16 Levels

This guide follows the order of the MPC 2000XL Operator's Manual, chapter for chapter, so anyone who learned on the XL finds things where they expect them. Where 16 Levels works differently because it lives in Ableton Live, the chapter says so.

Features

What you need: Ableton Live 12 Suite, or Live 12 Standard with Max for Live, on a Mac. The Push 2 and Maschine modes use macOS-only parts. A pad controller, a Push 2 and a Maschine are optional.

Panel descriptions

16 Levels has two views of one panel. The strip sits in Live's device panel at the bottom of the screen.

OPEN shows the same panel in its own window, bigger, with the screen up top, the pads in the middle, and the transport and panel keys under them. Both views stay in step.

Installing

The XL loaded its operating system from floppy. 16 Levels installs by copying files.

1. Quit Live.
2. Copy the 16 Levels folder into ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/. Keep everything in it together, node_modules included.
3. Copy both templates from Templates into ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Templates/: 16 Levels Keys.als (keys mapped) and 16 Levels Push.als (keys mapped, Push 2 on).
4. Open Live. Browser > User Library > 16 Levels, and drag 16 Levels.amxd onto a MIDI track. Or open a template.
5. Save the Live Set before you keep your first sample.

If your User Library is somewhere else, Live > Settings > Library shows where.

When you copy a new version over an old one, delete the device from the track and drag it back in, or reopen the Set. Live reloads it on its own but can keep the old Push 2 helper running.

Hooking up in Live

On the XL you ran cables. Here Live does the routing.

The terms

The same words the XL used.

Operating the panel and screen

Press a page key to change pages. Each page has fields; the one you are editing is the cursor field.

• Cursor: click a field, or use CUR < and CUR >. A red border marks it.
• DATA: DATA - and DATA + turn the value one step, -10 and +10 ten steps. Dragging a field with the mouse works too.
• Numbers: with the keyboard layer on, type a number and press ENTER.
• Soft keys: F1 to F6 under the screen do what their labels say. CLOSE backs out of a window.

Playing the pads, PAD BANK and FULL LEVEL

Hit a pad to play it. Its velocity sets the level. Bank keys A to D switch which 16 sounds the pads play. FULL LEVEL plays every hit at velocity 127.

Selecting Programs

PROGRAM page, PGM field: 1 to 24. A new number makes an empty Program. Each sequence track picks its own Program in its PGM field on MAIN.

Note Variation

Note Variation changes one parameter of a pad as you play: TUNE, DECAY, ATTACK or FILTER, within a LO and HI range you set. The XL used a slider; here the value is a Live parameter, so map it to a knob with Live's MIDI Map. AFTER applies it after the hit, the way the XL's AFTER key did. Set it up under PROGRAM > PARAMS > NOTE VAR.

16 Levels

16 LEVELS spreads one pad's sound across all 16 pads, stepped by VELOCITY, TUNE, FILTER, ATTACK or DECAY. Press 16 LVL, pick the type, hit the pad to use. For TUNE, ORIGINAL KEY sets which pad plays it at its normal pitch. Press 16 LVL again to turn it off.

How sequences are organized

A sequence holds up to 64 tracks and runs 1 to 999 bars. Positions read as bar.beat.tick: 003.02.48 is bar 3, beat 2, tick 48. A quarter note has 96 ticks, so a 16th is 24 ticks and an 8th triplet is 32.

Example 1: recording a drum pad performance

1. MAIN page. SEQ 01, BARS 2, TC 1/16, LOOP ON.
2. CLICK: set COUNT REC so you get a bar to come in on.
3. Press REC, then PLAY START. Play a kick and snare. The sequence loops.
4. Press STOP. Press OVERDUB, then PLAY START, and add hats. Overdub keeps what is there.
5. Missed one? Hold ERASE and hold that pad as the playhead passes it. Or press UNDO to take back the last pass.

Example 2: building a loop while it plays

1. Start the sequence with PLAY START. Leave it looping.
2. Press OVERDUB to punch in. Play a part. Press OVERDUB again to punch out and listen.
3. Punch in again for the next layer. Each pass adds to the loop.
4. Hold REPEAT and hold a hat pad for straight 16ths at the TC rate. With a Push 2 or a Maschine, pressure on the pad sets the level.

