In this video, composer and electronic instrument design pioneer Roger Linn demonstrates how he uses the AKAI MPC as ‘the ultimate looper’.
Linn worked with Akai to create and release the original MPC60 in 1988. After collaborating with Linn on the classic MPC line, though, Akai went through changes in management, stopped paying royalties to Linn, and let the MPC line decline, leaving Linn a critic of the company and their practices.
More recently, though, AKAI reached out to Linn and not only smoothed things over, but turned him into a fan of the Akai MPC Live 2. It’s a surprising turn of events, so kudos to both of them for working things out.
And how cool is it to have the original designer of the MPC demonstrating – nearly 40 years later – how he’s using one of the latest MPC designs?
Check out the video and share your thoughts in the comments!
That was great. A lot of power and flexibility in those seemingly simple capabilities.
That was cool. I admit woudlve liked to have seen what he was tapping (a top down camera) but Im fine with the video. Appreciate Roger’s chill vibe, obv a nice dude!
So Mr Linn found out what we all knew about modern MPCs as soon as they were released. Better late than never, I suppose 😉
jm2c – your comment makes it sound like you’re ignorant of the history of the MPC and AKAI’s history with Linn, and makes you sound kind of dickish.
Considering he used a wink emoji, I think it’s implied he was just poking fun. Especially since this article already explains Linn worked on the MPC.
Just chill and have fun 🙂
Young pups with no knowledge or respect for who Roger is and his accomplishments…
Youth is clearly wasted on the young and ignorant…
This sentence doesn’t make sense
You’re right and so aware,,,.
Roger barely understands what MPC is… 🙂
This guy is like David Attenborough, just with electronic instead of animals…
Roger Linn is a treasure.
The guy essentially invented the modern drum machine and the MPC – both instruments that led to entire new genres of music.
And with the LinnStrument, he and his software guru Geert Bevin pretty much invented MPE. This has turned polyphonic aftertouch/expression into something that a lot of musicians now just expect from keyboards and synths.
I’ve met him at Gearfest, and he’s also just a humble, nice guy. He’s totally into what he does, and his passion is contagious.
isnt it funny how they got MPE wrong?
they thought the main point would be the silly pitchbend,
as it turns out it seems to be aftertouch on everything. ^^
What’s wrong with Mr.Roger Linn smoothing things over with Akai? He’s still rocking the Linnstrument. It’s cool he was able to used both instruments in this demonstration
At least put him on the payroll with an open letter saying AKAI would be nowhere without Roger Linn.
the midi looping seems immediate ,
however I thought there was an issue with audio that made it not a good looping option ,
don’t you have to save , or assign an audio loop to a pad , or something ?,
which makes it less immediate , or has this changed now ?
Great to see Roger Linn still engaged with his tech & making music .
> It’s a surprising turn of events, so kudos to both of them for working things out.
How much better would the internet (world?) be if more people took a second to point things like this out?
Thank you, Jesse, Roger and Akai et al.
(Would still love to read a scoop about _how_ Roger came to feel better about the whole thing because they definitely did him dirty. Some actual gesture from InMusic? Roger just letting all of it go? Other?)
I have a hard time caring about MPCs since I got an iPad… MPC is basically a collection of shoddy apps at this point on a bad touchscreen with hardly any physical control.
I hope Akai and Linn team up and release something more hardware oriented. The line of MPCs is simply too touch oriented nowadays. I can’t even browse my samples directly without having to use the touchscreen to move up directories of folders. Which is very sad.
Roger Linn’s replies to the youtube comments are worth a read. He mainly replies to the harsh ones and replies with such incredible generosity. It’s inspiring.
I used to own an akai mpc 2000xl maxed out memory, multiouts,, and fx. At least that’s my memory, almost 25 years ago now.. felt like a powerhouse and only scratched the surface of what it could do. My favorite functions were the note repeat, 16 steps, sequencing. Barely scratched the surface on its functionality but loved seeing tutorials on how people used it.
Eventually had to sell and move on. Looked up specs and found the akai mpc 2000xl had 32 voice polyphony, which, if I’m not mistaken, if you sample a mono synth with the 16 steps functionality plus 32 steps polyphony, you then can get chords from a monosynth sample with some ingenuity.
Looked up the akai mpc key 37…same polyphony, but you get a keyboard plus pads, plus software versions of classics like a minimoog to sequence or sample.
Overpowered, workstation esq, but to me a good deal for the price. Keep hoping for an akai mpc key 25, maybe a bit cheaper, multiple colors although red or purple would be selling points..
Haters gonna hate but looking at the specs there so much you could do for under 1k in price. I’d consider a wavestate but after realizing the 32 note polyphony, I’d be up for an akai key 25 in purple. Hoping for battery powered.