MPC Live How To: Convert Sequences to a Song, Record Vocals, Guitar, Piano, etc Using Audio Tracks

In this tutorial I go through the step by step process of converting multiple sequences into a single sequence of all the sequences combined. (confused yet?)
This process is to help you create one long sequence that you can then use the audio tracks to record vocals, guitar, piano, or whatever you've got input into the Live. Instead of recording sequence by sequence, this will turn all of your sequences into one long sequence which you can then sing or play along to and record without having to change sequences and start again for each sequence.
I think I've said the word sequence enough.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section down below. I also really appreciate likes on my videos, it gives me a good sense of whether I'm doing this right or not.
If you're wondering which video has the basic song making tutorial, it's my MPC Live 2019 review found here: • Totally Amateur MPC Li...
The tutorial starts 33 minutes in, if you're curious.
Thanks for watching and see you in the next video!

[@mpcbeatzpro1099]

I love your channel you need to make more content on mpc one live or 2. Us mpc users really appreciate you work and help 🇺🇸

[@CaidicusProductions]

This is an awesome comment. If you can think of anything you'd like me to focus on, I'd be happy to make more videos about it.

[@skylerdarkavelifinesseflow7115]

Mpc one and live and 2 are all the same. No need to make a video really

[@nickcasares]

This was one of the most helpful MPC videos I’ve seen! Thanks!

[@fadeboss3071]

I'm 3 years late but thank you for all the information!

[@CaidicusProductions]

Not late at all, welcome to the party! :D

[@oO5Dynasty]

I just subbed, nice video man. I just launched my first mpc video looking to grow. I'll be following you!

[@steveperry7799]

LEYKIS 101!!!

[@christianwagner8088]

Unexpted singing voice, wow....

[@ieinfiniteentertainmentaiy2650]

Good video. Cut and dry to the point. 15:59

[@Sebastian-er8uf]

Thx helped a lot, made my first audio track with Volca Bass and the result is awesome 🎉

[@e.vbarton981]

Maaaahn super helpful. Much appreciated. This is a very specific problem that i couldn't figure out and i'm super happy to find this very specific video with the solution. big up

[@CaidicusProductions]

Hey, I'm glad it was helpful. This feature on the MPC Live is really powerful.

[@erreidwas]

Thanx! Now I dont always have to track it out in Pro Tools!

[@kiickinballistics]

Good work caidicus. Thanks. Demystified the Sequence flow for me.

[@CaidicusProductions]

I'm really glad it was helpful for you, feel free to shoot any questions my way and I'll do my best to answer them. Happy exploration!

[@ConsiderIslamLIVEKennyBomer]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@colinherbertson]

I also had a Maschine Studio and I would just make one sequence with every track say 100 bars or whatever the length of your song is. Then the recording process is linear like a daw

[@MatrixKeys]

Nice Video man, I love learning new work flows, great stuff. Looking forward to your next video

[@ARTTRAVELS-MUSICTRAVELS-4LIFE]

Very helpful thank you 🙏🏾 damn I wonder what else don’t I know 😂

[@tslimm409]

Nice tutorial. I tried to record my vocals in the MPC X and was unable to do so.. What input did you plug tour mic into

[@rogerheath5027]

superb!

[@giuseppeverdi6260]

Thanks .

[@ianleblanc9111]

thanks so much!

[@mpclive5693]

LEYKIS!

[@Heartofjoya]

Have u ever encountered two sequences that won’t export together? It either cuts out or only one show up and stops. I try the sequences in combination with other sequences amd they work fine, but just not together. Frustrating

[@JAY-EMPIRE]

Nice

[@ObscureSampology]

It's like your recording a track blind . You can't see the wavs while you record the track ??

[@CaidicusProductions]

There is another screen where you can watch the track get recorded in live, waveform and all. I'm sorry I didn't show it in the video, I've gotten used to setting the audio levels by ear, checking the input meter (audio level) and assuming it won't peak or have trouble fitting into the mix.

[@buscandolaverdad8686]

I have an mpc one. Just got it. This feature will be very helpful. Can I record the overdubs to different audio tracks? Does it have to be the same one?

[@neptunesgold1216]

Great super super important lesson!!! Liked and subbed!! Thanks for helping us all!!

[@CaidicusProductions]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@winteccarlw1889]

What would happen if you used different BPM for each sequence you are using to make your song, would the song follow the BPM changes?

