Akai/Linn MPC3000 Swing in Logic?
The Akai/Linn MPC machines (“Music Production Centers”) are favored writing and production tools by many artists and producers for a number of reasons but one of the primary reasons is the way the sequencer can manipulate the timing of MIDI events using its “swing” quantization options. Most people agree the results of this feature cannot be easily replicated using other MIDI sequencing environments, despite the huge array of quantizing options now available in most software sequencers.
I owned the MPC60 back in the early 90′s and loved working with it and remember programming some great feeling grooves in the sequencer. Fast forward to 2010 and occasionally I feel like I wrestle with getting just the right quantization settings within my current sequencing environment which is Logic Studio v9. I was therefore excited to learn someone (thank you whoever you are!) had gone through the work of creating specialized MIDI files that were generated using the MPC3000. Using 8th note and 16th note sequences and MPC “swing” values applied from 50% to 75%, these sequence files are basically snapshots of the MPC swing feel. Once opened within Logic, they can be easily turned into custom Groove Templates. This means any selection of MIDI events within your sequences can be quantized using the MPC3000 “swing” quantization options. Pretty cool!
This article on the Logic Cafe website provides the file download and instructions for Logic. Note that the new MPC3000 Groove Template options created this way are project specific. This means that if you want these available in all future projects you create in Logic, you should create a new Logic project, use the instructions to create the Groove Template in the new project, and save the project as a Logic template file (found within the Save As option in the File menu).
If you are using Logic Studio v9, note that you will not find “Make Groove Template” within the Options menu as stated in the instructions. Instead, you will find it by clicking on the Quantize option menu circled in red below.
