HARDWARE

As many of you know I am a student at San Francisco State University. One of the biggest disappointments for me in the BECA major is the lack of hardware we are provided with on campus. Even when it comes to software Pro tools is your only real choice. The major, while being one of the best of in California also lacks a music production side. Most of the classes in production are geared more towards audio and video's technical side rather then too individual creation. I have always liked the raw side of hardware with the inclusion of software, and a few months ago I went out and bought an Akai MPC 1000. The MPC is a music sampler and production center (not a drum machine). The likes of this machine are used in most major studios and have played important roles in soundtracking and scoring movies as well. More recently the RZA used tools of this kind to do audio for the Kill Bill movies. I also went out and purchased the JJ OS software upgrade which heavily bumps up the features of the original Akai software. For those of you who don't know about the JJ OS it's $40 and well worth the money. You can read more about the JJ OS here


Here's my first decent production on the MPC 1000. Enjoy.







While I'm finally getting the understanding for this powerful machine I still have a lot to learn. The MPC is definitely a tool that you not only need to get the feel for, but also heavily study manuals and forums. Here's a video from Boon Doc in Denver that will hopefully show you some more of the MPC's potential.





Look for more video's coming soon.