Example 3: recording an outboard synth

1. Pick an empty track. In SETUP (MAIN > EDIT > SETUP), set the track to MIDI TR.
2. Back on MAIN, the PGM field reads CH: set the MIDI channel. 1 to 16 is port A, 17 to 32 is port B.
3. Make a Live MIDI track, set its MIDI From to the 16 Levels track and its MIDI To to the synth.
4. Play the synth's part on your controller. Record and overdub as with pads. Pitch bend and mod wheel record too.

The MAIN screen

Setting the tempo, tempo changes and the tempo source

TEMPO follows Live when the source is MAS, the default. Set it to SEQ to make the sequence the boss: its tempo goes to Live when you pick it, and its tempo changes play as it passes them. MAIN > EDIT > TEMPO CHANGE opens the list: UP and DOWN step through changes, INSERT adds one, DELETE removes it, NOW sets it to the play position. Each change is a percent of the starting tempo at a bar.beat.tick. TAP sets the tempo from your taps.

Bars, loop and SETUP

EDIT > CHANGE BARS adds or removes bars without losing notes. EDIT > SETUP holds the sequence and track names, LOOP TO (the bar the loop jumps back to), SHIFT (move the whole timing early or late), the track type (DRUM TR or MIDI TR) and the track's program change.

Count-in and metronome

CLICK opens the metronome: COUNT OFF, COUNT REC or COUNT R+PLAY; click on or off while playing and while recording; RATE 1/4 to 1/32T; LEVEL; WAIT KEY (recording starts when you hit a pad); and a CLICK output. SOUND (F5) swaps the click for two of your pads, an accent and a normal hit, each with its own velocity.

Tracks

TR- and TR+ (F5, F6) step through tracks. TR MUTE (F3) mutes tracks from the pads: hit a pad to mute that track. SOLO in that window solos instead. SOLO (F4) solos the current track. EDIT holds copy, delete and move track, and ERASE OFF TRK to clear every track you have turned off.

Transport and locate

While playing, F1 on MAIN is EDIT LOOP: loop a few bars of a long sequence while you work on them, then keep or undo the changes.

Auto punch

LOCATE > PUNCH sets AUTO PUNCH: IN+OUT, IN ONLY or OUT ONLY, with the in and out points as bar.beat.tick. USE LAST takes the in and out points from the last punch you made by hand with REC or OVERDUB. Arm REC or OVERDUB and play; recording starts and stops on its own at those points.

Three tools: ERASE for clearing notes, STEP for one event at a time, and EDIT for whole bars, tracks and sequences.

Erasing with the ERASE key

• In real time: while the sequence plays, hold ERASE and hold the pads you want gone. Their notes erase as the playhead passes. Let go and erasing stops. Tap ERASE to latch it on, tap again to stop.
• The ERASE window: stopped, press ERASE on MAIN. Set FROM and TO bars. Hit pads to pick which notes go, or ALL PADS (F1) for everything on the track. DO IT (F5).

Step editing

Stopped, STEP (F1) on MAIN opens the event list for the current track, four events to a screen.

• << >> and < > move through time; the list follows. EVENT UP and EVENT DN (F1, F2) pick an event.
• Change its velocity, duration, note, and its Note Variation type and value with the cursor and DATA. DELETE (F3) removes it. PLAY (F4) plays from here.
• Hit a pad to put a note at the current position. With AUTO STEP Y, the position then moves one step on.
• MORE (F5) opens the second set: COPY and PASTE events, CHG PAD (hit a pad to change the event's pad), the step size, HEAR TR or HEAR ALL, and the VIEW filter (ALL, NOTES, PITCH BEND, CTRL, PROG CHG, CH PRESS, POLY PRESS, EXCL).

The EDIT screen

EDIT (F2) on MAIN. Pick a function, set its range (FROM and TO bars, and what else it needs), pick pads to limit it if you want, then DO IT. Functions that delete ask twice. UNDO takes it back.

A song strings sequences together: intro, verse, hook, in order, each repeated as many times as you need. 20 songs per project. PLAY or PLAY START on the SONG page plays the song instead of a single sequence.

