Frank G's Tip of the Week

Finally! A new place to find Audio related stuff you didn't know about before. From cool gadgets and free plugins, to things and places only an audio guy could love. Each week I'll throw some links up here that will certainly be worth checking out for one reason or another. Once you've tried 'em I'm sure you'll be back.

Can't get enough? Be sure and read my column right here at recordingeq.com for more tips, tricks, rants and smartassed replies to your questions!

Are you a well rounded engineer? I'm not talking about how many donuts you may eat... Do you limit yourself to one style of music, or are you diverse enough to do a little of everything?

Regardless of the type of music you like to make, there's one piece of gear I feel no studio should be without (and quite honestly, I've never seen a studio without one..or two...or...) What is this cherished piece of equipment? The AKAI MPC!

Be it an MPC 60, 3000, or 2000 (yes, they released the 3k before the 2k...I don't get it either...) this versatile box does it all. Sampling, looping, sequencing, and... well let's look at what you can do with it:

1. If you are doing rap or hip-hop you may want to start by sampling a couple of bars from a CD. Could be from one of those CD's that are designed to give you samples (or if you aren't going to release it - it could be from any CD). Simply put the output from your player into the audio input of the MPC unit and record, trim the sample two exactly 2 bars. If you're not doing a looped sample - go to step 3.

2. To loop the sample you program 1 beat at the beginning of one bar (at the tempo of the sample). You set the the MPC to "Loop" at 2 bars. If your trimming and the tempo are correct, you will get a flawless repeating of this sample.

3. Usually you will want to program beats that augment any recorded on the sample. All programming of beats or sounding of the two-bar sample is programmed like a drum machine. There are sounds that come with the unit or you can make new sounds by hitting your stove with a fork and recording it into the MPC - you can then use this as your high-hat sound on your production.

4. You say you don't know how to program basic beats - well, just click over here for my lesson on basic beat creation with the MPC in the current REQ issue. You'll be glad you did, and I'll keep adding sections as long as I see people are reading....

5. Finally you may want to add a bass line or some other instruments. Simply hook a MIDI cord to the synth from the MPC and use the sequencer in the MPC to record a two-bar sequence to do this.

The point is that THIS ONE BOX does it all without complicated hookups and without having to buy several pieces of equipment. For Akai's demo of their current MPC 2000 unit - go here. (Requires download).

Hacking has nothing at all to do with what the media would have you believe it does. The evil guys that break into stuff and cause havoc are known as "crackers" and should no longer be mistaken for "hackers" who are people who....well, just click over and read!

Hey, if you're still hanging around and you've got some time to waste, check out my other works at my site,

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