AKAI MPC 3000 sampler/sequencer drum machine
audiojive.com
audiojive.com
The Steely Dan people were notoriously obsessive about drum timing, which was a bad thing to be when all you had were human drummers.
So when they said "It's a shame we can't build a machine to move the drum parts back and forward by milliseconds" Nichols said "I can do that if you give me $150,000." It took him a few weeks.
It was an S100 system connected to a video-grade DAC/ADC sampling at 12-bits and 125kHz - which was incredible tech for the late 70s.
He also built a commercial Rubidium atomic clock for use as a digital timebase in recording studios. (Because why not?)
"Doktor Avalanche"
https://www.discogs.com/artist/463064-Doktor-Avalanche
"The good Doktor is renowned as the only member of the Sisters of Mercy to have remained with Andrew Eldritch through the many incidents of in-fighting, splits and new line-ups. "
I can still vividly remember the `woah, what is that?!?' of hearing the Sisters of Mercy song Body and Soul coming out of my older brother's room.
The irony to this is today's drumming plugins add variance to sounds and timing to make the recordings sound more "human".
The humanizing features OP mentions (like what Ableton live has) introduces random amounts of shifting timings or velocity, which is very different. If you want swing, you'll still have to add that separately.
That's a well-known classic band and I don't think they are nearly forgotten, as you say.
Do It Again gets radio airtime to this day.
Well, other atomic choices for atomic clocks actually clock too slow to to use (looking at you quartz), or too impractical (cesium). Rubidium is the only choice for clocking audio in.
Steely Dan has been a continuous staple of AOR and classic rock radio since their first album in 1972. There was even a huge resurgence of their popularity with the whole "yacht rock" movement. They even won three Grammys for 2001's "Two Against Nature" record.
>"The Steely Dan people were notoriously obsessive about drum timing, which was a bad thing to be when all you had were human drummers."
This is not correct. Steely Dan's stable of studio musicians were the best in the business. Their drummers on this album Rick Marotta, Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro and Bernard Purdie would all be considered perfect time keepers. The impetus for the creation of the "Wendell" was not to make up for precision in time keeping, it's primary function was as a drum sampler. This would then allow Becker and Fagen the ability to obsessively control things like inflection - a softer high hat here, a different snare accent there, after the drums were recorded. It's primary function was not a source of time keeping. For example it's actually Rick Marotta's drum playing you hear on "Hey Nineteen", just sampled via the Wendell and then compiled from many different takes.
[0] Seriously, there's a bunch of great music from the 60s - and that's what everybody remembers - but there's also a ton of absolute pap from that same decade. You just don't hear it too often any more (thankfully!).
While this is no doubt true, the rate has plummeted from (say) 15% greatness to 0% greatness among commercial music. The business model has changed, with 360 contracts and producer-centric, sales-hyper-focused development. There's great music out there, but it's not being produced by the big labels any more, and that's something truly, and unfortunately, new.
That's a little like saying "now-somewhat forgotten 60s band, The Rolling Stones". Steely Dan is one of the very most highly respected rock bands in history.
Steel Dan's last live tour was 1974.
Rolling Stones wrapped up a 3-year tour last year.
I'll forego arguments about original line-ups, solo performances, etc.
But fine. Obscure 60s band, The Beatles.
They're hard to place, that is certain. But you are completely right, their melodic and harmonic content (and famously their anal-retentive perfectionism) was far, far beyond anything else. There's a reason they're held in such high regard in the industry.
Anyone into electronic music should have one in my opinion.
I used to use an MPC and I got to try a Maschine for a bit. I fell in love instantly. It takes the technical power of a full production studio and makes it feel like you’re playing with a toy you’ve had since childhood.
Between that and the synths Native Instruments makes, go with Maschine.
And they keep releasing new versions of things without fixing annoying quirks in the previous versions...
As much as I want to like them and their software integrations I find myself reaching for other companies' plugins... like Serum is a way better Massive X, Sytrus is a way better FM8, etc etc
Despite my MacBook's great specs, I would literally experience software issues involving a crash during a performance 1/5 times to the point where my bandmates said they'd help me buy the 3000 back. Based on what I've heard from other touring electronic bands, there's a lot of the same. Which makes all the sense in the world, as we're literally talking about a dedicated piece of hardware with integrated firmware, vs. a VST, in a DAW, on an Operating System. That's three levels of abstraction.
I loved the mpc 3k. For it’s time it was great. It held a ton of samples, sounded great and was a great “dawless” way to make music.