Building a song

1. SONG page. Pick a SONG number.
2. INSERT (F3) adds a step. Set its SEQ and REPS (how many times it plays).
3. STEP > (F2) moves to the next step; INSERT again for the next part. < STEP goes back. DELETE (F4) removes a step.
4. REPS 0 marks the end: the song stops there.

Loop, locate and tempo

LOOP ON plays the song again from the step you set. << and >> jump between steps, stopped or while it plays. Each step plays at its sequence's tempo when the tempo source is SEQ; with MAS, Live's tempo holds.

SETUP

SETUP (F6) names the song, COPY copies it to another number, and DEL SONG deletes it.

Converting a song to a sequence

CONVERT (F5) writes the whole song into one sequence: pick the sequence number, then DO IT. Use it to print a finished arrangement, or to edit across part boundaries.

Sampling a new sound

Record, stop, listen, then keep it or try again. A kept sound lands on the pad you pick, saved as a 24-bit AIFF in the project's 16levels/SOUNDS folder.

1. Save the Live Set first.
2. SAMPLE page. Set INPUT to the source, then MODE: STEREO, MONO L or MONO R.
3. Set the threshold (THR OFF, or -60 to -6 dB) and pre-record (PRE 0 to 100 ms). With a threshold, recording waits for the signal; pre-record keeps the moment before it.
4. Press RECORD, then START (F6). Press STOP (F6) when you have it. CANCEL (F5) drops it.
5. Hit a pad to choose where it goes. PLAY (F4) previews it. Pads still play while you decide.
6. KEEP (F5) saves it to that pad. RETRY (F2) throws it out and records again.

MON ON lets you hear the input through the device. PEAK holds the loudest level; RESET PK clears it. Type a name in the name field before you keep, or rename it later. LOAD FILE brings in a WAV or AIFF from disk instead.

A keep never overwrites a pad's settings. Set up a pad first (tune, envelope, filter) and the new sound takes them.

Sound memory

SOUNDS (F2) on the SAMPLE page lists every sound in the project. < SOUND and SOUND > step through them; PLAY hears one; the name field renames it. The TOOL menu, then DO IT:

MONO and RESAMPLE rewrite the file; UNDO takes back the last one.

Trim, loop and zones

On the XL, trim, loop and zones belonged to the sound. In 16 Levels the trim and loop belong to the pad, so two pads can play different slices of one sound. Hit the pad, then PROGRAM > PARAMS > TRIM.

• START and END set where the pad plays. SNAP moves them to the nearest zero crossing. RESET goes back to the whole sound.
• LOOP ON plays the loop point to END while the pad is held.
• ZOOM shows the whole sound, or x2 to x16 around START or around END, for fine work.

EDIT mode

TRIM > EDIT (F3) works on the sound between START and END:

DO IT asks twice for tools that change the file. UNDO (F1) takes back the last one. TO PAD puts a new sound on a pad.

BPM Match

SOUNDS > TOOL > BPM MATCH, with the sequence stopped. Set BEATS, how many beats the sound holds, and 16 Levels works out its tempo from the length; or type the source tempo yourself. Pick WHOLE for the whole sound or PAD S-E for the selected pad's START to END. NEW tempo starts at Live's tempo. Name the result, then DO IT. It makes a new sound at the new tempo and leaves the original alone; ASSIGN TO PAD puts it on a pad.

What Programs are

A Program decides what each of the 64 pad slots plays and how: the sound, its level and pan, tune, envelope, filter, how it overlaps itself, and what it cuts off. 24 Programs per project. A drum track plays the Program in its PGM field, so two tracks can play two kits.

Selecting, creating and naming

PGM picks 1 to 24; a new number makes an empty Program. The name field renames it. PGMS (F6) holds the housekeeping:

Assigning sounds to pads

Hit a pad. On ASSIGN, < SOUND and SOUND > (F1, F2) pick its sound; OFF (F3) empties it. A kept sample goes straight to the pad you picked. Pad notes, the MIDI note each slot answers to, are set on the MIDI page (Chapter 11). PURGE in sound memory clears sounds no pad uses.

Sound generation: layers and switches

PARAMS > LAYER sets how a pad plays more than one sound:

• NORMAL: one sound.
• SIMULT: up to four sounds at once.
• VEL SW: velocity picks the sound, with the switch points you set.
• DCY SW: the decay setting picks the sound.

