AKAI MPC 60 - It's all about Swing!
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- Опубліковано 2 кві 2022
- A quick video this week looking at the original 2.12 AKAI firmware for the MPC 60 with a focus on Roger Linns Swing which it was famed for.
I remember looking at the MPC60 with awe when it was released but also not understanding what it actually did. After many years here it is finally in my studio for me to explore and enjoy :D
Hope you are doing well,
Mike
UPDATE: There are some great comments from 'Station 2Station' and 'Antek Oh' on what the swing is doing (or maybe not doing). I'll see what I can do to touch on this in an upcoming video! :D
/ 100thingsido
100smusic.bandcamp.com/
lander2.bandcamp.com/
As a one time owner of an MPC60 MkII (purchased new in box when they were for sale at retail), I always wanted to believe the swing was legendary. I still hear the rumour these days. A few years back I saw someone debunk this by dumping a swinging pattern from MPC60 to DAW, and then did the same with a modern MPC and a few other swinging drum machines. The 16 bar beat fell exactly on the same PPQN for each track when played concurrently. I'D LOVE for you to do this test yourself with a beat that is long enough that a short loop doesn't reset the evidence of swing, and get to the bottom of this. Thanks for this! Love your new toy! Whether is the A/D's or the 12 bit character, or actually the swing, MPC's def have a vibe.
Interesting, its hard to tell. For sure its all doing something and potentially with the slightly underpowered CPU thats also adding something. I'll have a look into it in the future, although sometimes its better not to pull back the curtain and just go with the magic :D There was a DAW or Computer sequencer that also used to have the Linn swing template in it, I can't remeber which one!
@@100ThingsIDo You can download the MPC3k swing templates for Studio One - I use them all the time to apply swing to midi clips. Great video, great jam!
@@bzprod Just installed SCSI, SCSI2SD reader and new OS 3.15b ..... very exciting :D
IT is a placebo dude, and thats just fine. When people use mpc's or an asr, or eps or sp or any of the classics, you want to believe its magic, when you feel good about it, you make the best stuff. I know that none of these samplers and sequencers have anything special in the swing, or anything like that other than maybe how they color sound, but thats it. But im fine with people believing that their 16 third kicks are better than someone elses, as long as the beats hot i dont care. Its safe to say most of us dont quantize anyways, atleast in oldschool style hiphop. If someone thinks their sequencer has magic in it, so be it, atleast they arent soulless, like a daw is. I find it hard to respect someone who cant even buy what they use, most dudes just crack fl sudio then download some hot 808 lo fi kits off google then think they are dr dre. Saying all this, i can take the same drum kits and samples and make a beat in my asr, mpc one, or daw, make it exactly the same and through plugins and processing make them indistinguishable to 99% of people. Its not hard to emulate a sp 1200 either, especially when you know what one sounds like.
Mpc x has the same swing. It’s been tested a million times.
Hey Mike1 Just got one of these. Needs fixing up, but will be fun to explore. Thanks for the demo of the famous Linn swing!
Heaps of fun, the SCSI add on is great but that you can't preview sounds before loding them limits how much you can really store and use again :D
Flashes of Peter Gabriel and talking accurately about swing and why the 60 is so special via Roger Linn who is a genius, i knew i was in the right place.. can't wait to check out your channel, and thanks for sharing your tasteful world!
Thanks for checking out the video and the sub :D
I always thought the MPC 60 mk1 looks better than the mk2
Me too! :D
The mk2 looks horrendous
It does, they should have reversed the release dates 😂
The mark 2 was more common back in the days. I saw it more than the mark 1. Personally I like the look of the mark 1 but my first beat I ever made was on a mark 2 so I still have a soft spot for it
MK2 lowered the production cost for akai. Roger linn hated the look.
You looked like you had a lot of fun!
Nothing beats the sound of the MPC-60, so underappreciated compared to the MPC3000. Watching you create this house beat was awesome!
