Some Thoughts on the MPC 500 - Pros, Cons & A Quick Beat

#MPC #AKAI #BeatMaking
Hi friends,
Been steady making beats on this little Akai MPC 500 and I thought I'd pause to share some thoughts on the workflow and what like and what I don't like about it.
If you just want to hear music, skip to 06:57
00:00 Intro
00:32 SP Series Update
01:10 MPC 500 Cons
04:32 MPC 500 Pros
06:57 The Beat

[@Dizzy_the_kid]

This little beast is underrated asf .. 1once you got the workflow on lock, the sky is the limit. MPC 500 GANG!

[@davidwrightlagronefineart]

I have a love for the MPC 500 which was my first MPC. I never used it as a MIDI sequencer and I did my sample prepping on my PC for expediency, but with fat pads it was great for dynamic finger drumming and sample sequencing. From there I went to the 5000 which I also like and now use the Live. The Live almost has too many bells and whistles - remember, Endtroducing by DJ Shadow was made on an MPC 60. This video made me nostalgic for the 500, as limited as it is. I think now I’m gonna load up some boom bap kits on the Live and ignore the bells and whistles. Thanks Matt!

[@MattGreerMusic]

Thank you, too. I owe that album so much.

[@BoombapBodega]

The 500 sounds great and you can jam anywhere. Thanks for the breakdown. Peace!

[@ildarkinildarkin]

Wow fresh video on MPC 500! As MPC 500 owner I'm glad to see ne vids. Thanks!

[@lgpatterson6259]

I agree with your points..once i learned it.. it was fun to use..took me about two weeks.And i'd do everything in-box.learned a few chopping techniques from KZbin .and i got the Live, 4000, and 1000.the menu diving aint nothing once you have patience and learn the machine .

[@MattGreerMusic]

I totally agree. Thanks for watching and for the comments.

[@dymmalowitz5465]

Since you have a different level MPCs, which one you would recommend as an entry-level device? 1000 or 500?

[@lgpatterson6259]

@@dymmalowitz5465 neither.. I would get the Live or MPC One.. they are waaay easier… but if your nostalgic… the 1000 is easier then the 500

[@mastaboog749]

I have an mpc 1000 I fixed up and I see these quite often for not crazy money. I think I might grab one

[@tomblaze2]

King 👑

[@philtyrich1]

Sold my 606 copping a 500 tomorrow cant wait

[@MattGreerMusic]

That's a good trade up.

[@phillindablank]

I remember you telling me to get the 1000 instead on the simply synthesizers fb group, but I picked up the 500 anyways because someone was selling one near me. I think it's a great machine and a MPC, however it takes a lot of patience and requires you to be organised in your workflow. The screen is definitely the trickiest part about understanding the device but it rewards you with time. Although it is menu-divey, the UI is set up where you can actually become pretty fast with the mode + pad combo and also typing in numerical values becomes easier with time. Editing is way different but manageable in the SEQ edit and STEP edit menus, and song mode is pretty awesome too (however i don't see many people using it online). I like to see support for the MPC 500 in the community since i think it gets overlooked by its screen but underneath lies a lot more haha. My studio isn't huge but it is definitely my favourite piece of gear I own and I do not regret picking one up. Gotta fix the CF card slot but otherwise, mine is in pretty solid condition. Cheers Matty G ✌️

[@MattGreerMusic]

Right on. Thanks for the comments. Glad you are enjoying it, too.

[@Dizzy_the_kid]

That's 100% Facts, the 500 is very underrated ..

[@juravhs3848]

I had one and it was a headache for me. Sold it and bought a bigger box with more buttons to make the whole working process easier

[@dassolosyndikat5113]

Beat at the end is fiyah

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

I love the MPC500. Mine is faulty ATM as the pads won't play the sounds anymore but I can still assign them to the pads and if I play them without hearing them the sound will play back when the loop comes back around. I need to get that sorted out as my MPC500 is fully upgraded and pimped out with fat pads and upgraded buttons and knobs. Hope you are enjoying yours Matt. After you finish your first project with it you will be ultra fast on it, guaranteed.

[@MattGreerMusic]

Thanks for the kind words. Do you know specifically what's wrong with yours? Have you tried sourcing replacement parts? I'm asking because I'm sure one day something will break on this one too.

