User manual AKAI MPC500

[. . . ] Chapter 1: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Top Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Bottom Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Hooking Up Your MPC500. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MPC500 Basic Concepts and Terminology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] When the cursor is in the 'Step' field, you can select a step with the [DATA] wheel or by typing a number with the pads while holding the [NUMERIC] button. A song can have up to 250 steps assigned to it. 'Sequence' Field This shows the sequence that is currently assigned to the selected step. *NOTE* Due to space limitations, sequence names are truncated to 9 characters. You can play the selected song in this page by pressing the [PLAY] or [PLAY START] buttons. While playing, the upper line changes to show the 'Now' field instead of the 'Edit select' field. The 'Now' field updates constantly to show the current position of the song. While playing, the 'Step' field and the 'Sequence' field are updated according to the play back step and sequence. The 'Tempo' field shows the tempo of the currently playing sequence. MPC500 Operator's Manual rev 1. 0 50 Chapter 6: SONG mode Creating a Song This section will give a step by step example on how to create a song. Select an unused song on 'Song' field (lower line). 2. Select "Assign seq" on 'Edit select' field (upper line). The 'Sequence' field shows "End of song" instead of a sequence. "End of song" means that there is no sequence assigned after this step. Move the cursor to the 'Sequence' field (currently set to End of song) and select a sequence using the [DATA] wheel or the [NUMERIC] function. Sequence01 is selected for step 001. Move the cursor to the 'Step' field and select 002. Now, step 002 shows "End of song" instead of Step 001. You can assign the next sequence by following the procedure above for each step. Once you add a sequence in the 'Edit select' field, the song name is changed from (unused) to Song## (## is song number) as the default name. Repeats This field sets the number of times the MPC500 will repeat the sequence before playing the next step. The MPC500 will repeat the sequence the selected number of times. When Repeat is set to 0 for a step in the middle of the song, playback is stopped at this step. This is convenient for stopping a song in the middle without deleting steps after the stop point. When Repeat is set to Hold, The MPC500 will repeat the sequence until you press STEP> button. You can change the tempo of the sequence, but if you are using the same sequence in another step, the tempo of that sequence will be changed as well. Song Name This selection allows you to change the name of the current song. The maximum number of characters for a song name is 10. The name can be changed by selecting the lower line and using the [DATA] wheel or typing with the Pads. Pressing the [CANCEL] button will reset the name to the original name. MPC500 Operator's Manual rev 1. 0 51 Insert Before Allows for steps to be inserted in the middle of a song. When Insert before is selected on the 'Edit select' field (upper line), the [DO IT] button will blink. [. . . ] If you find it difficult to achieve a comfortable velocity range for your playing style, e. g. you can not get a velocity of 127 even you hit the Pad very hard, or vice versa, you get velocity 127 easily even you hit the Pad softly, you can adjust the Pad Sensitivity and the velocity curve as desired. * The Pad sensitivity and the Velocity curve can be adjusted for each Pad separately. Press the [MODE] button and then the [PAD 8] (OTHER). The Other page will be displayed. PAD1: 16 Curve:A Sens field 2. [. . . ]