The Akai MPC range of stand-alone MIDI sequencers and samplers has been instrumental in shaping hip-hop music, and its robust instruments have also made significant inroads into various electronic music genres, especially within live performance...
The Akai/Linn MPC60 II is a fascinating piece of music technology history that emerged as a refined successor to its predecessor, arriving with an interesting backstory. While the original MPC60's launch in October 1987 was somewhat overshadowed by the...
The AKAI MPC60 is a classic sampler and drum machine released by Akai Professional in 1987-1988 and updated with the mkII version in 1991. The difference is the leather wrist rest gone with the mkII but headphones out appeared. The OS 3.10 introduced...
The AKAI MPC1000 is a music production center designed for beat-making and sampling. It is a sampler, sequencer, and drum machine rolled into one. It has a built-in 16-track MIDI sequencer and 16-voice polyphonic sampler with a 32-voice drum machine. It...
The Rise of a Hip-Hop Legend: The E-mu SP-1200 Story In August 1987, E-mu Systems released a machine that would help define the sound of hip-hop's golden age - the SP-1200 sampling drum machine. Created by Dave Rossum, this unassuming piece of equipment...
