Mpc Live Controller Mode
To enter controller mode, press the Menu button on the MPC. Enter Controller Mode by selecting the icon that looks like a computer chip with the MPC logo on it. I've highlighted this in a yellow box in the picture below: Selecting that icon will display a message on the Live asking if you want to enter controller mode.
In this article I'll look at the how to install expansions and sampepacks to the new generation of MPCs (MPC Live, MPC X and MPC Software). 'MPC Software Expansion' vs 'Standalone MPC Expansion' vs Standard 'Samplepack'Let's get some terminolgy out of the way first. On our site, products suitable for the MPC Live, MPC X & MPC Software tend to contain one or more of the following:.
MPC Software Expansion (XPN) - this is a dedicated installer which is used to install the expansion files directly into the MPC Software on your computer. ' Standalone MPC Expansion' - some of our packs can contain a dedicated 'standalone MPC' installer as an alternative to exporting directly from the MPC Software.
Standard Samplepack Folders - some of our older legacy products (i.e. The ones produced long before the 'Expansion Browser' existed) will by organised in a more traditional way, using folders/directories of sounds and MPC programs.Each type requires a different method of installation which we'll cover below.
Installation: MPC Software Expansion (for Controller Mode & Computer GUI)If your product contains an 'MPC Software Expansion', locate the dedicated ' Expansion Installer.XPN' file; this will often be inside a folder labelled ' MPC Software Expansion'.Launch the MPC Software and drag & drop the XPN file directly into the MPC Software UI from your computer’s File Explorer/Finder:Please note that an XPN file cannot be installed from the MPC Browser, nor can it be installed by double clicking.After dragging the XPN into the software UI you should see the following:Select ‘ Import’. You can now access the expansion directly within the computer GUI Expansion Browser (‘X’ on your keyboard).
Mpc Live Controller Modesto
You can also access this expansion via the hardware (touchscreen) UI while in 'controller mode', I'll cover this later in this article. Installation: 'Standalone Expansions' for the MPC Live, MPC X & Akai ForceIf your product contains a dedicated 'standalone' expansion, you can copy this folder directly to your MPC X/Live/Akai Force disk to use the expansion in 'standalone mode'.Now, while these units ship with a built-in internal drive, there is no way of ‘externally’ accessing this drive, so instead we have to install expansions to an 'attached' disk. This can be an SD card, a USB drive connected to any of the USB ports or a SATA disk installed inside the MPC (exFAT format recommended).To transfer files to this disk you first need to connect the disk to your computer. One option is to simply remove the disk from your MPC/Force and connect it directly to a USB port or SD card slot on your computer. Remember, if your MPC is currently switched on, first 'eject' the disk from your MPC via the BROWSER:Alternatively you can connect via ' Controller Mode' (or ' Computer Mode' in the Force). First connect the ‘square’ USB port on your MPC/Force to a spare USB port on your computer using a standard USB cable.
MPC users should go to the MENU screen and click on the ‘ MPC Chip’ icon at the top of the page:This will bring up the ‘ ENTER CONTROLLER MODE’ screen. Click on the CONTROLLER MODE button at the bottom of the page.Akai Force users should go to the MENU screen and tap on the 'Laptop' icon in the top right of the screen (this time select ' COMPUTER MODE').Within a few seconds all your attached PC disks should appear as ‘removable’ drives in your computer’s file manager (e.g. ‘Finder’ on a Mac, ‘Explorer’ on a PC). Click on the drive to open its file system:With your disk now available as a removable drive on your computer, the next step is to copy the standalone expansion to it. Locate the folder ' MPC X-MPC-Live-Standalone' (on our newest expansions, this folder will be called 'MPC X-MPC Live-Akai Force Edition') and inside you'll find a folder named after the product itself; this is the standalone expansion folder that we're going to copy to our disk:To ensure that the kit is treated as a proper Expansion make sure you first create a folder called ‘ Expansions’ in the root location of your disk and copy the kit folder inside this ‘ Expansions’ folder:You can now ‘eject’ the disk from your computer and return your MPC Live/X/Force to ‘Standalone’ mode.
Exporting Existing MPC Software Expansions To Standalone MPCIf your product only contains an XPN installer (often the case for large expansions), you can easily export the installed expansion directly to your standalone MPC disk via the MPC Software ' Expansion Exporter Tool'. In the MPC Software, go to ‘ File Export Expansion’:Under ‘ Destination’, select your MPC Live/X disk (in the above example the disk is called MPC DATA). This will be the disk that you usually connect to your MPC, be it a USB drive, SD card or internal SATA drive.Now under ‘ Expansions’ check the entry next to the expansions you wish to export. Hit Export and wait for confirmation that the expansion has been exported to your MPC Disk. The next time you enter ‘standalone mode’ (with this disk connected) your expansion will be accessible from ‘ BROWSER Expansions’. Installing 'Standard' Samplepack FoldersWhile many of our older samplepacks have been updated to included dedicated 'expansions' for the MPC X/Live and MPC Software, some of our 'legacy' MPC packs will instead organise the sounds and kits into standard folders containing WAV samples and program files.
These packs are still 100% compatible with the MPC Live/X/MPC Software, but instead of installing them as 'Expansions' you simply copy them to any disk location you prefer. Please note that these legacy packs do not support image thumbnails or program previews.First download the zip file for your legacy samplepack and extract the contents to any location on your computer. Enter the main samplepack folder and inside you'll typically see multiple versions of the kits optimised for different MPC models:MPC X & MPC Live owners should locate the sub-folder that contains the words ' MPC Live-MPC X' or, if this isn't present, the one that includes the words ' MPC Software'.
Users of MPC Touch, MPC Renaissance and MPC Studio should use the MPC Software folder. Before transferring we suggest you rename this folder to reflect the name of the samplepack itself.You can now copy the samplepack folder to your preferred location; for MPC X/Live users this should be somewhere your 'attached' MPC disk (using the techniques discussed previously in this article), for all other MPCs, this should be a somewhere on your computer. I'd recommend installing all your samplepacks and kits to a dedicated 'Sound Library' folder, perhaps further categorized by samplepack type or sound type. Accessing Your Expansions & Samplepacks Via The Hardware (Touchscreen) UIOnce you've transferred your expansions or samplepacks to your MPC using the tecniques in this article you'll be able to access them from the MPC 'Browser'. Touchscreen MPC users can view your Expansions by selecting the 'Expansions' tab on the left side of the BROWSER screen.
Single tap an expansion image and the expansion files themselves will appear on the right hand side of the screen. Use the BROWSER filters to filter the content by file type (e.g. PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, SEQUENCES etc).For standard sampepacks, select the 'Places' tab on the left of the BROWSER screen. Choose your MPC disk from the list of drives and then on the right hand side of the screen, navigate to your samplepack folders. Double tap a folder to enter it. In the example below, I've navigated inside the 'Drum Library Snares' subfolder on on my MPC DATA disk using a SAMPLES filter, ensuring only sample files are visible:For more tips & tricks on making the most out of the MPC Live & MPC X, check out the.