Note parameters

Mute groups

MUTE (F4) on ASSIGN: hit the pads this pad cuts off, like an open hat cut by a closed hat. CLEAR empties the list; PROGRAM makes the pad cut every other pad in the Program. Hit pads normally to hear it.

The MIXER page shows 16 faders for the bank on screen. Hit a pad to select it for PAN and OUT.

Stereo output mixer

STEREO (F1): each fader is a pad's level in the main mix on this track; PAN places it. ALL CH (F6) links the faders, so one moves the whole bank.

Individual outputs

INDIV (F2) shows the level each pad sends to its individual out. OUT picks OUT 1 to 8 for the selected pad. The first time, 16 Levels makes a Live audio track named MPC OUT n, and the pad plays there and in the main mix at the same time, as on the XL. Turn its stereo fader to 0 to take it out of the main mix. FOLLOW makes the individual level follow the stereo fader.

This is how you run a beat into the session and out to a console at once: stereo mix on the 16 Levels track, each OUT track on its own console channel.

Drum mixers and SETUP

F3 picks which mixer you are editing: the Program's own (PGM MIX) or DRUM 1 to 4. SETUP (F4) chooses where the stereo and individual mixes come from (the Program or a drum mixer), whether recording captures mix moves, and CLR MIX.

Mix changes take effect on the next hit, not on a note already ringing.

The XL's effects board was an option. 16 Levels has no effects inside: Live hosts them. Put effects after the device on its track for the whole mix, or on the MPC OUT tracks for single pads. A return track in Live does what the XL's effect sends did.

There are no floppies to format. Your work saves on its own into a 16levels folder beside the saved .als:

Keep the .als and its 16levels folder together when you move or back up a project. A project saved with an earlier beta has an MPC folder and MPC.json instead. It keeps using them, so nothing needs moving.

Saving and loading

1. Pick the type: PROGRAM, SEQS + SONGS, ALL, MIDI FILE, or MPC 2000XL.
2. Pick where: THIS PROJECT, or the LIBRARY (~/Music/16 Levels). The library carries the sounds along, so any Set can load it. It plays the part SCSI folders played on the XL.
3. SAVE writes it under the SAVE AS name. < FILE and FILE > pick a file; LOAD loads it. RENAME uses the name field. DELETE asks twice.

Loading sequences can go into other numbers: FROM and TO pick where.

Loading MPC 2000XL files

1. TYPE MPC 2000XL, then FOLDER (F4). Pick the beat's folder, the one with its .ALL, .APS and .SND files.
2. ALL BEAT (F5), then again to confirm. It loads the sequences, songs, Programs and sounds.
3. Set Live's tempo to the beat's. The status line shows it.

One file at a time works too: < FILE, FILE >, LOAD, for .ALL, .APS, .PGM, .SND or .MID. Stereo sounds the XL saved as two files (-L and -R) load as one stereo sound when both halves are there.

Saving back to the 2000XL

SAVE (F6) in MPC 2000XL mode writes .ALL, .APS, .PGM and .SND files to take to the real machine. A few things have no place in XL files and stay behind: pad trims that differ from the sound's trim, MUTE PROGRAM, and negative filter envelope amounts.

MPC60 files and Flash ROM, covered in the XL manual, are not part of 16 Levels.

The XL's MIDI/SYNC and OTHER modes live on the MIDI page. Sync is Live's job: 16 Levels always runs on Live's clock.

Pad notes

MIDI tracks and the two ports

A MIDI track (Chapter 3) plays out of the device on its channel. Channels 1 to 16 are port A, out of the 16 Levels track. For 17 to 32 (1B to 16B), put 16 Levels Port B.amxd on its own MIDI track and set that track's MIDI To to the second synth. Use one 16 Levels per Set when you use port B.

PRINT to Live

PRINT (F1) writes a sequence or a song into a Live clip, in Session or Arrangement, on the MIDI track you pick. Pads land on Drum Rack notes, A01 = C1. It carries notes only; controller and pitch bend moves travel in a saved MIDI file (DISK > MIDI FILE).

