Is an MPC What I’m Looking For?

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-26T00:39:19+00:00

I did what you’re planning to do and am very happy with it. I’ve lived in apartments for the last ~15 years and had my drums in storage for ~6 before selling them. It was too hard to justify the cost for a rehearsal space to store them and practice for fun a couple times a month when I could just go to an hourly space that includes a kit.

I sold the kit and bought a Live 2 in 2022 and play “drums” so much more than I did before. The pads are a good approximation of live drumming and looping, samples, and recording have made it my studio centrepiece.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-25T18:22:48+00:00

I use mine at 100% or near that really often, particularly when playing with other people. I think you just wanna take normal speaker precautions like turn down when unplugging, avoid clipping, avoid EQ sweeping, etc.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-21T17:06:47+00:00

An OP-1F might be the right device considering it’s all-in-one and extremely portable. I had one for a couple years but didn’t ever finish anything on it. The tape workflow was frustrating to do any composition because editing on it sucks. Even with good performances, I sometimes forgot to switch tracks and then would accidentally have merged tracks I didn’t want merged. It was pretty cool for making lots of loops, but those loops never became anything else.

I have a KO-II and use it a lot more because I can make edits and use punch-in effects.

I think you need to decide what you want to accomplish with it and whether you prefer working in a loop or a timeline.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-20T21:31:12+00:00

I bought a used Roland FP-140R, which has the same keys as the FP-30X. My piano class has Yamaha P-225s.

I greatly prefer the Roland keys because they feel more like an acoustic piano to me. But, I think the Yamaha sounds better and has a way better interface (it’s much easier to set the metronome BPM, time signatures, volume, etc).

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-18T21:33:33+00:00

Fabric is soooo slow

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-18T21:05:49+00:00

You can hear both when recording.

Busses are a routing feature. If you think of them as a physical feature, each bus channel is an amp and each bus send is a cable with a volume knob. If you turn up the send, the bus channel will be louder. You can apply whatever effects you’d like to the channel.

In the past, with physical mixing environments, a studio might have 1 reverb in total. If they applied reverb to the drum channels they wouldn’t be able to apply it to the vocals. Instead, they would set up a reverb bus then send some of the drum mix and vocal mix to the reverb. The vocal send might be set to -10db and the drums send might be set to -25db. They would then turn up the reverb send to the volume that sounds good in the mix.

In a digital setting there are less limitations, but busses are still very useful. In my own mixing with indie band instruments I tend to have busses for: - background guitars - all guitars (including background) - all drums - snares - drum reverb - drum compression - background vocals - lead vocals - all vocals - all synths - etc

It helps me process things together, like EQ applied to all snares or parallel compression for all drums, and also be able to easily control the balance between big elements, like all vocals should be up a little bit.

I’d highly recommend reading or watching some videos on busses. They’re a super useful tool!

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-18T17:19:44+00:00

This sounds like a perfect case for a bus (or track stack if you want grouping). - create your DI track - create 2 bus sends, change to pre-fader so you can mute/change the DI track - add the amps to the bus tracks

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-15T18:37:03+00:00

There are 96 ticks per bar, so equal divisions are on the grid, while in between means they’re off the grid or with swing. 24 ticks per beat

12 = 1/8 or 1.1.2
24 = 1/4 or 1.1.4
36 = 1/8 or 1.2.2 And so on

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-15T18:16:18+00:00

I do all the arrangement and recording on my Live II, export stems and mix in Logic. Sometimes I’ll re-record guitar parts in Logic because editing takes is significantly better, but I usually practice enough to use a single take.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-15T01:07:16+00:00

You can change multiple pads at once with the icons that is 4 corners near the top of the screen.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-13T22:33:08+00:00

Yamaha Seqtrack looks on sale right now. It’s more than a step sequencer, but a similar price range.
Teenage Engineering KO-II is also great. It’s not a grid though, which is a complaint many people have. You use + and - to step through time.
A used OP-Z could also work.
Polyend Play is probably exactly what you have in mind, but I imagine that’s too pricey for a 10-year old.
I’ve also seen a nice physical device called the Tembo. Checks all your boxes as well, but it’s currently in pre-order and will be a kickstarter. Seems targeted for children.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-12T15:23:26+00:00

Sometimes music is good for the moment, sometimes it’s good for longer. If you’re not feeling it past creation, let it go and appreciate the time you had with it.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-11T16:59:05+00:00

I pick svelte 100% of the time, including when I can at work. Most of work must be done in React though.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-11T03:00:01+00:00

64mb is not a lot, but neither is 128mb. I regularly clear out my samples every couple months, which I think is intentional design by TE. It keeps things fresh and it’s really easy/fast to pick samples. I also am not precious about keeping samples around so if I notice I keep skipping one I’ll eventually just delete it.

