Building a Drum Kit with MPC Renaissance/ MPC Studio

Hi there, this is Andy from MPC-Samples.com, A.K.A MPC-Tutor with my first post on MaschineMasters.com. I’m known for my work with MPCs, but just like many of us these days I’m rocking multiple beat making machines rather than relying exclusively on a single ‘workhorse’ – whether it’s Maschine, MPCs, vintage hardware or the vast array of software solutions, there’s plenty of options and each one has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, so combining them can really help optimize and vary your workflow for maximum creativity.

With this in mind, AG Got Beats thought it would be cool if I showed the MM community an example of a typical ‘MPC-style’ workflow, and I felt this MPC tutorial from my blog would be perfect as it covers a topic we’re all very familiar with – building a drum kit. This one was written for the MPC Renaissance and MPC Studio and uses the sounds pulled from a chopped break to quickly set up the framework for a usable and natural sounding drum kit. Along the way you’ll also learn some of the core functionality in the MPC Software such as using the file browser and drag-and-drop sample assignment, as well as the use of pad mutes and ’round robins’ to add more realism to the kit.

I actually adapted this tutorial from my MPC Renaissance/MPC Studio book ‘MPC: Sampling Laid Bare‘ where I look at much more advanced MPC kit building techniques alongside in-depth tutorials on drum layering, sample editing, chopping and multisampling. So if you do ever take the plunge with an MPC Renaissance/Studio, make sure you check it out 🙂

With Maschine now an important part of my day-to-day workflow you’re going to find me hanging out at Maschinemasters on a regular basis, so if you do have any questions about working with the MPC and Maschine together, please post them up in the comments here or over at the MaschineMasters forums and I’ll be glad to offer some advice.

In the meantime take it easy and most importantly have fun making music, whichever equipment you use!

Read the entire MPC drum kit building tutorial here.

MPC-Tutor

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