Indeed, the MPC does mogical things to sound :D
A bit off topic but: I remember reading an article in the german KEYBOARDS magazin back in the 90s where they did a test with the MPC (can't remember if it was the 3000 or the 60) vs a rack sampler & a sequencer. Something like playing 16 notes at the same time. The result from the MPC was much 'tighter' than the racksampler and the article said that this is cause of the fact that the sequencer of the MPC 'speaks' directly to the its soundengine (Maybe in a parallel way) while the rack sampler receives the information from a sequencer via MIDI which is a 'slower' serial process. That might explain the 'thightness' of the MPCs. On the other hand, without seeing a graphical representation on the display of the MPC, people set the startpoint of a sample differently. A bit early will result in a subtile 'late feel' because of the gap at the start. A bit late startpoint could make the sound a bit 'snappier' because the sample starts in the middle of the transient or somewhere completely off the 0 line so it 'pops'.
I never had the 60 but the 2000. Our relationship is....complicated...a love/hate thing 😁At the moment I mostly use the Modplug tracker software to make music. The sequencer of a tracker is very flexible. You can set it to any resolution you like. I mostly use 24ppq (as the SP1200) so 1 measure has 96 ticks. Sometimes I only use 95 or 94 ticks so the next measure start a little bit earlier.
Anyhow. Thanks for the video. Very nice that you left the tuning 'fail' in there. Funny and honest. I like it.😃
Yeh, I am starting to think of reaching out to Roger about the swing to see if he can tell us a little more about whats going on. I'm guessing its a preset 'variation' you are adding to each of the pads incremetially. The MPC 60 does seem tight but maybe not as tight as the newer MPC X which seems very solid! As to the tuning fail.... At least I got it in the end :D
Sample in some TR909 hits into the 60 really hot, the converters sound amazing
12Bit magic :D
This. You can use a good bit crusher
Loved this. The details on this machine are so nice (wood sides, positionable screen, the luxurious, ergonomic forearm padding... I even like the heat sink vents). Sounds great, too! Although not being able to preview samples would be tough.
It has a pretty great layout, between this and the MPC3000 they really got the ballance between form and function right on! It was a bit of a basket case when I got this unit.. I've done quite a bit of tinkering so far :D
@@100ThingsIDo Looking forward to seeing more! I have the MPC 1000, which for me is the perfect combo of functionality, old school workflow, and build quality.
So! Nice camera work, lighting, memes man! Also cool little demo. Nice "BEATS!"
Mostly! :D
The shuffle algorithm that Forat programmed for Roger Linn back then is the same from the Linndrum to the Mpc 5000.
Only the chips and components as well as the operating system are differentiated. The special timing of the Akai Mpc 60 Mk1 comes from the built-in Motorola chip that processes the timing.
Greetings from Germany
I didn't know Forat worked for Roger! I have some serious gaps in my knowlege some times :D
@@100ThingsIDo Yes, Forat is a programmer and worked for Roger at the time and probably developed his love for drum machines there, which he still pursues today with his service for all kinds of drum machines.
The Roland Mv8000 has some serious swing, that 60 is too clean! Nice
I don't think I have ever heard one, for sure I have not played with one.. I'll have to check it out :D
@@100ThingsIDo it’s nice
This makes me appreciate the new mpc line so much. We can do things so fast now, its nuts. I can even chop my sample AS its sampling in.
Yeh, I just enjoy the old workflow. I don't feel the need to get a final mix inside the MPC where I find on my MPC X it leads to a little frustration sometimes trying to get the sound to glue correctly. :D They are only tools!
@@100ThingsIDo Yeah so do i. I learned on an eps 16+ and i remember buying a mpc 500 due to its screen and lack of waveforms. But still, modern ease is welcome. Ive never had an issue getting my beats to glue, thats what mixings for
MPC X is overkill for alot of people. Less is more.
@@WestonStephens I find even though I've owned the MPC X for a few years now I still get lost in it and try and do far too much with the effects.... but thats just me :D
Dope shit 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
Thanks man! :D
nicely done ...... done my exercise for the day listening to your music ..... lol
ha! Nice one! Hope things are good with you Issie Wizzie :D
❤
Imperative that you read Roger Linn interview where he dispels all myths about the swing on this and any of the drum machines with his name on them. No magic fairy dust especially in both the 60’s where ram and processing limitations meant the sequencer had to be as rudimentary as possible just to squeak by. He states facts about the code limitations and his theory is that what people hear as unique and funky is the precision of the internal clock rate. Which is confirmed by the tests mentioned by @station2station in the comments below. I did a similar test with a mpc 3000 in 1998 recoding 8 bars at 3 different tempos for every swing percentage inorder to create mpc midi groove templets . An embarrassing and colossal waste of time.
