The Legendary AKAI MPC
When it comes to the gear in most of the studios I grew up visiting, there was always one specific piece of gear in the room in particular. I’m talking of none other than the Akai MPC of course. So let’s take a look at the MPC’s history, it’s influence, and a few of the ways it’s impacted the music industry.
MPC stands for Midi Production Center. It’s first iteration, the Akai MPC 60, was born in in 1988. It featured a 12 bit, mono, 16 voice polyphonic sampler engine, a 99 track sequencer, 16 velocity-sensitive rubber pads, and a lcd screen. It’s creator was the famed Roger Linn. Roger Linn for those who are unfamiliar with him, is known for revolutionizing the the world of drum machines. Prior to the MPC, Roger Linn created The Linn Drum in 1981, the first drum machine that included within it’s feature set real sampled drum sounds, quantization, and his legendary swing function. After the sequal to his Linn Drum machine, the linn 9000, was less successful. Linn ended up closing his business and he started collaborating with Akai and created the MPC series that we know and love today.
The AKAI MPC has established itself as a standard for hip hop and sample based music. This was most true throughout the 90’s. One of my favorite producers is hugely popular for his unique use of the MPC in his work flow. AraabMUZIK, producer for popular 90’s group Dipset, uses the MPC as a live performance machine. He remixes songs on the fly and entertains his audience by out pad smashing his competition. If you haven’t witnessed it, it’s quite entertaining. Check the references for a link to one of his videos.
As a composer, I even had the pleasure of owning an MPC1000 at one time. Growing up using software for most of my production, when I got my hands on the MPC1000 everything changed! I instantly loved the quality of the audio in my productions and I also fell in love with the very easy workflow that comes with working with MPC. I was able to use my Fantom XR rack unit as a sound module and my Yamaha MOTIF ES6 as my primary keyboard. Laying down new ideas was quick and easy. I look forward to getting the newest version of MPC, the MPC Renaissance. I can only imagine the production power that could be in my hands by combining the best of both the analog and digital world.
