Considering that each audio track is limited to the length of the sequence it's in, I can't see a single benefit to having it simply need to be erased from a track/sequence instead of just muted per sequence.
As I said, I'm all ears, tell me why I'm getting it all wrong and why this is good, and I might just even create a retraction video about it.
@@CaidicusProductions First of all, it constitutes "misinformation" because you would have people believe that it's a bug, and made an 18-minute-long video citing this behavior as a fundamental "issue" with the implementation of the audio tracks, when in fact there's nothing wrong with the way they function at all. A bug, by definition, is a malfunction that yields unintended or unpredictable results; yet the Audio Tracks in the MPC work exactly as they're meant to, and for any mix-savvy engineer, they behave as one might expect.
As for why Audio Tracks work the way they do, this is perhaps a conversation too long for the comments section on TH-cam; but to oversimplify the matter, you could think of them as being dedicated to continuous, organic performance elements: i.e. singing, playing the guitar, and other quintessentially 'human' aspects that you would not otherwise want locked-to-the-grid per se. Whenever I don't want to hear my vocal at a particular point in a song, for instance, I simply don't sing there (wink). Never mind that there are literally countless other scenarios wherein Audio Tracks, as they currently function, are uniquely beneficial, if necessary.
To that end, there are many ways for you to accomplish what you want to accomplish, using Clips, automation, track editing, song arrangement, *manual mixing (you know, actually touching the instrument at hand, and doing something for yourself, instead of expecting the machine to do it all for you), etc.
Honestly, I don't know why you aspire to use Audio Tracks at all, if muting the tracks with the sequencer is your primary objective. That's what Samples and Clips are for. Regardless, the point remains that Audio Tracks are designed with specific applications in mind, and everything else can be done with MIDI tracks.
Now, are there bugs in the MPC? Sure. Hell, I'm no advocate for Akai. But this particular functionality, that you would have them change, is simply not one of its shortcomings, and certainly not a bug. The bottom line is, there are real bugs to deal with, and promised features yet to implement; meanwhile, Akai's customer service reps, software engineers, and people like myself who are looking for answers, have to wade through this nonsense. It holds everybody up. More importantly, there is a long lineage of smart and informed artist and engineers who have ultimately arrived at this workflow, through decades of real-world application; and as such, you would be well-advised to do more reading, more listening, and make an effort to better understand the reasons behind the design, before pontificating about it online and confusing the kids.
And if you do come to see the error of your ways, the responsible thing to do would be to remove or replace this video altogether, not "create a retraction video about it", which only stands to add to the already deafening noise online...
@@SandcastleTheory I appreciate the time it took you to create a response like this, but your attitude throughout was entirely condescending, inappropriately so. How can you expect anyone to follow your advice when you're doing nothing to mask your contempt for their actions? Your brilliance is apparent, but your entire lack of social tack is also overwhelmingly on display.
Sadly, you live in a world where most people will know less than you (or so it would seem from your perspective), and people are going to do what people are going to do. Not all things that people do will please you, including their right to have opinions that differ from yours and sharing them on TH-cam. That you're telling me to take down my video and basically leave these things to the pros shows how woefully ignorant you are of the way human beings share information, and more so how we learn from each other. If only the scholars were the teachers, if no one listened to someone while that someone shared THEIR perspective of their journey, the process of coming to understanding would be lost. We would simply be expected to know.
You wasted so much time waxing poetic about the ethical value of letting my superiors be the only ones to make TH-cam videos about the features and functionality of a daw that you failed to make one single counterpoint about why the audio track functionality is good this way.
You stated "Whenever I don't want to hear my vocal at a particular point in a song, for instance, I simply don't sing there (wink)." This doesn't make any sense. You could do that in any point of any recording you did of yourself, why would the ability to mute the audio tracks per sequence make any difference to that ability? Also, considering that an audio track can't be any longer than the sequence it's in, you're still limited to the length of the sequence it's in.
I digress, the reason I even encountered this issue was because I was building songs by writing many tracks in one sequence, then copying pasting through multiple sequences, after which I'd mute different tracks from sequence one to the last sequence in order to build diversity. This approach is complicated if audio tracks are used. The same thing can be done, but instead of muting the audio track in that sequence, you must actually erase it from that sequence.
So, same thing, just more button presses and different from the process of making midi tracks silent in a sequence, also less reversible.