If you are familiar with phenomena of “illusory motion” what Roger Linn described in that interview seems like the audio equivalent.
Indeed, there is only so much a 10mhz processor can do! With 60 (not sure with the 3k as I don't have one.... yet! haha) the way you have to apply the swing I'm guessing its pushing a few of the 'pads' slightly off temp. There is also the limitations in PPQ playing out here and a few other 'cheats' they would of been doing to make it all work. I might reach out to Roger and see if he's willing to help out in a follow-up video to this. As I said in the video I'm installing SCSI and the 3.15firmware so might see what I can do around that time and I also did a restoration video as I was cleaning the unit up :D Thats for the great comment!
Does not the Time shifting only work if you change the value in the shift amount? Havent used an MPC-60 for a long time so i could be wrong :)
For sure seems to have an effect without doing so! Otherwise when I went to 75 it would not do anything :D
Ahhhh!! The original granddaddy of the MPC family. I kinda still wish I had one but my G.A.S. for the 60 or 60 II has died down since I got the 3000.
For me the difference in swing IMO is due to how the samples are chopped. On a 60, 60 II, 3000 and 500 it's all done by numbers and ear. When you apply swing to the beat you use the samples in, because the samples aren't right on the money like when you chop a visual wave it gives you some extra space that adds or subtracts from the swing to give it a certain feel. That's my theory.
I have a 500 and a 3000 as well as a 2000XL. If I really want to I could blag a track made on the 500 as made on the 3000 and no one would know the difference. I love the workflow of the 3000. It's long but so enjoyable because everything is a button per function. I love the 2000XL because the chops are a bit tighter on the 2000XL. I chop on the machine I am using, not on a computer as if that be the case I might as well use the computer to do everything. I absolutely love the 500 because it's like having a portable 3000 running around with but I have to use the shift button to access functions just like the 2000XL so it's kind of a hybrid of the two workflows.
Sampling a sound into any of the MPCs gives you a different result in sound when it comes to the old ones but they all sound great to me
Yeh I would love a 3000. I'm keeping my eyes out for one in as bad condition as my MPC60 was that I can restore on the cheap :D
SWINGGGGG!!!!!!
Weeeeeeeeeeee :D
That auto quantizing function... How many internal steps does the mpc60 have? As opposed to the TR808
Polyphony - 16 voices.
Sampler - 12-bit, 40kHz, Stereo.
Memory - 768KB (13.1 seconds) expandable to 1.5MB (26.2 seconds)
Filter - No filter.
Sounds - 32 Drum sounds.
Keyboard - 16 soft pads (w/ velocity & aftertouch)
Arpeg/Seq - Sequencer: 20 songs, 99 sequences, 99 tracks, 60,000 note capacity.
I spy a Quasimidi 309 peeking in the background!
Indeed! One of my main drum sources :D
Nice...
Thanks Rafael :D
How do you turn the ploy on and off in the unit
for me 64% is the best swing. add Ram, a Flash or SD reader, the latest OS: the mpc60 becomes very fast
I can see where you are coming from. 64% always reminds me of early house :D
Don't forget additional outputs and you're set
I'm Still Wating... 💀
hahahah :D
"STILL WAITING "🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
:D
Newt!
Mostly :D
2.02 and 2.12 os are the best the 3.15 os sucks
Each to the ones they love! 3.15 does offer some nice features :D
What is better about the early OSs?
@@Ancaja123 swing is better in my opinion and I like assigning the sounds to pads when loading instead of loading then going to another page to assign them. And it was made by the man himself Roger Linn and Akai.
@@bro5662 what about loading while programs? This is interesting to me
@@Ancaja123 it takes the same amount of time to load programs but the only downside to 2.12 is that when you go to the sample screen it erases your sequences which doesn't matter to me cause I sync it up with the s950 and sample on that
I've never understood why people think it's a good thing to use a machine that can play with metronomic perfection and then try to make it sound more like a human by making it play out of time. Just hire a bad drummer.