[@2FaceAssassin]

Great video!!

[@justintrice3565]

Thank uuuuu

[@CRV1958]

Thanks for posting this. Questions: What is the maximum number of audio tracks { Vocals} you can record and the length of each? Also, Does the MPC One also offer the same features and time of audio recording?

[@CaidicusProductions]

I can't say for certain what's missing in the One, I know the OS is identical and a lot, if not all, of the VSTs are in there. As for how many tracks? Well, you can do something like 128 midi track (that includes triggering your samples, beats that you made, VSTs, etc) in portable, and 8 audio tracks in portable. About the audio tracks, each time you record an audio track, it also gets turned into a sound file that you can trigger in the midi tracks section, which means you can erase the audio track audio, trigger the recording through the pads, and make a new recording on the audio track. So, while you can only have 8 audio tracks per project (in portable mode), you can essentially record endlessly, anyway.

[@CRV1958]

@@CaidicusProductions Thank you for the response. One more question, I would guess that the max number of audio tracks would be dependent on the Memory size of the unit. So, if you recorded lets say a audio vocal track for a 3 minute song... would you have an idea of how much memory that would take and how much is available in total in this unit?

[@renglish563]

How do you save song when completed? As song? Project?

[@CaidicusProductions]

In this screen, you can convert songs to MPC, WAV, and OGG files. On the main project screen, you can save your projects as projects.

[@earthtobuzzcomeinbuzz.9946]

👍👍

[@restlessrap]

I thumbed up for the singing lol

[@CaidicusProductions]

:D

[@Tirso425]

Hi, can i use this trick to convert midi tracks as well? I made some projects exclusively with hardware synths. When i convert those projects to a single wav file midi events aren't converted...

[@CaidicusProductions]

Hey there, the same thing will happen. You CAN do it to make the full length and the machine will play your other synths via midi, but when you do "Export", it won't include the hardware synth sounds. I have another video about getting hardware synths into your tracks so that you can include them in the exported song. (looking that one up...) Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpzVm5KKesqHnMk&t Using the method in this video (the one your comment is on) with the video in the link, you can do some amazing stuff. You can convert all the sequences to the length you want the song to be, then mute all but the midi track (hardware synth) you want to focus on. Arm the audio track you want to record it into, then while the song is playing, do whatever filter sweeps and knob twists you want throughout the song to give that track motion. When the song is done playing, you'll have a full song's worth of that hardware synth recorded into the song. Then, you mute the midi track you just finished and unmute the next one. Arm the next audio track and hit rec/play-start and finish that. Do that for as many midi devices as you have. There's more to the midi to recording in that video, including a method to free up audio tracks after, in case you need more. Good luck!

[@Tirso425]

@@CaidicusProductions Thanks soo much! I will try it very soon!

[@der-die-Wahrheit-sprach]

if I'm in song mode and have recorded audio track 1 then start with audio track 2, audio track 1 is overdubbed every time. I just don't know what to do and need urgent help.

[@CaidicusProductions]

Make sure that you disarm track 1, after you've finished recording, in order not to record over it. It sounds like, for some reason, your MPC isn't automatically disarming the last track when you start a new one, perhaps an option or something. Either way, disarm the track by hitting the red record (arm) button above the "in" button, on the right side of the track. I hope that helps.

[@der-die-Wahrheit-sprach]

@@CaidicusProductions that was my mistake Thank you for your help you are the best 🙂

[@CaidicusProductions]

@@der-die-Wahrheit-sprach I'm glad it was an easy fix. :D

[@youtubenatan]

Hey Caid, thank you so much for this video. This is the one thing that I still have to do, and your the only video that I found on here about this. Do you record vocals into this, and if so, how are you specifically doing that, and with what inputs and cords? I'm going to try this then, and I might have another question for ya. I appreciate it...SBN RESONATE

[@CaidicusProductions]