I still own an sp-1200 because it is so limited and causes happy accidents often. I have no interest in using an old slow computer to make music. That time is long gone. I can use any number of DAWs to record and sequence anything I want in a manner that is way more complex than any mpc or drum machine can do. The sp-1200 has a sound and quirkiness that for now I don’t want to live without.
As an aside, I emailed Roger Linn after purchasing an upgrade for my MPC 60. After the 3000 was introduced, Akai went bankrupt and was purchased by InMusic. They promptly told Mr Linn to ____ right off and they will not pay him royalties for the 60/3k anymore. I completely understand that he is definitely salty about that. (In fact I have had a similar circumstance with some software I wrote). I think Roger has been working on a successor to the linndrum and mpc series (and no not the Linn/Dave smith tempest) that is a vision of where he wants to see drum machines go.
The mpc series was great and helped create a few genres of music. I think the time is here for the next paradigm shift.
Edit.. Hate to be pessimistic here, but this entire article seems to be written solely to inflate the price of these things... They are relatively plentiful, theyre generally reliable, and I bought and sold the MPC 3000 I had 2 years ago for between 1000-1500 bucks.
There is a trend as of late on Reverb/eBay to push the nostalgia and drive 'vintage' gear prices into the stratosphere. Gearheads beware- this is a bubble in the making...
Considering the number of times that desktop OS upgrades, desktop hardware problems, etc. have impacted using PC or Mac based DAWs, I don’t understand why manufacturers aren’t going more aggressively after specialized music devices (other than the cost).
The new Akai MPC One or MPC X are pretty close to what I mean, but if they had just added a monitor output... even via USB, so one could get a larger screen experience...
There's a history of such devices built by/for professional and hobbyist musicians, and it seems increasingly it's becoming more accessible to the public, with low-cost microcomputers like Raspberry Pi.
It might be too niche for big companies to care about, but I'm hoping that there's enough of a trend/demand for specialized music devices that are tiny computers one can hook up a monitor or SSH into, and hack to our hearts' desire.
As a hobby project, I'm building a programmable sampler/sequencer with PiSound. It comes with a custom Linux distro for low-latency audio.
https://www.blokas.io/pisound/
https://blokas.io/patchbox-os/
I love that the musical possibilities are endless, extensible with commodity hardware and software. I believe there's plenty of room for innovative products that provide curated setups, like synths and drum machines.
There is an idea floating around in my head of being able to describe rhythm patterns with just a few characters...and then branch them and control transitions between the branches, with some controller...arrows? Joystick?
Because of cost...
> The new Akai MPC One or MPC X are pretty close to what I mean, but if they had just added...
and flexibility. Different users want different features and UI, at different price points. Software platforms let manufacturers please more people more of the time, without extensive product lifecycle dead time and irrecoverable sunken design and production costs.
Perhaps you would like an Elektron Digitakt. You can connect it to your computer and use its VST to display an alternative UI on your computer screen.
I understand the appeal for display options but to me besides sound, the whole point of hardware (especially drum machines) is workflow which is kind of at odds with looking up and down at a screen or using a mouse to to control things. Drum machine muscle memory is an extremely powerful force but I guess it also depends on what kind of music you're making or how many tracks you're using.
I bought an Analog Rytm on the cheap a few months ago and have yet to plug it into a computer. Previously owned a Machinedrum UW and Monomachine nearly ten years ago which definitely helped with Elektron workflow familiarity. I've always found Elektrons to be easy to dive into but some of the other features definitely take some time to learn. Worth the time investment though.
Unfortunately overbridge does not support the octatrack mkI/II in addition to the Model series.
My Machinedrum and Monomachine are to my left and right. :)
Although I also plan to run different music apps on it, e.g. sampler or sequencer etc.
That being said I use an Akai MPC Live and a Roland Fantom because I've been burned by OS and VST's. I only use a computer to arrange and finish the audio. It's also a better workflow for software developers because your not staring a computer screen to do music, which works for me. If you want a cheaper setup a MPC One and something like Yamaha Modx works fine too.
However, the dropping of 32-bit support was low, inexcusable, and just an overall dick move to the hardcore audio enthusiasts more than any other single demographic of MacOS users. What a backhanded move to a demographic they diligently worked so hard for years to retain and create a user base for.
I've been using Apple products for about 16 years. More or less, due to sticking with Mojave, other than a few things I prefer on my G5, I can use those same tools today. The disappointing thing is since Catalina, alone; that's no longer the case.
