Vintage Synth Explorer

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, Jimmy Edgar, 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.

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Loopwhole

Posted 185 days ago

you are right it is good at doing more than just drums, however the mpc 60 is noted for its grimy crackily bassy drums. its main strength is this. i agree with you that it can do it all, however, not to brag, but i have wAAAAAY to much equiptment to use a single unit on a song, when i can use the +/-'s to my advantage. ie, emax bass, mpc drums, asr10 samples, or any combination. its just way toooo old to do any real work on it, you will get bored and move on to something else before you make any real completed music with this unit...unless(and most people who have this are collectors and not a first peice unit) its your only peice and you rely on it to do everything.

ColbyG

Posted 186 days ago

I disagree with loopwhole, these are good for much more than just running drums through. While I agree that these machines are great for doing that, you can ultimately tackle any sampling task on the 60. Just saying its more than only good at drums.

loopwhole

Posted 188 days ago

i want one of these badly..i really dont care who used it.. [beep] all them dudes. i want one for running drums and thats it. thats about all its good for. the 12bit drums are straight dirt.

24k

Posted 192 days ago

(correction to the previous post:) MPC60 I mean.

24k

Posted 192 days ago

If you want more info on the EPS then log on this forum: http://forum.hiphopworkshop.net

its a new forum i think but they seem like they support these older machines in a way.

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