The Akai MPC1000 is a little box of love, be you a hip-hop producer, rocker or electronica vocalist

By ALLEN SCAIFE

Date published: 4/21/2005

YOUTH CORRESPONDENT

Its presentation is flashy: a small, laptop-size durable blue plastic box with red trimmings and multicolored buttons of many sizes.

Green, red and yellow lights flicker with vivid intensity, like jungle eyes hungrily watching a wounded elk, as the ghostly green LED screen flashes beats, bars and ticks.

This is the Akai Music Production Center 1000, and--much like its forefathers--it is a sex machine.

Akai's legendary drum machines/samplers have been used by famous hip-hop producers since the late '80s. Instrumentalist DJ Shadow, DJs Cut Chemist and Numark of Jurassic 5, the ever-popular Neptunes, the remarkably talentless Dr. Dre (so I'm biased toward gangster rap, sue me) and many, many others are no strangers to the MPC4000 and 2000XL.

But these behemoths are usually found only in multimillion-dollar studios, where they belong.

Akai's newest beatbox, the MPC1000, is a more cost-effective instrument as well as a technologically advanced piece of audio equipment. Available for about a grand at Guitar Center and many online stores (including eBay), the MPC1K is a step in the right direction for musicians with an interest in staying up to date.

I speak from experience. This is a truly beautiful device.

It offers a USB 2.0 connection and an outlet for a standard compact flash card (the kind used in many digital cameras). It comes with 16 megabytes of onboard memory, which can be upgraded to 128.

However, it does have some limitations. Due to its relatively low cost, Akai chose to remove some components that could be found in the company's older machines.

But as the MPC1K is meant to be used in conjunction with computer software (Acid Pro 5.0, Cubase, Sound Forge, Reason, Cakewalk and Logic 5--all of which have simple delay and time stretch), these limitations are trivial.

Its production quality is still top-notch, and maybe even higher than that of older models. The 1K, though not without problems, is more flexible.

MPC gurus are able to spin entire songs by switching between four banks of 16 sounds to create live beats.

The machine can even sample MP3s, creating a kind of digital cratedigging that will enhance a vinyl DJ's versatility.

Like any instrument, the MPC takes practice. However, once enough experience is gained, the pads can be played with intense skill that parallels a live drummer or bassist.

Date published: 4/21/2005