I was fortunate enough to come into a large tax rebate a couple of years back and decided it was time to progress my production into a more hardware based set up. Until that point, I was strictly a LPD8/LPK25 guy with Logic, CDs and MP3s my sample palette of choice. Now was the time to branch out into the world of the MPC. I did own an SP-303 but it didn’t fit my needs as a sampler; more as an effects box.
Due to price, my options were narrowed down to just two – the MPC2000XL and the MPC1000. Both had their own advantages and while many of my idols were demons on the 2000XL, the portability and USB connectivity of the 1000 were more enticing. Plus, it was pretty cheap on eBay. So I took the plunge and bought one. Unbeknownst to me, most of the pads were dead but some yellow customised pads from MPCstuff.com and a red vinyl decal brightened things up tremendously and just before Christmas. I’ve had some great times with my 1000 so far and produced some tracks I’m really proud of.
As part of my pre-purchase research, I looked up some other MPC1000 users and came across a superb range of releases. Here are five of them you should check out.
1. Large Professor – The LP
I apologise in advance if I misinterpreted what the legend Large Professor said in a 2008 interview with HipHopDX. When asked about his use of “classic technology”, he stated he used the MPC1000 on the album (that being “The LP”), deeming it “the MPC version of the [SP]1200”. That’s a great accolade to bestow on a model that falls behind in recognition behind the 2000XL, the larger 5000 and the newer Renaissance. Of course, Large reinforced his praise with fantastic use of the sampler with some super smooth loops and breaks.
2. ScienZe x King I Divine – Divine ScienZe
King I Divine is nice on the MPC1000 and on Divine ScienZe, a collab album with ScienZe, he pushed his techniques to the max with some well-rounded beats, hard chops and jazzy numbers, all complemented by ScienZe’s thought provoking wordplay.
3. Slim The Chemist – Em Poucas Palavras
Some of the best albums you can find on Bandcamp are made with very little in the way of high end technology. Düsseldorf’s Slim The Chemist put together Em Poucas Palavras with nothing more than his trusty MPC1000, an old record player and some “lost South American music”. The samples picked not only show how good this kid is at selections but also the seemingly bottomless pit of musical talent and heritage the continent has had and continues to show in the present. Also nice to hear a flip of an old Tribe sample in there too.
4. Mighty Jay Mac – Mighty Beat Tape
“NO WORDS, JUST WAV’S” is the basic strap line for Mighty Jay Mac’s first Mighty Beat Tape but that doesn’t tell the whole picture. With twenty one tracks, the beat tape delivers an eclectic mix of samples from jazz to soul to an anime soundtrack (DRAGON BALL). As generic as it sounds, there’s something for everyone on this tape.
5. Kill Emil – One Night in Bogota
It’s an EP but go with it. Greek producer Kill Emil constructed this cumbia-inspired EP with the finest Columbian music he could find and the melding of styles is wonderful. My personal favourite is Cumbia Fever but I could easily hear Sound Of Mind on a car advert and it’d have many people clambering for their phones to use their Shazam apps.