OTHER

OTHER (F4) on the MIDI page:

The version line shows which build you have, and your name once a key is in. Put it in any bug report.

The XL had one panel. 16 Levels gives you four ways in: the computer keyboard, a pad controller, a Push 2 and a Maschine MK3 or Maschine+. The keyboard and a pad controller work alongside either one. Push and Maschine take turns: the CTRL menu picks one.

Computer keyboard

The templates come with every panel key mapped through Live's Key Map. It works from Live's main window. Print Keymap (print me).html and keep it by the keyboard.

Space stays with Live, and since Live is the clock, Space starts the sequence too. Key Map lives in the Set: a 16 Levels dragged into another Set has no keys until you map them (cmd+K, click a control, press a key, cmd+K).

The keyboard gives taps, not holds. R arms REC and P starts. E turns ERASE on, you hit pads, E turns it off. Same for O and N.

Pad controller

Pads play on notes 36 to 51 by default, pad 1 lower left. LEARN on the MIDI page maps any controller. For real holds, the way the XL panel works (hold REC and press PLAY, hold ERASE while you hit pads), learn buttons: MIDI > OTHER > BUTTONS, pick REC, OVERDUB, ERASE, NOTE REPEAT, PLAY, STOP and so on, press LEARN, press the button. A learned button never plays a pad.

Push 2

16 Levels can take over a Push 2. The screen shows the 16 Levels display, the 64 pads play all four banks, the buttons and knobs run the panel, and the lights follow what 16 Levels is doing.

How it works

Normally Live's own Push script owns the Push. The setup frees it: the Push2 Control Surface row goes to None, and 16 Levels talks to the Push directly. A helper inside the device draws the screen over USB and reads the pads, buttons and knobs on the Push's User Port. It puts the Push in User mode, turns on pad pressure and loads its own light colors.

The screen only redraws when something changes. Nothing goes through a Live track, so the pads don't play twice as long as Track is off on the User Port.

Set it up once

1. Quit Live and double-click Push 2 setup.command. If macOS blocks it, right-click, Open, then Open again. It adds one line to Live's Options.txt. Run it again after each Live update.
2. Live > Settings > Link, Tempo & MIDI > Control Surface: set the Push2 row to None. Leave its Input and Output alone.
3. Same tab, MIDI Ports: turn Track off for the Ableton Push 2 (User Port) input. With it on, pads play twice.
4. Open the 16 Levels Push template, or set MIDI > OTHER > CTRL to PUSH ON. The footer shows PUSH MIDI and the screen comes on.

CTRL is kept in the Set, so a Set saved with PUSH ON opens with it on.

The controller

The screen

The screen follows the OPEN window field for field.

• Top row, over the 8 buttons above the screen: the pages, MAIN to DISK, with the current one underlined, and the bank.
• The middle: the 16 Levels display. The field under the cursor has a red border.
• Under it: the status line and the sequence position.
• Bottom row, over the 8 buttons under the screen: F1 to F6, CLOSE and ENTER, as the page names them.

The screen uses the light colors. Turn DARK on in 16 Levels and the Push goes dark too.

Pads

The 64 pads are the four banks, each in MPC order with pad 1 at its lower left:

A pad with a sound is lit, brighter in the current bank. The selected pad is red. A pad turns white while you hold it. Pads send their release too, so NOTE REPEAT, ERASE and NOTE OFF work. Pressure on a pad held under NOTE REPEAT sets its level.

Buttons and knobs

Lights

REC and OVERDUB light red while recording and amber when armed. Delete, Repeat, Accent and Scale light white when they're on. Play is green while playing. The page buttons and soft keys light when they have something to do.

Giving it back

CTRL OFF clears the lights and puts the Push back in Live mode. Then set the Push2 Control Surface row back to Push2. To drop the setup for good, take the line back out of Options.txt and restart Live.

If the screen goes black, note the time and what you clicked. The helper writes 16levels_push_log.txt in the 16 Levels folder. A stuck frame restarts the screen in about half a second.

Maschine MK3 and Maschine+

16 Levels can take over a Maschine MK3, or a Maschine+ in controller mode. The left screen shows the 16 Levels display, the right screen shows the 16 pads of the bank you're on, and the pads, buttons, knobs and touch strip all work. No setup script and no Live settings to change.