I do record vocals in like this. So, what you'll need is a mixer. :D You'll need a mixer that has TRS outputs and, depending on your mic, you'll also need phantom power on the mixer itself for the mic. From there, you'll likely also need an XLR cable to go from the mic to the mixer. What you'll do is, you'll have the XLR cable going from the mic to the mixer and a pair of TRS cables (they look like headphone jack cables but thicker) going from the mixer to the back of the MPC Live. In reality, if all you're ever going to do is record your mic into your tracks on the Live, you only need one TRS cable going from the mixer to the Live, but if you ever want to record something that is stereo (the mic is mono by the way) then you'll need both TRS jacks going from the mixer to the Live. In the event that you just use the one TRS cable to start with (maybe to save money or something), you'll just want to make sure that you've got that one cable going from the mixer's L (left) channel to the L input on the MPC Live. Then, make sure the mic is either plugged into the L input on the mixer (if it has L/R channels like that) and the balance on the mixer is turned all the way to left (there should be a knob you can turn to adjust how centered the volume is between left and right). Also, on the mixer, you'll want to turn on phantom power if your mic requires it. There are two kinds of mics, ones that require phantom power and ones that don't. Just look at the instructions for your mic and if they say anything about 48v in them, your mic will require phantom power. Lots of mics do (generally more expensive ones do) and lots of mics don't (generally cheaper ones). It's basically two different types of technology. Ones that do require phantom power are generally more sensitive and have parts inside that won't be able to produce sound without extra power. So, checklist. Mic, XLR cable for the mic. One or two TRS 8mm cables (like headphone style jacks but thicker, the same as guitar cables), a mixer with TRS outputs on it. Some mixers have TRS and XLR outputs, some only have XLR outputs. My Soundcraft mixer doesn't have TRS outputs on it, so I had to buy XLR to TRS adapters in order to plug it into my MPC Live. And that's it! Sounds like a lot, uh? The thing with having a mixer is that you can eventually get and record all sorts of other things into the tracks on your MPC Live. I have a TON of synthesizers and I love recording them into the Live, so it's worth it down the line. If you have any other questions for me, feel free to ask.

[@CaidicusProductions]

I forgot to mention the last step. Once you've got all of that set up, you'll need to adjust the sound coming out of the mixer as well as the recording volume knob on the back of the MPC Live. You'll want to adjust both until you've hit a good level where you've got good sound from your mic but also no hum from the mixer. Basically, that requires three knobs in total. (well, more like 6...) There will be a row of knobs below where you have the mic plugged in on the mixer. There will be three yellow knobs to adjust your high, medium, and low frequencies of whatever you've got plugged into each channel. So, you'll adjust those in order to get the mic sounding just the way you want it. Then, you've got that knob I mentioned to adjust L/R (if there are two inputs on the same row, like a left and right jack on that same row, if not you won't have this knob). Then you'll have a master volume knob and a gain knob. Adjust the master volume knob to about 75%, then adjust the gain knob until the sound is just about where you want it. This step will be where you're also adjusting the knob at the back of the Live to find the sweet spot for recording from your mic. Basically, you'll want to have the MASTER output of your mixer (there'll probably be two sliders on the bottom right of your mixer for master volume out) to about 75%, there or abouts. After you have that main output set to 75%(roughly), you'll fine tune the gain of the mic input channel and the recording in knob on the Live. It shouldn't take long to find levels where the recording volume is clear without hum. I think that should be about it!

[@youtubenatan]

@@CaidicusProductions I really appreciate that. This will definitely help out. I know pretty much, but there are still a few things that are confusing, so I will definitely read this when I get on my MPC One here in a minute, after I go to the store. Thanks alot brother Caid...SBN RESONATE

[@BrotherBishop300]

Hey man how clean are vocals? Does the MPC have preamps?

[@CaidicusProductions]

No built in pre-amps, you'll need a mixer or otherwise for that. As for how clean the vocal are, that'll depend on the mixer and mic you've chosen. It'll record as pristinely as your input devices are.

[@traptown4959]

Caid Johnson

[@CaidicusProductions]

lol That's me!

[@chadmuskaa2806]

@@CaidicusProductions MORE MPC!!! =)

[@kennethbeavers6903]

@@CaidicusProductions do you have a tutorial just on recording a lead vocal and using air effects? I recorded my vocal on a track and some parts get loud and soft Is there a tutorial on vocals and how to even them out

[@CaidicusProductions]

@@kennethbeavers6903 In the air effects, put on a compressor then adjust the track volume as needed. It requires a bit of trial and error, but that's where you start.

[@kennethbeavers6903]

@@CaidicusProductions thank you

[@olesolja1407]

Cool beans.

[@teashea1]

You have some good information here but it is a very flawed video - too many places where you are not certain of what you are doing, don't have the correct information, do not use the correct descriptions etc. You have the ability if you would just spend some more effort on the production before you record it.