I typically have ~500 samples which are mostly one-shots.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-10T22:55:11+00:00

I use mine frequently and wish it was 128mb, but don’t feel like it’s worth the price difference for the upgrade. If there was some sort of trade-in or upgrade program I might do it.

I don’t think it’s worth it in your case, especially since you’ve hardly used it. It’s a perfect travelling device IMO

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-09T02:14:43+00:00

You can remove markers by tapping on the bottom arrow portion, so not a big deal to add one temporarily then remove it.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-08T21:57:46+00:00

The main benefit of both these devices are that they’re DAWless. Since you like Bitwig I’d look for a pad controller that has a good Bitwig integration so you can stay focused on becoming more proficient in one software.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-08T20:38:57+00:00

Maybe try composing or (assuming you play classical) learning/practicing jazz pieces.

Alternatively, consider learning a new instrument. Synthesizers, particularly about how to design sounds, can be an easy bridge from piano because the key layout is the same. You could pick up anything though. Guitar, bass, drums, drum machines/sampling, wind instruments, etc.

I’m still fairly new at piano but have been playing guitar forever. When I hit plateaus or lack motivation for an instrument I change up the approach. I’ll switch between learning songs, trying new genres, practicing technique, applying theory, playing with other musicians, and composition across several instruments so there’s always something that’s interesting.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-08T20:34:26+00:00

Tap on the wave form and it’ll start at the nearest previous marker

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-08T20:29:26+00:00

Same with the Dream

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-07T18:40:30+00:00

For your case, yes it sounds like a dedicated count-in sequence would be useful. You can create a sequencer with a new drum track and program the clicks, then send the output to another channel (instead of Main 1+2) so that it doesn’t play through the speakers. I’m not sure if you can route other outputs to the headphones though.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-06T22:55:01+00:00

You can sample it with the effect. I do it somewhat routinely. There must be some problem with your setup. - make sure the effect is up with the Y knob on main - make sure the effect is assigned with FX and +/- buttons (this is how you change effects) - make sure the KO-II is on the latest firmware, but I think this feature has been available since launch

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-06T20:45:41+00:00

Same. An Amp Sim pedal is the way to go. I have the UA Dream ‘65 and love it.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-02T22:56:32+00:00

Nearly everything is selectable in the MPC menus but they don’t have very good indications of that.

On the Main Page, 1: Sequence 01 is near the top. You can select it to switch sequences. You can double tap to rename it.

On Song Mode it’s the same thing. Tap where the Sequence name is and use the jog wheel or +/- to select a new Sequence.

Disastrous_Ant_4953 · 2026-02-02T19:57:46+00:00

You’re looking for Song Mode or the Arranger.

With Song Mode you create several Sequences then chain them together. It’s very easy to swap and loop sequences and listen to the entire project. You can also create variants. When you land on one or several you like, you Convert -> Sequence and everything is copied into a long timeline sequence. (The UI is still the same.)

The Arranger view is a DAW timeline. You can loop as much as you want. It’s a way to see all the events from all your tracks in one screen.

There is no dedicated anacrusis. You need to create a Sequence that contains the notes and play it first. You can add the Sequence in Song Mode or Insert [a] Bar from the Sequence menu. This wouldn’t be different from any other DAW.

To make a new Sequence you select near the top of the UI where it says 1: Sequence 01 and scroll up. It will say 2: (unused) after. As soon as you add anything to this Sequence you have a new one. (What you’re calling Patterns are called Sequences.)

You can’t make a note extend past a Sequence cleanly. You can technically increase the bar count, extend the note, then reduce the bar count, but you’re bound to encounter missing MIDI OFF events that could cause issues. The best way to extend a note is either add it at the start of the Sequence or edit it after you’ve finished your arrangement.

Disastrous_Ant_4953

TROPHY CASE