Pre-Catalina, I could state by experience your statement would be unequivocally untrue. Catalina needlessly makes me have to reconsider using the MacOS platform. For shame. Even if you're transitioning to ARM, there is no need to pointlessly deprecate what already works in the meantime. Just drop 32 bit support for ARM. Come on, guys. You're making a dedicated user of 15 years lose her faith, here. :/
You have taken a platform with an already limited amount of software and willingly decreased the amount of available software significantly with what you have called an upgrade. I can't possibly understand.
Drum/sampling machines are an example. A simple tool, created by tech hackers, put in the hands of a sound hacker, created an entire genre of music.
Remind me again why we don't listen to the young people...
Such as this https://www.roland.com/us/community/roland_users_group/
although many of these artists might not exactly be what cheez would consider "young people".
Do business types create them?
Or do tech heads with a musical inclination create them?
Who says we don't listen to young people? We listen to their music and their art and they're thoughts on how to use these devices. Dr. Dre used to use one of these in his music in the early days with great success. He made gourmet meals out of it. Many people listened to his thoughts on the MPC 3000 when he was young cause, clearly, he mastered the use of it.
But then when it comes to the engineering of the device in the first place we listen to the old guys who built it. Cause that's usually who builds these things. Expert engineers, who busted their asses in school to understand the science to create these things.
Anyone who's rational listens to other people regardless of their age, depending on the domain of knowledge. The point is that we listen to people who have proven themselves in a certain domain.
So, just cause I'm young, don't listen to me about car repairs and or car maintenance. I know jack shit about it. My track record with cars has been awful.
Of course if it’s not a factor for you (it’s not for me, I like my One) - then it’s indeed amazing.
Some folks I know can't shut up praising this kit (and the Ableton Push) but no one has managed to explain why.
It provides MIDI Clock and Start/Stop to my connected hardware if I want to use the included sequencers of those. I also use to sequence mono and poly synths including patch selection via MIDI program change, so I can load the corresponding sounds for my Sequences. Sequences I either program directly on the MPC or record what I play on a MIDI Keyboard connected to the MPC. Misplayed notes I can correct in the grid view on the display.
For the drums I either program drums on the MPC (via included sample kits or samplekits I compilated myself from other sources, or I just start the sequencer of connected drum machines.
Recording is either via Cubase on the PC or via a Zoom recorder I connected right to my mixer.
Second, the hardware is usually more responsive
Though at that time, people was all drolling over the Linn 9000 marketing, a machine late to market and took even longer to get all the bugs out - never got to play with one, my music era faded away by then. Shame as went from the top to nothing and the Linn Drum kinda pioneered the market https://youtu.be/pWfCYgRW_6k Those Tom drums and other sounds, will sound familiar to so many people of many decades and music styles.
As for best drum machine - really gets down to how you define that, more so what style of music you view it from and era.
though the TR707 for programming, great interface and one that holds over time for ease of use and results.
I didn’t have one but there was a virtual tr808 which mimicked the hardware interface and sounds. The interface was very good( though turning nobs with a mouse was a pain). Sometimes I longed for a more computer like interface.
>Sometimes I longed for a more computer like interface. As well as the TR707, had a Yamaha CX5M - poor persons DX5 synth. Probably one of the first dedicated computers for music making - consumer wise as not going to even count the Fairlight that was £50k+ back at the same time.
But was always fun when you can listen to a song, know what equipment is being used - and groan as you hear the same presents.
You can get external interfaces that you can map onto virtual kit. Sliders, knobs, buttons. Though an many external music keyboards with extra controls, so with some key binding - the pain can be removed.
How does iMPC compare to something like BeatMaker?
Such as: use of AUs and external MIDI, sequences/scenes/patterns with different tempos or time signatures?
The bit on the App Store video to grab and move a chunk of a pattern looks handy.
All that said I admire the 3000 for its sound capabilities - if they weren't so expensive I'd buy one just to resample masters into. But I guess that's what 'vintage' emulation plugins are for. And of course there's the historical pedigree - enabling the invention of genres and all that.
I do own a Maschine, and it's pretty much all I could ever ask for from an MPC. Except I wish I could pitch shift different slices.
One of Linn's latest releases is the LinnStrument, which is absolutely fascinating to see in action: https://youtu.be/l4ACZflVPPY and https://youtu.be/pdCviCegOLc and https://youtu.be/px0Id-fVD9M
I wouldn't sneeze away a 2000 either, can also be expanded to 32MB. Possibly a better deal. https://www.akaipro.com/mpc2000xl