How it works

Native Instruments' background helpers, NIHostIntegrationAgent and NIHardwareAgent, normally own the controller. With MASCHINE on, 16 Levels quits them and opens the controller itself over USB. A helper inside the device draws both screens and reads the pads, buttons, knobs and touch strip. Only the parts of a screen that changed get sent, at most 10 times a second.

CTRL OFF, or removing 16 Levels from the track, starts NI's helpers again so the Maschine software gets the controller back. Restarting the Mac does the same.

Set it up

1. Maschine+: connect USB, then Settings > System > Controller. Without the power supply it starts in controller mode. Maschine MK3: connect USB.
2. Quit the Maschine software if it's open.
3. MIDI > OTHER > CTRL: MASCHINE. The status line says when the Maschine is connected.

CTRL is kept in the Set, so a Set saved with MASCHINE opens with it on.

The controller

The screens

• Top row across both screens, over the buttons above them: the pages, MAIN to DISK, with the current one underlined, and TRIM on button 8.
• Left screen: the 16 Levels display. The field under the cursor has a red border. Under it, the status line.
• Right screen: the 16 pads of the bank on screen in MPC order, with their sound names. The selected pad has a red frame and a held pad lights up. Under it, the bank and the sequence position.
• Bottom row across both screens, over the knobs: F1 to F6, CLOSE and ENTER. CLOSE only shows when the page has no CLOSE of its own.

The screens start dark. SHIFT + SETTINGS switches them to light and back, and 16 Levels remembers the choice.

Pads

The pads play the bank on screen in MPC order, pad 1 at the lower left. GROUP A to D pick the bank. A pad with a sound is lit, the selected pad is red, a held pad turns white. Velocity comes from the hit. Pressure on a pad held under NOTE REPEAT sets its level.

Knobs and the touch strip

Tap a knob to press the soft key over it. A tap is a touch let go within about half a second without turning. The label lights while your finger is on the knob. Turning any of the 8 knobs, or the 4D encoder, is DATA, x10 with SHIFT.

The touch strip is a DATA slider for the field under the cursor: slide right to raise it, left to lower it. With SHIFT held it's the 2000XL Note Variation slider, 0 to 127, from any page, and the strip lights show the value. Pick the parameter and pad on PROGRAM > PARAMS > NOTE VAR.

Buttons

Some buttons jump straight to a page or a field:

NOTES, LOCK, PAD MODE, CHORDS, SCENE, VARIATION, PITCH, MOD, PERFORM, MACRO and GROUP E to H do nothing yet.

Lights

The pads with a sound in the current bank are grey, the selected pad red, a held pad white. The current page's button and the current bank's GROUP button light. REC and PLAY follow the transport, held keys light while they're on, and the shortcut buttons glow dim.

Giving it back

Set CTRL OFF. 16 Levels lets go of the controller and starts NI's helpers again, and the Maschine software can use it. If the screens freeze, unplug the USB and plug it back in, and note what page you were on. The helper writes 16levels_maschine_log.txt in the 16 Levels folder.

Tested on a Maschine+. The MK3 uses the same protocol but hasn't been tried on hardware yet. The Maschine Mikro isn't supported.

Known limits

No effects and no plug-in instruments inside. Live hosts those. No hardware sync, no MPC60 or S1000 files, no Flash ROM. PRINT to Live clips carries notes only. Controller and pitch bend moves travel in a saved MIDI file. Live may not pass program change messages into the device, so recording them may not work. Playing them back does. Mix changes take effect on the next hit. The keyboard gives taps. Real holds come from learned buttons, the Push 2 or a Maschine. It works like the machines. It does not model their sound yet.

When something is off

Before studio monitors are on, check Live's output and Main fader.

For the beta team

This build is for a few friends and Sidechain members. Tell me what trips your hands up, even when it matches the manual. Useful notes say what you pressed, what you expected, and what happened, with the version line from MIDI > OTHER. Screenshots and the Push or Maschine log help.

Worth trying first: load an old 2000XL beat, sample something and chop it into zones, record with swing at your tempo, and play it all from the Push. On Live 11, or on Windows? It has not been tried there. Tell me whether it loads and what breaks.