The original sampling drum machine was created by Roger Nichols in 1978 for now-somewhat-forgotten 70s band Steely Dan. It was called "Wendel" and it received its own platinum 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.
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?)
>"The original sampling drum machine was created by Roger Nichols in 1978 for now-somewhat-forgotten 70s band Steely Dan.
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.
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.
"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. "
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.
After deliberating for a very long time, I ended up buying a Maschine and not an MPC. I thought the standalone nature of the MPC would be great for getting me out of the "engineering" mindset and into the "playing an instrument" mindset. The Maschine does that, because you can (and should) work with your computer screen turned off. It's not any less portable because (most) MPCs don't work on batteries and laptops are pretty easy to carry around these days. And it lets you perform the "MPC way" (finger drumming, sample chopping) as well as a more traditional way (play notes and chords on synths and edit them live). Playing on its pads like a melodic keyboard is very inspiring for me - there's no priviledged scale or distance like on keyboards, it's all by ear and feel and it helps me be a lot more creative with my melodies.
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.
I had the opposite experience! I had a 3000, sold it for Maschine and MPK49, then just could not stand the Maschine's inability to perform live without a computer.
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’ve owned an mpc 3000, as well as the mpc-60 and sp-1200. I still own an sp-1200. Why?
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...
The vintage gear bubble is happening in other realms, too: Commodore 64s and Apple IIs regularly sell for $300+ – triple what they would have sold for ten years ago – while you can still get an Atari 800XL for $129.
I’ve been thinking for a long time that there is still a lot of opportunity for instruments like this - with a custom device OS, purpose built for music making, lots of I/O, good hardware interface. I wish music hardware manufacturers would just add an HDMI or display out on their devices, and then perhaps we could have a lot more screen real estate without needing a computer.
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...
I've made a comment about this on hacker news before. It's only a Mac thing. You can install a 15 year old DAW on Windows still to this day. You can't install something from 3 years ago on Mac.
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.
> custom device OS, purpose-built for music making, lots of I/O, good hardware interface.. HDMI or display out..
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.
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.
> I don’t understand why manufacturers aren’t going more aggressively after specialized music devices (other than the cost).
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.
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.
I would argue that they are not created by tech hackers. The ones known about in popular culture are created by businesses, and quite often great minds in those businesses. The people using them are often the ones taking them further then their creators imagined.
I’m currently saving towards an MPC One. I’m glad that Akai went back to making stand-alone MPCs (previously they had switched from stand-alone instruments to models that had to be used while connected to a laptop). I can’t put my finger on why, but making music on a general purpose device like a laptop is just not as enjoyable as with a single purpose device like a stand-alone groovebox or synth.
I bought a One a few weeks ago. It's now the centrepiece of my setup. You can connect a MIDI-interface via USB and have all your MIDI I/O needs covered.
One is fantastic but you have to be aware of it’s limitations - particularly around network connectivity, something that even OG MPC Live is better at.
Of course if it’s not a factor for you (it’s not for me, I like my One) - then it’s indeed amazing.
I use the MPK mini which just feels unnatural compared to a "real" synth. But of course it is way more flexible and sometimes the right tool for the job.
Probably there is some very minimal latency when using a USB midi device to trigger sounds on a laptop that takes away from the feel of playing a live instrument.
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.
My personal experience with hardware devices seem to be the opposite of most people's experiences. So many people buy a lot of hardware that does the same thing as (or less than) a computer simply to not use a computer at all costs - and cost it does! I spent a good chunk of money on a 2000xl expecting a radically different workflow, a paradigm shift, a more 'jammable' music-making experience, and I found that it was the exact same architecturally as working on the computer (or maschine if I want a tactile interface) except 10x slower technically and 40x slower mentally. Nothing was radically different, it was the same beats and bars as I was used to, except it was slower and less capable from a technical standpoint. I get that hardware works for many but for me it's just not so.
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 never owned an MPC but I own a Tempest drum machine, which Roger Linn designed the interface for. It's probably the most capable drum machine ever made, if you have the time to figure it all out. I've owned it for years and I'm still discovering new features.
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.
This was my favorite MPC out of all of them I owed/used. I loved the way my drums/samples sounded vs the 1000/2500 family I had later on. I had to sell it cause our condo at the time was too small for all my equipment. It made me really happy to see this on HN.
When I learned that DJ Shadow made his classic'Endtroducing' on the model-60, I was astonished. There's no better proof that great music does not require splashy gear, 'just' determination and soul. A lot of the best EM ever was made in that era. Simple is good, since nothing will kill an inspiration like tech manuals and a thousand settings to remember.
for those interested in an MPC setup but don't want to shell out $$$ for the mostly-outdated MPC3K, take a look at picking up an MPC1000. it can still be found for reasonable prices and has many upgrades you can install should you desire (JJOS and HD mod highly recommended)
I have to say, I always wondered what the Linn drum sample packs were that seem to come with most free drum machines or open source audio software packs.
I had an Akai MPC 1000. Absolutely true what they say about the workflow - once you start to learn the thing it's crazy how quickly you can get things down. A computer DAW just didn't compare for me purely in terms of speed for quick arrangements. And the timing is fantastic. Everything just feels so tight. There's also the fact that it's not a computer - when you work with computers all day sometimes the last thing you want to do is stare at a screen for hours more.
[+] [-] TheOtherHobbes|5 years ago|reply
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?)
[+] [-] bogomipz|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] hellofunk|5 years ago|reply
That's a well-known classic band and I don't think they are nearly forgotten, as you say.
[+] [-] SeanLuke|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] H1Supreme|5 years ago|reply
The irony to this is today's drumming plugins add variance to sounds and timing to make the recordings sound more "human".
[+] [-] fit2rule|5 years ago|reply
"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. "
[+] [-] smabie|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sharklazer|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] zerr|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bezmenov|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomduncalf|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SonOfLilit|5 years ago|reply
Anyone into electronic music should have one in my opinion.
[+] [-] ccsnags|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] lostgame|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] tomphoolery|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] S_A_P|5 years ago|reply
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...
[+] [-] krallja|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sixdimensional|5 years ago|reply
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...
[+] [-] chrisjs96|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] lioeters|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] wdfx|5 years ago|reply
Although I also plan to run different music apps on it, e.g. sampler or sequencer etc.
[+] [-] wombatmobile|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] omnibrain|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] metalgearsolid3|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] cheez|5 years ago|reply
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...
[+] [-] racl101|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] timc3|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mastazi|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] omnibrain|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] discordance|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Plugawy|5 years ago|reply
Of course if it’s not a factor for you (it’s not for me, I like my One) - then it’s indeed amazing.
[+] [-] cheez|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saddammonero|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alfiedotwtf|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Zenst|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] robin_reala|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Roboprog|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] inetsee|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] moth-fuzz|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] tomphoolery|5 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] panpanna|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] igotsideas|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jdmoreira|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notRobot|5 years ago|reply
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
[+] [-] 8bitsrule|5 years ago|reply
I wouldn't sneeze away a 2000 either, can also be expanded to 32MB. Possibly a better deal. https://www.akaipro.com/mpc2000xl
[+] [-] arrakeen|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grawprog|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] parenthesis|5 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdud_iisj1E
[+] [-] rmelhem|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] growlist|5 years ago|reply