AKAI MPC 60, EMU SP12, MPC 3000 History

Akai MPC 60

 

The MPC-60 is the music production studio that has single-handedly taken over the Rap and R&B music genres as the main instrument of HipHop production. Designed by Roger Linn (Linn Drum), the MPC-60 is a one-box-does-it-all sequencer-sampler workstation.

The built-in sequencer is very complete and professional. There are 99 tracks per sequence, 99 patterns, and 99 sequences that can be created, edited and stored in the MPC-60 with ease. Most artists create their patterns in real-time adding drum parts to a beat-loop spontaneously creating a groove that captures the vibe. These patterns are varied and chained into a sequence. Full MIDI, SMPTE and various other forms of external control prepare the MPC-60 for any studio situation.

The Sampler section is lo-fi but highly respectable. Its 12-bit sampling at 40KHz is pretty good. Sample editing, looping and transforming is simple to do. And finally, there's even a built-in drum machine for extra groove! Finally, the 18 voices of polyphony should be plenty of room for anyone who wants to create HipHop on the machine of professional artists worldwide including Apollo 440, BT, Jean-Michel Jarre, DJ Shadow, and A Guy Called Gerald.

In 1991 the MPC-60 mkII was unleashed. It wasn't much different, the casing and a head-phone jack were new and either machine is still very useful for today's aspiring musicians.

 

 

 

 

Akai S 900 / S 950

 

The S 900 / S 950 is known for its rich , punchy , warm , dirty sound , which is still a popular studio makes him even today instrument. Apparently the same AD converters have been installed as described in the MPC 60 Many producers tell him also: " It sounds like old vinyl" . Who 's Premo or Pete Rock's drum samples know and like (especially the hi hats and snares ) will understand what is meant. Many hip-hop and R & B producers also use it in conjunction with a SP 12/1200 to allude to longer samples . I use it , for example, together with my S1100 and my MPC 2000XL .

The S950 is the advanced version of the S 900 and also works with 12-bit technology , but has a higher sampling frequency up to 48 kHz and uses more memory Ram . By default, the S 950 750 Kbytes of RAM , which can however be upgraded to up to 2.25 MB ( installation of up to two EXM 006) . The built-in 3.5 " floppy disk drive handles both DD as well as high-density disks . Moreover, even an IB -105 Atari hard disk interface can be installed , which allows the connection of a 60 MB SCSI 1 disk. Like his predecessors, he has also the indispensable for studio use eight individual outputs. an editing options are available in S 950 , a low pass filter , two envelope generators and one acting on the pitch LFO ready . the display offers two times 40 characters. the rack unit ( 3U ) impresses also with its Load -While - Play function , ie, while the S plays 950 , new sounds can be loaded again , provided that the total RAM memory is not consumed Because the individual outputs of the S 950 is especially popular as a drum sampler Like the S 700 , so . . also has the S 950 the Voice Out jack to there to connect eg a VX 90 or another AKAI synthesizer to influence the samples of the post-processing options .

 

 

Emu SP 1200

 

I know it’s not an Akai J but hey, this machine is definitely worth about to write! 

The SP-1200 was THE drum machine & sampler combo of legendary status among old school rap and hip hop artists from the eighties and nineties. It is similar to today's Akai MPC samplers - it is a sampler plus drum machine. It has limited sampling specs: 22 kHz and 12-bit resolution. However the dirtiness of that sound is great for hip hop and house music. They say it sounds like "old vinyl"... It features groove quantizing and a disk drive for sample storage. As an upgraded version of the 1985 SP-12, the SP-1200 focused on its coolest feature - sampling. The preset drum sounds of the SP-12 were omitted, leaving room for up to 32 user samples of your own custom sampled and edited drum sounds.

Although this machine was originally released in 1988, E-mu has reissued them again and again due to popular demand. They continued producing them until they ran out of the SSM filter chips they used, around 1998. It was just too legendary to give up as it was THE beat machine for old-school rap and hip hop! Pictured above is the final reissued version in 1997 with the cooler looking all-black case. With the SP-1200 it's easy and fun to grab those sliders and tune or tweak your sampled drum sounds all around! It is used by Roni Size, Todd Terry, Freddy Fresh, Daft Punk, Phil Collins, and The Prodigy.

 

 

Akai MPC 3000

 

The MPC-3000 is a new and improved version of the classic MPC-60. It is a sequencer-sampler powerhouse that functions as the heart of any studio that produces HipHop, Rap, R&B, and even techno. It is usually used as the main percussion groove instrument. Sample your beats, sequence your beats, and edit your beats all on the MPC-3000.

It's a great Sampler: 16-bit stereo 44.1Khz sampling with 2 to 16 MB of memory and full editing capability. In fact, its sampling specs are equivalent to most rack-mount type samplers, proving that the MPC-3000 is a professional instrument.

It's an excellent Synthesizer: Sixteen dynamic pads with velocity and aftertouch, great drum sets, analog-like VCF filter sweeping with resonance, analog envelope control and 32 notes of polyphony. Except for the drum sounds, it does not feature a built in oscillator or synthesizer engine. But your samples can be shaped and colored by the analog-style edit functions for creating lo-fi sounds, filter swept pads and drum loops, and other strangely modulated effects. This effectively makes the MPC-3000 as powerful and editable as any synthesizer.

It's also a great Sequencer: 20 Songs, 99 sequences, 99 tracks, and up to 75,000 notes. It has total MIDI implementation, very sophisticated sequence editing, and SCSI + disk drive storage. The MPC can be the Master or just another sampler in your current MIDI studio. Professional MIDI, Sync and Time Code features are also onboard.

The MPC-3000 is not just an instrument, it's an entire Music Production Studio! With seemingly limitless features it is vastly expandable. SCSI storage provides limitless sample storage. The sound quality and sequencer quality is superb. These are expensive machines and with good reason. It's used by many famous artists including Puff Daddy, BT, the Crystal Method, and The Chemical Brothers.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.vintagesynth.org