The

Akai MPC Touch

Drum programmer/sampler

Brian Irving 10/31/15

http://brianirvingengineer.blogspot.com/

   Over the years, sampling and beatmaking has gotten easier for producers of Hip-Hop and EDM. No longer having to use dedicated hardware, the computer becomes the weapon of choice to make beats, paired with a software/drum pad controller solution. Producers now have choices like the Arturia SparkLE, at $250, the easiest way into beatmaking with your laptop.

 Arturia Spark LE

The most popular choice, and the originator of the drum pad controller/software concept is Native Instruments MASCHINE, whose flagship MASCHINE Studio 2.0 at $999, may be a bit pricey for some, but its features like emulating the sound of older 12 bit samplers, and its swing time functionality, makes it easy for the “old heads” using dedicated hardware drum machine/samplers to convert.

 Native Instruments MASCHINE Studio 2.0

Maybe a bit too late after the launch of MASCHINE, drum machine/sampler pioneer Akai debuts the MPC Studio at $399,

 Akai MPC Studio

and the MPC Renaissance at $699,

 Akai MPC Renaissance

aimed to get Akai users, as well as those who thought MASCHINE to be a bit confusing, onboard. When the new Akai products first reached the hands of consumers, right away there were complaints of system crashes and bugs in the software. Akai did what it could with updates to the MPC Studio and MPC Renaissance, but when the dust settled, it was the Native Instruments MASCHINE that won the fight…………………. Until now!!!!!!!!!!!!

   Akai has waited for everyone to work the bugs out, waited to see what the other manufacturers’ offerings would be, and took feedback from numerous producers & beatmakers. The result: what could possible win the war in beatmaking today, the new Akai MPC Touch.

 Akai MPC Touch

All the familiar controls are there for all past Akai MPC users, and then some. Features Akai MPC Studio owners may have asked for like a touchscreen, on board audio interface, and on board MIDI jacks have been added to the MPC Touch. It’s a new concept, a controller with a touchscreen that keeps you off the computer screen. At $799, it’s priced in the mid range of the drum pad controller/software market. The MPC Touch’s launch in November 2015 is perfect timing for Christmas and gift giving. Give your favorite beatmaker/producer an MPC Touch for Christmas!!!!

References

ARTURIA SPARK Creative Drum Machine. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vla5N6PUpRI

Native Instruments Maschine Studio Demo - Sweetwater Sound. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAxO_aeb6Q

Akai MPC Studio Demo - Sweetwater Sound. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g_OTCbO2eU

Akai MPC Renaissance Groove Production Workstation Demo - Sweetwater Sound. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14oZDVLqefM

J.J. Abrams: The mystery box

  J.J. Abrams talked about his grandfather, and how it was a simpler time in his day. His box that he did not want to open during his talk was in honor of his grandfather’s era of mystery, when you may not have known exactly how something was done, but the end result would have you to think it was magic!!!

 A great example J.J. Abrams used was the clip he played to the audience from the “Mission Impossible” movie series, where the actor that portrays the villain in the scene is shoving a gun up the nose of Tom Cruise’s character.

 After repeated takes, the actor portraying the villain was making Tom Cruise’s nose hurt. After J.J. Abrams tells the audience the story of how Tom Cruise’s hand was tinted to look like the hand of the villain, and that it is Tom Cruise shoving a gun up his own nose, you watch the clip again with different eyes. It is a simple example of some early Hollywood “Movie Magic”. In J.J. Abram’s grandfather’s time, it was simple things like this that would get the job done, something simple done behind the scenes that would be “movie magic” in front of the camera.

  This TED speaker inspires me because like myself, he comes from humble beginnings, did not have much to work with, but had vision and imagination. He also has a good sense of humor, which is needed in the face of adversity sometimes. He spoke about the tight schedule during the filming of the hit TV series “Lost”. There was no time to do anything a second or third time, decisions had to be made on the spot, on location, and it gave an edge to the overall look of the final product.

http://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box