Just start from the two buttons: "Main" and "Menu": Main should really be called "editor" and "menu" should be called "main." Good for you if you memorized what functions are behind which button. +5 pts if you can find the hidden multitrack level viewer. Hint: behind the tiny Autobot shield on the sampler page. Quick: what key combo gets you to the track mixer? I believe it depends on what screen you're coming from?
It's rarely clear what entity you're saving or loading... is it the effects patch or the song or project or drum program, etc?
And oof! How abt that onscreen keyboard?!?! somehow worse response than a 1999 cell phone keyboard?! Needs buddha-like patience. Numerous upgrades over the years and examples within the app of better response, but they can't get an intern to spend a sprint cleaning that up?!
Notice how Roger edits out all of the menu traversion...
Also the drum program is so massively flexible... high ceiling but also very high floor. The mix of pad/sample editor functions tucked behind menus is like an under water maze.
And the MPC Live swaps the drum pads to the left... whereas on the classic MPC 2k they're in the right. Great for lefties tho lol!
And the main/menu/record buttons are so big and need so much force it's hard to get the timing right. I don't even like pressing undo bc it feels like shifting my 88 Cabriolet with its worn synchro on 1st gear.
Switching between tools in the piano roll editor and sample editor is so tedious... It requires infinite patience compared to bandlab, cool edit pro, audacity, reaper, and flstudio. One mode for zoom, one for select, one for delete, one more to add notes...etc.
No page has both save and load on it. Save is actually a disk so it's not clear if it saves or loads. "Load" is actually labelled "browser."
The file system layout tries to be both abstract and literal with "Places" and probably useful shortcuts but i can't always see how to simply traverse up one folder... which I often need to do bc I go too low bc of the bad response time of the screen-to-folder traversal.
Randomly an annoying modal "save progress window" blocks my flow.
The hierarchy of "tracks," sequences, and programs is tricky to remember.
It took me weeks before I realized it will never simply show more than one audio track waveform at a time. So lining things up across tracks is way harder than necessary.
In short, I hate this machine even though I want to love it so badly. I think it rewards deep hyperfocus and committment over spontaneity and flexibility. I only use it for its excellent fx chain. Probably a good choice if you can only have one machine and dedicate a monk-like existence to it.
I find it sus that Roger mentions none of the above criticisms. We're conditioned to respect soft-spoken elderly heroes like him, but it reeks of submarining by the struggling InMusic organization. Just listen to him gush about the features...I mean what are the stakes here for Roger? Is he on any kind of time or monetary budget for studio customers? Or is he simply validating how well others have kept his original ideas intact? Plus he only records a few bars of a loop... no serious editing, song-making , or sample-editing.
Not to mention the role of reciprocity in persuasion. Sure he can say anything he pleases, but they gave him a nice fancy unit for free. He's psychologically bound to return the favor.
Anyway lots of people do love this machine, especially those fond of the rest of the series. It's just certainly not for me.