R.I.P My MPC 1000 2003-2009

I sold my MPC. I am really very upset about this. I had some great times with that little machine, so here be its history:

I bought my MPC 1000 in 2003/4 (est.) from a very dubious seller on ebay, whom I met to exchange funds for goods beneath some offices in Piccadilly Circus. I remember going in with my dad and finding two guys smoking a joint in front of loads of video editing equipment. It was a little bit awkward with my Dad, though he was quite cool about the whole thing considering. I played around with some of the samples on the pads and at that young age, 13, I was completely immersed in the experience of cutting up audio and rearranging it to create new sound. After confirming that, despite the constant cannabis fumes, the MPC still worked 100% fine, we bought it, and I could not wait to get it home to have a play.

One of the most striking things about any MPC, I mean mine was a 1000, not the seminal 2000XL, but still, the image of any MPC and the feeling of having a play on it is one of the most unique experiences in this world: Dilla created the majority of his beats on this thing; if you listen to the roots of hip hop from the 80s you will hear an MPC all over it; later DJ Shadow redefined the boundaries of hip hop by using the MPC to manipulate sound until he created such beauty as demonstrated in Midnight In A Perfect World, or actually the whole of Endtroducing... as a matter of fact.

The MPC enables the user to put together an on-the-fly re-edit of anything, and has played such an important part in the development of Hip Hop that it would be difficult to imagine what Hip Hop would look like now without it.

Thankfully I am able to keep my beloved MPC within my family: I have managed to sell it to my immensely talented brother and one day, when I can afford it (if I can afford it), I will buy him a top of the range new MPC in exchange for my old MPC 1000 because this particular sampler has played such a huge part in why I love Hip Hop, and as a result of this Dubstep, House, Funky, D'n'B etc. and henceforth why I love the music that I love today. I was never particularly good as a producer with my MPC, but by paying that much attention to sound by spending that much time with it, I have learnt some very valuable lessons about sound, and managed to immerse myself in each individual sound so very deeply that I have reaped the endless benefits of this in my current life.

MY AKAI MPC 1000, I SALUTE YOU. MY YOU HAVE MANY HAPPY YEARS WITH MY BROTHER BEN.


SAM'S BLUE MPC 1000: 2003-2009. R.I.P.

I have recorded a mix which will be up as soon as I can get the link here; I have had some problems with zshare today. The mix is mostly UK funky with some big twists on it, like some Untold, James Blake and Darkstar. If I don't get a chance to upload this mix soon however, I will upload the phenomenal mix by Pariah that he recently completed for Sonic Router. Trust me, this is so big, I heard it today - mind blowing.