@@CaidicusProductions You can interpret my tone of voice as condescending if that suits you. Much gets lost in translation when attempting to communicate online; especially when someone is speaking out of frustration or otherwise expressing an opposing opinion or grievance. Not that I'm denying my tone. Sure, I'm in a bad mood, and made a few sarcastic cracks. I'd have said the same things in person though, simply as a matter of fact. But whatever. You absolutely have the right to express your point of view here. And you could argue that I don't have to listen to it either. However, you did step into this public forum with a bone to pick, and obviously the title of your video did catch my attention. Why? Because, like you, I am also a member of this niche community, and I happen to rely heavily on these boxes to make my living. As such, I make every effort to stay informed, and I'm keenly interested in how Akai (and other tech companies) spend their time and resources when it comes to fixing bugs and making improvements to overall functionality. So, when I see your video in my feed claiming there's an "issue" with the Audio Tracks, I think "Oh $hit! Really? Better find out..." But no, not only is there nothing wrong with the Audio Tracks, evidently, you're one of those people who likes to bog-down the forums and Akai Product Support, asking for arbitrary changes and fixes for things that aren't broken. That's irritating to me. And when you add that to the grind of having to wade through endless pages of misinformation online every day, ya... You end up the brunt of an accusatory rant. I honestly don't care how that makes me look. I'm sure, at very least, I've spared someone 18 minutes and got a few laughs. Regardless, I was not offering you any advice... You asked.
And for the record, the workflow you've chosen, as described above, is the only reason why you're dealing with "more button presses". Don't get me wrong, I get what you're trying to do; but as several people have now pointed out to you in the comments (both here and on Reddit), if you want to MUTE tracks from sequence to sequence, there are other ways to do that. But it seems that you're bent on shoehorning Audio Tracks into your personal workflow, even though they were never designed to do what you want them to do. As I see it, the diplomatic, if dismissive, reply you got from Akai (or whomever) seems appropriate to me, considering the subjectivity of your complaint. The expression "we've got bigger fish to fry" comes to mind. The bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with the current implementation of Audio Tracks in the MPC Live.
@@SandcastleTheory I can accept that, (not that you need my acceptance((setting the tone of my reply to you)))
I will give the audio tracks another good go and see if I can figure out how to use them as they were intended to be used. It'll take some getting used to.
DuDE!
Drink some Fffff water!!!! 🤨😏😖
boy i really want one but you got me thinking now
Please! Please!.....
#CantSellFirmwareUpdates
You don’t know what you’re doing...I have the live and I don’thave this problem
Oh, so your live audio tracks can be muted and unmuted per sequence? How odd, it's the first I've ever heard of it working that way.
This is the main reason I'm not going to buy this, as soon as you are into the idea of conditional and parameter locking workflows, like Elektron & Synthstrom for example, there is no going back. A sequence should contain data completely exclusively, as soon as you make a NEW sequence, all the data should be NEW as well, unless of course youi desire it to be the same. Synthstroms Deluge is going to show the big boys whats up, trust!
@KALLPAKK
I'm certain you are misinterpreting what I said there. I said it is possible to build an entire song in a single sequence, then copy and paste that sequence as many times as one needs to build the length of the song, then mute and unmute tracks in each sequence, to build complexity.
That's a heck of a lot different from "building a complete 8 bar song in one sequence", no?
Synct,
For what it's worth, it's possible to get around the audio track behavior by using the sampler to record stuff, then assigning the samples to pads.
I just find it cumbersome because it's in an entirely different menu and requires a lot more steps than simply recording audio tracks, and muting and unmuting them in each sequence.
The benefit to how the audio tracks work is that, you can compose an entire song, then sing to the whole thing or play guitar to the whole thing, and record it as a single audio track.
The difficult thing about that is that the device will only play a single sequence, over and over again, while you're doing this. So, you kind of need to judge the song length for yourself to make sure you don't go over the intended length of your song.
You're also not going to hear the changes in the song (sequence by sequence), so you're going to miss the rises and falls of the song, while a single sequence is playing over and over again.
Honestly, it's really possible that there is a definite reason why the audio tracks work this way, it just doesn't feel right to me, after using the midi tracks mute and unmute for the last six months.
Eh? When I say "a sequence should contain data completely exclusively", I mean the mute states too. Have you ever used an Elektron or Synthstrom box? You may not understand what I mean by parameter locking if you haven't... Also, you have used quotation marks to quote me saying something I clearly never did... I'm more than a little confused by your response...
Good lord, I keep trying to write a reply and getting confused in the process. My quoted reply was to KALLPAK, not you. Sorry for the confusion.
Hahaha, all good bro, I was pretty confused there! :'D For straight up sampling, I don't think it comes much better than this box all things considered. But its a shame its live performance features aren't as strong as other boxes, otherwise it would be the end game for mobile production/performance right now. Peace
快速资不抵债小贩闻
不好意思，我不太看得懂