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

@@MattGreerMusic I opened up mine quite a few times so it may be something that I've done? I'll have to investigate and find out what circuit does the playback from the pads as once I've played them in they will play back afterwards. It just causes an issue when I want to sample. I actually sample by ear using the pads so it's a problem when I want to play the pads with the sample.

[@MattGreerMusic]

@@RoomAtTheTopStudio Weird issue. Sounds frustrating. I hope you're able to get it sorted out.

[@RoomAtTheTopStudio]

@@MattGreerMusic me too. Thanks

[@KarlozWatson]

I have no experience with the 500, but I have fixed countless larger MPC’s and MPD’s- it sounds like you need to replace the piezo sensor. There should be a replacement part on MPCSTUFF.com, they usually don’t cost much and is a pretty easy install.

[@I.O.M.]

Beat is Spivey!

[@asarthompson923]

How you got the mpc500 to sound clear like that, also the drums are loose which is hard because the pads are stiff

[@MattGreerMusic]

I just try to focus on good sample curation and then I spend a lot of time tweaking and mixing my sequences after I get them programmed.

[@olatunjimason]

Good afternoon Matt! I have a question for you! Does the size of the wav. file matter when saving samples from the computer to the MPC500? I've tried chopping up sampling in a software program called Audacity. Then I would save them in a folder on a Compact Flash Card with 4 gigabytes and another CF Card with 16 gigabytes. But whenever I try loading up those files into the MPC, they would not all load. Only 3 out the 7 chopped up wav files would appear. I find that kind of strange. Was it something I did wrong? I even tried compressing the files and changing the bit rate and then loading up into the MPC500 but all that did was take away the sound quality and make the samples play at a faster abnormal rate!!!! I thinking there must be better useful way to resolve this issue!!!

[@MattGreerMusic]

Hi there, Olatunji. I should say first off, that I'm not an expert on transferring sounds to cards because I usually sample straight into my MPC.... BUT.... according to Akai, a 2 GB card is the largest they allow for. Larger card sizes, can cause extremely slow loading times, or other problems. Not sure if the specific problem you stated is one of them but might be worth considering. Have you tried transferring the same files directly from your computer to the internal memory of the MPC over USB? I know you won't be able to move them all because the internal memory is small but maybe try just a few of the samples you've had trouble with and see if that helps things. Worth a shot. If it works, maybe a smaller card will make things better. Good luck.

[@nahuelsalvo6631]

hola amigo. para solucionar ese problema tienes que bajarle los Kbps al archivo .WAV yo utilizo un conversor de audio online (online-audio-converter.com) y los vuelvo a convertir en .WAV cd quality. asi me quedan en 1411Kbps y el MPC500 puede leerlos. Saludos!

[@descargamusicalny]

Hello, I hope by now you have solved this problem but, it sounds to me like a name/character problem. Try to make the name of the samples as short as possible. If the name of the sample is too big the mpc won't read it.

[@ginociancio1]

Hi I was going to buy one but I don't know if it is standalone can you please tell me if it is because I don't have a computer 👍

[@MattGreerMusic]

Yes it's stand alone hardware. No computer required.

[@biggtaote]

Big Beat at the end of the Video

[@jemandhuman5039]

Is it possible to play chords, does it have chromatic polyphony?

[@MattGreerMusic]

Yes it does

[@jemandhuman5039]

Great, is it a feature or does it only work with complicated workarounds? anyway, merry christmas@@MattGreerMusic

[@MattGreerMusic]

It's a normal feature. When you put a sample into "multi-level" you can choose either poly or mono and play it accordingly. You do have a limit on overall polyphony though so with too many layers you will encounter voice stealing.

[@jemandhuman5039]

thanks!@@MattGreerMusic

[@davidcogan9936]

MOre 500 videos

[@MattGreerMusic]

Glad you like the 500. I'm pretty fond of this little guy as well.

[@davidcogan9936]

@@MattGreerMusic Im having trouble controling vsts with it. And loading smaples

[@brokemanmusic2587]

It's a good machine but its not for me

[@MattGreerMusic]

Different strokes for different folks.