A program is a collection of sounds (well really links to sounds) assigned to up to 64 note numbers. It is here that you set the envelope or filter on each note number/ pad individually, you can have 24 of these programs loaded at once. The sound is played back by a pad only when it is assigned to a note number in a program, for example when a snare is assigned to say note 36 and that note is assigned to pad A02 then pad A02 will play that snare.

To play the pad like a rhythm machine and record the drum pattern (this doesn't mean it needs to be drums) makes it possible to record the timing of the pad being played as sequence data when recording, the note number assigned to the pad will be played as sequence data instead of the original pad data. When the sequence is played back the sound corresponding to the note data recorded on the track will play i.e. the snare drum sound assigned to note 36 will play back to the timing of the recording using the notes, in this case note 36, when the sequence is played.

The following is a graphic representation of how data is organised within programs:-
 

I know it might seem a bit confusing but what you've got to remember is that you don't need to know too much about note data etc. What's important is knowing how to create programs and use them effectively, I've never bothered assigning specific note numbers to sounds just assigned sounds to pads and used the default note settings, you could impress your mates and pretend you understand though!.

So now you understand a bit more about programs lets have a go at making one, you will need to have sampled some sounds already (refer to sampling' section) or to have loaded some in from disk. From the main screen press PROGRAM (6 on the numeric pad) whilst holding SHIFT, this will take you to Assign screen in Program Edit. The highlighted Pgm: field should read 1-NEW PROGRAM 01, if it doesn't press OPEN WINDOW and then delete (you can also name or copy programs here) to give you a fresh program or turn the DATA wheel to a blank one (if you've turned on the machine just prior to this and not loaded any programs their will be none there anyway).

The PROGRAM edit mode has four screens, these are:-

Assign Screen:- Assigns a note number to the pad and a sound to the note number.

Parameter Screen:- Edits the tone using the envelope, filter etc.

MIDI Screen:- Sets the MIDI of the internal sampler.

Purge Screen:- This has been added to V1.7 and allows you to delete all sounds in memory that are not used in any programs (this is good for clearing the system after a heavyweight sampling session and to free up memory).

ASSIGN Screen:-

To play sounds you must first assign them to pads, note numbers are assigned to pads by the initial default settings on the MPC unless there is a special requirement it is not necessary to change the note assignments.

Select a pad by hitting it then move the cursor to the Snd: field and rotate the DATA wheel until your desired sound appears (I usually find it desirable to have my main drums along the bottom of pad bank A and my main loops across the top pads and so on, no doubt you will find a method that suites your production needs). You should now be able to hear your sound when you play the pad.

The Mode: field allows you to set the pad to generate up to three sounds simultaneously or switch between velocity and decay. Select the Mode: field with the CURSOR key and with the DATA wheel choose from the following four modes:-

NORMAL:-

Only the sound in the Snd: field will play.

SIMULT:-

This plays up to three sounds together each time the note number specified in the Note: field is received. When this option is selected two Also play note: fields appear, select the other pads you want to trigger by rotating the DATA wheel in the appropriate field. Try triggering two kick drums together.

VEL SW:-

The sound assigned to the pad and the two sounds set here can be switched with strong or weak velocity when this option is selected. When the velocity of the drum pads or MIDI note data exceed these settings the generated sound will switch.

DECAY SW:-

This works the same as VEL SW. Normally I assign decay to the NOTE VARIATION slider and assign my hi-hat to this function then you can slide and switch between closed, half and open sounds really effectively.

The PARAMS Screen:-

The screen allows you to edit the note parameters, it is where you really shape your sound to fit your sequence. First you must select the sound you want to edit by pressing the relevant pad.

Setting the Envelope.

This edits the envelope of the sound assigned to the pad/ note. It has the following three parameters:-

Attack:- This sets the attack time of the envelope, set to 0 for drum sources normally. The higher the value the slower the sound envelopes.

Decay:- This sets the decay time of the envelope (surprise, surprise!). The larger the value the milder the sound decays.

Dcy md:- If set to END the decay ends at the end of the sample, if set to START then the decay starts at the beginning of the attack time. When the sample is short the decay time will have higher priority than the attack time.

Select each parameter with the cursor keys and adjust with the DATA wheel.

You can also set the ratio in which the envelope or volume changes according to the velocity, display the VELOCITY MODULATION screen by pressing OPEN WINDOW.

Setting the Filter.

This edits the filter of the sound assigned to each pad/ note. It has the following two parameters:-

Freq:- This sets the cut off frequency of the filter, the smaller the value the more oblique the sound becomes (wicked for that eerie Hip hop sub loop sound).

Reso:- This sets the resonance of the filter. The larger the value the more emphasised the boarder of the cut off frequency (the classic phone line sound!).

Select each parameter with the cursor keys and adjust with the DATA wheel.

You can also set the ratio in which the filter changes according to the filter envelope or velocity by pressing the OPEN WINDOW button on the filter parameters.

Setting the Pitch.

This sets the pitch of the sound assigned to each note, its quite often more productive to get your samples in time hear rather than in the beat loop function as mentioned in the 'editing sounds' section of this guide.

Select the Tune: field with the cursor keys and change the value with the DATA wheel.

You can also press OPEN WINDOW here to display a screen which allows you to check the tempo difference between the sample in Trim mode and the Tune set here and to set the velocity to control the pitch.

Setting the Voice Overlap.

When a note is repeatedly generated this can be used to specify whether the previous sound is cancelled or overlapped (this is how most loops are done in Hip hop-forget about looping long samples in the LOOP screen (see 'Editing sounds' section).

The following three modes are available:-

POLY:-

Multiple plays of the sound are assigned to additional voices allowing polyphonic overlap. This is good for sounds such as ride cymbals for which you don't want new notes to cut off old ones, try using it to give loops a smoother looping feel when used with the right amount of attack and decay.

MONO:-

Multiples of play use the same voice terminating and restarting playback of the sound (no overlap). Try using it to create a st-st-stuterring effect.

NOTE OFF:-

When the pad is released the sound is terminated. This is helpful when playing say a bass sound that you have not looped in the LOOP screen (see 'Editing sounds').

If you press OPEN WINDOW in this field you can set a pad to mute up to two other pads, select the pads by moving the cursor and using the DATA wheel. When either note set on the bottom line is generated it can be muted by pressing the pad specified in the upper half of the window, this is convenient for stopping the sound of an open hi-hat with a closed one. Also extremely useful for cutting a long sample early within your track for vocal emphasis or whatever, assign a sound to a pad and turn its volume completely down (refer to 'The Mixer' section) you can then use this to mute the sample without playing bum notes.

The MIDI Screen:-

This sets the MIDI set-up of the internal sampler.

MIDI Volume:- This sets whether or not to receive MIDI volume data, choose between RECEIVE and IGNORE.

Now vol:- This is the MIDI volume data which the internal sampler last received, when the MIDI Volume: is set to RECEIVE the volume of the internal sampler is controlled by the MIDI volume data. If the MPC receives a value of 0 then it will not generate any sound and so on.

Program change:- This sets whether or not to switch the program using the MIDI program change. You can set to RECEIVE or IGNORE.

Local mode:- This separates the connection between the internal sampler and the drum pads. Set this to OFF when you are not using the sequencer section and using the pad and sampler with another sequencer.

The PURGE Screen:-

This is where you can delete any unused sounds in the memory, press DO IT to execute. Be careful not to delete any sounds that you want to use which you haven't yet assigned to programs, also it may take quite a few moments to process...dont panic!, it hasn't crashed.